Baki Hanma – Season 2 Episode 15 Recap & Review

Feeling the Beginning

Episode 15 of Baki Hanma Season 2 begins with a face-off between Yujiro and Oliva. Oliva asks him about his views on the fight between Pickle and Baki. Yujiro talks down about Baki, claiming a weak man uses martial arts when backed into a corner.

Oliva and Yujiro clash as they interlock fingers and begin to grapple. Yujiro defeats Oliva using brute strength and crushes his knuckles.

The Prime Minister bows in front of Mitsunari Tokugawa as they meet for the first time. Tokugawa offers him pounds of money in exchange for a favor, seeking approval for the fight between father and son.

Not understanding the gravity of the fight, the newly appointed Prime Minister discusses the matter of Yujiro with the Defense Minister and Education Minister as he is clueless about Yujiro.

The Defense Minister informs him about a previous attack on the former Prime Minister, as Yujiro single-handedly broke through hundreds of riot police officers. They discuss the brute strength and influence of Yujiro on men.

He describes Yujiro as the ogre, someone who can make anything happen with one arm and someone every man aspires to be. The Prime Minister questions him about using a sniper to take down Yujiro; however, he is informed that it would turn the USA against them due to the international interest in befriending him and the treaty with the US.

Strydum trains a squad of Air Force fighters and lectures them about the necessity of using unfair means in war and doing whatever it takes to secure victory. He challenges them to fight and leaves them immobile by using foul play to make a statement.

Later that night, Strydum straps on gunpowder-laced gear as he prepares to fight Yujiro. This is to fulfill Yujiro’s demands to attempt to kill him at least once a year. Strydum is given the liberty to use absolutely any means to win – guns, knives, nuclear weapons, the possibilities are endless.

As Strydum stands prepared on the battlefield, Yujiro comes from behind and mocks Strydum. Strydum trembles in fear and lets his guard down. Yujiro knocks his helmet into the air and claims to have read his plans.

Strydum gives up on the gunpowder plan and acts as if he accidentally triggers it to show his plan has failed, thus asking for mercy.

The same night, Baki practices fighting against a vision of Yujiro created by his mind. He charges in to attack but is hit hard, sending his body flying into the wall, causing an earthquake.

Yujiro meets with Tokugawa and makes small talk with him. Tokugawa appreciates him for caring about his health, to which Yujiro makes it clear that it is only small talk and tells him to quit being so dramatic.

Tokugawa is enraged and yells at Yujiro, calling his brain underdeveloped. Within seconds of that, Tokugawa vomits a load of blood and collapses. Yujiro leaves after commanding the woman to get a doctor. The narrator commends Yujiro’s achievements, abilities, and rise to power.

Kaiou Retsu enters a boxing gym seeking to become a member and start training to be a fighter. The coach advises him to reconsider after looking at his foot. Despite that, Retsu is adamant about continuing. The coach offers to exclusively train him if Retsu can tear through the punching bag. Retsu unleashes a punch, blasting the punching bag to shreds.

The Episode Review

This entire episode is just a showcase of Yujiro’s power and capabilities as the newly appointed prime minister finds out about Yujiro for the first time.

It appears like the anime is focused on further building up an even stronger characterization of Yujiro, despite him already embodying the definition of absolute dominance.

With this, the strength disparity between father and son only seems to be growing, which will certainly lead to an explosively adrenaline-pumping final fight given the current direction of events.

Towards the end, Kaiou Retsu makes a reappearance after losing his foot against Pickle in the first part of the season as he attempts to take up boxing at a gym.