Trust in your heart. That’s the measure of a man.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Team Nowhere is still hurting over having to forfeit the last match, all but insuring Mikio the final spot. Nanbu meets with Fujisaki about whether they’re truly done for, where he reveals that, once he thought about it, that Mikio might have been bluffing about being able to stop them. Sure, he made clear that he knew about the counterfeit ID, but the way he acted in telling them means he probably didn’t have solid evidence. Fujisaki confirms that someone came sniffing around, but never found out anything that would have been incriminating, meaning they fell for his bluff. He agrees to help them, but this is their last screw-up.

They soon track down someone who can give them info about Mikio’s special A.I. Gear, specifically that it was the favorite project of the Shirato group until Yuri’s Integrated Gear came along. Its main edge comes in its A.I.’s ability to read the movements of other Gears, meaning that it can’t read a fighter with no Gear, which is why Mikio wouldn’t want to go against Joe in a fight. In addition, the fact that his Gear was turned down for Yuri’s seems to imply that someone had it out for Mikio, which Nanbu narrows down to Yukiko. He then goes to meet her to explain things and try to get her to allow a rematch, but she’s not about to consort with some dubious strays that ran from a fight, so she locks him inside a room to go prepare the ceremony.

The ceremony begins, with Mikio being awarded the card for the final spot alongside Yuri, Pepe, and Burroughs. With no options left, Joe crashes the party and begs for another shot. When Mikio mocks him for not having “true skill”, Yukiko decides to make her brother prove that by splitting the card in half and forcing Mikio and Joe to fight right here to settle who really deserves the final spot.

OUR TAKE

We’re back after a short break to kick off the second half of this series as the current arc with Mikio continues in earnest. We didn’t have a clear picture of this at first, but this episode’s focus is to lay out exactly what makes Mikio a far more challenging and complicated opponent than those Joe has faced before. Unlike Samejima, who was solely fueled by anger, or Aragaki, who was willing to burn out just leave a mark, Mikio has bigger aspirations for the future which Joe does not factor into at all. In addition, he knows how to play the same kind of shifty game of deception that essentially forces the fight to start before a single punch is thrown.

When he made that bluff about Joe’s fake ID right before their planned match, it was a blindside no one on Joe’s team could have seen coming, making them think their fight was over. By making that move, Mikio set the rules of the game and convinced Joe and Nanbu they had to play by them. This is because, as we then learn, that his A.I. Gear basically acts as a cheat sheet against any opponent with Gear. Against someone like Joe, he’d be without the one thing he needs to win because Joe has something he doesn’t: true skill.

Despite his less than legal entry, Joe has proven he has this by beating every opponent he’s faced thus far with nothing but his fists, his training, and his will. It’s probably true that the tech aspect of Gears does require some level of skill to develop such an intelligent set like Mikio’s, but none of that matters if the boxer behind the gloves isn’t skilled enough to handle things on his own. This also probably explains why Yukiko has been backing Yuri over her brother this whole time. She knows he’s nothing without his toys, hence why Yuri’s Integrated Gear, which seems to just better utilize skill he already has, and she wants this competition to reflect her ideals that those who can earn their place should have a chance.

This episode cuts right to the core of the show’s themes and philosophies, that hard work, integrity, and determination are traits that pay off, regardless of where someone starts their journey. It’s as much of a brawl as any we’ve seen in the ring thus far. And if the showdown we see next week is even better, I’m going to be very surprised.

Score 10/10