Never grew up with Mario but played Odyssey a while back on my almost untouched Switch. It was fun.
Playing the 2D old school games recently (3 and World), and I honestly can’t decide if I like it or not. Shit is HARD.
I interpreted it as Saitaku just teasing Moubu, as I'm pretty sure Shouheikun and Moubu have had a rivalry since their early days.
In that same chapter Shouheikun even responds to Saitaku with ''That's going too far for a joke''.
I think it was just Hara wanting to build interest in the character.
I don't think Shouheikun is currently stronger than Moubu lol. That statement refers to in the past.
But yeah I agree that the rules on whether characters retain their strength after inactivity is very unclear. Cause on the other hand we have the Wei Fire Dragons (the guys Shin and Ouhon...
Yeah honestly I'm pretty disappointed. I mean he still had a few years of recovery so I'm not sure why he couldn't just train. Maybe Ringyoku is actually a lot stronger than we think? But feels like Hara either forgot or retconned Riboku's martial prowess. This isn't the same man that showed up...