Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Episode 03

## Episode Navigation

***"Teamwork"*** is the 3rd episode of the anime.

## Synopsis

Munakata and Reiko learn from TV news that they succeeded at framing Saitoh (under the name Takuya Itou) for killing Qiaomei.

Lin arrives at Zhang's office and kills Zhang's bodyguards. Then he confronts Zhang and asks the name of the man who bought Qiaomei from him. Ivanov shows up and grabs Lin, making it possible for Zhang to escape. During a fight in which Lin is injured, Lin kills Ivanov with his knife pistol. After the fight Lin retrieves Ivanov's cell phone. Banba arrives since he knew Lin's location thanks to the redback spider model tracking device he attached to Lin's jacket while Lin was sleeping at his place. Before they leave, Banba takes it off Lin and puts it on Ivanov's body.

Saitoh goes to Bar Babylon and tells Jiro what happened to him the previous night. Jiro concludes that Saitoh must have been framed. Saitoh asks Jiro to avenge him by putting the blame for the woman's murder onto the person who framed him.

Zhang, Munakata, Reiko and Shinohara gather over Ivanov's body. They get to know that Lin got help from Banba from the surveillance video. Zhang declares he'll have both Lin and Banba killed by a killer he'll hire and asks Munakata's group to capture them alive.

Lin, who has lost consciousness because of his wound, wakes up at Banba's office. He asks Banba to find Qiaomei's killer. Banba agrees in exchange for a five year supply of mentaiko.

Meanwhile Reiko and Munakata are in a car with Ivanov's body. Reiko answers a call from Yusuke who demands a new woman. Munakata reminisces about the time when he met the Niwaka Samurai who turns out to be the one responsible for the loss of his eye.

Zhang is shown calling Genzo to hire the Niwaka Samurai.

Shigematsu arrives at Banba's office and informs Banba and Lin that Takuya Itou is the suspected killer of Qiaomei. But since several similar murders happened even before Takuya Itou arrived to Fukuoka, they suspect he might have been framed.

After Shigematsu leaves, Enokida shows up. He's accessed the surveillance video from the hotel where Takuya Itou was staying. The video reveals that Reiko and Ivanov framed Takuya Itou for Qiaomei's murder. Next Enokida plays a recording from the bug Banba has attached to Ivanov's dead body. It is the earlier phone conversation between Yusuke and Reiko. Thanks to the recording, Enokida identifies Yusuke as the real murderer. Lin comes up with a plan to have himself be sold as a woman to Yusuke and kill him once he's close to him. He asks Banba to play the broker who will sell him.

Banba meets with Genzo who lets him know that the Kakyuu Group requested to hire the Niwaka Samurai to kill him and Lin. Genzo wants to know if he should introduce the Niwaka Samurai to them. Banba assures him he should do that.

Enokida is ambushed by Munakata and Reiko who demand from him to tell them Banba's location. Enokida figures out that they found him because he turned on Ivanov's phone that he got from Banba and they traced its location and then looked at the surveillance footage from the internet cafe to determine that he's Banba's informant. He lets them know about Lin's plan and offers to set up a meeting with Banba and Lin.

Banba goes to Saeki's Cosmetic Surgery Clinic. Jiro is already there to drop the body of the boy whom he tortured and killed in the previous episode with Martínez. Banba shows interest in the body. While at the clinic, Banba receives a call from Enokida.

Lin and Banba meet, both in disguise, to head to the meeting with the mayor's group. Banba gives Lin a redback spider model device to use as a microphone to call him in case of trouble. Lin gets into a suitcase that Banba takes to the meeting with Shinohara whom he gives it to. Then the suitcase with Lin inside is loaded into a car.

In the scene after the credits, Lin is let out of the suitcase in a warehouse where he's faced with Zhang accompanied by Munakata's group.

## Trivia

* Lin's knife pistol is likely Chinese-made Norinco Type 82-2.
* The black cat shown sleeping on the counter in Bar Babylon when Jiro answers Saitoh's call is the cat that Jiro and Misaki found at Shota's home. Shota was the boy tortured and killed by the avengers for having tortured and killed a cat in the previous episode. The light novel specifies his name and includes a scene that isn't there in the anime in which Jiro and Misaki kidnap him from his home and rescue a black cat he's been keeping there.

## Screenshot Gallery

Anime Season 1 Episode 03 Screenshot Niwaka SamuraiAnime Season 1 Episode 03 Screenshot Banba and GenzoAnime Season 1 Episode 03 Screenshot Enokida and Munakata