Record of Ragnarok (Episode 10) - Greatest Loser

The most surprising thing about Kojiro Sasaki is that he’s never won an actual fight and yet here he is, the greatest swordsman in the history of mankind fighting Poseidon and demanding his attention!

Record of Ragnarok (Episode 10) – Greatest Loser

What happened?

Kojiro Sasaki had an unusual approach to fights. He realised early on that if he got injured in a fight he had no chance of winning, it would hamper his chances of eventually overcoming that opponent. As such, he surrendered a lot. However, once he had fought someone, he was able to simulate the fight in his head, over and over again. Then, the next time he met that opponent, he wouldn’t want to fight them as he had already defeated them in his head and would gain nothing. As such, he never won an actual fight, but those that saw the results knew they had been defeated.

He went his entire life losing, but in the afterlife, he has continued to build on his skills and as such he is always growing. After some consideration and thinking through Poseidon’s attacks, Kojiro decided to attack. Amazingly, his first strike was a double that defied physics or at least what the normal human body can withstand. He cut Poseidon’s hair and forced him to look him in the eyes. Poseidon only pays attention to those that demand it. The fight was just getting started.

Record of Ragnarok Episode 10 Poseidon hits Kojiro

What did you think?

We knew the flashback was coming for Kojiro Sasaki, but this was better than anything I could have imagined. I could watch an entire series about Kojiro and his training techniques. He is fascinating and seeing the reaction of those that he’d defeated in his mind was incredible. As soon as they realised they were outmatched, they surrendered before a sword had even been swung. I loved it.

Then, there was a similar reaction from the crowd when Poseidon turned his attention to Kojiro. He even spoke to him, although that was to belittle him after he cut his side with his trident. Kojiro had clearly gotten under his skin. This is easily shaping up to be my favourite fight in the series so far. Of course, if this series follows the pattern it’s set then this will be the last fight and we’ll have to wait for the rest…

Record of Ragnarok Episode 10 Kojiro fights his master

What have you learnt?

This was released as an ONA which makes it that much more baffling that they only followed three fights in a thirteen round tournament. It’s still possible that they will abandon Ragnarok in favour of having a more regular fighting tournament between humanity and the gods which will preserve the species. That said, there are a number of gods that are itching for a fight so I can’t see a decision like that being made until it absolutely has to.

Anyhow, back to the samurai flashback. I grew up on stuff like this and absolutely love it. Bizarrely, I think there are a number of similarities between the samurai ethos and the chivalry of knights as in the time of Camelot. Both speak to me and have influenced who I am as a person so seeing this done well was a delight. Would I like more? Yes, very much so. Would I have preferred it in a separate series? Probably.