天下制覇

The Sharks and Jets formally start their rumble.

This is such a bipolar episode that I’m not certain what to think. We got some great extended fight scenes towards the end, but the first half was boring as fuckall. The second half was mostly very well done, though with terrible stills placed in the oddest of places. Like when the big battle started… Ryomou and Myosai started fighting… then literally 15 seconds of stills before the fight continued.

The first half of the episode really was terribly boring. Lots of recap and Koumei filling in the troops yet again about how shit’s going to go down, and apparently Shiba-I and Sousou are not exactly getting along. After about 10 minutes of this brand of nonsense, we go back to Hakufu who is now in the tender ‘care’ of Ukitsu. Still berserk, she attacks our favorite female sage, and gets soundly trounced for her troubles. Hakufu then awakes at her home in a ghostly form where nobody can see or hear her. This continues for far longer than it should due to Hakufu’s stupidity… though the insert song was pretty nice. She eventually sees a vision of the feudal times and remembers who she is.

When this happens, the stream begins to boil and a dragon erupts from it. Chou-un (where’d she come from?) leaps to attack it, but Ukitsu tackles her and lets the dragon escape into the sky, telling her about Hakufu and how the dragon is part of her soul.

Elsewhere, Nanyo and Seito are waiting for Kyosho’s troops at the appointed spot. Shiba-I and Koumei exchange insults briefly and then Myosai and Ryomou immediately go at it all over the place. Gakushu and one of the guy monks trade blows before Gakushu slams him into a girder. Shuuyu ends up fighting and beating the other monk by forcing his chi through the electrical wires and collapsing debris on him. Saji and the tall white haired dude (I can’t keep these names straight) go super saiyajin on eachother and do the whole “grunt and energy ball explodes” thing. Back to Ryoumou, who gets kicked off a walkway and lands on Saji, who is down along with his oppenent. Myosai tries to attack, but Saji and Ryomou both turn and blast her down with chi before Saji collapses.

In her car, Shiba-I’s tats are glowing and she’s becoming more and more discomforted. Ryuubi and Koumei continue to watch on, and then Chouhi is thrown out a window in front of them by Sousou’s volleyball friend who proceeds to kick 8 degrees of crap out of Chouhi. The female monk attacks Ryuubi who somehow manages to fend her off… and then Kannu shows up and knocks the monk away. Roll credits.

Next episode… Sousou joins the battle…