We are nearing the mid-season climax as this episode picks up where we were left off last week. Tensions run high during this week's installment as we get our fair share of drama and watch our lovable heroes getting their asses handed to them.
The drama is set up right at the beginning of the episode. Thanks to Origami Cyclone, the heroes know the location of Ouroboros' hideout and decide to scout it out. Barnaby volunteers to scout and Tiger follows him secretly because he's worried. They find out it was a trap and Jake escapes. Barnaby proceeds to call Kotetsu out for not trusting him, creating a large rift in their partnership.
As a viewer, I completely understand why Kotetsu followed Barnaby into the hideout. Barnaby doesn't exactly have the best track record of keeping his cool when there is someone he thinks is involved in his parents' murder (think bomb guy, Lunatic, and Chuckman). However, I'm not going to sit here and defend Kotetsu on his actions. Barnaby says that he knew that it was Ivan because of the PDA strapped to his wrist. Kotetsu knew what he did was wrong, and seeing that Barnaby has been warming up to him in the past few episodes, he should have had more faith in his partner. He even admits it and apologizes. It was pretty annoying to see Barnaby make those comments all episode long to make Kotetsu feel even worse, however justified they may be.
Jake kills Chuckman and walks in on the meeting between the higher-ups of Sternbild. He and Kriem threaten to sink the city unless they broadcast one-on-one battles between him and the heroes. If a hero manages to beat him, he won't sink the city. Sounds like a pretty fair deal, right? Of course, he wouldn't propose such a thing if he wasn't overpowered as hell. It really makes you wonder how Mr. Legend was able to stop him. Another point of interest is that Justice Bureau provided no specifics on what kind of power Jake actually has.
Our moeblob King of Heroes gets drawn and has the first shot at Jake. Kotetsu warns him about the laser beam-like powers he saw at the hideout earlier. Sternbild's "Ace" Sky High is unable to even scratch Jake due to force barrier powers that can be used both offensively and defensively. Seeing their favorite hero get his ass kicked on live television probably isn't very good for the morale of Sternbild. Barnaby then snidely says that Kotetsu was jumping to conclusions about Jake's powers. Yo, Barnaby, why didn't you say that before Sky High left to fight Jake? His flaw is still letting his emotions get the best of him. I'm also pretty disappointed that we didn't get to see Rock Bison's fight. Give Antonio some love, Sunrise.
Ivan is proving himself to be useful. I'm pretty surprised he was able to find out that Kriem is controlling the Mad Bear Mechs through radio signals, since Jake seemed to catch on that Ivan was an impostor pretty quickly. This and and the pretty preview suggests that Jake won't be able to fight his seven matches, since the heroes will be aiding with the signal jamming mission.
When it is Tiger's turn to fight, he doesn't stand a chance against Jake, either. However, when his Hundred Power runs out, he accidentally trips and manages to land a kick on Jake through clumsiness. Jake proceeds to go apeshit on Tiger, which results in him being sent to the ICU. I agree with the speculation that Jake also has the ability to read thoughts. He mentions that he can "hear everything" and calls Kotetsu by his name. We know that Kotetsu keeps his identity close to his chest, and that he says, "Calm down, Kaburagi Kotetsu," a couple of moments ago. I'm pretty sure Barnaby took note of that kick Tiger landed, and hopefully he's able to figure out his weakness. If he does have thought-reading powers, it's probably more difficult to contend with multiple heroes at once, hence proposing one-on-one battles. Maybe having two powers is why Jake glows orange rather than the usual NEXT blue.
Overall, it was a good episode to watch, even though I don't particularly enjoy seeing the drama. In this case, I think both Barnaby and Kotetsu are in the wrong and I hope they can resolve this with a bro-hug. It was nice to see Ben Jackson, too. I'm sure next week's episode will conclude the Jake Martinez arc.
-Bern
