Special Move 5 State Theory

[Kaoz]

Alright, you can view this thread as kind of a continuation of the Asura thread, so I recommend reading that one first if you haven't already. This time I want to look at a number of states based on my favorite PoT related diagram from Pair Puri 5:

First of all, let's take a look at the two axis - we have "Play Time" and "Performance." As you can see, Konomi has defined a constant Performance over a given period of time as "Zone State" and a maximum Performance at any given time as "Peak Experience." Furthermore, we can see that the normal level of play ("Normal State") is slightly below the Zone State in terms of Performance, but more importantly, it's not constant. Finally, the "Selfless State" is somewhere in between Zone State and Peak Experience.

Now, I would like to try to incorporate Ten'imuhou, Asura and Kijin into this diagram. Let's start with Ten'imuhou - I don't remember whether or not I've talked about this here before, but basically I believe it to be a combination of Zone State and Peak Experience. We get the following piece of information about Ten'imuhou:

With this state, the power of Muga stored within the body amplifies and explodes without any waste and allows humans to be able to pull off the impossible.

I've marked two parts for emphasis. The parts in bold suggest that not only is the Performance level higher than the one the player reaches in the Selfless State, but that they are indeed performing at their highest possible level. So we there should be little doubt about Ten'imuhou describing Peak Experience in terms of Performance. Next, here are the requirements for entering the Selfless State:

Players who have broken into “Zone”, which allows the Limit on Play Levels to improve, can use their mental abilities to reach “Muga no Kyouchi” by just stopping short from breaking through the limits of the human body.

As you can see, the Zone State is a requirement for entering the Selfless State in the first place, hence it seems reasonable that the Zone State is retained during Ten'imuhou.

In conclusion, Ten'imuhou means maximum Performance over a given Play Time.

Let's move on to Asura next. I don't have all that much new to say about this, so I will just reference what I wrote in the other thread:

Now, is this serve Asura no Shindou? It might be, but I don't think so. I think that serve is simply the best serve Tokugawa is capable of hitting and Asura no Shindou enables him to hit this full power serve consecutively without faulting.

This is based on a very small sample size of course, but the important part here is that Tokugawa played at a consistent, high level. We've also seen in the match against Volk that this level is slightly higher than what he's normally capable of since he was able to return Wirbel Taufe in Asura, but not outside of it.

This obviously matches the Zone State in the diagram, a level of play slightly above the Normal State that can be maintained over a given period of time. However, like I said back then already, I don't believe that Asura is the Zone State, but that it enables it.

Last but not least, Kijin. For this I would like to give you two statements. The first one is from the Pair Puri again, the second one from Oni's fanbook profile:

“Peak Experience” is the supreme personal experience where it’s as if everything but just the sound of the surroundings vanishes and an odd ability to concentrate manifests and you remember a sensation of what is normally appears to be in impossible.

The advent of the Kijin is proof of having sharpened his concentration powers to their utmost limits.

Again, added the bold for emphasis. As you can see, there's a definite overlap between Konomi's definition of Peak Experience and what triggered Oni's Kijin. This is also in line with what we saw in the No. 5 match between Oni and Kintarou. They seemed to be roughly on par when they were just rallying with 10 balls, and once again in the end stages of the match after Kintarou gained Ten'imuhou.

Now, we haven't seen enough of Kijin!Oni vs TnK!Kintarou to know whether or not Oni's Performance was consistent or inconsistent over a longer Play Time against a roughly equally skilled opponent, but if we suppose it wouldn't be, that would explain why Ten'imuhou would be an upgrade for him. Because of that I propose that Kijin represents maximum Performance, but without the Zone State, so it dips slightly below that maximum every now and then.

To sum it up, here's the diagram again with the new information added in (thanks to Anera for making a clean edit):

Normal State: Regular play. Performance level is average and slightly varies over time.

Zone State: Slightly above regular Performance. However, the level is constant over time and within the limits of the human body. Enabled by the Divine Path of the Asura.

Selfless State: Activated by reaching the limits of the human body after entering the Zone State. The Performance level increases and is presumably maintained over a period of time, but drains energy and leaves the user exhausted.

Peak Experience: Kijin. The user plays at maximum Performance, but the Performance curve over a given period of time resembles that of the Normal State, so there is some variation.

Peak Experience + Zone State: Ten'imuhou. The user plays at maximum Performance and is able to maintain that level over time.

 

[-Ken-]

Question, if Duke's destroyer form is him going above 100%, and PoP is playing at best performance, does that means destroyer form is better than PoP or is PoP maximum % is not 100%?

 

[Kaoz]

Question, if Duke's destroyer form is him going above 100%, and PoP is playing at best performance, does that means destroyer form is better than PoP or is PoP maximum % is not 100%?

Good question. I don't really know since the concept of going above 100% is basically unused outside of Duke, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say that the thing labeled as "Weakpoint (Limits of the Human Body)" is probably 100% and everything higher than that is, well, above 100%. So Tokugawa plays at 100% when he's in Asura and anyone who uses TnK or Kijin plays at above 100%. If this is correct, then the special thing about Duke would be that he can surpass his own limits without any special techniques I suppose.

---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 AM ----------

I guess you could then also ask if the Destroyer form has any drawbacks and if that's the reason Duke doesn't use it all the time.

 

[-Ken-]

Going over 100% can hurt your muscle, I guess. It's like when you exercise too much. I wouldn't be surprise if Duke muscle is sore, for example.

Another possible theory is that Duke 100% is 100% of "normal play", which would make sense in a way. Like, when he go above 60% when he plays with Gin he's just playing seriously. And maybe Kishin+PoP pull you beyond just getting serious.