English Dub Review: Tribe Nine: “Let the Chaos Begin”
Overview: The Ota Tribe battle the rest of the Minato Tribe in an XB game for possession of Aoyama (John Van Doren).
Our Take: Chaos get unleashed when the Ota Tribe finally puts their plans in motion to take out Aoyama under orders of the Chiyoda Tribe. Aoyama and secrets go together like peanut butter and jelly, and with Chioyoda’s Yui telling Aoyama of Ota targeting him, it makes his secrets that much more tantalizing as they are clearly acquainted in some way.
The Ota Tribe is as hectic as one would think when they were first introduced with Kiyoshiro being a rebellious and crazy member constantly trying to kill the gang’s leader, Fucho. The last episode ending scene just how much of wild and brutal enforcer Ota’s leader is, so it makes for great scenes when they are confrontational with one another and Kiyoshiro still plotting his murder.
However, while the Ota tribe may be imposing, when they do take on the Minato tribe in an XB game, their skills leave much to be desired with them not even knowing how to play. Suffice to say, this comes back to bite them in the ass hard because they end up trailing behind Minato. Of course, underhanded tactics are common amongst these games within rival XB teams. Each team conducts this in different ways and that is always the inevitable twist to look forward to in these games. This time around it is in the Ota tribe hacking the mediator bots, not allowing them to enforce rules, while also using equipment that is more than questionable in the danger they present.
Eventually, Haru finds out that the gang member who threw him to the wolves when he first arrived in Neo-Tokyo, Yasuhiro, is actually working for Ota and is assigned with killing him. He was always a character since he appeared with his sudden desire to help Haru. However, he was convincing and seemed honest in wanting to make amends for his previous wrongdoing, with him having an air of uncertainty around him. His consecutive betrayal came from the Ota tribe in him being coerced and tricked into thinking they strapped a bomb to his chest. At this point, Yasuhiro is just an unfortunate character whose downfall was inevitable when Aoyama took him down.
Unsurprisingly, Aoyama ain’t squeaky clean himself as Fucho reveals to Haru that he was a previous member of the Chiyoda Tribe, kicked to the curb and now using the Minato Tribe to exact his revenge. Just when Haru is losing hope for the millionth time, Taiga appears to save the day. Hopefully, the rowdy redhead can act as a wake up call for Haru, to get him out of his funk or, at least, start him down the path. Because if there is anything that needs a kick in the keister, it’s Haru’s lack of confidence and conviction that is becoming especially potent when faced with Aoyama’s betrayal.
