Episode 1: It Takes Guts

"**It Takes Guts**" (魂かけて, *Tamashī Kakete*) is the first episode of the *TRIBE NINE* anime series. It aired on January 10th, 2022.

A timid wimp and a tuna fisherman get their first taste of Extreme Baseball — a game to resolve conflicts between tribes where every bat can end in a brawl.

## Summary

A narrator begins detailing the story of Neo Tokyo in the year 20XX, as the youth of society began to form Tribes. Conflicts escalated between the tribes, leading to deaths and destruction across the cities. The Neo Tokyo government implements the "XB (Extreme Baseball) Law" as a form to resolve any and all conflicts between tribes, in order to keep an order in society.

At night, the tuna fisherman Taiga arrives to Neo Tokyo aboard the *Third Taiga Maru* (第三大河丸), watching a live match between the Minato Tribe (Home) versus the Adachi Tribe (Away), broadcasted into his phone. The leader of the Adachi Tribe, Hyakutaro Senju, pitches a flaming fastball towards his catches Tatsuto Tatsunuma. The batter, Shun Kamiya, leader of the Minato Tribe, activates his electric bat, striking at the fastball and sending it flying past the Minato Tower. Taiga looks up from his phone to witness the ball sailing through the sky, and when he looks back at his screen, he sees Kamiya standing by home staring towards the sky. Taiga exclaims that he's going to beat him, then proceeds to jump straight into the water.

On a new day, as the sun sets, Haru Shirokane and his friend Yasuhiro are accosted by four delinquents, while Kamiya is sleeping atop a nearby container after reading from a manga magazine. Yasuhiro suggests that Haru should pretend to take his wallet out and then run away, but as Haru proceeds to take it out, Yasuhiro pushes him to the ground and runs away by himself. The delinquents prepare to beat up Haru, but they're soon approached by Taiga, drenched in water and seaweed, and carrying a large tuna over his shoulders. As Kamiya wakes up from his sleep, Taiga complains to the delinquent leader about his squeaky voice upsetting his empty stomach. One of the other delinquents attempts to attack Taiga, but Haru calls out in time for Taiga to counterattack with his tuna. Kamiya watches on as Taiga is attacked by two delinquents, while the third sends Haru flying with a punch —surprising even the delinquent himself. Taiga yells at Haru to fight back using his skills, but before the delinquent can strike again, Kamiya bats an XB ball at the assailant's hand.

Kamiya approaches the delinquents and chastises them for causing trouble in his turf. The leader of the delinquents barks back, but his friends inform him that they're facing Shun Kamiya. Taiga excitedly calls out that he's been looking for him, and Kamiya plays up his surprise at being recognized as famous. Kamiya then threatens the delinquents and talks down their acts of violence, leading to one of the delinquents to try and attack Kamiya from behind. However, Kamiya flips up a crushed aluminum beverage can with his feet and quickly strikes it with his bat, sending the thin metal flying as it graces the delinquent's cheek. The delinquents make fun of Kamiya for missing his attack, but Haru quickly notices the thin aluminum projectile had cut through a metal support beam holding up a water tank, causing it to fall on its weight and collapse in front of everyone —except the fleeing Kamiya— as a wave of water bursts out.

Kamiya threatens to get more violent against the now-terrified delinquents if they attempted to cause trouble in Minato City again, and the group flees out of fear. Taiga proceeds to challenge Kamiya, stating his wish to defeat Kamiya and be considered the best Extreme Baseball player. Haru attempts to stop them from fighting, but as the tensions begin to rise, Kamiya proceeds to vomit all over the floor.

Later that night at the Lovely Ocean, Haru and Taiga meet and are attended by the other members of the Minato Tribe. Manami Daimon tends to Taiga's injuries, Saori Arisugawa barks at Kamiya for drinking too much coffee the day prior, and Santaro Mita serves up a new cup of joe to Kamiya, much to the latter's displeasure. After the Tribe explains the intricacies of Kamiya's "coffee hangover", Arisugawa tries to help out with Haru's injuries, but he shyly refuses. Taiga shows off his physique and explains his tuna fishing profession, but when Manami assumes that Haru is an acquaintance of Taiga, Haru dismisses it and simply states that he is "a boring person." Kamiya teases and berates Haru, declaring that he shouldn't expect others to lift him up after putting himself down, then gulps his cup of coffee in an instant. He gives Taiga the nickname "Tuna" and Haru the nickname "Boring," which Taiga counters by nicknaming Kamiya as "Barf" and later "Coffee Barfer." After Haru hesitates to back up Kamiya, Taiga turns his attention to him and asks him about the reflexes he showed off while fighting the delinquents. Taiga praises Haru's eyesight and agility, as he was able to avoid the delinquent's punch and pretended to get knocked back. Haru denies this, but Taiga throws a punch directly at Haru, who dodges and backflips out of the way —and tumbles face-first into Arisugawa's legs.

As the Minato members tease Haru as a pervert, a man and woman enter the Lovely Ocean, wherein the man introduces himself as the leader of the Shinagawa Tribe, Yutaka Gotanda. Arisugawa calls him out and remarks that the leader of the Shinagawa Tribe is a man named Kitahama, but Yutaka states that his crew had overthrown Kitahama and taken over the Tribe for themselves, which Mita backs up with gossip of a new group rising the ranks with powerful XB Gear. Arisugawa declares that they're not interested in buying their XB Gear products, but Yutaka instead explains that his goal is to challenge the Minato Tribe, the top-ranked Tribe in XB, into a match and beat them, using it as an advertisement for their top-of-the-line gear. Yutaka attempts to bait his rivals, and Kamiya accepts the challenge, stating that it sounds fun, and invites Taiga and Haru to play for Minato Team in his stead.

With the XB Ball activated, the match between Minato VS Shinagawa is activated, and the field is prepared with the Zojo-ji Temple as 1st Base, Minato Tower as 2nd Base, and Roppongi Hills Mori Tower as 3rd Base. As they watch the lights of the city turn on for the match, Taiga and Haru board the Minato Tribe mobile bench and the team heads off towards Home base. The Tribe explains to the newbie pair some of the basics, such as the Judge Robot working as the umpire and the mobile bench itself, as well as introducing the Quadruplets in their lineup. Arisugawa hands Haru a new change of clothes, a badge transmitter, and a bracelet glove as basic XB equipment, despite his hesitation to join the match. Despite Haru's pessimism, Taiga and Kamiya encourage Haru to try and play anyways, and Arisugawa explains that their goal is to beat up their batting opponent once they've acquired the ball. Arisugawa is the team's catcher, where Manami elaborates that she's the team's playmaker and the only one capable of catching Kamiya's pitches.

The match begins with Minato as the fielding team and Shinagawa as the batting team. The woman accompanying Yutaka, Minami Oi, bats first for Shinagawa, and Mita pitches with a downward curving pitch. However, Minami uses her glasses to analyze the pitch, and pivots her special booster bat to strike against the ball, sending it flying on the first pitch. The ball flies towards Block 3, and one of the outfielder Quadruplets jumps up a building to intercept the ball, tossing it towards infielder Manami at first base. Minami arrives at Zojo-ji Temple, and as Manami attempts to protect first base, Minami slides right under him and passes through the base, heading towards second base next. Taiga appears and attempts to intercept, but once he lays his hand on her, the umpire arrives and tangles him up in electric wiring for penalty in attempting to engage without having the ball in hand.

The top half of the 1st Inning ends with a score of 2 for Shinagawa, which the Quadruplets blame on Taiga. Haru is set to bat next, but as he hesitates, Taiga takes up to bat instead. Taiga calls out Haru for not standing up to bat, and as Haru retorts that he doesn't enjoy fighting, Taiga upgrades his nickname to Mega Boring, much to Kamiya's delight. Yutaka the Pitcher analyzes Taiga as a straightforward batter and pitches a fast ball, which lands as the 1st Strike. At the 2nd Strike, Manami suggests to Taiga to tone down his power, but he refuses, stating that he has to give it his all if he wants to win. Kamiya predicts that Taiga would hit the next pitch, and as Yutaka throws the ball, Taiga hits the ball with an upward swing, as if he were fishing for a large tuna. A tall Shinagawa outfielder catches the ball and throws it towards the large first base infielder, catching it, but Taiga slips past his fist grapples him, slamming him down to the ground and grabbing first base. As Taiga gloats, Kamiya commentates on seeing "the ocean" in action and tells Haru to try his best as the next batter.

As Haru stands on the Batter's box, he thinks to Kamiya's suggestion to use his special eyes to see things that he has never seen before in order to succeed. Seeing the rookie in position, Yutaka attempts to scare Haru by tossing a fastball directly at his face. However, instead of dodging out of the way, Haru blocks the ball with his bat. Counting as a punt, Haru runs towards first base. The catcher robot that Minami controls malfunctions, and Yutaka is forced to toss the ball himself, complaining about Minami cheapening out on the robot's design and calling out to his fielders to leave Taiga alone and focus on stopping Haru from reaching first base. Initially scared when facing the infielder, Haru remembers Kamiya's words and charges in while using his eyes. He dodges the infielder's swing, and when the latter attempts to slam his fists onto first base itself, Haru front flips away from the strike area and touches down on base. Minato Tribe cheers on, Taiga congratulates Haru's performance, and Arisugawa remarks that the newbies are better than expected. With that, Kamiya decides it's time to take his turn, pulling out his special bat from his bag.

While Yutaka states in a call that he wouldn't let anyone else get past him, he notices Kamiya the ace slugger approaching the Batter's Box. Kamiya mockingly taunts him with knocking out the one and only pitcher Shinagawa has and winning the game. As Yutaka recoils, he activates his newest armor, Gungnir Alpha, while Minami activates Mighty Mode on the robot catcher. Mita is fascinated by the gear, and while Manami and Arisugawa wonder if the armor is allowed, the Judge Robot declares it is acceptable XB Gear —much to the latter pair's displeasure. Yutaka launches a railgun pitch, which the catcher robot catches as it releases steam from its energy. Kamiya activates his bat's electric mode, and as Yutaka taunts him, he bets that he could blast the ball hard enough to strike against the tip of Minato Tower and knock it down. Yutaka launches his second railgun pitch, and Kamiya makes direct contact, launching the ball towards Yutaka —breaking his armor and knocking him unconscious— and sailing straight to Minato Tower, knocking the tip off the building as predicted. The Inning ends with a score of 3-2, and the second inning is forfeit without a pitcher in the Shinagawa Team, ending the game and declaring Minato Tribe as the winners. As the tip of the tower falls to the ground, Kamiya begins to vomit again, and Haru smiles excitedly over the match.

On a brand new afternoon, the delinquents are hanging out at the same spot as before, complaining about Shun Kamiya's actions in their previous encounter. Suddenly, they spot Haru —now in his new clothes— approaching them all alone. When the lead delinquent tries to reach out to Haru's new pin, he blocks his hands and declares he wants to do his best. That evening at Lovely Ocean, the Minato Tribe waits anxiously for Haru to return from his excursion. Haru returns, all beaten up, and when the team asked how it went, just before it seemed like he would cry, he smiles and poses for them, declaring his success. Haru attempts to give back the pin to Kamiya, but the latter refuses, encouraging him to keep playing Extreme Baseball with them. Taiga interjects and asks if he could get a pin too, but Kamiya refuses. As Kamiya and Taiga hurl insults at each other, the rest of the team prepare to eat.

## Cast

### Voiced

* Haru Shirokane - Shun Horie
* Taiga - Chiharu Sawashiro
* Shun Kamiya - Akira Ishida
* Saori Arisugawa - Mai Fuchigami
* Manami Daimon - Fukushi Ochiai
* Santaro Mita - Mutsumi Tamura
* Yutaka Gotanda - Wataru Komada
* Minami Oi - Misato Murai
* Yasuhiro - Kyosuke Ikeda
* Quadruplets - Yuji Murai
* Judge Robot - Takahiro Sumi
* Delinquent #1 - Yuichi Matsuda
* Delinquent #2 - Yuki Sanpei
* Nekomaru - Mai Fuchigami
* Narrator - Hiroshi Naka

### Unvoiced

* Hyakutaro Senju
* Tatsuto Tatsunuma

## Gallery

Kamiya in batting positionTaiga arrives at Neo TokyoHaru harassed by delinquentsTaiga challenges KamiyaTaiga still challenging KamiyaShun Kamiya's reaction to the challenge
## Trivia

* The seiyuu who voiced the "Narrator" in the episode's opening sequence is the same seiyuu as Tenshin Otori. Tenshin himself and the soldiers in the Chiyoda Tribe are briefly featured during this sequence when describing the enactment of XB Law.
* Taiga arrives aboard the *Third Taiga Maru* (第三大河丸, *Dai San Taiga Maru*). Its name suggests that this ship is owned by Taiga himself, that Taiga's proper name may be written as "河", and that this is likely the 3rd version of the *Taiga Maru*.