Fighter's Brew Transcript: Season 1 Finale, Episode 10 (Patreon)

• Fighter's Brew

All-Rounder Meguru was created by Hiroki Endo. Fighter's Brew is written, produced, and narrated by Sam.

[Note: Manga is read right to left.]

Inside Ryo's hideout.

"Takashi..." Yuji calls.

Takashi is soaked in sweat. Shocked at what he's done.

Takashi unties Yuji and the two other men. He sits on a chair and puts his head down. Yuji checks on Ryo.

"Yuji-san, is he still breathing?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay. Tie him up and take him to my uncle. Then call an ambulance."

"Sure."

Takashi gathers himself and heads outside. He gets into Miyuki's car and hands her back her money.

Takashi doesn't speak for the rest of the car ride. He stares outside, thinking about a conversation he had with Sang-myeon.

"I always thought boxing was the best," Sang-myeon said, "but since it's competitive, everyone has to retire eventually. Sure, you can keep doing it for fitness, but it's not the same. In that regard, I envy karate and other martial arts. You have the option to keep improving your techniques until the day you die."

"Why did you get into boxing?" Takashi asked.

"My reason was simple. I wanted to prove that no one was better than me. That's all it really was."

Takashi thinks back to before he lost his smile.

It was a random day at the old dojo. Young Takashi and Meguru were sparring as they always did.

Then Meguru nearly took Takashi's head off with a Brazilian kick.

"Meguru, wasn't that the Brazilian kick?" Takashi said. Surprised.

"Seriously? I actually did one?!"

Takashi furiously nodded.

"Oh, man. I might be a genius."

"Try doing it again."

But when Meguru thought about it, he couldn't do it. He flailed his leg instead.

"What gives. I can't do it when I actually try.

"Meguru-kun," Sensei said. "Don't shake your kicking leg around like that. I know your legs are rubbery, but you can still injure yourself. Stick to the basics!"

"Yes, Sensei."

Young Takashi smiled at his friend. He got to the move first.

Thinking back to that moment, Takashi smiles.

Back at the university gym, Takashi and Sang-myeon finish up training.

"By the way," Sang-myeon says. "That Ryo Kojima guy you mentioned before, he was shot to death."

Takashi, in shock, "What?"

"Apparently the one who pulled the trigger was some punk named Oki. Well, you reap what you sow."

At Miyuki's office.

Miyuki is on the phone.

"I see. I had no idea. I was told the job was to punish him. I'm sorry, Takashi. But believe me. If I knew they wanted him dead, I wouldn't have asked you."

At the detention center.

Takashi is visiting Yuji. They're separated by reinforced glass. Yuji avoids making eye contact.

"You're being made to take the fall for someone else, right?" Takashi pleads. "Why won't you tell the truth?"

"If I tell the truth, you'll be arrested for battery."

"Forget about me. This is murder we're talking about."

Yuji looks away.

"I heard, Takashi. You're aiming to become a pro fighter, right?"

"Yeah..."

Yuji smiles.

"No surprise. You're really good. When you become famous, I'll brag that I knew you before then."

Yuji's face gets solemn. "Takashi, I'm not in any position to say this but don't get caught up in something stupid. You have a goal in sight. Chase after it. I'll be rooting for you all the way."

At Kogure gym.

Takashi is finishing up a hard training session. When he steps outside, his uncle Tetsuo is waiting for him.

"Still having fun playing martial arts?"

Takashi is livid.

Takashi and Tetsuo are talking under a bridge. No one is around. Sang-myeon watches from a distance, just in case.

"Kojima was a wild card who didn't know the first thing about honor," Tetsuo says. "It's a good thing for everyone that he got cut off when he did."

"Is that why you killed him and had Yuji-san take the fall?"

"I never said that."

"What if I had taken the job from Miyuki in the first place. Would you have used me as a scapegoat, too?"

"I'd never do that. You're my favorite nephew."

"I'm your only nephew."

"Well, yeah."

"You're a scumbag."

"I am yakuza after all."

Takashi walks away from Tetsuo.

"If you want to clean your hands of scumbags like me, hurry up and make it as a fighter. But then again, you'll get even worse guys flocking to you." Tetsuo laughs.

Takashi grabs his bag from the car and walks home. Success is now his only option.

Inside an auditorium.

Meguru is fighting an amateur shooto match. Rather than in a ring, this time it's on makeshift mats. Others are fighting at the same time.

Meguru's opponent shoots for a takedown and drives in. But without any ropes, his opponent can keep driving. Meguru gets put on his back.

"What?" Meguru thinks. Shocked by how the change in venue changes the dynamic of the fight.

"Nice one, Tachibana!" his corner yells.

"Top!" the ref yells.

"Get up!" shouts Furuya.

It's been about a year since Meguru started shooto. Today he's participating in the Kanto Amateur Freshman tournament held every May. The tournament is for fighters with fewer than two wins so that they can get more experience. Yudai and Takashi can't fight since they both have three wins.

As soon as Meguru arrived, everyone at the tournament was looking at him. Word had already spread that he had submitted Kiyoshi Ogasawara. There were already a lot of expectations on Meguru. Was he the real deal, or was that a fluke? The pressure was on.

There are over 20 competitors in Meguru's division. Since it's a tournament, fights consist of a single four-minute round. Winning the whole tournament means winning five matches in one day.

In Meguru's first match, he used jabs and low kicks to control the flow of the fight, then blocked a takedown and took the back to win by a decision, 24-18.

Now in his second fight, Meguru is getting muscled around on the mat by Tachibana. He gets caught in a figure-four armlock, but time runs out. Tachibana wins 26-20.

The hype around Meguru dissipates.

"I couldn't do anything against his wrestling and power," Meguru tells Urasawa.

"Well, you might stand a chance against a technical fighter like Ogasawara," Urasawa says, "but you can't copy strength."

As Urasawa, Furuya, and Meguru walk to the train station, Furuya says, "You gave up after he took side control, didn't you, Meguru?"

"Well, um, he was so strong..."

"That's the biggest no-no. You had 30 seconds left. You could have reversed or recovered guard and finished him. Even if it goes to a decision, always keep fighting. It's not just you out there but also your coaches and teammates."

Meguru nods, knowing Furuya is right.

"Also, your ground game's been sloppy lately. You've been relying too much on athleticism and being slippery."

"Yeah..."

"Why don't you try training with a gi on? It'll improve your strength and grappling."

"Gi?"

The next day at Fighter's Brew.

Meguru has a brand new gi on, along with a white belt.

"Making your jiu-jitsu debut, Meguru?" Tamiya asks.

"Oh yeah. Under Furuya-san's orders."

Urasawa and Watanabe are taking the class also.

They run through the class, which involves a lot of escape, guard, and grip fighting drills.

When it's time for free sparring or rolling, Tamiya makes quick work of a much bigger Watanabe. A technical grappler can overcome strength with skill. But also, years of technical grappling creates its own type of strength. Pulling strength.

Furuya told Meguru to train with the gi because, unlike bare skin, there's a lot of friction involved, making it hard to move with strength and momentum alone. You must go through the proper steps in order to pull off a move. Meguru had gotten used to skipping steps.

Moreover, jiu-jitsu is more of a marathon, whereas grappling without a gi is more like a sprint. It involves different types of cardio.

"Why are you doing jiu-jitsu, Nabe-san?" Meguru asks.

"I'm all power and no stamina," Watanabe says. "I'd also like to get a submission for once."

Watanabe is a middleweight fighter with a pro record of 5-2-2, but all of his wins have been by decision. He's never managed a finish.

His specialty is to take his opponents down and ground and pound them. Fans, however, often find his matches boring. Unlike an amateur, part of being a pro is fighting in front of an audience. So Watanabe wants a better relationship with them.

A girl is watching the jiu-jitsu class from the doorway.

"How long are you going to stand there?" Maki asks her.

"Huh?" she says.

"Don't 'huh' me," as she shoves her into the gym.

The girl somersaults forward into a perfect judo roll.

Meguru runs up. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"What's up with you? Why are you always checking on the girls?" asks Maki.

"I guess it's because I have an older sister?"

"Who are you?" Watanabe asks the girl.

The girl is too embarrassed to talk.

"She's a classmate," Maki interjects. "She wants to do jiu-jitsu."

"What? You want to join our gym?" Tamiya and Urasawa ask.

"I heard you do free trials," she finally answers.

"Our school's judo club was shut down, so she's looking for a place to work out," Maki says.

"My name is Momoko Aikawa! Nice to meet you!" she shouts.

"You have made an excellent choice, Aikawa-san," Tamiya says.

"Why's he so happy?" Maki asks.

"There are no girls in the grappling classes," Meguru answers, "so she will be our first."

Momoko changes into her judo gi. Tamiya runs her through an introductory class, but Momoko is already familiar with many of the drills.

"Unlike judo, throws only get you two points in Brazilian jiu-jitsu," Tamiya explains. "Rounds are decided with chokeholds, submissions, or points. There are no stand-ups. If you go to the ground, you keep fighting."

Since Momoko is already a veteran grappler, Tamiya rolls with her to gauge her level. Momoko throws him.

"That's not an ippon, Momoko-chan!" Meguru shouts. "Pin him!"

Momoko gets up out of habit, but Tamiya grabs her ankle and sleeve and uses them to spin her around and take her back. Momoko is bewildered. Tamiya applies the choke slowly, giving her ample time to tap.

They roll several more times, with Momoko giving Tamiya a hard time on the feet. But Tamiya purposely uses moves not allowed in judo to show her the differences. Momoko is hooked.

Meguru raises his hand to roll with Momoko, but Watanabe grabs Meguru first. Then smashes him.

"Aren't you gonna practice, Kamiya?" Urasawa asks.

"I don't plan to win by submission. Besides, I'm only here because Momoko was too scared to come alone."

"Sup," Yudai says as he enters the gym.

"Kitamura-sempai!" Momoko shouts. Surprised.

"Aikawa?!"

"You guys know each other?" Maki asks.

"We were in the same judo club in middle school," Yudai says. Flustered.

Momoko runs up to Yudai. "You do jiu-jitsu, too, sempai?" she asks.

"No."

Momoko grabs his hands. "Come on," she says, "let's do it together!"

Yudai pulls his hand away. "No way! I'm never wearing a gi again!"

"But why? Did you quit the judo club at school? You were so devoted."

"Back at you," Yudai says. "First you turn down an offer from a competitive high school, and now you're doing jiu-jitsu?"

Yudai walks to the locker room.

"What's his deal?" Maki asks Momoko. "Did you two not get along?"

Maria and Furuya step into the gym. "Time for MMA striking," Maria tells the class.

Maria spots Momoko. "Oh, are you going to do MMA, too?"

"What's MMA?" Momoko asks.

"Today is her first day," Meguru tells Maria. "Don't scare her off."

Yudai has changed and steps out of the locker room. Maria puts her arm around Momoko and says, "Yudai and Meguru, five three-minute rounds of shadowboxing against the wall. Then hit the mitts."

Meguru and Yudai groan.

Later, the class is working on clinch. Meguru is paired with Watanabe. This is also part of Furuya's training plan, for Meguru to work with Watanabe to build his strength. Meguru is getting extra tired from having to use more strength than usual.

Yudai is paired with Maki. Maki hits Yudai with an elbow, which isn't allowed. Yudai slams her to the mat with a hip toss, which is also not allowed. They both get angry.

During a one-minute break, Meguru notices Momoko is still rolling with Tamiya.

"Wow, she's been going at it nonstop this whole time," Meguru says.

"Tch. I give it a day," Yudai says dismissively.

"What do you mean?"

"She gets bored and wastes her talent. She's actually a genius. She's skillful, learns fast, and can do things most others can't. But she doesn't keep things up for long. She loses to people she shouldn't lose to because she loses focus. So despite being better than everyone else at her weight, she never gets beyond the top four. She's the type I hate the most."

"You're skilled, too, Yudai," Meguru says.

"That's not true."

Yudai goes to the locker room to change.

"He's more a hard worker than a natural talent," Maria tells Meguru. "That's not to say he doesn't have a knack for things. But he's tough on himself, which is what pushes him to train harder."

Maria looks over at Momoko. "So that's why he gets jealous of natural talent."

Watanabe puts his hand on Meguru's shoulder. "Meguru, let's do mount drills next." Meguru breaks out in a cold sweat.

In the shower.

"'Did you quit?' Tch," Yudai says to himself.

Yudai remembers when he punched one of his judo clubmates. The entire club had to hold him back.

"Dammit! I don't want to remember that," he says.

Inside the gym.

"How did that Aikawa girl do?" Furuya asks Tamiya.

"She really surprised me. She's a natural. Her standing game is top-notch, though she's a little on the weak side. She seems like the type who likes to spar because that's the fun part, but nothing else. But if we get her to join, her ground game will get a lot better. She already picked up a lot just from our rolls."

Meguru is still getting smashed by Watanabe.

Yudai steps out of the locker room. Maki shoves Momoko. Being small in stature, she runs face-first into his chest, causing an unexpected and awkward interaction.

Brewing is the process of steeping a starch source in water and fermenting the resulting sweet clear liquid with yeast. At Fighter's Brew, then, you don't just sign up for classes. You're brewed into shooto and steeped into a new family.

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This is the end of Fighter's Brew, Season 1. Thank you all for supporting this season. It's because of you that we'll be back with Fighter's Brew, Season 2. Catch you all then. See ya.