WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter 2 of Kengan Omega, available in English on Comikey.
The beginning of Kengan Omega centered on the introduction of Koga to the series as a budding martial artist begins to explore the world of underground martial arts. In Chapter 2, however, Koga steps to the side as the story follows Kazuo into the heart of the real plot: Enter Purgatory.
With readers doubtless chomping at the bit for a new tournament arc, the series introduces its real competition in the form of a martial arts organization that can give the Kengan Association a run for their money.
The chapter starts with its focus still on Koga, living with Kazuo as he prepares for his new life as a fighter's apprentice to the Kengan Association. He Meets Kazuo's son, shares a meal, and heads out for a day's work. It is not until Kazuo leaves Koga at the office to attend a meeting with Nogi Hideki that the real plot kicks in. As the corporate overlord who first brought Kazuo into the world of the Kengan matches, Nogi occupies an important place in the power structure of the organization. And it appears that that organization is in trouble.
There is a new rival to the Kengan Association called Purgatory. Though Kengan lays claim to the most elite fighters in the land, Purgatory is a promising up-and-comer that poaches many fighters out from under the Kengan Association. There are further troubles caused by leaked images and information about Kengan's underground matches that first led Koga to Kazuo's doorstep, and since the organization operates best in the shadows it puts them under threat. Since it is clear that the leaks likely came from within the organization itself, Nogi fears that the threat may be coming from within.
The news that most shocks Kazuo is that Purgatory's growing size and momentum make them such a threat that the Kengan Association needs to consider a merger with the rival organization. Nogi plans to attend a meeting with Purgatory's head, a briefly seen well-muscled man by the name of Toyoda Idemitsu, and negotiate a tournament between the organizations. The stakes; the winner of the tournament absorbs the loser. Nogi needs Kazuo's keen eye for skill and strategy to select the best fighters to represent the Kengan Association in the tournament while he goes to the meeting to negotiate its rules.
With the stakes so high, it's a surprise that the chapter can end with an even bigger shocker than the reveal of the main plot. The shock comes as Koga investigates the Kengan files on the fighters that they have, beginning to inquire after Tokita Ohma's picture that he keeps on him during his quest to track Ohma down. As he pulls out the picture, a new arrival to the offices shocks him into dropping it: It seems to be Ohma himself. As Ohma has been dead since the finale of the previous series, the new figure causes a stir until he is revealed to actually be a young man named Gaoh Ryuki.
Koga seems eager to prove himself against the figure he spent the series thus far hunting down, and the chapter ends by bringing its personal stakes and its main plot well into the light. With Ryuki's origins still a mystery, it will be up to the next chapter to decide if he even has a chance to explain himself before the hot-headed Koga confronts him.
Finding out more about the upcoming tournament against Purgatory will doubtless be the main draw to fans, however. Tournaments of martial skill are Kengan's bread and butter, and with the greatest fighters of two different organizations pit against each other it may turn out to have some of the most exciting matches yet.
