Kazuma vs. Radish & Slum Brawlers
Episode 1 · Native Slum Border · Kazuma Dominance
Kazuma accepted a mercenary job to clear out a rogue
Native Alter gang threatening a local farming village.
The Breakdown
The gang leader deployed a heavy rock-type Alter. Kazuma casually absorbed the strike on his unarmored arm before activating a single Shell Bullet thruster to drive a point-blank punch through the rock wall, knocking the entire squad out in three seconds.
Debut: Ep 001 - Kazuma
Kazuma vs. Ryuho (First Wasteland Clash)
Episode 1 · Slum Outpost Ruins · Decisive Ryuho Victory (Kazuma Arrested)
HOLY launched an armed raid into the outer slums to subdue unregistered
Native Alters. Kazuma deployed Shell Bullet to break through military barricades, confronting Ryuho on open dirt terrain.
The Breakdown
Kazuma unleashed his Shell Bullet thrusters for a direct punch. Ryuho summoned Zetsuei, effortlessly deflecting Kazuma's kinetic blow with silk ribbons before Zetsuei's razor claws shattered Kazuma's armor, resulting in Kazuma's capture.
Debut: Ep 001 - Kazuma
Kazuma vs. Unkei (The Scriptwriter)
Episode 8 · HOLY Facility · Decisive Kazuma Victory
Unkei catches Kazuma inside
Mad Script, an Alter that turns the target into a character inside the scenario Unkei writes.
The Breakdown
The important part is not that Kazuma discovers a technical loophole. He is simply an awful person to trap inside somebody else's script. His refusal to accept the role Unkei assigns him lets him break through the scenario and turn the fight back on its author.
Debut: Ep 008 - Mad Sprict
Kazuma vs. Straight Cougar
Episode 18 · Lost Ground · Cougar vs. Kazuma
Straight Cougar confronts Kazuma after the eight-month gap and refuses to let him keep hiding in the underground fighting circuit.
The Breakdown
Cougar uses Radical Good Speed to control the pace of the confrontation and keeps pressing until Kazuma is forced to engage seriously instead of simply surviving another paid fight. The result is not a clean tournament-style victory. Cougar gets what he came for: Kazuma starts moving again.
For why Kazuma had withdrawn from everyone in the first place, see
Kazuma's Underground Exile Is Fear Wearing His Usual Face.
Debut: Ep 018 - Straight Cougar
Kazuma vs. Ryuho (Second Great Uprising)
SPOILER!
Episode 13 · Lost Ground · No Winner / Second Great Uprising
Kazuma and Ryuho collide again after Kimishima's death, with both men pushing their Alters beyond the level shown in their earlier fights.
The Breakdown
Kazuma drives Shell Bullet harder while Ryuho releases more of Zetsuei's power. Their clash opens contact with the Other Side and triggers the Second Great Uprising. Neither man earns a normal victory; both disappear in the catastrophe created by the fight.
The consequences of that clash belong in
Their Biggest Fight Removes the Identities They Were Fighting With.
Debut: Ep 013 - The Lost Ground
Kazuma & Ryuho vs. Mujo and the Other Side
SPOILER!
Episode 24 · Mujo's Fortress · Parallel Final Battles
Kazuma and Ryuho finally fight on the same side, but they are not attacking one target as a coordinated team. Kazuma takes Mujo. Ryuho faces the Alter being tied to the death of his mother. Each confrontation is the end of a different obsession.
The Breakdown
Ryuho reaches Zetsuei's armor form and defeats the being from the
Other Side. Kazuma draws deeper on Alter power, reaches his full-body form and destroys Mujo after Mujo transforms again. The victory matters because the two rivals can finally point all of that power away from each other long enough to protect the Lost Ground.
Debut: Ep 024 - Fist
Kazuma (Proud Fist) vs. Ryuho (Ultimate Zetsuei)
SPOILER!
Episode 26 · Open Wasteland · Final Duel
Kazuma and Ryuho finally fight without another enemy interrupting them. Both escalate through their highest Alter forms, carry the battle into the sky and continue after their supernatural power is exhausted.
The Breakdown
Proud Fist and Ultimate Zetsuei are eventually stripped away until the duel becomes two exhausted men trading ordinary punches in the dirt. The episode closes on the raised-fist image instead of giving the audience a spoken referee-style verdict.
Why this fight still has to happen after the larger conflict is over is covered in
Episode 26 Is the First Time the Rivalry Belongs Only to Them.
Debut: Ep 026 - Dream
Straight Cougar's Last Run
SPOILER!
Episodes 23–24 · Mujo's Fortress · One More Rescue
Mujo defeats Cougar and takes his Alter power, but that still is not enough to make Cougar stay down. He returns in Episode 24 and spends what he has left getting Kanami and the others out of Mujo's fortress while Kazuma and Ryuho finish their battles.
The Breakdown
Cougar's last contribution is completely in character. He does not need the final punch or the final speech. He needs to get the people who matter out of danger as fast as he possibly can. Earlier, he had already forced Kazuma out of
the underground exile that was really fear wearing Kazuma's usual face.
Debut: Ep 023 - Scheris Adjani
