Subject: _Koutarou Magaritooru!_ Character Guide, Part 2 A Traipse Through the World of Tatsuya Hirota's _Koutarou Magaritooru!_ (Koutarou, Break Through!) =================================== Volumes 17 through 29 =================================== Character Guide Notes NOTE: [fa:v??] == First Appearance in Volume ??. [la:v??] == If the character warrants it, Last Appearance in Volume ??. [ls:v??] == Sometimes, a character will disappear for a while, only to surface again a long time later. Last Seen in Volume ??. Tsurugamine Gakuen -- The private high school that everyone attends, where a lot of the combat takes place. Is huge, and has everything one would expect of a school in a gag manga. (Outdoor cafes, huge clock towers, yakuza...) Fuuki-iinkai -- Morality committee, or decency league. This group includes Tenkouji and Mayumi, and a large cast of nameless minions (this is used in one gag, when two of the minions -- who commonly appear along with Tenkouji -- are referred to by facial features, because they've never been given names.) They usually keep the peace on the school grounds, but spend most of their time chasing Koutarou. Hage -- Baldie. The one word that Tenkouji absolutely despises, and the one that Koutarou loves to use. Nunchukus -- Shindou's favorite weapon, and one used extensively in Bruce Lee's movies: two pieces of hardwood connected together by a piece of rope. Dojo -- Training site for any form of martial arts. Gi -- Martial arts uniform. Ki -- Energy, as in the focused power of someone as they hit you. If they don't have "ki", the punch won't damage you very much (the punch will just bounce off.) Kiai -- The shout a fighter makes to help focus his ki during his attack. =================================== New Main Characters =================================== Tenzen Shikato: A wrinkled little old man, who has been a student at the school for 50 years. He's a premiere sukebe, and has mastered the "one blow attack", which can blow away ANYONE, and paralyze the strongest man for 2 hours. AKA, Jijii (Old Man). [fa:v17] Ushirono Momotarou: The #1 student in the Ouendan, and probably the meanest karate master in school. Tall, lean, long blond hair, no-nonsense, devilish eyebrows and heavy eyelids (looks like makeup), and a devoted follower of the old man. [fa:v17] =================================== Story Arcs =================================== Each major plot line covers several volumes, and usually begins with the introduction of a few new characters before the action kicks in. Gags and start up Book 1 Snake Bones and the Clock Tower Secret Book 2 -- 5 Princess Kurara Book 3 -- 9 War in Block D Book 10 -- 16 To Get 4 Teammates for the AST Book 17 -- 20 The All Sports Tournament Book 20 -- 26 The Freak Show and the Pretty Boy Book 27 -- 29 The Real Training Begins Book 30 -- 36 =================================== Volume Outlines, and New Characters =================================== Volume 17: The Ouendan: Translates to "the cheerleading squad." Is one of the most powerful karate clubs on the school grounds, with 300+ members. Is led by Tenzen Shikato, and the main 'sempai' is Ushirono Momotarou. Sayoko Akita: Tenkouji's 12 year old fiance (Iinazuke: In an arranged marriage, the parents pledge to have the boy and girl marry when they are both still young, as a way of improving their financial or political situations. This is also what happened to Akane and Ranma in _Ranma 1/2_. The practice still occurs in modern-day Japan, but not as often as before.) Sayoko is cute, and a decent kendo artist, but is still too young to be able to compete against Tenkouji with a sword. Life is settling back down to normal, and Shindou still apparently has the ruby stuck in his stomach. People have had time to heal. One day, as the boy is practicing his kicks, the tree he's using topples over and damages his dojo. Mayumi is the only one willing to help him raise money for the repairs, but when they return at the end of the day, they discover that someone has completely flattened the dojo (and destroyed his panty collection.) Tatsuya Yoshiokata gives Shindou a hint, which is misunderstood as to implicate the karate club that attacked Shindou during the Kurara storyline. Shindou soon learns that the real villians are a trio that call themselves the Ouendan. The Ouendan are extorting money from the other karate clubs on campus that wish to enter the upcoming All High Schools All Sports Tournament. The leader is going to kidnap one of the female karate students (for sex, in place of the extortion money) when Shindou steps in and roughs up the two underlings. However, the captive is used as a hostage, and Shindou lets himself get trashed to save her. Soon afterwards, he locates the Ouendan's headquarters, trashes the villians, and uses the leader's face to bust up the villians' dojo a bit. Then, up come more of the Ouendan, and the trio's leader gloats that Shindou is in trouble now. But, the new Ouendan beat up the leader instead. And, a very tall, headless guy steps forward to challenge the boy. Tenkouji has heard of Shindou's foolishness and rushes up to try to stop his rival from doing anything stupid. Unfortunately, it's too late. Shindou rips off the headless one's jacket, only to discover that the headless one is also torso-less. But, it's just a gimmick -- a puppet that is controlled by a little old guy hiding up in the rafters. (Tenkouji had trained under the old man without ever guessing the headless one's secret.) The Old Man comes down, and Shindou threatens to get revenge by breaking up the Ouendan dojo completely. The Old Man dares him to do this, so Koutarou does. The Old Man is impressed, as he puts up a sign announcing that the Ouendan are going to start construction of a new poured concrete dojo on this site. Koutarou swears to get even. In the morning, Tenkouji has a bad dream concerning the old man, and wakes up only to be attacked by a young girl. We now learn that Tenkouji has a fiance that had been assigned to him by their parents (whom we never see.) The catch is that she has to hit the Priest once to be able to marry him. She keeps failing miserably, until Shindou grabs Tenkouji from behind, and she gets in a sword strike to Tenkouji's head almost by accident. Sayoko is in seventh heaven, but Tenkouji isn't so amused. Later, Shindou steals the Ouendan's flag, and replaces it with a big pair of panties that have his face in one corner. Momotarou vows revenge back, and sends out all of the Ouendan to find the boy. But, Shindou is sleeping on the top of a clock tower, dreaming about kissing Mayumi. When no one can find him, he issues his challenge to Momotarou to come rush the tower to get the real flag back (most people have never seen the Ouendan flag before, and they think that the big panty WAS the original flag.) The Ouendan storm the tower to recover their flag, and fall afoul of the traps that Koutarou has laid within. Outside, Tenkouji, Shikato, and Mayumi watch on. Volume 18: Yurie Shikato: Shikato's beautiful granddaughter. She is very strong, having trained under the old man, and a good fighter. Initially just a love interest for Inamori, but later turns out to be an English teacher at the high school. Group 7 Karate Club: One of the many teams competing in the AHSAST, led by a guy with a broken nose, and a bleached lock of hair at the front of his head. While they may be a match for the Ouendan, they'd rather cheat first to improve their odds. The leader, Kimihiro Naono, isn't named until volume 19. Jason-chan: Leader of Lips, a gang in Block D. Jason-chan is a huge person, who wears leathers and a hockey mask, and uses a sledgehammer as a weapon. "His" common comment is "you are not a (real) man." As people are getting trashed, Shindou fights Momotarou, but it's hardly a fair match, since the boy can easily trick the villian into a flying kick that takes him out the top floor window. The villian is caught by a rope that the boy throws to him. Mayumi wants to enter the tower to rescue Shindou, and Shikato agrees (while preventing Tenkouji from ranting against it.) Unfortunately, Shindou uses the big water pump on the top floor to flood the lower levels and flush out the minions (which separates the Priest, and traps the skirtless Mayuma with the dirty Old Man.) Momotarou climbs back into the tower, only to get caught in the rushing waters. He pulls the hero in with him, they fight, then get separated. Momotarou turns off the water, then goes to the roof to get the flag (which Shindou is now using as a towel.) They fight more, and the villian gets his flag back. Meanwhile, Shikato triggers a trap that drops a heavy cage over him and Mayumi. The Old Man now demonstrates his overly powerful "One Blow", which destroys the cage, and most of Mayumi's clothing. The two of them reach the roof, where he gets to see enough of Shindou's fighting style to find it interesting. So, he summons a helicopter to take Mayumi, Tenkouji, Shindou, and Momotarou to his real home -- a huge mansion in the countryside, staffed by a hundred beautiful maids in bunny outfits. (As a ransom for the flag, Shindou demanded 1000 pairs of panties to replace his damaged collection, and Shikato promised to pay it off.) Shikato explains that Tsurugamine HS had made a name for itself in previous All High Schools All Sports Tournaments (AHSAST), but had failed in only one sport -- they'd never won in the Class A karate competitions. He's hoping that maybe with Shindou involved... but the boy isn't interested. Momotarou is upset because Shikato is more intent in watching Shindou's mongrel form of karate, than he is in Momotarou's own pure style. Earlier, Kyoushirou Inamori went out on a date with a beautful young woman, and they are now talking about getting married -- all that's needed is for Inamori to hit her old man once in a sparring match. Inamori tries this, but Shikato completely blows away the would-be fiance, knocking him unconscious. However, Inamori did succeed in making Shikato use his hands (it was a one-handed "One Blow" attack.) Later, Shindou dwells on what the old man said (Shikato had competed in the AHSAST 50 years ago, but the judges didn't recognize his style as a legal form of karate, and he was ignored. So, he used his One Blow in anger, almost killing his opponent, and was disqualified. Since then, he's been waiting for someone he can respect as a fighter that he can train as a student.) The day comes for entering the AHSAST, and Shindou arrives at the last minute to sign up after all (first, he had to visit all of the girls' locker rooms.) His friends are all happy, but the Group 7 Karate Club doesn't like the situation at all, nor does the Ouendan. Principle Saito is the most unhappy. Mayumi throws a dinner party for the boy, and Inamori helps Shindou train (at Super Mario.) Momotarou trashes a different karate club (shows how strong he is), and the next morning, because Shindou is working out (100 hand-stand push-ups on his thumbs) Mayumi makes him breakfast. However, Saito changes the tournament rules (he can do this) to only allow 5-man teams to compete. Momotarou and Group 7 have no problem assembling their teams, but when Momotarou and Tenkouji go to visit the hero to discuss the turn of events, the boy has already left to gather 4 other fighters. In Block D, Kenji is fighting off some rival gang members when Shindou happens by (using Super Mario-style attacks against the baddies.) But, Kenji has no interest in entering this kind of tournament. Therefore, Shindou visits the eating pit (Nisemono, Ooyamaneko, and Harry Nezumi have taken the place over, since Baa-chan has completely disappeared,) to learn who the toughest gang currently is -- Lips. The boy visits Lips, and while fighting off the gang, is attacked by the leader, Jason. At the same time, Hiromi talks Kenji into joining with Koutarou, and the China Rose Gang prepares for the trip to the main school grounds. The book ends with Shindou removing Jason's mask, and starting to learn that Jason is indeed a woman in disguise. Volume 19: Aota: (Blue Field) The nameless Decency League minion that wears glasses. Akai: (Red Well?) The other nameless minion. They both finally get names. Kenji runs up to help, and Shindou opens up Jason's leathers to reveal "his" breasts (Kenji suffers a massive nosebleed.) The Lips gang members run away when they realize that they have a woman as a leader. Shindou stops fighting, and Jason knows that she has lost; however, she also decides that she will now marry her conqueror. In a Tokyo night spot, the Group 7 Karate Club meets to view the advertising video Shindou put together (it easily sells at 5000 yen a copy, with the etchie shots of Mayumi and the cheerleaders (China Rose gang.) So far, the boy has Tenkouji and Kenji on his team. Which concerns the Group 7 people, and they make plans to reduce their risks. Unfortunately, Kenji keeps on suffering from nosebleeds when he watches Mayumi doing high kicks, so Shindou and China Rose try to expose him to porno magazines and the inside of the girls' locker rooms to build up his tolerance (doesn't work, and his nosebleeds only get worse.) That night, Shindou, Kenji, and the Priest are each attacked separately by karate masters wearing body armor. Shindou escapes with Mayumi, but Kenji protects the China Rose gang by allowing himself to be splashed with acid rather than letting the stuff hit anyone else. Shindou overheard some of the attackers talking, and rushes to the CR camp -- no one there. But, he trips over the two main nameless minions of the Decency League: Aota and Akai. The two have been badly hurt, so he takes them to the hospital. There, Shindou learns that Kenji is out of the running, having had acid splashed on his arms, hands, and in his eyes. The next morning, Tenkouji finds out that his minions have been hurt. In fact, the only karate club that hadn't been attacked and injured last night was Ouendan. Shindou takes this as a sign that Ouendan had hurt his friend, and goes there to exact revenge. Tenkouji realizes that something's wrong and runs over also, to stop more bloodshed (when someone wipes his shoe on the Priest's head, Tenkouji goes crazy and fights Ouendan also.) Group 7 happily watches the ensuing mayhem and destruction from a safe distance. Shikato is told that his group has been attacked by Shindou again, and decides that this outrage is one too many. But, as he flies in by helicopter, he discovers Mayumi and picks her up. At the Ouendan dojo construction site, the old man fires a missile to break things up, and further angers the boy by implying that he ordered the attacks on everyone last night. He even paralyzes Tenkouji with a "One Blow". A one-on-one combat follows, and Shindou takes several two-handed One Blows but keeps getting up to ask for one more. Mayumi tries to stop them, saying that she explained the situation to Shikato in the helicopter, and that Ouendan had nothing to do with hurting Kenji. But, Shikato doesn't care, he is only interested in finding out just how good Shindou is, and Shindou knows this. After taking a LOT of two-handed "One Blows", Shindou is starting to understand the timing of Shikato's "100 Images Feint", and the old man is getting tired for the first time in 50 years. Eventually, Shindou can see through the "100 Images Feint" to hit the real Shikato (he still loses out to the "One Blow", though.) The next morning, when the boy recovers, Mayumi tries to help him recover by break dancing for him (and then, with him.) There's one day left before the tournament, and Mayumi is training the China Rose gang to be cheerleaders (not much success, though, and Shindou is still missing 3 people.) As Shindou is scouting out the other teams, Kimihiro Naono introduces himself, and over coffee, tries to recruit the boy into the Group 7 team. Shindou is thinking about it, when Mayumi arrives with some karate candidates. Shindou turns down everyone and walks away. Mayumi wants to know why -- main reason is that the candidates were members of the Ouendan. Which is part of the reason why they are now attacked by Momotarou. Except, what's really making Momotarou is angry that Shindou has caused Shikato to resign from the Ouendan, and to run away from the school. Since Shindou won't be able to find enough people to enter the AHSAST, Momotarou wants to fight him now. But, someone throws a bunch of trees at him, and Mayumi and Shindou escape. Meanwhile, Tenkouji meets Shikato. The old man explains that having found someone that can take being hit with One Blow, there's no reason from him to stay around anymore (he leaves, with the women's tennis club's panties in a bag over his shoulder.) As Shindou and Mayumi wonder who had saved them, Jason-chan steps up, and says "Me." Volume 20: Instructor Kosuge: Karate Instructor, and the teacher representing the Group 3 Karate Club. Crewcut, glasses, moustache, thin, wearing a suit. An arrogant weasel. Group 3 Karate Club: This is the first team that Shindou's group is to face in the tournament. The main student, Aoki, is a fat-lipped ugly guy with hair that looks like moss on a rock. An arrogant bully. The rest of the team also have crew cuts, and are relatively well-built faceless minions. However, Jason-chan's more interested in grabbing Mayumi, and making sure that the smaller girl has no romantic designs on Shindou. Later, at Mayumi's house, Jason-chan eats enough food for 10 people, before grabbing the hero and heading off to sleep (Jason-chan is BIG, and has huge breasts.) Shindou escapes, and tells Mayumi that the only person he'd ever think of marrying is Mayumi, which embarrasses both of them. He then paws through her panty drawer and is chased out of the house. The next day, the three of them go to school, and the big woman wearing leathers and a hockey mask draws a bit of attention to them. Shindou escapes, and Jason-chan chases after him (locates him underneath the floor of one of the dressing rooms.) On her own, Mayumi is approached by Hiromi, who tells her that she has also become the romantic interest of Kenji (who is too gallant to do anything about it.) Shindou escapes again, but runs into Momotarou and the Ouendan. Momotarou wants to insure that their fight won't be interrupted this time, but Jason-chan (who considers all of this to be a fun game of tag) comes up and demolishes the Ouendan. Momotarou smiles and leaves, stating that the boy only has to find two more people for his team now. It takes a while for the hero and friends to accept the idea that Shindou and Tenkouji are going to team up with Jason-chan, but she demolishes trees with her forearm attacks, and asks if there are any complaints. She also reveals Shindou's promise -- if she wins in the tournament, she gets to kiss Shindou. Which ruffles the feathers of the China Rose gang, who also want to get in on the deal. Hiromi has people draw straws to see who the other two fighters will be -- eventually, Mayumi and Hiromi are chosen. With a 5-person team, Shindou can still compete, which drives Saito up the wall. But, the insane principle claims to have an ace card... Overnight, Inamori secretly trains Mayumi in a couple of very basic techniques. In the morning, Jason-chan tries to kiss the sleeping Shindou, but fails. Shindou goes to Mayumi's, and while she's sleeping, tries to kiss her, and is foiled by the alarm clock. Then, it's time for the AHSAST. [NOTE: This is actually the ELIMINATION tournament. Each school sends one person or team to the "Nationals" tournament. The rest of this story arc just concerns Shindou's team having to face the other teams from his own school.] Momotarou is angry at learning that Shindou has to fight the Group 3 Karate Club first, and the G3KC leaders try to whip up enthusiasm for the upcoming match (ridiculing the two women and the transvestite.) There's a lot of bantering between China Rose and the G3KC, making the Captain very angry. Shindou thinks this is great, except that Tenkouji bursts his bubble -- without a member of the teaching staff to represent them, they can't fight (Saito's ace card.) Meanwhile, Ooyamaneko, Nezumi, and Nisemono are nearby, running a betting parlor and taking money on who will win. Shindou goes to the Head Master's office (he appeared in the Kurara arc,) but the Head Master is now on a flight out of the country (arranged by Saito.) Further, all of the available teachers have left the school grounds (Saito's orders), and all that Shindou can find is a janitor. Until, a helicopter lands on the grounds near him. Mayumi locates a teacher who claims he'll help them out -- Kosuge. Mayumi and China Rose are pleading with Group 3 to give them more time to find a teacher (otherwise, Shindou's team forfeits, and is DQ'd) but fails (these guys firmly belong to Saito.) At the last moment, Shindou returns with 1st Year English Teacher Yurie Shikato. Momotarou ponders the fact that Shikato's Yurie is helping out the other team, and Saito goes ballistic. But, there's no putting off the tournament any longer. There's a problem with clothing, though. Hiromi wants to wear a very glittery gi, and Jason-chan can't find ANYTHING that will fit her (she gets to keep her leathers, but has to be bundled in heavy padding held in place by ropes.) The first stage is to break a stack of brick tiles. Group 3 received 48 total points. But, Mayumi gets 0, Hiromi is DQ'd for using a hammer, Jason-chan only gets 5, and Tenkouji only gets 3 (the gimmick is, for the other teams, there is a bit of space between each tile, but for Shindou's team, the tiles are in direct contact, and act like one THICK tile.) The G3KC are evilly happy as the crowd shouts for Shindou to give up and go back home, and Yurie has to calm everyone down by shouting into the PA mike. Momotarou issues his challenge to the boy, but our hero is still wearing his earplugs. Shindou has the judges stack up 80 tiles, and he breaks 50 of them with his head. When Momotarou issues his challenge again, our hero has knocked himself unconscious. Momotarou uses a variant of One Blow to destroy his 50 tiles (the judges check to see if he was using a hammer) and the rest of his team decline their turns. Yurie tells them that Momotarou trained at the Old Man's house for one hour every day, making Shindou jealous that his rival was surrounded by bunny girls so often. Out in the halls, Group 7 threatens one of the judges to try to get Koutarou's and Momotarou's tile points disqualified, but they stop on overhearing a reporter mentioning his "scoop" -- Shindou's representative teacher is the granddaughter of Momotarou's teacher; they like the possibilities inherent in this fact. Finally, the fighting starts. Jason-chan faces Matsumoto from the Group 3 Club, and kicks the guy in the balls. The club's leaders completely disable Matsumoto to get Jason-chan DQ'd, but Yurie has seen them do it (she stays quiet, though.) Next, it's Mayumi's turn, and she uses a couple of "sleeper" tactics to get one kick in to her man's ankle, then to prevent herself from getting hit until the clock runs down (Shindou finally recognizes Inamori's hand in her training.) The judges rule the match a tie. Then, it's Hiromi's turn. "She" has a terrific set of defensive moves, turning her opponent's attacks away like a spinning top. But, although "she" knocks the guy out at last, "she's" DQ'd for using the hammer again. Tenkouji quickly defeats his opponent with a FAST 3 _ippon_ attack bringing the score to 2 to 1 against, and 1 tie. Then, as Shindou prepares to face Aoki (who we all want to suffer great pain by now) he is showered by praise and cheers from the China Rose gang. (Some of the best gags revolve around the announcer's difficulty in accepting the fact that the beautiful cheerleaders are all guys, that Jason-chan is female, and that the stunning Hiromi is a transvestite wearing a man's karate gi.) Volume 21: The floor ref tells the two fighters to bow, but Shindou asks if Aoki's moss-on-rock head can be considered a weapon. Aoki is starting to steam as the China Rose cheerleaders make fun of his hair -- letting Shindou get in a perfect kick for one point. Because of their taunts, the China Rose gang is accosted by the rest of the Group 3 team. However, one of the "girls" pulls out a knife, and they start talking about having men's balls for breakfast. When the floor judge asks what the disturbance is all about, the "girls" say that Group 3 has a knife, and is threatening to cut their breasts. Group 3 runs away, but the ref tells the "girls" to settle down as well. The match starts again, and Shindou runs around until Tenkouji yells at him to hurry up -- so the boy gets in 8 ippon-kicks (he asks if they all count, but the ref only counts one of them.) Aoki is pissed now, so when the third round starts, he grabs Shindou's hair and tries to spear him in the throat; so Shindou kicks him in the balls. The ref penalizes them both for illegal attacks. At the beginning of the final round, Shindou tells Aoki that it's payback time. With a quick kick to the back of the knees, and what looks like a killing kick to the back of the head, Aoki passes out in a kneeling submissive pose that implies that Aoki is asking Mayumi for forgiveness. Shindou wins with 3 points, and the two teams are tied at 2-2. The rest of Group 3 runs away, and Kosuge refuses to face Shindou in the ring, so Group 3 defaults and Koutarou's team wins. And, Momotarou's team defeats Group 5 in three pages. Shindou's team prepares to face the next opponents, and to get revenge on whoever it was that hurt Kenji (Jason-chan is reading the rule book, and cursing that all the good attacks (the ones that kill people) are illegal.) Then, Koutarou wants to practice some "sleeper" moves with Mayumi as Group 7 watches on. Naono comments that his people should be making their moves now. Yurie is going to the toilet, when she is attacked by Kosuge and Group 3 -- they want to really hurt her, to teach her that karate is a man's sport. She asks if she can defend herself, and is told to go ahead. She very rapidly demolishes Group 3, and Kosuge finally remembers having seen Yurie's picture in the papers several years before -- she was the full contact karate champion in America at that time. The rest of the heroes run up, having heard that Yurie was being attacked, but arrive in time to trip Kosuge as the instructor tries to escape past them (Koutarou tries to hug Yurie as a present, and gets trashed as well.) In the shadows, some more high school villians watch on. Meanwhile, Group 4 wins by default (the other team didn't show up.) As they are congratulating themselves, (they'd won one tournament before, but it was a very minor one) they are challenged to a fight outside and are defeated by more high school villians. The villians demand the Group 4's karate gi's, and replace the Group 4 fighters as a "back-up" team in the tournament. Inside the school, the previous high school villians try to attack Yurie in the women's toilets. She defends herself, but it's obvious that these guys are too good to be mere high school students. Koutarou's team faces Group 4, with Jason-chan starting out (she wrote the rules on the inside of her hockey mask.) Her opponent calls her a monster, and she attacks him before the match starts. The guy gets in two massive blows (one to the top of the head, the other to the side of the face.) Jason drops, but gets up to keep fighting before blacking out. She is DQ'd, and the guy is warned about fighting before the match started, and he replies that he was just defending himself. Koutarou looks at the remains of the hockey mask that the guy had shattered. The refs are speculating that it'll take a forklift to carry Jason-chan out, but Koutarou comments that she's only 200 kg and picks her up and carries her out of the gym. Momotarou is wondering if these guys are really a part of Group 4. It's Mayumi's turn, and Hiromi gives her the hammer to use, but Tenkouji takes it away from them. They then wonder what's taking Yurie so long. In the toilets, Yurie is still fighting. She jumps over into another stall, where her old man is waiting to surprise everyone. He was in the women's toilets with a camera hidden under his hat. Shikato uses his One Blow to drop all of the villians. Yurie comments on the damage to the stalls, and the Old Man tries to loot the villians' wallets -- but they have NO money on them. Yurie asks who these guys really are, and the Old Man replies that they can ask the new batch of villians standing in the doorway. As Shindou is straining to carry Jason up the stairs to the nurse's room (which seems to be on the top floor) she wakes up and attacks him. But, she recovers, and makes him carry her again -- she'd seen a movie a long time ago, where a groom was carrying a bride across the threshold of the honeymoon hotel room, and she is overjoyed at having someone finally carry her like that scene in the movie. Koutarou is silenced, but then they start arguing over whether the two of them are going to get married. Shindou answers that he already has a sweetheart, from long ago, but chokes on saying Mayumi's name. Instead, he sees a rock concert poster on the wall, and claims that he has a crush on the lead singer, Marin-chan. In the tournament, Mayumi discovers that she now has a fanclub comprised of guys that chant out her name. Her opponent tells her that this is a good thing, and that he will provide them with a special "fan service." When the match starts, he proceeds to slowly rip the gi off of her body (revealing her panties and protective chest plate.) And, Yurie and Shikato escape from the women's toilets, to get to a better place to fight. Which is how Shindou and Jason-chan find themselves in the company of Yurie and Shikato, and surrounded by a bunch of angry villians armed with lots of martial arts weapons. Shindou refuses to help the other two out, so Shikato tells the villians that the long-haired one is Shindou Koutarou -- and they attack him, only to be stopped by Jason. Everyone gets into the act, and the Old Man finally tells the boy that he's recognized the villians -- they are Yakuza controlled by a guy named "Ya-chan", and they belong to the Naono Family. That is, Naono gave them orders to attack Yurie and Shindou, in an attempt to win the tournament again this year, through force. Shindou finally asks if they are the ones who had used acid on Yoshimi (Kenji) and is told "yes". Shindou takes a pair of sai (pointed weapons that look like short spears) and tries to stab the villian leader in the eyes with them (but Shikato stops him.) Finally, two of China Rose run up to yell out that Mayumi is in danger. Shikato wants to help, (really, to see the girl semi-nude) but Shindou pins him to the ceiling with the sai. The boy runs off. On the mats, the floor ref wants to stop the match to give Mayumi a chance to change uniforms, but the Group 4 yakuza won't allow for a time-out, and Mayumi refuses the offer because her pride has been hurt. Her opponent is just about to finish her off, when the lights go out (China Rose pulled the curtains shut over the windows, and killed the circuit breaker.) Shindou drops from the ceiling to the mat, KO's the yakuza fighter, and positions Mayumi in front of him (he also feels her exposed body a bit, too.) When the lights come on, everyone is shocked to see the unconscious fighter. Shindou explains that Mayumi had used his secret "Rolling Thunder Atomic Bomber Crush Punch" in the dark, and she goes along with the joke. The three remaining Group 4 yakuza glare. Volume 22: New Characters (or at least, their names): Mutou: The Group 7 Yakuza that is matched up against Kenji. Maeda: The Group 7 Yakuza that is matched up against Mayumi. Sakaguchi: The Group 7 Yakuza that is matched up against Hiromi. Fujinami: The Group 7 Yakuza that is matched up against Tenkouji. The judges all declare Mayumi the winner. As Yurie is doing all the fighting, one yakuza member takes Shikato hostage and tells the woman to not move. She keeps punching people, and tells the guy to go ahead and kill the old man. Shikato keeps interferring with her relationship with Inamori. So, the guy stabs Shikato in the hair-covered eye -- to lead into a Gegege no Ge Kitaro joke. Turns out that Shikato lost his left eye in an accident a long time ago, and keeps a little eyeball doll in the socket as a gag. The yakuza are finished off, and Jason-chan is found to be sitting on the floor. She's realized that the "Ma" Shindou had said wasn't for "Marin", it was the start of "Mayumi." Jason believes that the marks of a true woman are big breasts and a big butt. She asks Yurie and Shikato who has the bigger breasts (giving the old man a thrill) and tries to run off to kill Mayumi. But, she quickly keels over. Shikato finds the gash on the top of her head, which had not been caused by nunchuks. Yurie realizes the danger, and runs off, leaving little Shikato to carry Jason-chan to the hospital. Hiromi is facing "her" opponent, and Naono expects the match to end with another casualty for Shindou's team. Hiromi thinks that "she" can win, but also senses some kind of danger from the guy. Hiromi's defense is good, but finally fails. However, before the guy can elbow-drop Hiromi on the head, Yurie arrives, and hits the guy in the head with her purse ("safe".) While everyone is wondering what the deal is, Hiromi uses "her" hammer on the guy's foot -- resulting in a "ki--in" sound. Tenkouji uses his sword on the guy's hand, to reveal a pair of brass knuckles. The floor ref disqualifies the guy, and gets punched in the face. Shikato spies a man walking to the school, and drops from the window to the school grounds. It's Kenji, and his eyes are still wrapped up. The invalid senses a "tiger" attacking and counters, only to be told that it was just the old man's "ki". Shikato is impressed at Kenji' sensitivity. The other refs try to stop the 3 remaining Group 4 Yakuza, but are also attacked. Tenkouji and Shindou get into an argument over who is better, and they both trash one fighter until Naono KO's the guy with an elbow blow. Naono distracts the two heros, giving the other two yakuza time to attack from behind. The last ref wants to call the police, but Yurie puts the ref in a hammerlock first. Tenkouji uses karate on his man, KO'ing him, and Shindou uses his "strip-the-panties-off" kick to de-nude the last villian. Yurie comments that Inamori is better-hung. The ambulances finally arrive and start hauling out comatose bodies (previous years have never been this brutal.) Principal Saito takes this moment to reappear, and he blames everyone for the bloodiness of this year's tournament. As he is ranting away, one of the ambulances returns, and almost kills Saito. Shikato had commandeered the vehicle to take Jason to the hospital. Hiromi is shocked to see Kenji carrying the unconscious Jason. Kenji claims that the doctors had discharged him from the hospital, so he came to visit the team. Naono is happy, because with Jason out, Shindou doesn't have 5 team members, and can't continue fighting. So, Kenji steps in to take Jason's place. In the next match, Group 7 faces Group 1. Group 7 wins four bouts, but Naono deliberately loses his bout to disguise his true strength. Meanwhile, Shikato is trying to buy beer, which isn't allowed on the school grounds. Instead, Momotarou sends out some men to get beer (unfortunately for them, it's the wrong brand, and they are punished for the error.) Momotarou sends his men away, so he can beg the Old Man to return to the Ouendan. However, the Old Man isn't interested anymore, having decided to start training Shindou instead. Momotarou blows up a tree with One Blow, asking whether he is stronger than Shindou. But, the Old Man just walks away, pausing to thank him for the beer. The Ouendan go into their next bout, and the first 4 win easily. But, Momotarou is in a funk, and he gets hit for an ippon, and then chased out of the ring. This saddens Shikato, who thinks that nothing can be done now. While his men ask what's wrong, Shindou gives a diagnosis of "constipation", for which the only cure is "kancho" -- two fingers up the butt. Momotarou wakes up, and discovers that he's in the middle of a bout, and is losing. Shindou states that he wants Momotarou to win this one, so that he can be completely defeated by Shindou later. Momotarou's rage is high, and he KO's the other guy. Shindou sticks his dirty fingers up Tenkouji's nose, and then underneath Kenji's nose before running away. While Tenkouji and Kenji are washing up from this, they meet Momotarou in the toilets, and the Ouendan leader questions whether Kenji can fight with his eyes bandaged. So, there is a practice match in one of the dressing rooms, and Kenji disposes of the other guy with what looks suspiciously like Shikato's One Blow (actually, it's the Kung Fu equivalent, different approach, but the same results.) Then, it's Shindou's team versus Naono's Group 7, with Kenji going first. The announcer raves on about the farce of having a blind man fight: Saito had gotten to the microphone. Shindou nails the principal with a helmet. When Saito calls Tenkouji "hage", the priest throws a helmet himself. The match starts, and Naono gives a yakuza-style philosophy speech of "kill or be killed", after telling Mutou to trash Kenji. However, Kenji gets his hand on the other guy's chest, which allows him to read Mutou's actions, and to defend himself in turn. Then, Kenji uses his version of One Blow to KO his opponent. Shindou is shocked, and Kenji explains the concept of focussed energy. Next, Mayumi prepares to enter the ring, but Kenji tells her to lose the bout by running out of the ring each time the match starts. People argue, but they eventually realize that Maeda is a really mean mother. So, Mayumi forfeits, and walks off to the toilets to deal with the fact that she deliberately threw the fight. There, she finds Shikato, who is the one that gave the advice to Kenji to pass along. Then, it's Hiromi's turn, but "she" is DQ'd in the first couple of seconds for trying to use the hammer again. Tenkouji wins in two panels, and it is now Naono vs Shindou, with the score tied 2-2 (Shindou vows to defeat all 4 members of Group 7.) Standings: Mutou: KO'd, and taken to the hospital. Maeda: Wins by default (Mayumi runs out of the ring.) Sakaguchi: Wins by default (Hiromi DQ'd for using a weapon.) Fujinami: Loses on points (Tenkouji gets 3 ippons.) Volume 23: Haruta: Momotarou's moustached teammate. Natsumi: Momotarou's ugly, freckled, big-lipped teammate. Akiyama: Momotarou's sleepy-looking teammate. Fuyuki: Momotarou's teammate with the "checkmark" eyebrows. Genzaburou Oonishiki: A very fat, arrogant sumo instructor. He is the teacher representing Momotarou's team, but doesn't actually make an appearance at the tournament until book 25. Shindou is getting ready to fight, when Mayumi and Shikato come in. The boy is distracted by the Old Man's laying down in Mayumi's lap, preventing the floor ref from being able to start the fight. The ref is getting pissed at how messy this tournament is turning out to be. The bout starts, but Shindou is kicked out of the ring -- he uses the chance to KO Maeda with an elbow to the neck. In the next round, Naono deliberately chases the boy out of the ring in the direction of Sakaguchi (he gets KO'd with a heel to the jaw.) Fujinami screams about this being intentional, but Shindou denies it. In the following round, Shindou avoids Naono's kick, by somersaulting backwards, and smashing down on Fujinami's balls (and finishing the guy off with a fart in the face.) This just leaves Naono as the last functioning member of Group 7. However, with all of the running out of the ring, Shindou loses one point as the equivalent of an ippon blow. They keep fighting, and when Shindou thinks that he has found the hole in Naono's defense (Naono's right side is open to a roundhouse kick) he attacks, only to take an ippon punch in the face. People are starting to realize that the Naono that is fighting so well now, is the same guy who had lost every single match up to this bout. Shindou is down 2-0, and while everyone is wondering what's wrong, Shikato explains that the boy is wearing an older style face protector that limits the wearer's vision both to the sides and down in front of him. This means that Shindou can't see when a kick is being started. The Old Man throws a better helmet in to the boy, but Shindou refuses it, saying that he was aware of the problem all along. They start again, but now Naono is running away, to win by letting the clock tick down. So, the boy fakes tripping up near the edge of the ring. Naono falls for the trap, and gets an ippon kick to the face. Naono claims that it was a lucky blow, and the boy throws out a bunch of short jabs to show that he knows whether he'll hit his opponent, and "accidently" pops Naono in the facemask. The next round starts. When there's 10 seconds left on the clock, Shindou decides to imitate the Old Man's "100 Person Attack", and gets past Naono's defense with an ippon punch to the side of the head (this surprises both Momotarou and Shikato.) However, the timekeeper claims that Shindou was 1 second too late. Until the real timekeeper, who is trussed up with ropes, rolls out from under the table. Saito's disguise is blown, and the real timekeeper says that there was one second left. The judges declare the match a draw, so that Naono and Shindou have to fight again. Shindou collapses, and Shikato (who berated the boy for only doing a "3 Person Attack") suddenly remembers that when he'd first done this technique himself, it had taken all the energy from his body, and it required a full day to recover. (Momotarou knows how difficult this trick is, and he was the only other one to have actually seen the punch that hit Naono.) Shindou manages to stand up, and enters the ring for the tie-breaker bout. However, he's now seeing 3 of everyone. He splits the difference, to get an ippon punch to Naono's face. He drop-sweeps Naono, then gets in a second ippon blow -- this time a kick to the face. Naono is hurting, but he's more concerned about the Yakuza guards that have just entered the building to watch on (Ya-chan's men.) Naono tries a kick to the groin, but it fails, and turns into a throw. Helpless on his back, Naono watches as Shindou uses a 2-fingered attack for the eyes through the holes in the facemask. Naono passes out, and Shindou collapses. However, an attack for the eyes is illegal, so Shindou has to get his final ippon blow in as a killing punch to the face. But, Kenji flicks a photo of Mayumi, which lands between the facemask and Shindou's fist. Shindou stops the punch, but still wins with the third ippon. Kenji tells him that it's not worth the penalties of killing garbage like Naono. Then, the Yakuza come down to drag Naono away, vowing to take care of Shindou later. (Shindou hides the photo before Mayumi can see what it is.) At the hospital, Jason is trashing doctors in her bid to return to the tournament to receive her kiss from her "darling." Yurie has arrived to visit her, and uses a flying kick to the back of Jason's head to get the patient calmed down enough to return her to her bed. At this time, an ambulance arrives, with Shindou in it. Momotarou and the floor ref had to calm the crowd down to allow the tournament to be continued the next day to give Shindou time to recover and to give everyone a good performance. Kenji has also come to the hospital, and the nurses recognize him as the escaped patient they've been desperately looking for. Kenji is locked up in a prison cell in the basement. In the evening, Mayumi is given the task of towel-drying Shindou (which embarrasses the hell out of her, as the China Rose gang watch on from outside the window.) She discovers her photo crumbled up in Shindou's clenched fist, and she asks him why he'd hid it at the tournament (he's still passed out.) Saito sneaks into the hospital, and disguised as a nurse, tells Mayumi that there's a phonecall for her. But, as Saito is trying to inject the boy with enough chemicals to keep him unconscious for several days, the Naono Yakuza enter the hospital disguised as doctors, and interrupt the crazed principal. Tenkouji discovers three doctors tied up in a closet, and partly foils the yakuza's attempt to sneak Shindou out on a gurney. Jason hears that her darling is in trouble, and she wakes up to trash anything that looks like a doctor. Finally, Jason wins, and takes the opportunity to kiss her darling, who turns out to be the unconscious Saito, wearing his nurse's wig. Mayumi and Tenkouji find Shindou safely asleep under his bed, where Saito had stashed him before hiding under the covers when the yakuza had entered the room. (The yakuza hit what they thought was Shindou, on the back of the head with a stool.) (There was a driver outside, waiting for the three yakuza inside, but he was disabled by Yurie.) (If any man ever gets kissed by Jason-chan, they will probably choke to death on the saliva.) [NOTE: In this volume, several members of some Japanese rock bands appear in the coverflap photo with Hirota. Further, Hirota draws the same people into the audience scenes during the tournament.] Volume 24: Oyaji Naono -- Kimihiro's father, and leader of the Kantou Yuujin yakuza. This square-jawed, older version of Kimihiro has a really nasty scar leading away from the edge of his left eye. (His name is a play on "oyaji", a gruff way of saying "dad.") The trussed up Yakuza still talk big, threatening Tenkouji and Mayumi. At the Kantouyuujin Yakuza branch HQ, Oyaji is berating his son's performance at the tournament, but then lightens up at seeing the boy's downcast face. Kimihiro promises to get revenge on the other kids, which makes Oyaji happy. They're about to drink some wine to relax, when Mayumi's father breaks in and shoots the place up. The Tokyo Chief of Police doesn't like having his daughter threatened. Everyone in the HQ building is arrested and taken downtown. Then, when the building is empty, Shikato and one of his bunnygirl maids use his fighter jet to destroy the building. The next day, Momo is outside, training by spearing falling leaves with two of his fingers. He runs afoul of Shindou, and says that the boy should stay in the hospital, since Momo doesn't want the shame of defeating a cripple. However, Shindou returns to the hospital to use a ninja trick to free Kenji from the doctors (one is Black Jack) (he's using leaves soaked in chloroform.) The papers announce that the last matches will be held at an outside ring. Before the starting time, Harry Nezumi, Nisemono, and Ouyamaneko burst into the dressing tent to announce that they've made a killing acting as bookies. Unfortunately, they say this in front of two members of the Decency League (Tenkouji and Mayumi), and get tied up and their money confiscated. The group starts wondering where Shikato, Shindou, and Kenji have gotten to. As the answer to part of this question, Shindou is outside, asking Kenji to pound him with the Kung-fu version of One Blow in an attempt to understand how to counter it. So, when the starting time arrives, Shindou's condition is not so good. The first round pits Shindou against Momo, to the crowd's delight. But, before things can get rolling, Jason-chan wakes up from beneath the wooden fight platform (where Shikato put her) and disturbs everyone. Hiromi claims that with Kenji in the line-up, Jason isn't needed. So, Jason attacks Kenji to put him back in the hospital, but accidently punches Hiromi in the chest (cracking several of "her" ribs.) So, a happy Jason is back in the line-up, replacing Hiromi. Shindou and Momo face off, and their bout starts. Momo is doing really well, but Shindou keeps goofing off and using pro wrestling moves in return. Eventually, both sides have penalties for stepping out of the ring. Momo tries to use One Blow, but he's hurt his wrist in an earlier counter block, and One Blow doesn't work. Shindou keeps pounding the injured wrist, and when Momo picks the boy up to throw him into the stands, Shindou escapes and Momo throws himself out. The humiliation of their leader is too much to take for the Ouendan team, so they rush the ring to attack Shindou. Jason-chan rushes in to protect her Darling, and a huge brawl erupts. Momo stays on the sidelines, thinking about what Shindou said just before the brawl started -- "That sport karate is fine for sport, but what good is that kind of karate if it can be defeated by a pro wrestler?" In the resulting flashback, we see an arrogant 16 year-old punk named Momotarou. He's just entered the Oendan group as a first year student, and he fails to respect the authority of the no-name 60+ year-old student, Shikato. Shikato praises Momo's karate for it's technical skill, but humiliates the boy with some pro wrestling moves. Eventually, Momo realizes that both Shikato and Shindou are correct, and he gets his fighting spirit back. Only to witness the 300-person strong Ouendan group being trashed by Jason-chan, Shindou, and Tenkouji (part of the escalation occurred when Jason fell on the Ouendan's prized kettle drum and smashed it.) (Note: In Japan, some cheerleading groups occasionally use a big bass drum ("Oodaiko") as part of the way to make more noise and arouse the crowd's fever.) The floor ref wants to disqualify both teams, but gets a trank dart to the back of the neck by Shikato (the Old Man is hiding under a trapdoor, under the chair of one of the corner judges.) Jason-chan has grabbed the Ouendan's big flag pole, and is swinging it around to trash more people. Momo steps in, and using one arm, throws Jason back into the ring. Momo berates his followers, and everything settles down. Jason is stunned, realizing that Momo is stronger than her Darling. With the floor ref out of action, and all of the back-up refs in the hospital, the remaining refs are trying to figure out how to find a replacement, while the crowd is threatening to torch the ring. The refs want to take a 30 minute break, which Shindou is afraid would allow Momo's arm to recover. Then, Inamori and Yurie return from their date, and Inamori announces that even though he's just a high school student, he is a 5th degree black belt. The other judges ok the deal, but are stunned to learn that Inamori wants the top position of floor ref. When Inamori announces the continuation of the bout, Yurie yells out that he sounds so studly, and Inamori's brain locks up. Both teams don't want Inamori on the floor, because they think he'll show favoritism. But, when Momo attacks before the start of the match, Inamori easily stops the punch with one hand, and just as easily stops Shindou's "kick for the balls counter" with one foot. The other refs want both sides to be penalized for this illegal action, but Inamori thinks that with the penalties canceling each other out, they can be ignored. Momo says it's ok, he'll accept the penalty (Shindou wants an additional penalty -- against Momo's big eyebrow ridges.) The round starts again, and Momo slams the back of Shindou's head into the ground, and follows it with One Blow to the face mask. But, Shindou forces himself to straighten back up, while Inamori is saying that if the boy succeeds, he'll get an ippon (the other refs object.) Shindou wins, and Inamori gives him an ippon (which in this case translates to "one long thin object" -- a pubic hair.) Inamori plucked out two hairs, and gives one to Momo as well (the hair gets inside Momo's mask, and the guy accidently swallows it.) Jason yells out that Shindou MUST beat Momo, because Momo is apparently stronger than him. (Shindou remembers using Jason's sledge hammer to throw her, back in Block D, and contrasts that with Momo's one-armed throw using the flag pole.) Shindou's mind freezes up, when he realizes that winning the match means that he might have to marry Jason, but losing means that Momo gets Jason. The match starts again, and Momo sneaks in, wondering if Shindou's inactivity is a trap. Shindou suddenly wakes up and fires off an ippon punch to Momo's face (Momo realizes that it was a trap, and Shindou asks if the match started already.) The boy decides that he can't let himself lose, no matter how good the reasons are. Momo punches with his injured arm, and Shindou uses a scissors block to stop it. Volume 25: Shindou has Momotarou's punching arm trapped, so the villian kicks -- Shindou leaps up and over him, to perform a wrestling "bridge" throw. To stop it, Momo hooks his leg, kicking the boy in the balls. Inamori rules the kick and the bridge to both be illegal. There's a lot of fighting, and Akiyama declares Shindou's karate to be the real thing. The clock is running down, and Momo uses the roundhouse, back heel return kick that Shindou demonstrated back when the two of them were first fighting on the water tower. Shindou falls for it, giving Momo time to use One Blow on him. Shindou flies out of the ring and into the chairs. Momo is now even-up on points, and convinced that Shindou is paralyzed by the blow. However, the boy struggles back in, claiming that the Old Man's One Blow was stronger. But, he's obviously hurting. Momo uses One Blow again, and Shindou uses a flying kick to attack the villian's fists -- they are both blown backwards, and Inamori rules it a "no-pointer." However, Momo's right arm is paralyzed, as are Shindou's legs. Momo tries for a last kick as the clock runs out, and Shindou counters with a fart to the face (Inamori wishes that the fart had been delivered BEFORE the time out.) The corner judges rule the match a tie, as does Inamori. The crowd, and Momo, are convinced that if there had been 30 seconds left, Shindou would have lost. This galls the boy. However, Jason is happy, because she can fight again (the cheerleaders add that she can be disqualified again, too.) Shindou asks if Jason really wants to see him fight in a great showdown match with Momo, and Jason really does. Shindou whispers advice in her ear. Jason is confident as she faces Haruta. After a brief combat, Jason grabs both of the guy's legs, and pulls them far apart. Haruta passes out from the pain, and Jason is DQ'd, which is what Shindou told her to do. Tenkouji realizes that for a good showdown match, the boy wants the score at 2-2 again. Mayumi hates the idea of being the other person who is expected to lose, and she tries to fight Natsumi in a fair match (ie -- not running away.) Natsumi's concentration is ruined with Shikato's and Shindou's help (Shikato has a radio in Mayumi's helmet, and he tells her to expose her chest. Natsumi almost suffers a nosebleed. Then, Shindou pulls up Yurie's shirt, causing Inamori to complain that Yurie's suspenders are blocking the view of her nipples.) Natsumi steps out of the ring, getting a penalty, and putting Mayumi in the position of winning by letting the clock run out. Unfortunately, Jason realizes that by losing her match just now, she can't collect on the kiss from "Darling." In a rage, Jason rushes the ring to kill Mayumi, KO'ing Natsumi, and causing Mayumi to be DQ'd. Shindou now learns that Shikato has Mayumi's breast protector wired to open up on command (Kenji still can't see, but he still suffers a nosebleed.) Shindou has no idea where Shikato is hiding, but Momo spotted the Old Man right away. With the score at 2-0, Tenkouji enters the ring to fight Akiyama. However, Akiyama spent 10 years studying Tekondou (Tae kwon do) in Korea, so his karate is something completely new to the hage. Akiyama gets in an ippon kick to the head. Finally, the priest declares that he's done playing around, and he uses a form of open-handed kendo (sword fighting, without the sword,) to KO Akiyama and win his match. It's now Kenji's turn, but before he and Fuyuki can start, Oonishiki shows up and calls a timeout. The fat coach tells Fuyuki to do absolutely nothing. This disgusts everyone, but Momo and Fuyuki have to respect the orders of their superior. The fat one says that because Kenji can't see Fuyuki, he can't hit Fuyuki if Fuyuki doesn't attack. And, that leaves the score at 2-1, and Momo's team will win. Momo doesn't like this "sumo" way of thinking, but it's up to Kenji to leave the ring and kick Oonishiki in the chest. Shindou runs up to help his blind friend, and "accidently" trips and elbows the fat one in the head. With the coach out of the way, Fuyuki happily fights for real, but is still KO'd by Kenji's kung-fu version of One Blow. Kenji wins, then collapses (he had been fighting with his whole body, since his eyes don't work, and it had exhausted him.) Shindou and Momo enter the ring again, but this time Shindou refuses to wear body protection, so Momo takes off his chest protector and helmet as well. The corner judges decide to cancel the match because of the danger, so Inamori backfists them all in the head. Inamori has to defend his actions to Shindou, and the Old Man finally crawls out of his hole. As the only remaining, functioning ref, Inamori changes all of the rules, to the crowd's delight: 1) No body protection; 2) Full contact; 3) Shikato is the sole judge; 4) There are no illegal moves -- anything goes. (Inamori ends the announcement in a perfect dance pose.) Shikato refers to Momo as one of the two "worthy fighters", making Momo proud. The Old Man says that his form of karate needs no rules as to what is illegal, because of the integrity of the fighters, but Shindou replies that his karate doesn't use rules because EVERYTHING you can get away with is acceptable. He attacks Momo before the match can start. Volume 26: The fight continues, and Momo realizes that without the armor, Shindou fights better and faster. However, he also decides to match Shindou move for move. When the boy makes a killer attack, it is always evenly countered. It takes Tenkouji a long time to realize that this is intentional. Both sides take a lot of damage, and a couple of tournament officials want to cancel the battle but can't because Shikato outranks them. The announcer constantly rants on about the fight, and the fact that all the good moves would normally be illegal. Eventually, while the old man realizes that the boy is really good, Mayumi realizes that Shindou is having lots of fun being able to fight full-out. In one good encounter, Shindou double-somersaults to catch Momo with a kick to the chin, only to get an equally devastating kick to the stomach. It is at this point that Shindou throws up (for breakfast, he'd eaten a whole fish, and the intact skeleton is now on the mat. Next to the fish bones is the gem he'd swallowed back in D Block. Shikato quietly pockets the gem.) Momo also makes the mistake of headbutting Shindou (the boy's head IS stronger than rock.) Finally, Momo and Shindou are looking like hell, and the villian decides to quit playing and use One Blow. Shindou smiles. When the attack comes, the boy is unaffected. Everyone is stunned, and in a flashback, we learn that Shindou had talked to Kenji about how the kung-fu version worked and if there is a counter to it ("There isn't.") Shindou thought there should be.) We are told that One Blow is all a matter of timing, and Shindou has learned Momo's timing, and is beating it. In return, Shindou uses One Blow on Momo (no one taught him this, he learned it on his own) and blows the villian into the audience. Momo crawls back into the ring, but announces that he has lost. Momo collapses and Shindou is declared the winner (the boy admits that he couldn't last another 30 seconds either.) Momo tells the Old Man that Shindou really is good, and he admits it now. He also heard Shikato call out his name in concern when he was blown out of the ring, and he feels better now. Shikato had done so, but he denies it now. Shindou falls asleep. Around him, Jason and the China Rose Gang are arguing over who gets to kiss the boy. [End of the AHSAST story arc.] The second half of the book is taken up by a couple of silly one-shot gags, including one with Tenkouji and Shindou stranded on an island where Mayumi is an outcast native girl. Volume 27: Gou-ichi Busugawara: Leader of the Mugenryuu (Limitless Techniques) karate club. Gou-ichi is a big man, with a face like a bull dog. He has a big callus on his forehead, and punishes people by headbutting them. The club has a reputation for attacking people with weapons, and seriously hurting everyone. Gou-ichi took over the club after the previous leader was put in jail. Gou-ichi's karate is very good, and he likes cats. Redei: (Only has one name.) Redei is a based on Freddy, of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. He loves knives, hates people, uses lots of gimmicks instead of being a talented fighter, and is terrified of cats. Looks just like Freddy, too. Anata: The old Mugenryuu dojo captain. He has finally been released from jail. He wears a long heavy black coat, and a scarf over his nose and mouth. Absolutely massive, with a big bald head. Is powerful, but stupid (he is basically controlled by Redei.) When he gets angry, the veins on top of his head pop up -- and he looks like a melon. Anata is simply a huge monster. (Normally, "anata" is used by married couples as we would say "dear." However, Tatsuya put two kanji ("hole" and "field") together, to be pronounced as "Anata." Redei says "anata" as if he is the monster's wife.) Kaitarou Shimosaki: A classmate of Shindou's and Mayumi's, dating back to elementary school. A rather vain person, Kaitarou at least knows his limits. He has bad teeth, and is a poor speaker. He wants to join the tennis club, where he can stare at girls in short skirts. However, he is kidnapped by the Mugenryuu and forced to learn karate. The eternal victim. This is the beginning of a two-part one-shot featuring Gou-ichi and Redei. Basically, this is a flashback story, when our heros were in their first year at high school. It is April, and all the first year students are being recruited into various clubs. Shindou decides to enter Mugenryuu, the most notorious karate club on the school grounds, because it's dojo is centrally located to all of the girls' sports clubs. Shindou is challenged to run 50 kilometers, and does so. Gou-ichi then challenges the boy to a fight to test his strength. Mayumi interferes and it's a draw. The girl later explains that Gou-ichi is not the bad guy -- it's Redei and the old club captain that are the real villians. Anata gets out of jail, and beats up most of the Mugenryuu. With Anata's help, Redei shreds Gou-ichi and puts him in the hospital. [Note: Gou-ichi, Redei, and Anata lend themselves to "The Freak Show" title I've given to this one-shot.] Volume 28: Shindou claims to have no interest in the situation, but in fact, he tracks the bad guys down and takes forever to whittle down Anata's gang. Anata is almost indestructable, but with repeated blows to the forehead, is KO'd. Redei is harder to deal with, since he has knives hidden in his clothing and shoes. Strapped to one leg, he even has a gun barrel with an exploding bullet. But, using large rocks as a counter, Shindou breaks the blades, and finally beats the shit out of the villian. As a last humiliating act, he ties Redei up, puts fish around his neck, and places Redei in a cage filled with cats. Throughout the story, Shindou has been stealing windows, doors, and furniture for use in repairing the Mugenryuu dojo, while also adding lots of secret triggers and weapons as Ninja-style "training aids." Gou-ichi gets out of the hospital, and challenges Shindou again. This time, he clearly loses. He gives the dojo to Shindou, and leaves for Kyuushuu (the next island down from mainland Japan. One of the cities there is Nagasaki.) Shinjou laughs that Gou-ichi is stupid at gifting him with the building, then curses again. It's raining outside, and the roof leaks. It's hard to tell if it's just the rain dropping on his cheek, or if the boy is crying at Gou-ichi's leaving. [Note: None of the characters introduced in the Freak Show one-shot ever appear in later books. However, this explains how Shindou got the building that he was training in back in volume 1.] Volume 29: Kaoru Bireiin: The pretty boy, head of the karate club at Saint Michaels' High School for Girls. He isn't exactly effeminate, but is often mistaken for being a girl. He uses the "Handsome Gentleman's" form of karate that looks like ballet, and has the "Scorpion" sting-style attack -- one blow, if placed right, can either make you throw up uncontrollably, or cause your bowels to relax completely. A kick to the top of the head can instantly KO ANYONE. We are at the AHSAST, in the singles' rounds, with Momo watching on. Kaoru is in the ranks and he goes up against our hero (off the mat, he tries to seduce Mayumi, but fails.) By the end of the book, Kaoru and Shindou have defeated everyone else to finally face each other in the last bout. Shindou gets bashed a little, but he recovers and uses "4 Person Attack" and "One Blow." The only real point behind this one-shot story is that Shikato decides that Shindou's ability to copy other people's styles and use it against them is justification for him to take the boy on as a student. The "Pretty Boy" story ends at the beginning of Volume 30, and acts as the introduction to the next major story arc. === This marks the end of Part 2 of the Koutarou Guide === ISDN information [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-173156-4 C0279, 370 yen] -- 18 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-173174-2 C0279, 380 yen] -- 19 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-173191-2 C0279, 380 yen] -- 20 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311212-8 C0279, 380 yen] -- 21 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311230-6 C0279, 380 yen] -- 22 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311259-4 C0279, 380 yen] -- 23 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311277-2 C0279, 370 yen] -- 24 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311295-0 C0279, 380 yen] -- 25 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311314-0 C0279, 370 yen] -- 26 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311333-7 C0279, 380 yen] -- 27 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311354-X C0279, 380 yen] -- 28 [Kodansha Comics, ISBN4-06-311372-8 C0279, 380 yen] -- 29 ==================================================================== Omake (Extras) One of the fun little gimmicks in this manga is the "guest" appearances of other characters from time to time. This "crossover" includes the following characters (note, this list includes volumes 1 to 27) (There are a few others who I can't identify): Ken, of Hokuto no Ken fame Popeye The Dirty Pair (in reference only, "Lovely Angel" is on a t-shirt) Black Jack (Tezuka's scarred miracle-working surgeon) Michael Jackson (from the Thriller video) Fuji Color Film ad guy (famous Japanese rock star, don't know his name) Half of the cast from Gegege no Ge Kitaro, including Kitaro himself Mario, from the Super Mario game Super Doctor K (hero from a different story in Shonen Magazine) Michael (the cat from What's Michael?) ==================================================================== -- Curtis H. Hoffmann Jan. 27, 1994