English Dub Review: Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens “Shortstop”

Ling just can’t catch a break.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Banba is enjoying some time at the batting cages, practicing his batting arm. But soon, he’s interrupted by Shunsuke, who starts mocking Banba for being a lousy hitter. Pretty soon, the two’s playful banter turns to anger, and the two are at it each other’s throats. Meanwhile, Ling, back at Banba’s home, is still caught up in the past over the loss of his friend back in the assassin academy he was sold to.

Soon, he’s interrupted by a mysterious woman, Sayuri, at the door, looking for Banba. He soon returns, and its revealed that she’s an old fling of his with some vital information. She presents them with a list of targets: heads of the Kankyu Association, the crime syndicate that’s been giving them so much trouble in the past. Banba is planning to take their heads, one by one.

Later, we come to Shunsuke’s manager, meeting with a potential client from a powerful Chinese mafia that’s trying to make a move into Japan. He offers to sign on Shunsuke exclusively, a deal which is gladly accepted. The mafia rep gives Shunsuke’s manager two targets for Shunsuke to assassinate, show what he’s made of.

The hunt is on for Ling and Banba’s hit list, and the two set about taking out their first target. They disguise themselves to get in the boss’s office, but soon slices up their target with a katana decoratively placed on the wall. Meanwhile, Shunsuke takes out his first target, leaving a shuriken behind him to indicate that he was there. Banba and Ling are soon informed of the murder from Banba’s police friend, and, upon hearing about the shuriken, realize that Shunsuke is responsible. Similarly, Shunsuke finds that Banba and Ling killed his second target, which presents something of a curious situation to find himself in.

Later, the Kankyu Association is set to retaliate against these murders and locks down their organization defensively to protect the rest of their executives. They hire a hitman to strike back at Shunsuke, and find none other than Ling’s old friend Feilang to help them out. He joins up with the Kankyu, though he seems more interested in finding Ling than anything else, and asks the Kankyu organization rep that picks him up to look into Ling. Meanwhile, Enokida finds out about the Kankyu lockdown from his informant in the organization, who is becoming suspicious that they know he’s an informant.

In a moment of great coincidence, Ling passes by Feilang on the street and is shaken by the sight. Seeing Feilang weighs heavy on him, resulting in nightmares of his past. Banba, discouraged that the Kankyu are all in hiding, tries to cheer Ling up, but it’s to no avail. Ling becomes consumed with distrust, comparing his friendship with Banba to his friendship with Feilang. Unable to reconcile the phantoms of his past, he decides to leave Banba, letting him know of his departure through nothing but a note. Meanwhile, Feilang has finished assassinating his target, and as a reward gets information from the Kankyu rep about Ling.

Enokida is having a good time with Yamato, using his hacking prowess to put a stop to the crime before it happens, when he sees Ling with his suitcase trying to leave town. He asks Ling what’s up, and admonishes him for trying to leave so suddenly. Later, Shunsuke is informed by his manager that he’s needed to defend his new boss’s turf, which is under attack by Feilang. The butcherous assassin is proving too much for the Kankyu to handle, and his violent tendencies might soon send the Kankyu into an all-out war with their new competition.

That night, Enokida comforts Ling and tries to convince him to stay. Ling is still upset, but Enokida’s also got a job for him. He shows Ling footage of Feilang killing his Kankyu informant, which shocks Ling to his core. He now knows for sure that Feilang is in town, and, tasked by Enokida to take revenge for his informant, is now set to kill him.

Then, the episode finishes with a cliffhanger of Shunsuke approaching Feilang over his most recent victims. Knife in hand, he stands, ready to take on Feilang in a fight to the death.

 

Our Take:

This episode was certainly a plus compared to the disastrous plot of last week’s Hakata Tonokotsu Ramens. I found myself excited to see what happens next in each scene, with a lot of interesting plot developments occurring with decent impact and pacing. Feilang is genuinely pretty terrifying, and his significance to our main character’s is palpable, a far cry from the villains this series usually has. Overall, the setup of Ling vs. Feilang with the addition of Shunsuke being thrown into the mix is being built up quite well, and with any luck will be brought to skillful fruition next week.