English Dub Review: Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens “Tryouts”

These guys are the “instant oatmeal” of assassins.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

So Saitou hasn’t shown up to work at Murder Inc. in a while, which naturally puts him up for “termination,” in the more literal sense, to preserve Murder Inc’s secrets. Then, we’re introduced to a new hitman, a young, angry sort with white hair. After being mocked for being a no-name assassin, he quits his job at Murder Inc. on the spot, demanding his severance in cash. Meanwhile, a mob boss named “Longfang Wang”, Chairman of the Kakyu Association is trying to get the Niwaka Samurai assassinated but has yet to find a hitman capable of taking the job.

Later, Ling, Banba, and friends are all taking the train on their way to their baseball league game, which is just a thing now, I guess. Eventually, the game gets rolling, and their team, the “Tonkotsu Ramens” quickly gets trounced by the opposing team. Apparently, Ling, for all his skill as an assassin, doesn’t have a mind for baseball. Meanwhile, the white-haired assassin from earlier has started job hunting and ends up at the baseball field the Ramens played at earlier. The boy throws a pitch, remembering past baseball games of youth, but he’s interrupted by a strange man in a suit who knows the boy’s name, Shunsuke. The two were on the same baseball team, it seems, but now the mysterious man, Nitta Naoya, is a hitman consultant, and he wants Shunsuke’s business.

The two discuss things over noodles and Shunsuke to Nitta that he left Murder Inc. because they gave him crappy jobs all the time. Hearing that, Nitta offers Shunsuke a spicy contract to help him get his business off the ground.

Ling and Enokida, meanwhile, are out at the mall, and while Ling spends too much money on clothes, Enokida meets with a potential client. The client is Saitou’s former boss, looking to assassinate Saitou, which certainly raises an eyebrow for Enokida.

It looks like Shunsuke has accepted Nitta’s hit offer, and the two go to Nitta’s place to equip Shunsuke. Nitta thinks it would be better for business if Sunsuke ran with a whole “ninja” theme for his assassin aesthetic, but Shunsuke thinks it stupid. Nonetheless, after trying out some of the ninja weaponry, Shunsuke seems to go along with Nitta’s advice.

That night, Ling at the Tonkotsu Ramen Cart, where he sees the old man in charge fire a couple assassins for killing the wrong person. Banba eventually joins Ling, and tells him about a cool festival coming up in Hakata. The traditional festival involves pulling around parade floats, dressing in robes and running around in the streets, so its a pretty good time for Banba, who’s an active participant every year. To that end, Banba needs some time off, which would leave Ling somewhat in charge.

A few days later, Shunsuke is getting his independent killing startup off the ground and learns from Nitta that they’ve got a big contract coming down the line: killing the Niwaka Samurai, which immediately grabs Shunsuke’s interest.

Banba’s having a great time at the festival, drinking and making merry, and eventually meets with Enokida to get a new listening device robot. And of course, pretty soon after that he’s passed out on the couch at the office. Meanwhile, Enokida gives information on Saitou’s location to Murder Inc. But Enokida’s not a terrible guy, so he does Saitou the courtesy of letting him know that Murder Inc. is coming to put him six feet under. Saitou begins to panic, seeing that his former boss, Gwen, is the one sent to kill him. He calls up Ling to get some help. Ling presses Saitou to keep running and meet up with him. Saitou tries to evade his attacker, but ends up trapped with him on the train. Gwen’s just about to put a bullet in Saitou’s cranium when Ling comes up from behind and starts dueling with Gwen. Gwen’s no pushover though, and fends Ling off until distracting him with a fake hand grenade. Ling needs to figure out how to beat this guy, and thinks back to some advice Banba gave him about “playing defense.” The train starts to slow to a stop, and Ling realizes Gwen isn’t from this area. Because of that, he doesn’t know the way the train shakes when it comes to a stop. Ling quickly jumps to action, taking advantage of Gwen’s ignorance, and uses the opportunity to quickly dispatch the veteran hitman. Saitou, that sweet summer child, is saved.

Lastly, we see our boy Shunsuke getting hired by none other than the mob boss’s men from earlier in the episode. They’ve heard of Shunsuke’s reputation as the “Ninja Assassin”, (which Shunsuke finds groanworthy) and offer him the Niwaka Samurai contract.

Our Take:

This episode feels like a weird blend of a slice-of-life and a hyperviolent crime show. It details the daily lives of this group of merciless, yet totally chill, group of killers like its just business-as-usual, resulting in some pretty tepid scenes of semi-interesting dialogue. Very little happens here, and although it isn’t insultingly bad, this episode is lukewarm and flavorless.