Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 Is Everything That Fans Hoped For (2024)

Combat sports have rules in place for the fighters' safety. But in the realm of underground matches, there is but only one rule: survive. Kengan Ashura shows such a world, where big-name corporations settle their differences through private martial arts matches. These deadly matches attract skilled warriors from around the globe who want to prove themselves as the best. Author Yabako Sandrovich's and artist Daromeon's fan-favorite manga got an anime adaptation back in 2019, which just entered its final stretch. Ohma Tokita and his benefactor Kazuo Yamashita’s journey through the bone-crunching world of Kengan is now at its an end, as their pasts catch up to them.

Directed by Seiji Kishi, animated by Larx Entertainment, and streamed worldwide by Netflix, Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 arrives almost a year after the season premiere with a litany of explosive fights. For an anime like Kengan Ashura, the martial arts battles are the lifeblood of the narrative and the source of much adrenaline rush for the fans. But this time, Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 brings some harsh backstories with it, which are not only heartfelt but also add a different dimension to the fights, shining some light on the personal history between the fighters. However, the story runs the risk of getting overly dramatic because of it, which is ironic since this is the one thing fighters hate in the ring.

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 Adds a Personal Twist to the Martial Arts Extravaganza

The Anime's Long-Awaited Finale Deals With a Lot

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 resumes from where the first half of the season left off, right at the cusp of the Kengan tournament semifinals. After Toyo Electric Power Company's coup d'etat, the anime went on a political route that saw Hayami Katsumasa making his move for the title of Chairman. However, instead of toying with the aftermath, the story brushes it off completely like it never happened. The focus now is only on the individual fighters and their matches. The crux of the entertainment lies in the clash of different fighting styles and the various degrees of technique on display. Watching the anime is very much like watching a live MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) match. Only this time, it is much more gruesome and slowed down for the layman to catch up to the fury of the kicks and punches.Kengan Ashura's appeal is the characters' struggles, be it within themselves or against their opponents, and Season 2, Part 2 puts this front and center. This tug of war gets ruthlessly tougher as the tournament nears its end.

With fewer fights and a higher episode count than previous cours, Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 has some time to kill. The show does so by indulging in some flashbacks, showing audiences the past that Ohma has been running from all his adult life. Of great importance are his memories of his late master, Niko Tokita, whose connections with Kiryu Setsuna and Kuroki Gensai make their fights personal. Thus, a subplot away from the main story emerges. This side story pits Ohma against his master's legacy. However, the constant recaps of the same events dull the point these subplots and the anime as a whole try to make. Almost every character has a backstory. Some have a tragic past, while some intentionally walk a tragic path. Such contrast is what makes the fights worthwhile, but their sheer excess can slow things down.

While the fights are just as elaborate as before, the narration's in-depth analysis of the fighters and their techniques is a godsend for martial arts enthusiasts. Kengan Ashura's fights are fast-paced and exhilarating to watch. They capture the burning fire within fighters perfectly as they fall, get up, and fight again despite the broken bones and bloody nose. That said, the events between the matches are sluggish, offering little to the plot. The backstories and flashbacks are very much responsible for dragging down the overall pace. Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 fails to strike a balance between keeping the wheels of the story turning and creating heart-in-mouth action set-pieces, but it manages to do both nevertheless.

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2’s Characters Have Come a Long Way

Ohma Tokita and Kazuo Yamashita Grew by Leaps and Bounds

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2's plot is simple. At its heart, the anime is a martial arts tournament. Each fight brings the story closer to the grand finale. No wonder there is a palpable tension among the characters as fatal injuries and trump cards level the playing field for everyone. Even characters like Imai Cosmo, often regarded as the King of Grapplers, get too severely injured to even walk. Yet, he knows he has just unlocked a strength within himself that he wants to explore in the blood-soaked ring or die trying. Then there is the Fang of Metsudo, Kanoh Agito, who never had to use tactics in his matches, now finds himself on the backfoot against fighters with a lower win ratio than him. Gone is the air of animosity between fighters trying to one-up one another, as Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 gives them a different kind of challenge: one that tests their wits and the limits of their fatigued bodies.

With the fighters growing a mutual respect for one another, the anime seeks its conflict elsewhere. For some time now, Kengan Ashura has been building this enmity between Ohma and Kiryu, showing audiences how their past lives in the slums shaped them until their fateful meeting. Kiryu's obsession with finding the rage-filled "God" inside Ohma, whom he once encountered in his younger days, is what drives the subplot and also his madness. Ohma and Kiryu's matchup never happens because of the latter's defeat at the hands of Kuroki in the Kengan tournament. So, the story finds a way in Season 2, Part 2 to continue this particular fight. However, what determines the scales of battle is not their intense hatred for the other, but their acceptance of the past. Ohma, having fought an array of skilled masters and broken his body all over again, has come to a fundamental understanding of his own fallacies, guided by the memories of his old master. In contrast, Kiryu only harbored hatred in his heart.

One of the strongest aspects of Kengan Ashura's finale has been Ohma's growth, both as a character and a fighter. From resorting to anger as a weapon against tough opponents in the beginning to finally finding his faith in the teachings of the Niko style, Ohma truly deserves the title of Ashura or demon. But it is not just him. Kazuo, a man most would label as weak-willed, finds the strength to voice his opinions after watching Ohma do the same with his fists. This is where Kengan Ashura gets full marks: in building indomitable fighters out of ostensibly one-off side characters. After all, those who live through life are fighters, no less.

Kengan Ashura’s Fights Have Never Looked So Good

Larx Entertainment’s 3D Animation Deserves Praise

As a martial artist himself, Sandrovich took a grounded approach to depicting the action in Kengan Ashura. There are flashy moves and characters take inhumane levels of punishment, but there is nothing supernatural about it. Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 makes sure that the martial arts get the priority they deserve, respecting the work of Sandrovich and Daromeon. Larx's animation captures every strike with precision, using the 3D space well to make the fighters move around and make the most of the fight. Characters smash into each other, break bones, and do other backbreaking stunts. They also writhe in pain, pant for breath, and despair. The second half of Kengan Ashura Season 2 feels like a proper finale, especially as the animation builds up the tension with each passing scene and episode.

There has been apprehension about the anime's aesthetics, especially with how mechanical a 3D character looks when they're in front of a 2D background. But fans have gotten used to the visuals of Kengan Ashura. Some may even call it the best part of Season 2, Part 2. Surprisingly, the 2D art is somewhat disappointing, since it can be too flat at times. The color schemes look drab and the lighting doesn't always favor the scene. That said, the arena fights are where the animation really shines. It is almost as if the three-dimensional space frees the animation from its shackles and makes each punch and kick feel a thousand times stronger than what's seen in most other anime.

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 is not without its flaws. Its awkward pacing and dependence on the past to map the future is not something the final arc should have indulged in. However, it does help make the remaining rounds of the Kengan Tournament feel more tense, since the fighters have higher stakes now, with their bodies on the verge of breakdown. Kengan Ashura has always been about Ohma's journey to crush the strongest. Although it feels rushed in parts, Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 gives an amicable ending to Ohma's story, which is something even the most deserving anime protagonist rarely get.

Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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Kengan Ashura Season 2, Part 2

TV-MA

Animation

Action

Sports

A timid old man is summoned by his chairman to become the manager of Tokita Ohma, a highly skilled gladiator who only cares about fighting and winning in the Kengan matches.

Release Date

July 31, 2019

Cast

Tatsuhisa Suzuki , Chō , Yoshitsugu Matsuoka , Junya Enoki , Rikiya Koyama

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

2

Creator

Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon

Pros

• The action is heart-thumping from start to end.
• Larx's animation helps Sandrovich's vision come to life.
• Characters have their own arcs aside from all the fighting.
• Ohma Tokita grows as a fighter and character.

Cons

• Ohma's backstory is overused at times.
• The 2D animation does not match the levels of the character animation.