Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple - Ending Explained

The 50-episode anime series covers the 'Ragnarok Arc.' Kenichi, through his hellish training, begins defeating low-level members of the gang, which escalates until he is targeted by Ragnarok's eight strongest fighters, the 'Eight Fists.' He defeats them one by one, including the boxer Takeda, the taekwondo user Kisara, and the conflicted musician Siegfried. A major twist is the reveal that the sixth fist, 'Hermit,' is actually Natsu Tanimoto, a seemingly perfect and popular student at Kenichi's school. The final antagonist of the anime is the First Fist, Ryūto Asamiya, also known as Odin. It is revealed that Ryūto was Kenichi's childhood friend, and they had both promised a girl (who is implied to be Miu) that they would become strong. Ryūto's jealousy and twisted interpretation of this promise drove him to seek power. Kenichi ultimately defeats him in a climactic battle, dismantling the Ragnarok gang and bringing a temporary peace.

The manga's story continues far beyond this point, delving into the true conflict with a massive, shadowy organization of master-level fighters known as 'Yami,' the ones who follow the 'Satsujin-ken.' The masters of Ryōzanpaku are revealed to be part of a rival group called 'Katsujin-ken.' Kenichi eventually has to fight against 'Yomi,' the group of disciples of Yami, which includes a reformed Tanimoto Natsu. The conflicts escalate to a global scale, with Yami attempting to start a world war. The manga's finale sees Yami defeated and disbanded. A final time-skip chapter implies that Kenichi eventually marries Miu and becomes a master martial artist in his own right, strong enough to fulfill the Elder's condition of defeating him to win Miu's hand, becoming a novelist as his profession.