Headscratchers / Kengan Ashura

• So if Metsudo is looking for a new head of the Kengan Association to replace him why is he then participating in the tournament?
  • He was not looking for a new head of the Kengan Association, he was bored of no one challenging his position, and wanted to have his fighter pushed to the limit like he did when he fought to be the head of the Association. He invited veterans of the Association and respected fighters outside to watch exciting matches, but expressly stated that did not expect his fighter to lose.
  • Nogi called for the tournament to oust Metsudo. Metsudo was defending his position though as above had stated, he did invite some heavy hitters to spice things up.
• The Kengan Assocation limits attendance to just members and important government and foreign dignitaries with the latter only showing up during Annihilation Tournaments, thus keeping it's existence secret somewhere in the realm of the plausible if distantly. However Purgatory that has a much greater attendance rate with huge stadiums just for regular matches somehow has kept it's existence secret as well?
  • Did they ever come out and say it was secret? The rules are pretty mainstream when you look at them and are even safer than the Kengan matches. Pretty much the only thing separating Purgatory and real life MMA is the gloves. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it to be secret.
  • Purgatory is an underground organization like the Kengan matches, hence illegal, so it’s definitely a secret of some level. That said, purgatory still has a lot of funds to cover any slip-ups that might arise and stay underground.
• Why did the Nentendo president allow Haruo to eat and play video games until be become morbidly obese? Wouldn't it be in his best interest to keep him in as good fighting shape as possible?
  • Haruo is still shown to be a pretty good fighter, and was likely more than enough to handle run-of-the-mill disputes that Nentendo had to deal with. He just wasn't good enough the Tournament, which many characters noted to be unusually stacked with talent. Also, as it's Nentendo, video games are their forte.
• About the spinning sword technique of Long Min, Howard Wu and Xing Wu: how much sense does it make? What's the point of using a completely normal sword as a flail rather than use a proper blade on a rope?
  • It doesnt get in the way of wielding it normally and while spinning a sword as fast as they do is fairly unfeasible, with how tough people are in the series I imagine it's to make them actually lethal. It's basically having the option to use your sword like a sling, and slings are scary. In David Versus Goliath, David wasn't the underdog, he literally brought a gun to a sword fight.
  • They could potentially use it as a standard sword as well, and can also fool opponents who initially think it is only a sword.
  • ^^ Well duh, I'd say that indeed, the act of spinning a sword by the large cloth tassel gets in the way of wielding it normally because you're obviously not wielding the thing by the handle while you do so. And yes, while the characters do have superhuman skills in some cases and the spinning can add to the slash a much bigger force than it'd normally have, it is still far from optimal, since unlike a flail, a sword need to hit with the edge and from the right angle to slash through. Furthermore, the blade may either get stuck in an obstacle (opponent's flesh or surroundings) or worse bounce off, which leaves the wielder wide open as he needs to spin again the sword to rebuild the centrifugal force. In short, while it's cool and may work, it's an awfully impractical choice in a universe where the slightest mistake can leave you dead.

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