MARCH MADNESS – TOURNAMENT ARC TIME PART 2
Here are the semi-finals and finals of the Tournament of Tournament Arcs. Who's going to win it all?!?
Semi-Finals
** For this round, I’m going to discuss one of the highlights from the first round for each contestant and decide who advances off the strength of that moment.**
#1 Dark Tournament, Yu Yu Hakusho
Yusuke vs. Chu in a knife-edge death match
With Yusuke and Chu pretty gassed but refusing to give up, they decided to settle things once and for all in a knife-edge death match. Both fighters placed their feet in front of knives stabbed into the ground, and they squared off in a straight up slug fest with Yusuke being the last one standing after both guys headbutted each other. The sight of Yusuke and Chu trading flurries of blows is pretty impressive and admirable. It felt like the later rounds of a high profile boxing match. This fight was early in the tournament, but you already got a sense of Yusuke’s heart and determination to advance so he can face the big baddie of the tournament, Toguro. It’s also great to see these Yusuke and Chu gain respect for each other. Such manliness on display. Such badassery. This fight rules.
vs.
#4 Spring Interhigh Qualifiers, Haikyuu!!
Tsukishima stepping up in the finals
Hinata and Kageyama get all the attention because of how much of a force they are on offense (and because they are the main characters), but here’s my case for Tsukishima for MVP of the finals match against Shiratorizawa: Karasuno doesn’t win without Tsukishima’s defense. Even Coach Ukai acknowledged it. He takes the initiative to set the timing of the team’s blocks to defend Ushijima and the rest of the powerhouse Shiratorizawa team. No one else could’ve deduced the time difference in jumps and blocks better than he did. And of course, he made the impossible possible; he finally blocked the unblockable Ushijima. That was such a satisfying moment for Tsukishima’s development as the sarcastic, unmotivated big man finally had his own badass moment that would get him hooked on volleyball. Shoutout Tsukishima, the real MVP.
Winner: Dark Tournament. This was tough, but I’m going with the two dudes beating the absolute hell out of each other. I love Tsukishima’s development and crucial role in the finals, but you can’t beat a good ol’ fashioned bout of fisticuffs. No weapons. No powers. Just hands, and boy, do these two have hands.
#2 Chunin Exams, Naruto
Rock Lee vs. Gaara
This fight used to frequent anime twitter feeds with the captions being something along the lines of “you’re not a real anime fan if you haven’t seen this fight”. It was so overused that it became annoying. Of course, we’ve seen this fight. Naruto is one of most popular anime of all time!
Annoying discourse aside, this fight is excellent. It’s a clash of personalities and abilities as it’s bowl-cut having, green tights wearing, no ninjutsu, but still has them hands, comedic relief Rock Lee versus too serious, ruthless edgelord, Gaara, with an impenetrable defense that his sand powers provide. There is no better “Oh Shit!” moment than when Rock Lee removes his leg weights and seeing the way those leg weights hit the ground. My jaw-dropped just like everyone in attendance did when I first witnessed that moment. Due to his newly acquired lightning speed, Lee then proceeds to land some really good hits, and has Gaara shook. Unfortunately, he overexerts himself, and Gaara’s blood lust nearly kills Lee resulting in Lee’s sensei, Guy, throwing in the towel for his student. Rock Lee took the L, but no doubt, he became a real one after this fight.
Vs.
#3 U.A. Sports Festival, My Hero Academia
Izuku Midoriya vs. Shoto Todoroki
Easily the best fight and emotional climax of the sports festival. It’s a captivating conflict both outwardly on the battlefield and internally as there’s emotional baggage with Todoroki’s unresolved relationship with his father, the #2 hero, Endeavor. Todoroki initially sticks to his self-inflicted rule of only using the ice half of his power (that he got from his mother because eugenics) out of spite for the fire half (from his father). Then there’s Midoriya, who still is limited by how much his body can take using his newly inherited Quirk (power) from the #1 hero, All Might. The best he can do is focus his Quirk in small, controllable bursts, but even then that takes a toll on his body; yet, adrenaline pushes Deku to keep fighting. Midoriya finally makes a breakthrough as he pushes Todoroki to use his fire side — which in hindsight probably wasn’t a good idea to help your opponent get stronger, Deku. Studio Bones absolutely nails the adrenaline-induced moments of this fight including the epic final clash that destroys the entire stadium. 10 out of 10 fight. Have rewatched and will probably rewatch a thousand times more.
Winner: U.A. Sports Festival. Ultimately, the spectacular show both Deku and Todoroki put on pushes them on to the next round. The emotional catharsis put on display was just amazing. Respect to Lee vs. Gaara, but it’s no Deku vs. Todoroki.
Finals
**For the final round, the winner of the tournament will be decided by which of the main characters of each respective tournament would win in a one-on-one fight. The catch is that they are in the form that they were in that tournament arc. **
#1 Dark Tournament, Yu Yu Hakusho vs. #3 U.A. Sports Festival, My Hero Academia
Yusuke Urameshi vs. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya
This is an intriguing matchup that luckily enough could be resolved in the Jump Force video game that came out a few years ago. Both characters are going to give it their all, but I have to say Yusuke wins here. Where they are in their respective arcs, Yusuke is stronger. I mean, he even goes through a mini training arc in the middle of the tournament. He’s got hands, his Spirit Gun, and Spirit Wave in his arsenal, and he faced tougher competition too. U.A. Sports Festival Deku will put up a fight, but he just doesn’t have enough control of the One-For-All quirk to win. He couldn’t beat Todoroki, and he definitely wouldn’t be able to beat Dark Tournament Yusuke. Maybe the current Deku we see in the manga would have a better chance, but those aren’t the rules here.
WINNER: #1 Dark Tournament, Yu Yu Hakusho
No surprises here with the tournament that I came up with having the #1 seed win it all, but truly, the Dark Tournament is the cream of the crop. It’s the finest example of what a tournament arc should be. It’s insane I’ve made it this far without mentioning in detail the compelling and intimidating evil final boss, younger Toguro, and the fight between him and Yusuke. Oh well, that’s another post for another time maybe, but for now, congrats to Yu Yu Hakusho’s Dark Tournament, the Tournament of Tournaments.
Thanks for reading! These 2 posts were a lot of work, but were really fun. Until the next post!