Record of Ragnarok (Episode 19) – Hundred Seals

Raiden Tameemon races towards Shiva and hits him with a massive dropkick… Who said this was a Sumo match? Shiva was stunned and so was the crowd, but it was far from over.
Record of Ragnarok (Episode 19) – Hundred Seals
What happened?
During his time as the reigning Sumo champion, Raiden Tameemon was restricted by what moves he could use as he was too powerful. So, imagine his followers’ shock when they learnt that he was already being restricted by his own body. Raiden’s muscles grew too fast and broke his bones they were so strong. However, he continued to fight and eventually developed a new set of muscles that restricted the original ones. These were known as the Hundred Seals.
With Thrud’s help, Raiden was able to remove the seals and fight with his true power. Even with Shiva’s destructive powers, Raiden managed to grab one of his arms and refused to let go, crushing it and rendering it useless. Shiva has three more arms so he’s not out of the fight yet and now that he knows Raiden is a serious opponent, he can unleash his full power, calling on the souls of 1,116 gods.

What did you think?
I think there’s just one word that can sum up this episode – brutal! Every hit by Shiva and Raiden was intense. It reminded me of watching Hinomaru Sumo where you would end the episode and feel like you had been in the ring with them. My muscles are quite tense after this. There were several moments where we got to see what Raiden was made of. The first was when he walked for the first time and his muscles broke several of his bones. That was pretty horrific.
Then, when he grabbed hold of Shiva’s arm and crushed it we got to see the gods stunned too. Zeus, like Brunhilde, has some great expressions. I feel like we missed a lot of that in the last fight as it focused on Ares and Loki as the main spectators for the gods. Of course, the next episode will give us some Shiva back story and then that will leave episodes nine and ten to finish the fight. at the moment, it could go either way.

What have you learnt?
I get the feeling that Raiden doesn’t actually enjoy fighting. There’ve been a couple of comments that make me think that and he’s pretty keen to finish this fight as soon as possible. The question is why. Maybe, he just doesn’t care for it and was forced into it because of his size and strength. Maybe, he has a more complicated reason and if that’s the case, we should expect another flashback.
I love it when a story teases little elements like this. Even if the audience doesn’t notice it when it’s happening, the subconscious will hold onto these nuggets of information and when the answer is revealed, it will all click into place. There are few things as satisfying as a story coming together like that. I don’t think this fight is quite on the same level as the Kojiro Sasaki one yet, but it has the potential to get there.

Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – Ragnarok
- Episode 2 – Worthy Opponent
- Episode 3 – Killer Move
- Episode 4 – Joy
- Episode 5 – FILE No. 00000000001
- Episode 6 – Great Emulation
- Episode 7 – Expelled from Paradise
- Episode 8 – Grace Abounding
- Episode 9 – Tyrant of the Ocean
- Episode 10 – Greatest Loser
- Episode 11 – The Swallow Gazes into the Abyss
- Episode 12 – And Ragnarok Goes On
- Season Two
- Episode 13 – Good vs. Evil
- Episode 14 – The Indomitable War God
- Episode 15 – Birth of a Monster
- Episode 16 – The Final Labor
- Episode 17 – Requiem
- Episode 18 – Conflicting Motives
- Episode 19 – Hundred Seals
- Episode 20 – The Pinnacle of 1116
- Episode 21 – Resonance
- Episode 22 – The Brink
- Episodes 23-27 – Buddha versus Zerofuku
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