01x16 - The Beast & the Warrior

[bunniefuu]

[Japanese theme music playing]

BAKI-DOU: THE INVINCIBLE SAMURAI

[lyrics in Japanese]

[music fades]

[tense music playing]

[narrator] Japan's largest indoor stadium,
Tokyo Dome.

It's rumored
that deep underneath this facility,

hidden from the world

is the Korakuen,

the Dome's secret
underground fighting arena.

[crowd cheering]

[narrator] Above ground, there have been
many martial arts booms in the past.

Regardless of the ebb and flow
of those tides,

this venue has always been filled
with an audience.

The reason being the chosen members
who are invited here all know this truth,

this is the place where you'll see
the strongest in the world.

[Tokugawa] Even from back here,
I can feel it.

That never-changing air of excitement.

It's only natural.

The Warring States era
versus the dinosaur era.

This is where you come
to see the strongest on Earth.

What?!

Hold on! What in the blazes?

[dramatic music sting]

[Tokugawa] What?!

[uneasy music playing]

[narrator] They can be understood
at a single glance.

Their sense of ability
immediately recognizable.

[Tokugawa] I see, I see.

They're not here out of mere interest.

Nor for the sake of curiosity.

They have all chosen this way of life
filled with blood and sweat.

And they found
that it's their natural duty

to bear witness to this match.

They want to see a battle of strength,
not a public execution.

They want to see a duel,
not some spectacle of bloodshed.

Ladies and gentlemen,
do not underestimate him!

[Pickle] Huh?

[Tokugawa] The natural enemy
of the Tyrannosaurus!

Here he is.

[Pickle roaring]

[Tokugawa] Are you going to let yourself
be shamelessly cut down?

[rock music playing]

[Musashi grunts]

[man 1] It… it stopped?

Has Musashi's sword been held back?

[man 2] Such impressive power!

[Musashi grunts]

[man 1] His anger-hardened facial muscles
and primitive upper body strength

stopped Musashi's blade,
holding it in place!

[Musashi] Ah…

Fortress of muscle! Bravo, indeed!

[Pickle growls]

[both gasp]

[all gasping]

Is it just over?

[Pickle growls]

[all gasp]

[narrator] A demon with an iron club.

Musashi's sword. Pickle picked it up!

[man 1] Will he use his massive strength
to swing that weapon?

[Pickle gasps]

[Baki gasps softly]

The sword. Where'd it go?

- [man 1] He stuck it…
- [man 2] …in the ground?!

No!

He sliced it.

[man 1] He sliced down, vertically!
Right into the earth!

- Massive strength.
- [Pickle growls softly]

[dramatic music sting]

- [man 3] He's on his feet!
- [man 4] I didn't even notice!

A muscle fortress that can stop a sword.

Even I haven't seen that.

[whooshing]

[Musashi] My blade,
which can cut a helmet in two,

was blocked by your bones,
and held between your muscles.

To think bodies like this exist.

The sword came out of my hand.

An impact so strong, I didn't even notice.

I laid there waiting.

Waiting for the next attack.
But nothing happened.

Which comes as no surprise.

Pickle has become a sword fighter now.

What a bore.

[air whooshing]

[Musashi] The pressure is gone.

[narrator] What follows is an episode

from when the author interviewed
a famous martial artist.

The words that he heard even shocked him.

[martial artist] An opponent with a blade

poses little threat

because that opponent uses only blades.

[dramatic music sting]

[narrator] It was a very memorable line.

- [air whooshing]
- [Pickle groaning]

[all gasp]

[pained groaning]

[uneasy music playing]

[Musashi] Though he may be
a fortress of muscle…

[Pickle groaning painfully]

…there are still many places I can cut.

I'll shave off the edges.

[tense music playing]

[gasping]

[Sabu] As I expected. He cut his corners.

Both elbows,

both shoulders,

and both knees.

Severed!

Like cutting fingers,
or even cutting legs.

A technique that doesn't exist
in modern kendo.

Not using the simple, wooden shinai,

but using real steel blades.

That's how this technique can work.

This is true swordsmanship.

[Doppo] This is true swordsmanship.

When we martial artists show off

techniques against weapons
to the public, it's different.

Those simple, clearly telegraphed,

and harmonized movements of the sword
can't be performed here.

In tonight's arena,
they fight dirty, nasty slashes.

Unscrupulous techniques
used without hesitation.

Now, that's the real deal,
what real swordsmanship is like.

[Musashi] How truly astonishing.

Every area that I slashed,

every last one should have been severed,

but I only wounded you deeply.

That bleeding won't stop,

and you'll eventually lose consciousness,
and then I will claim victory.

Hmm…

Unsportsmanlike, though.

Now as I expected.

Lateral,

vertical,

longitudinal.

The methods of cutting in two
in a single blow.

[Baki] Might sound funny coming from me,

but Musashi better realize

just how incredible the primitive body is.

I found the answer!

How the steely fortress of muscle becomes
the soft skin of tofu.

[intriguing music playing]

Come and have your feast, Pickle.

Come and feed on me
to your heart's content.

[Pickle growls softly]

[Pickle growling]

No more dawdling. Do it now!

[Pickle growling]

That fortress of muscle
is about to exert his maximum power.

But before that, right before that moment,

the muscle, just before becoming steel,

is as soft as tofu.

[narrator] The moment before a throw.

The moment before a jump.

The moment before a punch.

That's when the muscle tissue
is at its softest.

[Musashi] Before it's at its strongest,
it's at its weakest.

- [Pickle grunts]
- [Musashi] Now!

[Baki] sh*t! It's over.

[Doppo] He's finished.

[Sabu] Both of you warriors, well done.

[Tokugawa groaning]

- [Kureha] Mr. Tokugawa.
- Huh?

Kureha.

The winner's been decided. It's over.

That's enough, isn't it?

Kureha, determination of the winner
belongs to those two parties alone.

Our part is simply to call the match,
once it's reached a conclusion.

Those are the rules as written.

Hmm?!

[shocked gasp]

I have been eaten.

[Baki] You little devil.

[Atsushi gulps, grunts softly]

Well, it's no wonder.

After all, Pickle ate Director Katsumi.

[Musashi] Taste good?

My flesh?

You're covered head to toe in blood

with deep wounds all across your body,

and I don't feel bad about it at all.

I took note of all your movements,

reading the signals of your muscles,

while also timing your breathing.

- [man 2 gasps] He's eating him.
- [man 3] Devouring while covered in blood.

[Musashi] Now, in this situation…

Hmm…

The neck, perhaps.

[delighted grunt]

Hey, Pickle.

There's no way there's enough nourishment
in such a small morsel.

Now the head!

Try chowing down on this.

[narrator] He didn't understand
these words,

but he could sense the feelings.

- He was being underestimated.
- [Pickle growling]

[tense music playing]

Hmm? Oh!

[Baki] He's starting to change.

Hurry it up!

Oh!

- Is he human?
- [Pickle growling]

You'd like me to define "danger"?

Well, I'd say It's something
that brings us fear or threatens us.

One wouldn't be wrong
to think of it in that fashion.

That which threatens us physically
or mentally,

or in some cases,
that which threatens both,

we perceive as "dangers."

So, then, what kinds of locations

could be described
as being dangerous places?

First, let's consider physical dangers.

For example, during a typhoon,

you shouldn't go to a pier
where big waves are crashing

as that would be extremely dangerous.

Another example is a volcano.

A vigorously active caldera,
filled with boiling lava.

Why, I can't think
of anything more dangerous.

Few can survive it,

and those men and women
who have returned from those dangers

are often regarded as heroes.

If that is the case,

then by simply knowing
such a dangerous place,

one might well be worthy
of the hero title as well.

And that's because
the person I am thinking of

escaped from a very,
very dangerous place indeed.

From inside of the mouth
of a Tyrannosaurus Rex,

with its sharp fangs

and an immeasurable masticatory force.

[tense music playing]

[Payne] A place no other man has survived!

[Pickle growling softly]

[Musashi chuckles]

I believe, I see. You're no mere human.

- [Kiyosumi] His figure.
- [Atsushi] He transformed.

[Kureha] What just happened?

[Kosho] Doping?

[Tokugawa] The final form!

[Baki] And just in time!

- [Pickle growling]
- [bones snapping]

Even a ninja would not change this much.

Perhaps a ghost.

No matter. Come.

Not since I fought the giant ape in Hida.

[Pickle growls, snarls]

[blood spurting, splattering]

[Musashi] Hmm.

Those great muscles have grown stronger.

Astoundingly, even the blood
has ceased flowing.

This man is a specter after all.

I can cut as much as I want.

And I can't help but love cutting.

Once I'm offered the chance to cut,

I tend to slash excessively.

It's a bad habit of mine.

[Baki gasps]

[Musashi] In truth, it's unnecessary.
One slash should suffice.

But I don't want to let go of this chance,
the opportunity to cut freely.

In my former matches,

when an opponent would fall
before me from a single blow,

I would think,

[groans] "Get up, please!"

"I wish for you to fight me again."

Being cut again and again.

Is there not a body
that can withstand that?

Cutting again and again.

Even after ten cuts, is there a body
that would never fall?

This world is vast and profound.

And thusly, first slash, second slash,

third slash, fourth slash,
fifth slash, and sixth slash.

How many chances
will he give me to cut him?

How far will I be allowed
to slash him apart?

[Pickle growling softly]

[narrator] In that moment,
what came to mind for Pickle was…

[Tyrannosaurus roaring]

…this feeling.

A feeling distinct from anything else.

A feeling dissimilar
from any other opponent.

It was bad, quick, and painful.

The pain!

[Pickle snarls]

[narrator] This… this thing?

Once before,

he made the mistake
of tossing it into his mouth,

and his mouth erupted in pain.

It was him.

But his figure had transformed.

Now he had stingers for arms.

What's more, he even used
the technique of a butterfly

to evade oncoming attacks.

No longer did he wish to consume.

Cut, carved up,
he'd lost his will to fight.

He'd lost his appetite.

He'd had enough.

Hey there!

What on earth?

[narrator] He didn't need
to eat him anymore.

He didn't want to eat him anymore.

[Baki] Is he giving up?

No, Pickle.

Where are you going
in the middle of a fight?

[Baki] The match is over!

[uneasy music playing]

Think I'll let you go?

[Pickle grunting softly]

[Musashi] Oh!

You would openly tremble
in the face of your enemy?

I have no desire to cut a man
who's shivering and stationary.

[Pickle] Huh?

[Pickle yelps, growls]

[all gasp]

Letting out a sound like that
without a care,

then making his escape on all fours.

Hmm…

Truly a wild thing.

He fled?

[Jack] It's over, then.

[chuckling]

He… And no medical treatment either.

Pickle!

Where are you going?

[Pickle whimpering, grunting softly]

You're as stupid as you look.

You should've tried to run away earlier.

That man may be a monster,
but he is far from a warrior.

[narrator] The wild animal runs
from one art of w*r.

You leave the rest to me.

[narrator] And it takes shelter
in another.

Which is superior?

[daunting music playing]

[narrator] Motobe, you're up.

- [intriguing music playing]
- [footsteps padding]

[Motobe] What a glorious
and happy day this is.

I've been chasing dreams…

and f*cking around for decades now.

Tonight, it finally all pays off.

I'll celebrate this
in a mist of fine sake.

I… Izo?

What?!

[Musashi] Hmm?

Hold on, I know you.

Good evening.

It's nice to see you again.

Oh, Tokugawa! How considerate of you.

Mm, but… [hesitates]

[music fades]

[Japanese theme music playing]

[music fades]