Killing Bites

Episode 11

Killing Bites may be loaded with cheese, but there's no denying that it can also be loads of fun, and this episode is the series' best example of that to date. A number of twists could certainly be expected as the Destroyal that's dominated most of the series comes to a climax, but this episode manages to outdo itself on that front. Given how things have gone so far, I guess I should have expected the outcome; having an ultimate winner that even the audience didn't expect is classic battle series fare.

After the lapse into flashback last episode to explain Hitomi's new appearance, the episode wastes little time in getting back to business with the feature Brute Ratel/Pangolin fight. It doesn't disappoint in delivering a vigorous back-and forth, as the new Hitomi enjoys toying with Kido; I particularly liked seeing her kick Kido like a soccer ball when he went into his defensive ball. Of course, he gets a rage-fueled power-up too, because what kind of battle anime wouldn't up the ante at this point? This leads to a bigger question: what does a badass combatant do when her rock-hard opponent cuts her arm off?

You just launch it like a missile into your opponent's eye, of course. Then you finish him off by jamming your other arm into his open mouth.

It's far from the most natural tactic to take, but it was incredibly cool nonetheless. It feels worthy of a Mortal Kombat finishing move, so it would definitely make my my list of all-time-favorite killer blows in anime. I did find Kido standing up zombie-like from that to be trite, just so the show could let someone else be the winner – namely Eruza, who finally gets back in the game. In the biggest twist however, she's not the Destroyal winner, since we can't count Ui out yet. In a fluke worthy of the quirky character, Ui knocks out Eruza entirely by accident when she stumbles into an unintended spin kick to the chin.

This is the ultimate cheeky gesture for the series' ridiculous cheese factor, but Ui has been such a delightful character in her limited appearances that I'm happy her goofball antics actually paid off, even if it was a surprise to her as well. The following scene with the zaibatsu heads was also interesting and raises the suggestion that the episode's final twist – the Chameleon Brute stealth team taking out all the camera people and then plotting to kill the rest – was orchestrated by one of these shadowy officials. The next episode preview suggests that their efforts to make the Destroyal's results unclear isn't going to succeed, but it looks like the action isn't over yet.

I've complained before about the series piddling around in dragging out the Destroyal, but when it came time for a proper climax, it definitely delivered.

Rating: B+

Killing Bites is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.