Grappler Baki (TV) (Baki the Grappler)

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: グラップラー刃牙

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jan 9, 2001 to Jun 26, 2001

Premiered: Winter 2001

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: Free-Will

Licensors: Funimation

Studios: Group TAC

Source: Manga

Genre: Sports

Themes: Combat Sports, Gore

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 25 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.46¹ (scored by 75,382 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2030²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1569

Members: 145,676

Favorites: 847

Available At

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Synopsis

Ever since he was born, Baki Hanma has always known nothing but fighting—strengthening every single muscle and learning different techniques from various martial arts under the supervision of his mother, Emi Akezawa. He trains in order to prepare himself to face and eventually surpass his own father, Yuujirou Hanma, a man feared by the masses as the "Ogre" and deemed the strongest being in the world.

However, when Baki realizes his mother's techniques are no longer enough, he sets out to become stronger in his own way. Seeking out powerful opponents and forming unbreakable bonds with them, he continues to grow both body and his soul, as the clock continues to tick closer toward the inevitable showdown against his father...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Grappler Baki
Sequel:	Grappler Baki: Saidai Tournament-hen, Baki: Most Evil Death Row Convicts Special Anime
Alternative version:	Grappler Baki

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Hanma, Baki

Main

Kikuchi, Masami
Japanese

Hanma, Yuujirou

Supporting

Nomura, Kenji
Japanese

Hanayama, Kaoru

Supporting

Kumai, Motoko
Japanese

Orochi, Doppo

Supporting

Mugihito
Japanese

Akezawa, Emi

Supporting

Hino, Yurika
Japanese

Matsumoto, Kozue

Supporting

Kojima, Sachiko
Japanese

Gaia

Supporting

Motobe, Izou

Supporting

Omoro, Masayuki
Japanese

Yashazaru

Supporting

Yanagisawa, Eiji
Japanese

Tokugawa, Mitsunari

Supporting

Kusumi, Naomi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Watson, Barry

Producer

Nanba, Hitoshi

Director

Takahashi, Hideo

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "Ai Believe" (哀 believe) by Project BAKI (eps 1-25)
	R1: "Child Prey" by Dir en grey (eps 1-25)

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Ending Theme

"Reborn" by Project Baki

Reviews

Feb 4, 2024

JJMFREAP

Recommended

"If someone is born a male, at least once in his life he'll dream of becoming the strongest man alive."

This quintessential phrase of pure poignant basedness is the mantra by which Baki is made. This is a real man's show! This story will make you grow a second penis. The characters are MEN, the plot is MEN, the message is MEN. You've heard of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, well this is BIG MEN DOING MAN SHIT, a genre that is sadly dying as of late. But what can you expect, the based masculine male is the biggest threat to those hungry for power, that's ... why they're stuffing all the food and drinks with soy and estrogen to make men weak. But the innate male desire for strength of body, mind and spirit cannot be undermined and it will find a way, just like testosterone makes its way through the bloodstream. We will always find a way to climb any mountain!

Jokes aside, this right here is Baki. Quintessential Baki. It's a simple story, but honestly, there is comfort and fun to be had in its simplicity. There is no overly deep worldbuilding here (yet), no huge overaching story, no world threatening cataclysm to be stopped. This is just the story of a big strong boy and his desire to become the biggest strongest boy so he can defeat his menace of a father. It's a classic coming of age story and a classic journey of growth and self improvement. If you also love martial arts like I do, they play a huge role here and this is one the best martial arts stories to be found in classic shounen anime. The fights are great, the dialogue is snappy, sharp and to the point, the visuals are quite nice and the soundtrack is really catchy, with a distinctly oldschool charm. The characters aren't some profound philosophical allegory, they are simple, but charismatic and engaging people that will definitely keep you hooked from beginning to end.

Now, this specific adaptation is not without its flaws. For starters, this released in 2001, which is already old, but its still newer than things like One Piece, Naruto or Shaman King. Despite that, it actually looks like its 10 years older than it really is, with a very retro artstyle and animation approach that aligns much more with classic 80s battle shounen than it does with more modern ones. It feels much closer to Fist of the North Star or Yu Yu Hakusho than the others I mentioned before. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I personally enjoy oldschool media or newer media with an oldschool aesthetic, but here the show also comes with some of the drawbacks of the era. Firstly, the animation can drop the ball sometimes. Some segments are barely animated, some aren't animated at all and are basically shaky slideshows and animation bits get reused frequently. Also there are numerous unnecessary recaps across all the episodes that ultimately hurt the pacing of the story. Hell, one of the episodes in the middle of the season is just a recap of everything that happened up to that point with barely any new information being shared. It's very annoying, it's obviously a cost cutting measure but this was sadly something that was commonplace during this era. We can all be grateful that it fell out of favour.

All in all, I know most people today will go straight to the newer Netflix Baki anime, but I still think that this classic deserves a shot too. It's really enjoyable and really captures the essence of Baki and of this classic epoch of anime. It won't blow your mind or move you deeply with groundbreaking storytelling, but this was never the point. It has that same lovable testosterone-filled heart that classic action movies have. It's just a very fun collection of macho nonsense. And it's damn good at what it does too. Now if you excuse me, I must go lift weights this very moment to become the strongest in the world!

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Dec 30, 2023

MizuhoKamui

Mixed Feelings

As I finished the first episode of Baki, the thought crossed my mind that there wouldn't be much to say about it. And I was right. Don't expect anything original from this anime. It follows the same old story of a buffed-up brat who wants to be the strongest man in the world. He pushes himself through over-the-top training, life-or-death situations, and brawls against a hundred thugs, a 2.5-meter-tall kid, or some kind of mutant ape to achieve his dream. As a result, he keeps getting stronger, meeting stronger dudes and beating them with stronger blows.

This show is filled with cheesiness, and sometimes, it's god-awful ... and hard to digest. You can expect to see typical cliché characters who are too full of themselves with their manly nonsense, long and tiring speeches during fights between the combatants, explaining their techniques, remembering their oh-so-touching pasts, etc. The typical useless side characters in this show comment on the fights by making some insipid observations or getting impressed over the most childish tactics ever.

It's quite obvious to me that Grappler Baki is a perfect candidate for a genre parody. I mean, I found myself laughing out loud at times when I wasn't even supposed to. But let's be real here, Baki's story is nothing but an unoriginal, uninspiring, and unsubstantial tale about the pride of a manly man who simply wants to outdo himself by beating the crap out of everyone in his way, which is often portrayed as something positive. And don't even get me started on those two messy, badly executed time skips, which had nothing much going on except for Baki becoming stronger and changing his hairstyle.

It's hard to ignore the fact that the characters in this anime lack depth and complexity. Most of them exist solely to be defeated by Baki or his father, engaging in idle chatter during fights or simply filling up some spare airtime. The series swiftly discards quite a few characters, as they serve their purpose as mere cannon fodder. The anime tries to inject some pseudo-dramatic flashbacks during their fights, perhaps in an attempt to falsely imbue them with depth or minimal likability.

As for Baki's father, Hanma Yujirou, we learn three essential things about him: He's very strong. He's a former soldier. He's a real jerk. Yes, that's it. His excessive strength fuels an inflated sense of self, making him believe he can do as he pleases. In a fictional world where every Japanese man is either gigantic or possesses muscles larger than their heads, and personal worth is seemingly measured by how arrogant and brutish one can be, there are no surprises.

Baki's mother fares no better as a character, perhaps worse, given her lack of utility in fights. Everything we learn about her can be condensed into a sentence: a sadistic woman head over heels for Hanma Yujirou. As the anime progresses, this character becomes progressively grating and irksome.

Baki himself starts off as an unlikable brat who lucked into a leading role. He's selfish, immature, and prone to violence. However, he surprisingly morphs into a more polite and tolerable character, with a few redeeming qualities that make him marginally likable. Nevertheless, he remains rather plain, much like the rest of the cast.

Overall, I found Grappler Baki to be mindless yet mildly amusing entertainment.

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Nov 12, 2023

doughnutsfan

Not Recommended

Improved final third of the season fails to redeem an underwhelming story and characters that came before it.

With surface-level writing, an unlikable protagonist and unimpressive fight scenes, even the last few episodes which introduce some cool characters and potentially interesting storylines can’t make up for the extremely boring and unremarkable first 15 episodes that not only fail to develop the story and themes as anything more than the main character wishing to become the strongest person on the planet, But said character also behaves and treats everyone around him like an unlikable, rude brat with little redeeming qualities, and a couple of interesting supporting ...

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Poll: Baki the Grappler (2001) vs. Baki (2018) JustSomeone15 - Apr 10	13 replies	by treejoh »» Apr 15, 4:27 AM
Poll: Grappler Baki (TV) Episode 23 Discussion OtherGuyX - May 19, 2011	19 replies	by gomu-ninguen »» Mar 29, 9:10 PM
Poll: Grappler Baki (TV) Episode 3 Discussion OtherGuyX - May 12, 2011	25 replies	by Yahallooooooo »» Feb 9, 11:11 AM
Poll: Grappler Baki (TV) Episode 2 Discussion OtherGuyX - May 11, 2011	26 replies	by Yahallooooooo »» Feb 9, 10:35 AM
Poll: Grappler Baki (TV) Episode 1 Discussion ToG25thBaam - Jan 2, 2014	26 replies	by Yahallooooooo »» Feb 9, 10:10 AM

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