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Oh Ken, getting Worf’d again! At this point I think we can all agree Ken is maybe not the end all/be all of badasses in the Bushido-verse. But hey, he’s easily the one with the biggest sword! But how long can that last in this crazy work a day world?

I don’t think I mentioned how much I LOOOOVVVVED the Star Wars Rebels finale. Oh, I bet I know what you’re thinking and, NO, my positive opinion is not tied to the reintroduction of a CERTAIN CHARACTER I’ve previously praised from a different Star Wars cartoon, although I did GREATLY appreciate that character’s inclusion in the finale, however brief. What I loved was the pacing, build up, and payoff. It was very reminiscent of the original films. The series has been so laser focused on one planet, with a small set of characters who have a narrow set of goals and challenges, and slowly they’ve introduced new elements over the first season that hint at a bigger universe, which is now mostly unexplored thanks to the jettisoning of the EU. It makes me want them to get involved in bigger conflicts and in the season finale they step in the proverbial hornet’s nest of big conflicts, leaving me pumped for season 2! I also love the arcs Kanan and Ezra complete here, finally bonding as true master and apprentice. I was almost certain they were going to have Kanan lean all Dark Side, but I’m glad the writers didn’t go that route, and instead showed how a Jedi SHOULD deal with a tragic loss without falling down an emotional dark path, as often seems to be the case in Star Wars lore. It was a strong character moment and I loved it! Also, that little maneuver he pulled using Ezra’s saber had me grinning like an idiot. Anyway, I may write about this finale in more spoilery detail later, because it’s worth the analysis, assuming you’re a decades long SW fan who’s starved for good in-universe storytelling!

Published on March 23, 2015 by Alex Kolesar

Renadt

And this is why Matrix is so badass.
- Kid Chaos
  
  [sarcasm]Yeah, because making Ken look bad is so very difficult.[/sarcasm]
- Scott Henry
  
  No, she has a nice ass actually.
  - Sam DunKley
    
    Badum-tish!
    - purplelibraryguy
      
      No, no.
      Badum-tush!
  - charles81
    
    Look three pages back for proof… Still distracting me.
IDPounder

Ninja women be trippin’, yo.
Ryan

“Are you saying she can dodge bullets?” “What are bullets?”
- Dana
  
  They’ll find out soon enough if Rrrrrrrricardo has his way!
  - Kid Chaos
    
    Ricky will have his way…right to the executioner’s block!
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      Poor Ricardo’s chances of surviving this adventure are tenuous at best…
      - Xinef
        
        If he doesn’t go out with a blast, I’d be disappointed.
  - Ryan
    
    Indeed, I got that joke in under the wire.
Astralfury

“Say it, Kenny boy” “…..” *fun but violent sound effect* “y-you’re the one who is all that…” – 2 pages time, probably.
- Kid Chaos
  
  “Ken Daisuke, you think you’re all that, but you’re not!”
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Yeah, probably.
dude

Ken’s Chi hiding spot in the dirt beneath him started out as a good idea… But I’m surprised he hasn’t found a new place to hide it since that last guy sworded it, leaving Ken with the strength of a wet blanket. It’s your own fault man! Obviously now that the secret’s out everyone’s gonna take advantage of it.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Yeah, gotta keep moving that Chi around or it’s gonna get taken advantage of.
Scott Henry

I want to be IN the matrix. Giggity. lol
- Kid Chaos
  
  I’ll take the red pill, please.
  - reynard61
    
    The Blue Pill works better…
    
    http://www.drugdangers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/viagra.jpg
    - Kid Chaos
      
      But…but then I won’t be able to enter the Matrix!
      - leavescat
        
        In this case, I think it’d help.
TheMeddler

With that sound effect panel 5, all I can think of is “Ooo natural 1. That’s a fumble.”
- IDPounder
  
  Yeah, I’m thinking that sake has a very negative modifier on Ken’s dexterity checks. He’s crit fumbled two weeks in a row!
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    Time to get new dice.
    - IDPounder
      
      There’s no truth whatsoever to the rumor that dice that fail me get Viking funerals.
Flaming Squirrel

You can thank Cho for that, by the way…

And in Ken’s defense, Yori has taken down two Demons of Sorrow, so beating “Samurai Boy” may not be anything to sneeze at.
- charles81
  
  AHHHHHCHOOO!
  - Flaming Squirrel
    
    KENSUNDEIT
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      That was slick, good pun. Although it begs the question, why do we swear in German when people sneeze?
      - Flaming Squirrel
        
        What? I thought this was all in Chinese…
      - margarinecup
        
        Technically, it’s saying ‘healthy life!’ so, not really swearing… unless you do swear, in which case I should be the one asking that question.
      - Neska
        
        <==took 3 years of German in high school
        Gesundheit isn't a swear, it's a wish for good health (that's actually what the word means).
- leavescat
  
  Yeah, but… Yori was using defective equipment and goofing off for the first few hundred comics. Even then, he STILL stabbed Ken in the arm with a broken sword. If they had a rematch and Yori actually tried to kill him, Ken wouldn’t stand a chance. Ken’s weakness is a complete lack of formal combat training, so he’s only effective against untrained mooks; although, he can take out an enormous number of them.
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    Yep, Yori’s a badass, it’s officially canon.
    - leavescat
      
      It’d be both funny and sad if Ken goes on to challenge Yori to a rematch to get his confidence back and proceed to get flattened. I could actually see this happening, so if it does I called it.
  - Flaming Squirrel
    
    Hey, late reply! I don’t know exactly how much time has passed since the beginning of the comic to this point, but it doesn’t seem likely that Yori’s skill has gone up THAT much. I mean, he’s definitely gotten better, no doubt about that. But since he’s been running from one place to another, with very little time to settle down, he can’t have much practice time. And whatever time he had to practice was most likely on his own. So, I don’t know how reasonable it is to think that Yori was on an entirely different skill level back then. Then again, this is a fictional comic, with very little regard for the realistic workings of the really real reality. If the tao will Yori to be a samurai god, then so shall it be!
    - Fullmetalpanic
      
      I believe it is more that he has matured mentally to some extent, or rather he made up his mind…
      
      I mean he basiclly turned against his family, guess that takes a lot of determination to begin with, but he gradually let go of his hesitation…also he got closer to his companions maybe, giving him more of a reason to fight…
      
      So to speak his sword now has more weight to it,
      The fighting technique he had from the beginning though…
    - leavescat
      
      Honestly what probably happened was the writers changed their mind about how badass Yori was supposed to be after the first couple fights when he was yelling out his techniques. Canonically, though, he was showing off, and losing because of it. Standing on Ken’s sword directly led to him getting injured, when he could have just ran up and stabbed Ken before he knew what happened. He lost to Sir Indigo because he insisted on holding 3 swords. Sure, it was a low blow, but he could have gone for a killing blow instead of showing off. He used some fancy techniques against Ryoku, but he wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
      
      In short, Yori’s extremely talented, was somewhat of a prodigy actually, but stopped training for a while. He then got into fights and showed off with rusty skills. Once he actually started fighting to the death, he became really dangerous.
      - Fullmetalpanic
        
        What are those “writers” you talk about, friend ?
        To you want to hint that Ypri’s fate is influenced by some greater power ? Is his fate driven by the tao as cho suggests ? Or is Bishamonten himself present ?
        What do you mean ?
- KungFuKlobber
  
  He can also thank Genchu, Yumiko, and the fact that he wasn’t Wu and Tang’s primary target.
  - leavescat
    
    And Cho (again) because Atsumori was totally going to kill him.
- Fullmetalpanic
  
  I feel that “Samurai Boy” is far stronger than what he gets credit for. Not just as for his raw fighting skills, but he also is very good at understanding his enemies (and to some extent allies), at adapting to changing situations and using it to his advantage.
  
  He propably read a lot of Sun Tzu in his childhood ?
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    He buys swords, and he practices with them three hours a day so when he meets a ninja he can kill it.
    - Flaming Squirrel
      
      Ninja hunting is a hobby that is both fun and productive!
      - Fullmetalpanic
        
        Also it makes for a great morning exercise ! It is a common way to spend time for the elderly around here
      - margarinecup
        
        Where is ‘here’? Can I go there?
    - Dusty Coyote
      
      Did… Did you just ninja a pirate reference? Or did you pirate a reference for use with ninjas?
      
      Will this cause a pirate-ninja paradox?
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  It’s probable that Ken is kind of oblivious to Yorikiro’s skill and Matrix is just using that.
Sam DunKley

Matrix brings up a very good point; how much of Ken’s effectivness is from everyone being terrified of the crazy man with the sword taller than him? Really, Ken is a way better mook sweeper than duelist; all of his losses were against people that weren’t scared of him. Of course, that’s a chicken and egg sort of situation; if they’re good enough to beat him, of course they’re not afraid. Deep, man.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Sometimes Joe writes some okay things. This whole scene is great and I can’t wait to draw the rest of it!
- Xinef
  
  Well, Yori is good enough to beat him. And he’s not really afraid of him. But… who’s the chicken and who’s the egg?
Fullmetalpanic

Ken’s a true gentleman…noticing the intense sunlight he got worried so he tries his best to fan some cool air twards the woman…everyone knows that intense sunlight can ruin a woman’s skin after alll…

*nodsnods*

Btw, anyone noticed his super anti-gravity sword ? I just KNEW it can’t be massive after she deflected it with a tiny Katana, now we can see it has less density than Ken….well ofc Ken’s head might have the highest known density of any material on earth, who knows ? 😀

Maybe he should stop using swords alltogether and just headbutt his opponents ?
- Mathbarian
  
  She didn’t deflect his sword with the katana; he was blocking her strike. Also, she was using the pommel to stop his sword, then just flipped it so his force and gravity took over to smash it into the ground, the perfect way to stop a heavy weapon like Ken’s sword.
  - Fullmetalpanic
    
    Weeeell…first panel last page…at that moment the blades def got contact….if he himself blocks or not isn’t really important, even if he does not put any force into a downward movement there still is gravity…
    Just looking at the size of his sword…
    Let’s say it is something like steel…1m³ steel is 7000 kg +
    
    Even if his blade is just 1/4th that size it would be….heavy XD
    No matter how you turn it, no matter how much of the force is redirected somewhere else, the sheer weight of his sword would make it pretty impractical to touch it with a Katana…
    
    I won’t even question how he can lift it in the first place 😀
    ken’s a badass ‘aight
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      “He’s a badass” is actually the answer to your question, clearly!
      - Fullmetalpanic
        
        Wish I could do a timeskip and see future Ken when he got eye lazers and makes people’s heads explode by yelling for sake 😀
      - Mike
        
        Ken approves of this explanation.
    - psYcHOticHiCKeN
      
      A plate 5 meters by 0.5 meter by .1 meters is .25 m³. So iron would end up around 1750 kg.
      
      But that does not matter. In order to lift an object 5 meters long Ken’s mass has to act as a counter weight. Matrix lifting Kento with a backhand-butt-strike must be more impressive than blocking the sword. Kento has to be much heavier.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Head butting is totes a super effective strat in the bushido-verse:
  http://nn4b.com/?webcomic1=279
Lady Courage

Plot Twist: Ken’s actually dead but didn’t have enough to drink in the real world so he’s sticking around until he gets his fill.
- Fullmetalpanic
  
  LIAR! Sir Auron eeeehr KEN can’t be dead ! *holds ears and runs away yelling*
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    This is YOUR story!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  “This is actually the afterlife” is such an overused plot twist that it’s more a plot straightaway.
  - Lady Courage
    
    Truth. Thus the irony.
  - Neska
    
    It works for the Pictsies of Discworld . . .
Scott Henry

Still waiting on some bad ass male ninja like Hanzu Hattori to show up. Isawa Goemon? Yabyu Jubei?
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I’m gonna level with you, Scott, we’re probably not gonna see any. I loves me some Rikimaru/Ryu Hayabusa/Yagyu Jubei, but they are super rad main character types who totally steal the show. If we see any cool ninja dudes in the comic, they will most likely be relegated to background characters, or just be our main cast dressed up as ninja, which totally happened! Albeit they didn’t really do any fighting.
  
  We’d actually originally planned to have a bunch of fighting during the ninja cave infiltration, but a desire for tighter pacing won out and the only fight we got was Masuhiro vs Ayane+some ninja lackeys, and Ken’s big fight with Yumiko. I think the initial concept was to have Yori and Masuhiro facing off against Suzuka and Ayane, while Cho held off a ninja hoard, and Then Yukizane showed up. Still no male shinobi, but it would’ve had a lot more ninja-style fighting for sure (and taken two years to draw).
  - Xinef
    
    But there was one badass male ninja! Bunzo!
    
    Not much screentime, but considering he’d smash the main cast under Mount Fuji, it’s understandable.
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      BUNZO LIVES.
      - IDPounder
        
        Of all the past minor characters, I really want to see him come back the most.
    - KungFuKlobber
      
      And, technically, Yukizane is a ninja now.
  - Fullmetalpanic
    
    II like ninjas but imho they are overused, so not having a ninja steal all spotlight isn’t bad thing…besides we allready got Cho doing the weird stuff 😀
- leavescat
  
  Masuhiro Senshin. He acts like a samurai but fights like a ninja. Or maybe Chuck Norris.
  - IDPounder
    
    Masuhiro vs. Chuck Norris…now THAT would be a fight to see!
    
    Actually, I’d settle for just seeing Chuck’s beard vs. Masuhiro’s abs.
Scott Henry

In D&D terms Ken is obviously a Barbarian. Rage and strength but no real formal training. Ken is more fighter or samurai class.
- leavescat
  
  You mean, Yori is more fighter or samurai class?
  
  Wouldn’t Yori technically be a ronin right now? Being disowned, he’s effectively a samurai with no lord. He should probably talk to Ina about getting a new family name.
Hfar

Ah, the time honored tradition of the mentor(ish) figure kicking the protagonist’s butt to teach him an object lesson in keeping a cool head while one is getting one’s arse kicked.

Could be worse for Ken though. At least Matrix is using a sheath. The main protagonist of The Mask of Zorro got his hiney handed to him by a middle aged dude with a cane.
Da’Zlein

You won’t be alive much longer if you keep this performance up…
- Kid Chaos
  
  Don’t stop not dyin’, Ken!
noisyparker

He is just lashing out since he wants to be acknowledged. “Look at me! I exist!” It’s going to take more than a short trip like that to fill that empty hole he knows is there, but is afraid to face.
- Kid Chaos
  
  How profound!

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