First of all let me just say that I have high expectations of Matsuena for the 500th chapter. He has done plenty of building up in the last 10 or so chapters for these matchups. Leading up to this has been over a hundred chapters of buildup for Chikage and her relationship with the Shinpaku Alliance. The entire series has followed the development of Hermit. Rimi has been training to fight Miu and has a strong desire to annihilate her and Takeda's rivalry with Lugh was rushed through just for this moment. If the fights don't turn out simply amazing then you will never see an end to my ranting. Never.
So first of all we need to keep in mind that there has been a lot of foreshadowing of a death. Ogata wants someone to be killed and Natsu has stated that the target is the Shinpaku Alliance. I personally think that Matsuena does not have the guts to kill off any character especially considering that all of these people are involved are kids. The victim will be a kid and the murderer will be a kid. I don't expect this to happen at all. What I expect is someone on the verge of death and Kenichi saving them because that is what he swore to Natsu. Regardless though, if Matsuena has the courage to push the series this far then as of chapter 500 I believe we'll be looking at a much "darker" manga here.
As for the specific fights, I don't know what to think of Kenichi vs. Berserker or Seigfried vs. Hermit. That last fight seems pretty filler and I really think it'll end up being a fight just to see who is stronger and will end with a draw. Kenichi vs. Berserker will only reveal how far Berserker will come and I predict that the fight will end early or Kenichi will just run away from Berserker in order to protect the others. In Chikage's fight I think that Ukita will interrupt it because of his undying fate in Chikage OR he will replace Kisara in the fight against Chikage. Regardless though, if the fight happens then Chikage will win hands down, however, I stand by the fight being interrupted. As for Odin and Freya, I agree with the theory that Odin will not fight and will instead talk to Freya about what he wanted to tell Kenichi.
Where the real action in this arc (which I now dub the amusement park arc and I refuse to accept your opinions stating otherwise) will be is in the Miu vs. Rimi and Takeda vs. Lugh fights. Both Rimi and Miu have gotten some huge power ups recently and theirs will be a battle of speed. I predict that Miu will lose control and instead of Rimi killing Miu, Miu will be the one to almost kill Rimi in this fight. That's when Kenichi comes in to save her or perhaps Tanaka (recall that he is there!). Takeda vs. Lugh though is a fight that will have to happen and nothing should interrupt this one. Takeda will get decimated and I give the win to Lugh.
Now, what if Matsuena mans up, breaks stereotypes, and kills a character. Who will die? I think that's a discussion worth having. Will a character die? No, Kenichi will save them guaranteed. However, who will be the one that almost dies and is the one that Kenichi ends up saving. I believe we have only three options here. The first, obvious one, is Takeda. We don't know enough about Lugh yet, but we do know that he vastly overpowers Takeda and that he, more than likely, has the least problem amongst the YOMI with killing someone. Next on the list is Ukita. Lots of chapters have been about him recently and he is the absolute weakest of the group. Will YOMI go for the weakest first? Possibly. And if he is to interrupt the Chikage fight then Chikage can take him down in one hit and while I believe that she doesn't have the heart to do it, if Matsuena mans up then this is a likely scenario. My last prediction is Kisara. Kisara also can not put up a fight against Chikage in my opinion and she makes an easy target. In fact, if Kenichi ends up preoccupied with Berserker he would try to save Kisara, but Ukita would be the one who ends up trying to save Kisara from Chikage and ends up getting heavily injured (dying?) in the process.
So, have I overhyped this arc too much? I don't think so. I definitely have high expectations with all these match ups though I seem to have written off all of them except Miu vs. Rimi and Takeda vs. Lugh. Those two fights are what all the recent buildup has centered around and it's what I expect the focus to me.
Also I just want to say congratulations to Matsuena on getting to chapter 500. This manga is amazing, its got a great story, and even though the fanservice has gotten excessive lately I don't think I could ever put it down. I also love it because I got to meet a lot of amazing people through this site. I wish I could tell Matsuena that he's done a great job and give him my thanks somehow. Maybe I'll tweet him. Anyway congratulations on 500 chapters and I'm looking forward to how the series continues to play out.
