WARNING: The following contains spoilers for World Trigger, Season 2, Episode 12, “New Face,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
As previously announced, World Trigger will have two seasons in 2021, with Season 3 returning in the Fall. This means fans will definitely see the conclusion of the B-Rank Ranking Battle arc by the end of the year. But before then, Season 2 concludes with the end of Round 6 and the formal introduction of Hyuse into Border.
At the end of Episode 11, there were only five agents left on the field. With the ace fighters of each team remaining, plus two snipers, any sudden moves could determine the outcome of the battle. Tamakoma Second has the advantage of lead bullet sniping, wire traps and Yuma’s agility, so both Ikoma and Oji are keen on removing at least one of these elements from the field.
Ikoma Squad’s sniper Koji Oki has discovered Chika’s position and starts to restrict her movements with sniping, leaving Ikoma free to clear the field of buildings with his whirlwind technique. Yuma and Oji both take advantage of the chaos for a sneak attack, with Yuma using debris from the falling buildings to knock Oji off-balance, easily taking him out.
With Oji out, Chika and Oki have a snipe-off that exposes both of their locations, leaving room for Yuma to quickly remove Oki. However, this also makes Yuma vulnerable to Ikoma’s whirlwind attacks, giving Ikoma Squad their first point of the battle. Since Chika can’t earn points, she voluntarily bails out, leaving Ikoma with two survival points. This makes the final score 4-3-3, which is a narrow victory for Tamakoma Second. It’s a lucky break for them because, as the commentators point out, had Ikoma Squad teamed up with Oji Squad at the beginning of the battle, the outcome would be different.
With two wins in a row, Tamakoma Second is now the primary target for every other team. Because, once they stay on the field for too long, Osamu’s wires and Chika’s lead bullets can cause some long-lasting damages even if they are out of the battle. Their weak fighting skills will be all the more problematic when everyone starts to go after them, this is why Hyuse’s support will be crucial for upcoming battles.
Hyuse’s training goes especially well, he ranks up from C to B within a day due to Border’s new policy on emergency recruitments. His extraordinary performance gains the attention of other Border agents, who invite Hyuse for individual training battles. Hyuse first fights a group of B-Rankers, including Azuma Squad’s Koarai, Katori Squad’s Miura, Kakizaki Squad’s Tomoe and Suwa Squad’s Sasamori. They are all from teams that Tamakoma Second had fought before, and Hyuse dominates all the matches with ease, showing how much his addition will benefit his team as is.
The higher ranks start to join in, and Hyuse finally experiences some real loss. He loses two out of seven rounds against Ninomiya Squad’s Tsuji, then barely wins against Ikoma, but only because Ikoma breaks the rules of the game and uses his whirlwind technique by accident. But Hyuse is no match for the No.1 attacker Tachikawa, who only loses one round to Hyuse. This result makes it clear that Hyuse’s sword skill is below Tachikawa, but on par with Ikoma.
Hyuse is a bit surprised by the outcome. He was trained from childhood by Aftokrator's top swordsman and yet still can’t win against Border’s top agents. This shows him why Border is such a formidable force for his home planet, especially with their advanced trion technology. The battles also give Hyuse a better idea about what he can do for Tamakoma Second after he joins.
The next round of the ranking battle will be Hyuse’s debut fight, with him mainly there to increase the firepower so they can earn as many points as possible to secure the top spot within B-Rank. It’s not an easy task, but with Hyuse’s abilities and experiences, his addition promises an exciting battle ahead for Tamakoma Second's unsuspecting opponents.
