High & Low: Where do they rank?

[Iron_Twister]

Looking back so far...I'm not sure where Ice from the Mighty Warriors stand.

...Cause the dude kinda just dominates in fights and go toe to toe against Hiroto Amamiya but otherwise, not sure since he doesn't get a proper fight other than that I think?

Me thinks it's time to do some rewatching.

[Sharpandpointies]

Looking back so far...I'm not sure where Ice from the Mighty Warriors stand.

...Cause the dude kinda just dominates in fights and go toe to toe against Hiroto Amamiya but otherwise, not sure since he doesn't get a proper fight other than that I think?

Me thinks it's time to do some rewatching.

I'm curious about that as well. I've mentioned him in this thread in a similar fashion - as you say, he has one inconclusive fight against Hiroto where it LOOKED like they were a good match, and otherwise his entire fight sequences are him running absolutely wild over no-names.

That's all we have.

Is he better than Cobra and the other gang leaders? He managed to fight for an extended period against Hiroto while getting in hits that actually seemed to do something, so yeah. Cobra and Yamato were basically punching bags that occasionally managed to get a few (useless) hits on the Amamiyas; it took Cobra, Tsukumo, Yamato, and Kohaku to make a somewhat even fight against both of the Amamiyas and it was STILL clear that Cobra, Yamato, and Tsukumo were getting the worst of it (Kohaku doing all the heavy lifting, there). Which...makes sense. Kohaku can fight against Cobra, Tskumo, and Yamato and win; Kohaku + those three < Amamiyas works if the Amamiyas are each roughly on Kohaku's level.

Is Ice on the same level as Hiroto, Masaki, and Kohaku? The fight between Hiroto and Ice was basically called off due to 'big fight over, no point in continuing'.

Sooo....

I think we can safely put him as 'at least close enough to the Amamiyas and Kohaku to make a serious fight of it'. Which, honestly, is a place nobody else in the entire series stands (even Tsukumo gets ripped apart by Kohaku, and doesn't do terribly well in the 4 vs 2 Mugen fight with the Amamiyas). Is he their equal? Don't know.

EDIT: See pages 7-8, Ice now confirmed as Top Tier in my opinion.

[Iron_Twister]

Yeah, the Mighty Warriors are kinda in a weird place as they're dangerous but nothing really solid, especially for Ice (he did one shot that bald guy from Oya High but that dude wasn't exactly more than the big guy for Oya).

I mean, a little better than Jesse and the Prison Gang from End of Sky. Jesse gives Cobra a fight and...I don't think he's ever used again since.

[Guy1]

[Guy1]

[Sharpandpointies]

Yeah, the Mighty Warriors are kinda in a weird place as they're dangerous but nothing really solid, especially for Ice (he did one shot that bald guy from Oya High but that dude wasn't exactly more than the big guy for Oya).

I mean, a little better than Jesse and the Prison Gang from End of Sky. Jesse gives Cobra a fight and...I don't think he's ever used again since.

I agree. Most of the time, the MW come in and basically beat up the tekla gang members, no-names without any cred. They do it really quickly, but that's all.

Ice actually does fight the Oya High second stringer (I forget the bald guy's name, but he HAS a name EDIT: it's Seki, dammit! and rather casually beats up no-names)...and lays him out really fast. It's kinda what I would expect from someone somewhere in between the Amamiyas/Kohaku and the SWORD gang leaders (who might have taken a little time to take out the bald guy).

Jesse and his gang were somewhat of a disappointment, indeed. Jesse runs about equal to Cobra in their fight (maybe a touch better? But only that, if at all), and beats Rocky off-screen when Rocky is feeling depressed and down (and Jesse notes that Rocky was 'tough'). That does kind of cement him as potentially slightly better than Cobra. Jesse's quick friend with the knife loses to Yamato after a hard fight. Their HUGE friend can't even put down Noboru, even after Noboru makes the point that he's been away from gang fighting for a while. And Noboru was never really a heavyweight fighter.

It's not a great showing for Jesse's group, and we only really see Jesse again one more time in Final Mission, where he does...not a lot.

Edit: Also, I feel I must reiterate that the Mighty Warriors' Theme song is the only really disappointing music in the entire series. ;P

[Amamiya brothers] Guys with guns standing close to us. Oh noes.

[Guy1]

I agree. Most of the time, the MW come in and basically beat up the tekla gang members, no-names without any cred. They do it really quickly, but that's all.

Ice actually does fight the Oya High second stringer (I forget the bald guy's name, but he HAS a name, and rather casually beats up no-names)...and lays him out really fast. It's kinda what I would expect from someone somewhere in between the Amamiyas/Kohaku and the SWORD gang leaders (who might have taken a little time to take out the bald guy).

Jesse and his gang were somewhat of a disappointment, indeed. Jesse runs about equal to Cobra in their fight (maybe a touch better? But only that, if at all), and beats Rocky off-screen when Rocky is feeling depressed and down (and Jesse notes that Rocky was 'tough'). That does kind of cement him as potentially slightly better than Cobra. Jesse's quick friend with the knife loses to Yamato after a hard fight. Their HUGE friend...can't even put down Noboru, even after Noboru makes the point that he's been away from gang fighting for a while.

It's not a great showing for Jesse's group, and we only really see Jesse again one more time in Final Mission, where he does...not a lot.



[Amamiya brothers] Guys with guns standing close to us. Oh noes.

So damn slick. The second clip is also pretty fun. That's some street level blitzing.

[Sharpandpointies]

So damn slick. The second clip is also pretty fun. That's some street level blitzing.

1:12 or so, Hiroto kinda dekes to the side to avoid getting shot, while grabbing the guy's gun. Same deal at 1:25, and he then starts gunning people down.

1:30, Masaki does a beautifully choreographed aim dodge against a guy shooting at him from behind.

Are the yakuza-types showing lousy use of guns? Sure, but that's no more a factor in determining feats like this than 'is the martial art we see realistic?' when it comes to fighting skills. The movie is demonstrating that these guys basically waltz their way through a crowd of people with firearms, and kill them all either by leading their enemies to shoot one another or by using their enemies firearms against them.

While doing stuff like 'absently strips the clip out of the stolen gun while moving to attack the next person'.

[Guy1]

1:12 or so, Hiroto kinda dekes to the side to avoid getting shot, while grabbing the guy's gun. Same deal at 1:25, and he then starts gunning people down.

1:30, Masaki does a beautifully choreographed aim dodge against a guy shooting at him from behind.

Are the yakuza-types showing lousy use of guns? Sure, but that's no more a factor in determining feats like this than 'is the martial art we see realistic?' when it comes to fighting skills. The movie is demonstrating that these guys basically waltz their way through a crowd of people with firearms, and kill them all either by leading their enemies to shoot one another or by using their enemies firearms against them.

While doing stuff like 'absently strips the clip out of the stolen gun while moving to attack the next person'.

Downright beautiful. The choreography in these movies is so much fun.

And not gonna lie, I like the crowd fights a lot more than the CGI Alien Armies we get in most Superhero Films.

[Sharpandpointies]

Downright beautiful. The choreography in these movies is so much fun.

And not gonna lie, I like the crowd fights a lot more than the CGI Alien Armies we get in most Superhero Films.

Yeah. I mean, the no-names clearly lead with their bodies to get beat up, sometimes some of the stuff is obviously guys trying not to hurt each other, etc.

But the actors - even the no-names - really put their all into it. And the camera-work/cinematography (using drones, slow motion clips in high-def, bullet-time panning around the fight, and other such things) is really a delight to see. It's just mad chaos, but every name-level person and every faction STAYS IN CHARACTER as well. And the massive variety of people fighting in different ways...toss on top of it the high-energy, dramatic soundtrack that they really key off important dramatic points in the fights? Yeesh.

It's also a real treat to occasionally see someone bust out Judo, mid-fight. ^_^ Cobra does, Murayama does in some of his fights (his fight at the start of H&L: The Worst has a BEAUTIFUL and realistically done throw, what I would expect from a skilled practitioner managing to pull it off mid-fight rather than 'technically perfect'), so do others.

The brief conversations people get into in the middle of the fights are fun, as well.

...I also like how pretty much everyone starts their big fights with 'Let's go!' + standard charge and yell, whereas Rocky starts by quietly hissing 'Party time.' ^_^ Edit: They even make a joke out of this in the DTC movie, along with other H&L stuff.

[Sharpandpointies]

Apparently there is a plot point in the High&Low TV series (seasons I and II) that isn't covered in 'Road to High&Low'. It seems it has a lot to do with the Mighty Warriors.

High&Low: The Worst seems to have other stuff connected to it as well - another movie, possibly a series. I'm hoping either NF gets all of this, or I can find DVD's.

Also, given DTC ends with 'To Be Continued', I'm expecting another comedy feel-good from them, as weird as that sounds. ^_^

[Guy1]

This is the guy they just could not put down, with insane feats. He walks off that fall and is fine to face everyone a minute later.

In the end it took

spoilers:

both Amamiya brothers + wrapping chains around their limbs to put him away.

end of spoilers

Dude is nuts. Fights with him really showcase how tough Kohaku is.

[Iron_Twister]

Out of mostly curiosity, where would Todoroki from Oya rank? Obviously nowhere near the top and the SWORD leaders as his fights against Murayama showed. Not sure how he fared against Seki or Furuya (the latter's backstory being that he took 98 punches in the same thing Murayama went through) but Todoroki was clearly the best fighter in The Worst in Oya when Murayama and those two aren't involved while faring very well in the Oya vs Housen battle.

Yeah, arguably a downgrade of the insanity that is Kohaku and the Amamiya bros (and Genji? God damn) but The Worst was kinda cool for an Oya focused story and awesome as a crossover.

[Sharpandpointies]

Out of mostly curiosity, where would Todoroki from Oya rank? Obviously nowhere near the top and the SWORD leaders as his fights against Murayama showed. Not sure how he fared against Seki or Furuya (the latter's backstory being that he took 98 punches in the same thing Murayama went through) but Todoroki was clearly the best fighter in The Worst in Oya when Murayama and those two aren't involved while faring very well in the Oya vs Housen battle.

Yeah, arguably a downgrade of the insanity that is Kohaku and the Amamiya bros (and Genji? God damn) but The Worst was kinda cool for an Oya focused story and awesome as a crossover.

My feeling is that he's below the leaders and below Murayama. He has lost twice to Murayama, both times fairly decisively (made Murayama work, but that's about all). I figure he's somewhere around the garden-brand name-level characters like Seki, Furuya, and others of that ilk (the various name-level gang-people). Maybe better than them, maybe not, but without seeing him fight them I couldn't say for sure. At BEST I figure he'd be roughly Yamato level (who is below Cobra, I think, based on his own showings) - not in strength, but overall fighting ability.

Mileage may vary. Any thoughts?

Agree about The Worst - introduces new characters, focuses more on the 'younger' people (full-time students, as an example), that sort of thing. The Worst and DTC were both fun movies to watch - the Worst beginning almost a whole new part of the setting, DTC showing that the younger characters in the gangs (DTC, SMG, Daruma Babies) are starting to get along rather than fight.

[Iron_Twister]

That sounds bout right the more I think about it. I would also had pegged him somewhere round roughly at Yamato's level since yeah, Todoroki is a big deal in the Oya focused stories after all.

The Worst is definitely making me hyped to see Suzuran post-Worst manga if they follow it up. Love to see more DTC stuff as well.

...It is actually ridiculous how much stuff the franchise has that still hasn't been known in the West.