Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Episode 04

## Episode Navigation

***"Ninth Inning, Two Outs"*** is the 4th episode of the anime.

## Synopsis

The episode starts with a flashback to Enokida calling Banba to set up the meeting with the mayor's people. Enokida convinces Munakata and Reiko to let him live and lets them know what Banba and Lin are planning.

In the next scene, which continues from the previous episode, Zhang tells Lin that Enokida sold him out. Lin tries to get Banba's help through the microphone he's wearing. Zhang's group throws a chopped off head towards Lin that appears to belong to Banba. The Niwaka Samurai shows up and Zhang introduces him as the one who killed Banba. Zhang's men go on to beat Lin up.

Meanwhile Yamato and Shigematsu are having a meal at Genzo's food cart. They're surprised that the Niwaka Samurai accepted the job to kill Banba.

Back in the warehouse Zhang orders the Niwaka Samurai to cut off Lin's head. The Niwaka Samurai reveals himself as Banba to Lin and attacks Zhang with his sword instead. He beheads him and kills the other men from Zhang's group as well as Shinohara and Munakata. Then he frees Lin who asks whose head is it on the floor.

The next scene is a flashback to Banba answering Enokida's call at Saeki's cosmetic clinic while Jiro is also there. Banba asks if he can buy the body of the tortured boy that Jiro brought to the clinic. Jiro agrees and Banba asks for Jiro's and Saeki's help to make the body's head look like his own.

Back in the present time, Banba and Lin leave the warehouse and Banba calls Genzo to let him know that several people were killed. Hearing that, Shigematsu heads to the scene to do clean up.

Banba and Lin head to Yusuke Harada's place. Jiro and Saitoh go there as well. It is revealed in a flashback that Jiro got to know that he and Banba were investigating the same murder when the two met at Saeki's clinic.

Banba, Lin, Jiro and Saitoh meet in front of the apartment building where Yusuke lives. Banba calls Reiko, who is with Yusuke, from Munakata's phone he's taken after killing him, and introduces himself to her as the Niwaka Samurai. He tells her that he killed her colleagues and is now coming for Yusuke. He knows Reiko's location thanks to the redback spider model tracking device that Enokida put on Reiko without her knowing. Reiko decides to run away and opens the door but Jiro and Saitoh are already waiting outside it. Saitoh recognizes Reiko as the woman who had led him to the hotel room where he woke up with the dead body in his bed and Jiro grabs her and hits her, rendering her unconscious.

Banba (with the Niwaka Samurai mask on) and Lin enter the apartment to look for Yusuke and Lin finds him hiding in a closet. Yusuke has a gun and points it at Lin. Prompted by the unusual circumstances, Saitoh grabs a baseball from the cupboard next to him and throws it at Yusuke's head, making Yusuke fall down and miss Lin when he shoots him.

Yusuke is shown tied down to a chair in a warehouse next, confessing to having murdered five women. Banba, Lin, Jiro and Saitoh are present. Yusuke's confession is broadcasted on screens around the city. At the mention of Qiaomei, Lin loses his temper and beats Yusuke up. After he's done, Martínez shows up to torture and kill Yusuke.

Banba and Lin leave the warehouse. Banba tells Lin that the mayor will lose his position because of the video and Reiko will be framed for murder. After having avenged Qiaomei, Lin wants to leave the city, but Banba reminds him that he owes him five years worth of mentaiko.

Takeda family grave is shown, implying that Takeda Itou was pronounced dead.

It is revealed next that Banba, Jiro, Martínez, Enokida, Yamato, Shigematsu and Saeki are in the Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens baseball team together while Genzo is the couch. Lin and Saitoh are shown joining the team. It is explained Saitoh got a plastic surgery from Saeki to change his facial features since his photos were broadcasted as the photos of Qiaomei's murderer.

The scene after the credits shows Saruwatari succeeding at killing a man he's been hired to kill despite giving the man a knife to defend himself with. Saruwatari is displeased with only getting easy jobs.

## Trivia

* The bullet that Yusuke shot at Lin didn't shatter the window behind him but got stuck in the glass instead. This may indicate that the windows in Yusuke's apartment were bulletproof.

## Screenshot Gallery

Anime Season 1 Episode 04 Screenshot Niwaka Samurai and LinAnime Season 1 Episode 04 Screenshot SaitohAnime Season 1 Episode 04 Screenshot Lin and Martinez