Bloodsoaked faces, adrenaline rush inspiring sequences, and grisly wounds become a common sight with acclaimed fighting anime Kengan Ashura returning with the final part of its second season on Netflix just a year since the release of the first part. Previously, the second round of the most recent iteration of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament was completed with spectacular fights among the top brawlers of the world, and our protagonist, Tokita Ohma, made it through to the third round while recuperating from previous injuries. Hayami Katsumasa had attempted a coup to take over the Kengan Association, only for his plans to be thwarted by the present chairman of the association, Katahara Metsudo, and Nogi Hideki, who wishes to become the next chairman by having his fighters win the tournament. The final part of the second season, consisting of 15 episodes, focuses on the rest of the matches, the tournament, Ohma’s personal journey, and his past, and sets the stage for taking the next step in the overarching narrative—with an emotional conclusion to the first arc of Kengan Ashura. The animation in this part feels a bit weird and janky, and a case can be made about the fights not being as top-notch as Kengan Ashura fans had probably expected them to be, but the storyline is strong enough to overlook these minor drawbacks.Â
Spoilers Ahead
Who Are the Semi-finalists in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament?
Ohma is not in good shape after his first three bouts in the Kengan Tournament; he has been pushing himself way harder, and the use of Life Advance in his battle with Raian Kure had drained too much from him. As the second part begins, the Kure family members themselves help Ohma to heal using acupuncture techniques. Ohma’s manager, Kazuo Yamashita, has grown to care for him like his own son and fears for the worst if he continues punishing his body like this. However, Ohma convinces him that he needs to see it through to the end and is not willing to give up in the middle, irrespective of his physical condition. The Kengan arena prepares for the beginning of the third round, and four winners will move to the semi-finals of the Kengan Tournament.
The first fight of the third round of the Kengan Tournament takes place between young master grappler Cosmo Imai and Tokita Ohma, and both are in pretty worn-out shape. In fact, Cosmo’s manager Nishihonji wanted to replace the amateur fighter, knowing this could take a heavy toll on him. However, Cosmo was adamant to compete, and using his foresight and superior grappling abilities, he proved his immense potential as a fighter. In response Ohma improvised big time, as he used a combination of striking and grappling to almost choke the living daylights out of Cosmo on two occasions, resulting in a hard-fought victory.
As for the second fight of the third round, the exceptionally well-built striker Takeshi Wakatsuki faces Muteba Gizenga, the deadly blind assassin. Even with a cyber eye enhancement, Muteba fails to match up to Wakatsuki’s unreal strength, and after getting hit by a vicious blast-core attack that costs him an arm, Muteba makes the wise decision of forfeiting the match. For warriors, winning at the cost of their lives might be a glorious purpose, but for mercenaries like Muteba, that is not a financially feasible option. The premature end of the battle was a bit underwhelming, to be honest.
For the third battle, we have Rei Mikazuchi, the last Lightning Spirit style user assassin, duking it out with the stern, Okinawa-based Kenpo Kaiwan style brawler, Kuroki Gensai. Rei amps up his strength with the help of his manager/mistress, Kurayoshi Rino’s mind-manipulating powers, which unlock his mental restraints to get rid of his limitations. Even though this power-up initially helps him to keep Kuroki in a flux in the beginning, his lightning-fast attacks are no match for Gensai’s impregnable defense and rock-solid attacks. Rei is knocked out after sustaining heavy injuries, and later Rino comforts him by motivating Rei to improve himself.
The final battle of the third round introduces the top seed, Kanoh Agito—the fifth Fang of Metsudo, reigning champion and a trusted warrior of Katahara—the present Kengan Association chairman. Agito had a rough time in the second round, facing Thai god of war Kaolan Wongsawat, getting treated with a barrage of elbow strikes and high knees. His unquenchable superiority was suddenly put to the test despite him winning that battle, and his current opponent is Hatsumi Sen, the seemingly reluctant, unbothered Aikido fighter, who has more tricks up his sleeve than assumed. However, the current Fang of Metsudo has prepared well as an ever-evolving fighting machine and manages to beat Hatsumi with ease, which brings the third round to an end.
Kiryu’s Return and Terrible Deathwish
Setsuna Kiryu, Ohma’s archenemy, returns in the final part of the second season, the first time since his defeat to Kuroki Gensai in the second round. Kiryu is madly obsessed with Ohma, so much so that he wishes to die by his hand, and as he tries to pursue Ohma to do so, his tragic past comes to light. While living in slums of ‘The Inside,’ a teenager named Kiryu was rescued by Ohma, and ever since, he has been maniacally worshipping Ohma’s feral, unhinged form, which he saw that day. Kiryu went down a slippery slope of mental derangement after seeing Tokita Niko, Ohma’s mentor and father figure, guide him to a better path by making him an honorable warrior through the Niko style of fighting. Kiryu saw this as a desecration of his god (Ohma) and decided to become a fighter himself by training under a fake Tokita Niko, who later on manipulated Ohma to tap into the forbidden Niko technique of Life Advance. In the present, as Kiryu finally meets with Ohma and tries to provoke him to unleash his unhinged, feral mode, he makes Ohma remember the past. Kiryu mentions how Ohma’s first Life Advance usage led to Niko’s distraction and eventual death at the hands of Kiryu. However, Kiryu’s mental afflictions only worsened day by day, as he saw Niko everywhere around him—still trying to take control of Ohma, his god.
Fed up with Kiryu’s madness, Ohma agrees to grant Kiryu’s wish for a matchup, where Kiryu surprisingly taps into an elevated perception technique of Niko style known as Bhumisparsha, quite similar yet exactly opposite to Life Advance. However, Ohma still manages to beat him without using Advance and honoring the Niko style his late mentor had taught him instead. Despite everything Kiryu has done so far, Ohma decides to spare his life as a gesture of respect to the teachings of Niko and advises him to turn a new page in life later on. Kiryu, who had killed a number of Kengan security officials in his unhinged state, is taken into custody at the end.
Yamashita and Nogi: A Bond Forgotten
The first semi-final is going to take place between Ohma and Wakatsuki, and both fighters are part of Nogi’s subsidiary companies. Nogi asks Yamashita to throw the match, as he wants Wakatsuki to go to the finals, but backed by a newfound confidence and resolve thanks to Ohma’s presence in his life, Yamashita refuses to do so. Nogi explains that winning the Kengan Tournament is an absolute necessity for him to honor the pledge of his ancestor, Eikichi, who lost his dear friend/fighter Ichinoshin before the final of the first Kengan Tournament. Eikichi had pledged to protect the family of his dear friend, and Ichinoshin was Kazuo Yamashita’s ancestor. Ever since learning that, Nogi has tried to help Yamashita and now wants him not to follow the mistake of Eikichi by putting a battered, tired Ohma in battles. While Kazuo respects Nogi’s sentiment, he is willing to let Ohma take decisions for himself and wants to see it through to the end. Ohma fought Wakatsuki, and despite sustaining grave injuries, emerged victorious and went to the finals.
Who Won the Kengan Tournament?
On the other hand, Kuroki Gensai manages to do the impossible, as he hands Kanoh Agito his first Kengan loss ever by countering his flurry of destructive attacks through sheer technique and breaks him down using his formidable strength. Before the finals, Gensai meets Ohma, as he shares that he and Tokia Niko were good friends—part of the reason being the creator of the Niko style, Mukaku Gaoh, being a close acquaintance of Gensai’s mentor. Niko and Gensai had deep respect for each other, and Ohma thanks the veteran brawler for sharing Niko’s unknown past with him.
During the battle, Gensai takes the upper hand with his superior defense and vicious perfect strikes, but Ohma manages to counter using a very controlled version of Advance paired with Niko style. However, the injuries sustained before and during the battle prove to be too much for him, stopping Ohma from going all out, and at the end, he loses to Gensai simply for not being in his best form. However, despite Gensai being the champion of the Kengan Tournament, his manager Takakaze gives away his new position as Kengan Association chairman to Nogi, as he considers a position like this too much of a responsibility and hassle for him to handle.
What Happened To Ohma At The End?
However, a tragic fate awaits Ohma, as after recuperating from the fight, he goes to the edge of Ganryu Island (the venue of the tournament), watches the sunset for the last time, and has a heart to heart with a vision of his late mentor, Tokita Niko. By the time Yamashita finds him sitting under the tree, Ohma has already breathed his last, and Yamashita bids his dear friend adieu with tears in his eyes. After a while, everyone is seen returning to their old lives; Yamashita is assigned as the Nogi group’s present chief; Agito considers going on a biking adventure; while Gensai laments for not being at his best form, despite being the champion of the prestigious tournament. Cosmo, Okubo, and Himuro are seen paying their respects to the final resting place of Ohma, as the second season ends with a tragic note.Â
However, this doesn’t imply that makers are done with the series altogether, as an adaptation of Kengan Omega is likely to follow the sequel arc of the series, which takes place two years after the events of the latest Kengan Tournament. Without spoiling much, we can say that this is not the end of Tokita Ohma and his story.Â
