English Dub Review: Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens “Hit and Run”

It’s tragic backstory time!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Ling’s been working nights to help out Jirou with his vengeance contracts, and returns home in the morning to find Banba, the scamp, that he is, giving him crap for being out so late. The two exchange some friendly banter and shoot the breeze, watching the baseball game and chilling as friends do. As Banba leaves to go practice at the batting cages, Ling realizes how much softer he’s become since moving in here, a far cry from what he used to be.

Later, we see our old pal, Shunsuke at his dingy hideout, practicing his shuriken throw. He’s gotten rusty since clients have been skittish to hire him on account of his brash behavior in the past, but his manager says he’s got a job to get him out of this slump. Meanwhile, the Tonkotsu Ramens are out on the baseball field, relishing in the sunshine. Banba and the old man teach Ling some baseball signs, and a good time is had by all. That is until Ling starts getting haunted by phantoms of his past; and just like that, its flashback time.

Ling’s thoughts go back in time, to when he was a kid in a destitute village, trying to take care of his sister. Soon, however, he gets sold off with a bunch of other young boys to a school that trains killers. There, we see the cruel tutelage he undergoes to become the assassin we know now. His becomes a life of discipline in a school that’s really more of a prison than anything else. Yet, here he finds friendship with his roommate, Feilang, who’s the last roommate killed himself. The two decide to form a partnership to survive this place and get through their training.

Soon, their bond deepens, and the two share their life stories with each other. We learn that Ling actually sold himself off in order to get some mom for his mother so that she could take care of his little sister. Feilang shares that his mother was a hooker, and he actually prefers this place to what his life used to be.

Ling and Feilang grow up together, enduring all their hardships as two halves of the same whole. Four years after their hardships begin, the two are the highest ranked students in the school, standing tall above their trials. The two discuss that they should work together when they finally get out of this school and remark on how much they needed each other. Only one trial awaits, them, and the two boys resolve to finish strong.

Yet, their happy ending is not to be. Their final exam is none other than a fight to the death with each other. Whoever kills the other is the victor, and if they refuse, both are to be executed by their captors. The two try to beat their captors at their own game, however, by pretending to fight each other so they can land some hits on the chains holding the cage shut. It seems their plan might work, until, at the last moment, Feilang stabs Ling right in the back. Why? Because Feilang says, he wants to win.

Turns out, Feilang’s roommate never killed himself. He killed him under the impression that he might not have to undergo any more training. It was all a ruse! Feilang was just pretending to be Ling’s friend for four years, for…some reason. It looks like Ling is done for, but then turns around and slashes Feilang across the face, taking the victory for himself. Covered in blood, he holds his former friend in his arms, and graduates from the cruel institution, having discarded his humanity along the way.

Back in the present, Banba wakes up Ling from his daydreaming, and the two go back to enjoying their game.

Our Take:

I was pleasantly surprised with how most of this episode turned out. Explanation of Ling’s background is long overdue, and I actually found it to be an emotional, decently executed tale of two boys finding brotherhood in the darkest of places. That is, until, the completely nonsensical twist was revealed that Feilang was actually just pretending the entire time. For four years, pretending to be someone’s friend; a concept that is completely ludicrous to me. Why would he bother with going through all the trouble of faking all those emotional connections the two had over the years? Just for the off chance that he might have to kill this person at some point down the line? It completely baffles me. This week, it was one step forward, and two steps back.