HSDK Battle 523 Released

That was a good chapter. Nice to see a protaganist that doesn't always have an amazing, stirring speech ready. There are times when a person can't say anything. I actually can't quite predict how this will end. I think Ogata will live, but will Tanaka die? Will the masters intervene in time? If they do, won't Tanaka just continue to seek revenge? Maybe this needs to resolve itself here. Some tough issues, I think.

hmmm

an interesting chapter not much to really say this time

I don't feel like anything actually happened in this chapter...all that was really there was Ogata having a better kazoe nukite. Oh well. The fight is over after the next chapter. Wonder what happens next?

That was a good chapter. Nice to see a protaganist that doesn't always have an amazing, stirring speech ready. There are times when a person can't say anything.

Good point. I kind of overlooked that. It certainly is nice to see a protagonist who can't say anything in the situation. Or maybe matsuena saw us complaining about Kenichi blabbing on and on. I also like how Kenichi can't hate Ogata.

Oh, Miu...

I really liked this chapter. For a second, I thought Ogata was using Seidou Gouitsu at some point. I liked the two paged spread with Ogata and his "mad killer" comment.

Tanaka ripped off his shirt! It reminded me of the time Ryuto did that back in the Final Clash arc.

It really looks like Ogata's going to win this fight and I hope Matsuena won't mess it up. None of the other OSNF are as interesting to me as Ogata. Plus, we need to see him use Seidou Gouitsu. I can't wait for the conlclusion.

@Rimi That's cause nothing really happened in the chapter except for like one fighting move. The rest was mentioned last chapter.

Though I will say that I was kind of disappointed that Kenichi would need to have the whole thing about the wife and kid explained. I thought he was smart enough to figure things like that out, but I guess he had to be dumbed down for the dramatic effect of the "big reveal".

I guess the chapter was OK. I mean, now we know it's going to end next chapter so we have something nice to look forward to.

Having the fact that his wife and child were killed was spelled out kind of ruins it, IMO. It would have been better off left for us to figure out on our own (which, come on, wasn't hard at all). 

All in all, looking forward to next week. I dunno what it meant by "majestic ending." I guess I could see either Tanaka or Ogata dying with grace or something. Or maybe the terrible translators couldn't think of a better word.

I find kenichis admiration towards ogata kind of odd since moments before he was trying to kick his ass for hurting miu

Is it admiration? I saw it kind of like a respect for his immersion in martial arts. Like he was in awe of it.

Eh...I guess that's admiration.

Since Kenichi can't seem to truly hate Ogata no matter what, it'll be interesting seeing his reaction to the outcome.

I mean, he respects him as a martial artist, so it's a real mystery how he'll act towards Ogata if Tanaka loses and dies and vice-versa.

All in all, looking forward to next week. I dunno what it meant by "majestic ending." I guess I could see either Tanaka or Ogata dying with grace or something. Or maybe the terrible translators couldn't think of a better word.

 
That's an editor note to hype people up for the next chapter.
 

I find kenichis admiration towards ogata kind of odd since moments before he was trying to kick his ass for hurting miu

Well, he has always admired Ogata. The whole Miu thing was the first time he's ever really lashed out at him.

Im hoping its time for someone close to kenichi to die. I think tanaka being killed by ogata in front of him will do him wonders for progression

Except he's not really close to Kenichi.

I'm not sure if either Ogata or Tanaka will die, but if I had to pick I might actually say Ogata would die. I think Kenichi's a little bit closer to him than to Tanaka. But then again, if Tanaka kills Ogata, then are they going to say that Tanaka's satsujinken now? I guess we'll find out. Now won't we?

Except he's not really close to Kenichi.

I'm not sure if either Ogata or Tanaka will die, but if I had to pick I might actually say Ogata would die. I think Kenichi's a little bit closer to him than to Tanaka. But then again, if Tanaka kills Ogata, then are they going to say that Tanaka's satsujinken now? I guess we'll find out. Now won't we?

But, if Ogata dies, Ryuto and Berserker will be left without a master.

I would say considering Ogata was hoping Ryuto or Berserker would kill him (well, that's kind of a blanket generalization. He would like for one of his disciples to kill him.) and never said Ryuto wasn't ready or something  to that effect when he attacked Ogata, I think they're both pretty much good enough to not need a master anymore. Berserker never really needed one anyway.

I don't think so. If they don't need a master anymore, that would make them experts. It would be weird having two experts in YOMI, Yami's disciple group. Ogata did say that Ryuto wasn't strong enough to fight him, and even though Berserker uses his own style, he still needs a master to give him training methods.

I wonder why Mangapanda's scans look very "soft" and less detailed compared to the one in mangastream or mangainn. Don't get me wrong, I love mangapanda's sheer speed and also their quality of translation (they seem to translate the meaning instead of the literal words), but I like the look of the other scans better.

As for this chapter though, I'm a bit proud of Ken for growing up quite a bit to realize where idealism alone isn't enough, and to also see the grey shades of morality clearer.

Also I really wish they could show exactly what these two master had changed in kazoe nukite and explained why Kensei won. All I really saw was that Kensei was physically stronger and his kazoe nukite would have gone right through Tanaka if he didn't jump up (and got thrown back). Seriously, if they simply said that that Kensei was physically stronger, I would have been satisfied. 

But I don't think it was the case, but something else. It also looked to me like Tanaka hesitated at the last moment and jump, and if he did not jump, his "curved" final thrust might have connected first. Now if the explanation was "he flinched", it would have really bring back the old depth that this manga had in the beginning.

@citizen_lion Mangainn updated their site with Mangastream's translation. They were using Mangapanda's translation eariler. Although, I thought Mangainn and Mangapanda were the same group since both sites were being credited at some point. Plus, the layout of the site is the same as Mangapanda and Mangareader.

I guess the lower quality of Mangapanda's scans has to do with them rushing to get it out or maybe how they're going about cleaning them.

Yea, I find that mangapanda seems to translate the "big picture" meaning, and then mangastream translates closer to the letter. The two translations complement each other.

Plus the mangastream scans are crisper, so you can discern the actions a bit more.

From the the mangastream scan I have to say I think that Tanaka lost the kazoe nukite duel because of indecision. The first 4 thrusts were dead equal, so the theory that Kensei are much stronger physically doesn't hold water. Even if Kensei were a bit more muscular, it won't be enough for his final trust to literally spin Tanaka's whole body around his arm.

But if we look at the expressions of Kensei and Tanaka during the last thrust, we can see that Kensei was calm and resolute, while Tanaka's expression was one of emotional conflict. I think at the last moment when the two thrusts hit home and began to draw blood, Tanaka jumped instead of following through.

This was what Kensei commented as "his resolve is still too weak".