Hand Pocket
Episode 5 of Baki part 3 begins with Biscuit Oliva feeling the wrath of Shobun Ron first-hand. While Baki and Yujiro have some father/son time on the sidelines and reflect on their newfound situation, Oliva mocks his opponent with the hand-pocket stance. Unfortunately he receives a blisteringly quick slap to the face for his troubles. However, Oliva gets back up and tries again with the hand pocket stance, this time managing to withstand Ron’s attacks and hitting back with a nasty blow to the head of his own, knocking Shogun Ron down. Only, he stands straight back up and the hand pocket showdown begins. Oliva comes out on top again, bloodying his opponent to a pulp after numerous headbutts and prompting Biscuit Oliva to walk back the victor after thwarting this tough foe. Backstage, the Chinese look over the battered face of Ron and decide to make it a 4-1 slaughter, vowing to destroy and kill the rest of the fighters. Baki is next up on the list of fighters but he dispatches Shunsei in less than 2 minutes, high-fiving an admiring Yujiro as he leaves the arena whilst reveling in the admiration of his peers. Meanwhile, Shunsei awakens to find Kaku calling Baki a competent fighter and contemplating giving up Martial arts. Back on the stage however, Sea King Retsu fights Jaku who tries to trick him with a handshake and the promise of forming a team but outsmarting this trickster every step of the way. As they stand toe to toe, the next fight looks set to begin but who will come out on top? With a good portion of this episode dedicated to a single fight, Baki does well to keep tensions high while delivering a really exciting one on one encounter in the process. There’s genuinely no clear-cut winner for much of this fight either and it certainly helps to add an element of excitement to proceedings. With another fight looming on the horizon, quite who will win this one remains to be seen.
