The Introduction Arc is the first arc of the Ragnarök Saga and the first arc in History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi series.
Plot[]
Introduction[]
A young high school first-year student, Kenichi Shirahama, is running late for school after oversleeping. While passing a girl with glasses in his rush, the girl reflexively throws him to the ground and only realizes what she did afterward. The girl apologizes for what she did but passes it off as a normal reflex despite it being anything but. When Kenichi remembers he's late, he rushes to get to school, forgetting a book the girl finds. Kenichi ends up late and is forced to stand in the hall but discovers the girl he met on the way to school, introduced as Miu Fūrinji, a transfer student from the famous school Shouchiku Gakuen, who somehow beat him to the classroom. After class, Kenichi encounters Haruo Niijima, a mischievous schemer and analyst, on the way to his school's karate club. Niijima inquires about the new student to update his ranking list for the school's students before insulting Kenichi as a weakling with poor grades and literally stepping all over him. When Kenichi retorts that Niijima's grades and physical strength are actually less than his, Niijima punches him and walks off after telling him that he will be the bullied weakling he's always been. Kenichi vows to prove Niijima wrong, only to be used as a human punching bag by the karate club, who bullies him due to him having no talent for martial arts. The only thing that keeps Kenichi from quitting the club is Niijima's taunting. The next day, Kenichi reads some how-to books to try and make some friends but discovers one of them is missing. Miu returns the book he dropped and offers to be his friend, admitting she's never been able to fit in with other students. Kenichi accepts Miu's offer (especially when he realizes how cute she is) and as the two talk about the school, Kenichi reveals he joined the karate club to stop getting bullied and Miu gets a strange look in her eye when she asks him if he wants to learn martial arts. After another day of being the karate club's punching bag, Kenichi wonders why the club members enjoy using their strength to pick on others. He vows he won't become like them and that if he becomes strong, he'll use that power to protect the weak. Suddenly, he sees Miu standing up to some gangsters picking on an old man and panics about what to do. The gangsters tell Miu that since they are strong, they can do whatever they want, but Miu counters that it's wrong to think the weak will always be powerless. This inspires Kenichi, who tries to rescue Miu, only to trip and get caught by the gangsters after landing an ineffective punch to their leader's face. The leader draws a knife to stab Kenichi in retaliation, but Miu suddenly defeats all the gangsters in a spectacular display of martial arts. After knocking out all three gangsters, Miu thanks Kenichi for trying to help her, to Kenichi's complete bewilderment.
The next day, Kenichi is running late to school yet again and sees Miu playing with a cat. When he tries to get her attention from behind, Miu flips him on reflex again. After apologizing, Miu thanks him again for helping her yesterday (despite it being her who actually beat up the gangsters) and Kenichi returns Miu's glasses, which she dropped the previous day and didn't seem to need to see, to her. Miu tries to show Kenichi a shortcut to school, but it requires incredible athletic ability to use, and it only ends up making them both late when Kenichi can't keep up. While standing in the hallway, Kenichi asks Miu why she wears fake glasses and Miu admits she wears them to avoid standing out in the hopes of making friends. After school, Kenichi tries to use some of the training equipment, but is stopped by his biggest bully Daimonji, who beats on him and threatens Kenichi to quit the club out of disgust at his weakness. However, Kenichi stands up to Daimonji and the latter ends up challenging him to a match in a week, with the loser having to quit the club. Niijima learns of the match and taunts Kenichi by revealing Daimonji is a brute who beats up anyone who he dislikes and once hospitalized a group of people in middle school, scaring them into transferring so he wouldn't be punished. Miu finds Kenichi dreading his upcoming match with Daimonji and tells him that martial arts like Karate were created to allow the weak to fight against the strong and that he will never win if he loses faith in himself. Kenichi reflects that he has always backed down when it mattered in the past and decides to stop running away from his problems. He ponders how he can beat Daimonji in a week and races home. He brushes past his little sister Honoka Shirahama, who is concerned Kenichi is dealing with bullies again, but their mother assures her that Kenichi is capable of solving his own problems as has faith in him (despite Honoka pointing out Kenichi has never solved his own problems before). Kenichi searches through his how-to books for a way to fight Diamonji, but anything advice he finds is useless. Miu finds him struggling to train and, seeing Kenichi's desire to get stronger, she offers to teach him how to properly fight.
Kenichi accepts Miu's offer and Miu explains that they will start their training tomorrow by learning defense, insisting it is more important than training to attack. At the karate club the next day. Kenichi has to deal with Daimonji's attempts to intimidate him into quitting before their match. Meanwhile, Miu has joined the school's gymnastics club and wows the other members with her incredible flexibility and ability. The only one who isn't impressed is the star of the club, Chihiro Takashima, who tries to embarrass her out of jealousy by putting her on the spot to show off, only for it to backfire when Miu is able to perform incredibly. Afterward, Kenichi starts his training with Miu and is ordered to try and attack her, only for Kenichi to refuse out of a principle of never hitting a woman. However, he becomes much more eager after Miu challenges him to just try to touch her instead, but Mui easily counters all his attempts. She explains the secret is in footwork to let the opponent get close, then quickly turn around them to dodge their attacks. When Kenichi struggles to perform the movement, Miu elaborates the stepping method as Kouho Haiho. On the day of the match, Miu discovers Kenichi is later than normal and fears he's given up, but instead sees Kenichi practicing the steps on the way to school.
Kenichi's match against Daimonji starts and all Kenichi has learned in the week are two moves. A flashback of the night before shows Kenichi fretting over the match and his worries are only made worse by a taunting call from Niijima. After hanging up on Niijima, Kenichi gets a second call from Miu, who advises him that he should aim for a draw with the technique she taught him. However, Kenichi had resolved not to back down and continued training into the night. Back in the present, the match begins and Daimonji lands a heavy punch that Kenichi barely manages to guard against. After getting back into the fight, Kenichi reflects on what Miu has taught him and manages to use the Kouhou Haiho to land a punch to Daimonji's side. At the gymnastics club, Miu worries about Kenichi while sitting through a high window, attracting more fans and making Chihiro even more jealous. Miu thinks that she wasn't able to teach Kenichi properly due to the limited amount of time and that there is a secret to the technique she taught him. Back at the karate club, Kenichi's punch was too weak to hurt Daimonji and he gets kicked away. Thanks to the technique Miu taught him, Kenichi is able to dodge Daimonji's attacks, but he isn't able to win unless he can find a way to attack, something Daimonji already knows.
Miu sneaks out of the gymnastics club to watch Kenichi's match from the windows and sees Kenichi has managed to last thanks to his dodging. When Daimonji throws more attacks, Kenichi accidentally trips him while dodging and makes his bully fall flat on his face. Kenichi realizes what he did and finally understands the secret behind what Miu taught him. Daimonji furiously charges at Kenichi, but Kenichi dodges him, uses the secret of Kouhou Haiho: to coil his limbs around his opponents after dodging and changing the defense to offense, and throws Daimonji to the ground. The throw causes Daimonji to pass out and he has to be awoken by cold water, making Kenichi the winner. Daimonji is stunned by what happened and objects to quitting the club, quickly resorting to begging. Saizō Tsukuba, the head of the karate club, intends to hold Daimonji to the terms of the match and make him quit, but Kenichi decides to show pity of his bully and forfeits on the grounds the technique he used wasn't valid for a karate match, impressing the watching Miu. Afterward, Kenichi is approached by Niijima, who knows that, despite the rules, Kenichi was the real winner of the fight, and warns that Tsukuba, the strongest member of the Karate club who is a delinquent with connections to criminal groups, wants to fight him next.
Entering Ryōzanpaku[]
During class, two of Kenichi's classmates, Shimayama & Tanaka, ponder how they approach Miu, who they have a crush on, only to see her casually talking with Kenichi. Miu asks Kenichi if he is going to join another martial arts club now that he has quit the karate club, but Kenichi has instead joined the gardening club. Meanwhile, Tsubuka wonders how someone as ordinary as Kenichi was able to defeat Daimonji after only a week of training and plans to find out if it was luck or something else. During the gym, Niijima introduces himself to Miu and explains that Kenichi is attempting to avoid getting into any more trouble since Tsukuba is after him. Kenichi dreads the idea of fighting Tsukuba and asks Miu how she became so strong. Miu reveals there is a place where he can quickly become strong, but the chances of him surviving are unlikely. That night, Kenichi looks over a map Miu (poorly) drew of where he can train and has to enlist Honoka's help to make it accurate. The next day, Kenichi follows the revised map, and it leads him to a giant wooden door that's too heavy to move. Suddenly, a mysterious giant old man opens the door and asks Kenichi what brings him to Ryōzanpaku.
Kenichi asks the old man if he is a martial artist, and the latter humbly admits he has never lost a single fight. Realizing he is at the place Miu told him about, Kenichi introduces himself and explains Miu brought him here. The old man brings Kenichi the Ryōzanpaku dojo where the latter meets its many strange and fearsome masters: Apachai Hopachai, a Thai master of Muay Tai boxing, beautiful but dangerous weapon user Shigure Kōsaka, Kensei Ma, pervert master of Chinese Martial Arts, Shio Sakaki, Karate master, and a philosopher Jujitsu master Akisame Kōetsuji. The old man introduces Kenichi to Sasaki, who refuses to take anyone as a disciple, claiming if he did have one, they would die in three days. Frightened by the fearsome masters, Kenichi tries to flee only to run into Akisame and pass out of fear. When Kenichi wakes up, he finds Miu is with him and the latter apologizes for not warning him that masters like to tease. She then reveals that Ryozanpaku is her home, and the old man is her grandfather.
Miu's grandfather introduces himself as Hayato Fūrinji, the elder of Ryozanpaku, a dojo that cultivates the martial arts. Kenichi is terrified of the presence of the masters, even more so when Mui leaves to make tea. The Elder asks Kenichi if he will join the dojo, and the latter accepts. After signing up and paying the fee, Kenichi learns Miu is the dojo's housekeeper and fears she is facing daily abuse and torment under the masters and decides to protect her (though it is all in his imagination). Miu returns and asks what style he would like to learn and Koetsuji volunteered (without his permission) to start training Kenichi. At first, it appears Koetsuji is a gentle person who relates to Kenichi's bully problems, but his training proves to be extreme. Kenichi endures training ranging from holding weights to avoid getting stabbed by blades, to having to pull Koetsuji on a tire across town while being whipped. After the first day of training, Kenichi is pushed to extreme exhaustion but decides to stay at the dojo after receiving Miu's encouragement and a walking stick from Apachai to help walk home in his exhaustion. The next day, Tsukuba comes to Kenichi's class to find Kenichi, but learns he's been disappearing after class, and no one knows where he goes. Miu helps Kenichi hide until he is ready to fight Tsukuba (a tactic he refers to as strategy instead of running away).
Kenichi vs. Tsukaba (Rounds 1+2)[]
Kenichi undergoes more muscle-building training with Akisame for several days and asks when he will begin learning techniques. Akisame explains that strength is the foundation of everything and gives an example that no matter how skilled an ant is, it is incapable of defeating an elephant. Kenichi asks if he is being compared to the ant, but Akisame considers that an insult to the ant, and tells Kenichi that even an ant can lift objects several times their weight and that he should learn from them. The other masters observe Kenichi's training and discuss giving him training from all of them, frightening Kenichi into trying to flee, only to be caught and dragged back by Shigure. When Kenichi returns home so exhausted he can barely stay conscious, his father voices his concerns about the abnormality of Ryozanpaku, but Kenichi storms off shouting he doesn't have the time for normal training. The moment Kenichi leaves the room, Mototsugu (humorously) loses his stoicism and shares his worries about what Ryozanpaku is doing to Kenichi with Saori. He considers using his shotgun (nicknamed Sebastion) to deal with Ryozpanku, but Saori calms him down and explains that Kenichi, who has always run from his problems, is finally trying to stand up for himself and that they should support him. The next day at school, Tsukuba finally finds Kenichi while he's trying to leave and drags him to an isolated corner of the school to fight. Kenichi objects to having a pointless fight until Tsukuba insults him and Kenichi decides to fight him to stand up for himself.
Tsukuba instantly wins the fight by punching Kenichi in the face before he can react and landing a heavy kick in the stomach. When Kenichi is unable to get to his feet, Tsukubua decides his win against Daimonji was a fluke and starts to leave. However, Kenichi refuses to give up and grabs Tsukuba's ankle, causing Tsukuba to stomp on him until he's unconscious. Afterward, Tsukuba discovers Kenichi inflicted bruises on his ankle just from his grip and is shocked that someone so unskilled has such bodily strength. Later, at Ryozanpaku, Miu discovers Kenichi's injuries from his fight, but Kenichi dismisses her worries and leaves for training. Sasaki stops Miu from going after him, explaining it would just hurt his pride more. Akisame examines Kenichi's injuries and reveals he doesn't have any broken bones, but Kenichi is frustrated that he was beaten instantly despite all his training and Akisame asks him if he wants to beat up Tsukuba like he did to him. Kenichi answers that he wants to protect others and do what he believes is right, but to do that he needs strength and courage, neither of which he has. Impressed by Kenichi's answer, Akisame declares they will start technique training tomorrow to Apachai's excitement and Kenichi's worry.
Akisame tasks Sakaki to start training Kenichi, but Sasaki objects that he doesn't take on disciples (despite always watching Kenichi's training) and Akisame instead brings out a stone statue so Kenichi can learn how to use throws. He explains to Kenichi that what separates a throw from defense is that throwing can also be used to attack and demonstrates that by putting force on two different ends of a target's weight, even something as heavy as the statue can be easily knocked down. Next, Kenichi starts learning the fundamentals of offense and defense from Kensei Ma (with Sasaki still watching him train) and has Miu help demonstrate how to get close to an opponent (while using the opportunity to bury his head in her chest). Next is Apachai's training, where Kenichi has to practice hitting a mitt, but he's too scared to train, knowing Apachai can't control his strength and has to be tied up and coerced by Shigure to do it. The training is easy at first until Apachai tries to teach Kenichi to dodge and ends up knocking him out. A few days of training pass and Kenichi is still struggling to throw Akisame's statue, but Sasaki reveals that Akisame has been secretly switching the statues out daily, with each one slightly bigger than the last. Impressed with Kenichi's determination, Sasaki decides to teach him and asks what style of Karate Tsukuba uses. Kenichi demonstrates Tsukuba's stance, most notably taking bouncing steps, and Sasaki recognizes the style and reveals he knows a way of defeating him.
Sasaki starts training Kenichi and explains that Tsukuba's style is based on other sports. Kenichi wonders if he can actually get strong enough to defeat Tsukuba after losing easily before and Sasaki answers him that there is no such thing as "can" or "can't" but rather "doing it" or "not doing it." Meanwhile, Tsukuba meets with a girl named Kisara and reports Kenichi was a weakling and Kisara orders him to fight a new opponent from the Judo Club. The next day, Miu finds Tsukuba beating his target and stops him, leading Tsukuba to want to fight her. Suddenly, Kenichi arrives to fight in her place and remembers Sasaki telling him that fighting scared will only weaken him and to focus only on getting the first blow. The fight starts and Kenichi throws a punch at Tsukuba's head, only for him to block it. However, Kenichi had thrown a second punch at the exact time at Tsukuba's stomach with a technique called the Yamazuki, and landed a direct hit.
Kenichi thinks back to Sasaki's training where he learned that everyone has a defensive reflex to protect the face, and that the Yamazuki takes advantage of that by throwing a punch to the head, causing the opponent to reflexively block it and leave their stomach open for a second punch thrown at the same time. Sasaki knew from Tsukuba's style that he used a sports-based fighting style which had a lot of rules, so a move like the Yamazuki, which isn't allowed in official tournaments, would catch him off guard. Back in the present, Tsukuba tries to retaliate, only for Kenichi to use Kensei Ma's training to get close and twist his leg. Infuriated, Tsukuba throws a punch at Kenichi, but in his anger sacrifices his arm's speed for power, allowing Kenichi to use Apachai and Akisame's training to grab his arm and throw him to the ground. Tsukuba passes out and Kenichi checks to make sure he's okay, impressing Miu. Kenichi shares the news of his win with his masters, only for his masters to warn him that because he defeated a well-known delinquent like Tsukuba, the news will spread, and more delinquents will come after him. Kenichi freaks out at the revelation, and it is made worse when the masters confirm he has no talent in the martial arts. However, Akisame explains that not even prodigies succeed all the time and the real factor for a good martial artist is tenacity, something Kenichi has. Meanwhile, Kisara learns of Tsukuba's defeat and takes an interest in him.
- Kenichi vs Daimonji - Kenichi Wins
- Kenichi vs Tsukuba round 1 - Tsukuba Wins
- Kenichi vs Tsukuba round 2 - Kenichi Wins
Arc Notes[]
- The main protagonists, Kenichi Shirahama and Miu Fūrinji, are introduced.
- Haruo Niijima is introduced.
- The masters of Ryōzanpaku are introduced.
- Kenichi begins training Ryōzanpaku to avoid getting kicked out of the Karate Club.
- When he quits the club anyway, he faces a new threat from Tsukuba, who deals him a crippling defeat.
- After receiving more training, Kenichi defeats Tsukuba in a rematch, but attracts the attention of a dangerous gang.
References[]
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| N/A | Introduction Arc | The Three Man Squad of Valkyrie Arc |
| N/A | Chapters | → |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||
| N/A | Episodes | → |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||