Tired of the constant attacks against her by the Academy's various clubs, Ryuko decides to cut out the middleman: She starts her own club — the Fight Club — and names Mako as its president. While Ryuko plans to get at Satsuki quicker through this move, she also uses it to give Mako and her family a better life, via the rules of the Academy.
Tropes contained within this episode include:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Mako's family gets this as they keep getting upgraded to fancier living quarters.
- Call-Back: Mako mentions that social status depends on Star Ranking. Since she is a No-Star, her family has been living in the slums. With just one promotion to One-Star their living quarters drastically improve.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Mako calls out her family for not stopping her from beating on Ryuko just so they could keep their posh lifestyle.
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Edited for Syndication: The Stinger was accidentally cut out in the first Toonami broadcast. - Foreshadowing: Satsuki smiles after Mako proves her Humans Are Bastards speech wrong by allowing Ryuko to destroy her uniform. This is the first hint that Satsuki was good all along.
- Gone Horribly Right: While her objective was to face Satsuki again, Ryuko started the Fight Club to help improve the lives of Mako's family. They just took too much of a liking to it.
- Hidden Depths: Mako is actually quite competent as the Fight Club President, despite some initial trouble.
- Pose of Supplication: Mako and her family do this at the end of the episode while apologizing to Ryuko for their behavior. As an extra bonus, they're all practically naked (save for Mako and her mom, who have on underwear).
- My God, What Have I Done?: Mako realizes how much her newly acquired Rags to Riches lifestyle has corrupted her and her family and almost has Ryuko killed.
- Rags to Riches / Riches to Rags: The Mankanshoku family loves the perks they receive when Mako takes up the mantle of President of the Fight Club. Then they start getting greedy — to the point they eventually turn against Ryuko. Once Mako comes to her senses, she dissolves the Fight Club so her family can return to the slums. (Not that they're disappointed in going back to their old lifestyle.)
- Sheathe Your Sword: Ryuko refuses to fight Mako further when she's given a Two-Star Goku Uniform; it takes Mako a half-day of wailing on Ryuko before finally understanding why.
- Snooty Haute Cuisine: Does this to illustrate the Rags to Riches plot. The Mankanshoku family are initially content with eating strange Mystery Meat for meals, but when Ryuko and Mako rise up the ranks of Honnouji Academy, allowing them to gain more wealth, the family's living situation skyrockets. The family is now able to afford better quality ingredients, and once they can live in a big fancy mansion, they can have massive feasts of splendor. Unfortunately, this is around the same time that the family begins drifting apart and turning into snobs due to their newfound decadence, leaving poor Ryuko to eat alone. By the time they decide to give it all up at the end so they can be together again, they show no issues going back to the Poverty Food.
- Special Edition Title: The episode ends with a Stinger.
- Xanatos Gambit: Satsuki wins no matter the outcome of Ryuko's plan, as the Fight Club helps remove weak clubs from the Academy. The chance of seeing Ryuko defeated by either another club or Mako was just a potential(ly huge) side bonus.
