Always bring a gun to a scissor fight.
An observation – never watch Gachiakuta right after watching One Punch Man (or vice-versa). It’s a shame they both air on the same day, because that makes comparisons almost unavoidable. And they’re exceedingly unkind to OPM. But not only that, it’s hard not to go to the “man, what if Bones was making this show?” place. The fact that we sort of know the answer to that question – thanks Madhouse’s Season 1 – somehow makes it even worse.
We start off in the aftermath of the Jabber-Zanka rematch, which as we know has ended badly for the latter. But a most unfamiliar thing for battle shounen happens – a gunshot rings out. And Jabber falls, with a wound to the leg. He’s surprised, naturally – that’s not exactly something you see coming. There are no immediate answers as to who fired it – instead, we port over to the Enjin confrontation. For its part that’s going absolutely nowhere, as the little fellow (turns out his name is Fu, Cthoni reveals) continuers to cower in hiding. He reveals his terror at being the slowest to win his battle – Zodyl would not be pleased, clearly – but seemingly can’t act unless Enjin strikes first. Which for his part, he cheerfully refuses to do.
The featured bout this week is the salon battle, and Bones once more pulls out all the stops – including an insert song. Riyo and Noerde have a right old time of it, sparring verbally as much as physically. Where this gets really cool is when both of them set aside their vital instruments (in Noerde’s case a necessity) and just set to straight-up whaling on each other. Which goes on for quite a while, and over time it becomes clear that Noerde is gaining a slight upper hand. Which, it should be noted, means that in the two fights where actual fighting has taken place the Raiders have won both.
Or so would be the case if Riyo didn’t take matters into her own hand (one is all she needs). It’s a very Indiana Jones moment to be sure – at the end of a gonzo martial arts battle one combatant takes out a gun and pops the other. Noerde is shocked, and her surprise is ours if we’re shounen fans – that shit just doesn’t happen very often. It seems very dirty pool, but it certainly steals victory from the scissors of defeat. Riyo reveals that she’s promised Enjin – on whose “leash” she’s tethered – not to kill anyone else. We know from the Zanka flashback that she’s been riding handgun with Enjin for a while, but apparently at some point before that she was an assassin for hire.
Riyo comes at this from a dark place, to be sure. But she takes her promise to Enjin seriously enough to inflict what she declares to be flesh wounds to Noerder and, later, Jabber (that was her shot, obviously). I mean I don’t know how she knows they aren’t going to bleed to death, especially after she puts four or five holes in Jabber, but she seems satisfied. She also makes it clear that she has a certain affection for Rudo, and a curiosity about who he really is and where his story will take him.
Cthoni pops in to update Zodyl on the state of the various showdowns, and the latter seems surprised they haven’t all ended quickly in his favor. He’s also losing patience with Rudo, who’s still in pit bull puppy mode and refuses to consider his offer seriously. At this point he and Cthoni take Rudo to meet the trash beast (which Guita is cowering in fear of) that Rudo’s allies were supposed to have been offered up to. And there gives Rudo a demonstration of the power of those gloves he wears – and his own coat, and Amo’s boots. Just what the “Watchman Series” is remains a mystery, but there’s no question that these Jinki are unlike any others we’ve seen.
