Grappler Baki

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter, Baki the Grappler: The Ultimate Fighter

Japanese: グラップラー刃牙

Information

Type: OVA

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Aug 21, 1994

Producers: None found, add some

Licensors: Central Park Media

Studios: Knack Productions

Source: Manga

Genre: Sports

Themes: Combat Sports, Gore

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 45 min.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 6.81¹ (scored by 12,144 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #5204²

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

Popularity: #4767

Members: 22,956

Favorites: 52

Available At

Official Site

Resources

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ANN

Synopsis

Doppo Orochi sits down to watch the final match of his karate school's youth tournament. Atsushi Suedou, one of his disciples, faces off against Baki Hanma, a fresh teenage boy breezing through the matches. Intrigued by the boy's strength, Doppo, alongside another of his disciples—Kiyosumi Katou— visits the notorious Tokugawa underground ring—a hidden freestyle fighting arena that prohibits only weaponry in its matches. Upon arriving, they learn that Baki is set to face none other than Koushou Shinogi: an infamous karate master and user of the lethal Cord-Cutting technique.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Characters & Voice Actors

Hanma, Baki

Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei
Japanese

Shinogi, Koushou

Main

Shiozawa, Kaneto
Japanese

Orochi, Doppo

Supporting

Iizuka, Shouzou
Japanese

Matsumoto, Kozue

Supporting

Touma, Yumi
Japanese

Tokugawa, Mitsunari

Supporting

Tatsuta, Naoki
Japanese

Katou, Kiyosumi

Supporting

Tanaka, Kazumi
Japanese

Kohei, Kuzumi

Supporting

Nakao, Michio
Japanese

Ryu, Kongo

Supporting

Kawazu, Yasuhiko
Japanese

Hayashi

Supporting

Doctor

Supporting

More staff

Staff

Asada, Yuuji

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Itagaki, Keisuke

Original Creator

Umakoshi, Yoshihiko

Character Design

Iwane, Masaaki

Inserted Song Performance, In-Between Animation

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Opening Theme

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Ending Theme

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Reviews

Jan 13, 2009

animegorey

Recommended

Some of the technics will make you cringe. Good OVA to the series. This was out long before the tv series so animation is a little older looking. Basically, it's a longer episode of the series. The characters are actually the same. I saw this first, and while watching the series, I realized they basically absorbed the OVA into the series. In other words, if you saw the series, you seen this OVA. Still, it's worth a watch, especially if your a Baki fan.

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Jun 2, 2008

Kain

Mixed Feelings

After seeing the baki episodes i wanted to try out this movie. Its not as good as the series but it still makes up if you want a little "shot" of baki. This was made before the episodes and sadly the spisodes did not finish beacuase of finacial problems. But If you løiked baki the grappler episodes chances are you will this one too. Defintely a must for baki fans!

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Apr 2, 2015

Luquillo

Not Recommended

I never liked this anime and time really hasn't done it any favors at all. I decided to rewatch it only because I recently gave the TV series Baki the Grappler a rewatch. I'm not normally a fan of remakes, but this is one title that really needed it through the 48 episode TV series, because this anime is so bland to the point it can barely even fall back on its action.

Yuji Asada did a very poor job directing this anime. There is pretty much no story and the plot is non existent. Before some crazed fan decides to leap and shout out the ... short run time as an excuse. I recommend giving Battle Angel a watch to see what a competent anime director can do in a short time. This anime is all about the fight and nothing more which wouldn't be a problem if they were all good.

Baki is competing in a Karate tournament for whatever reason. Then he makes his way off to the underground circuit where he's champion, which explains why he's so tough for people to beat and far beyond black belts in the other tournament he's competing in. There's no real reason on why he's fighting there, these things are all just happening and various characters are making token appearances just to have them. There are at least three characters and a couple of segments that could have been completely removed and the "story" wouldn't have been effected at all. This is just how bare bones it is. Grappler Baki makes Ayane's High Kick look like a masterpiece, and that anime is around the same run time.

Baki is an unlikable character. He was even a bit cocky before his final match against Shinogi Kosho, a martial arts master whose main skill is to pierce his enemies skin with his fingers, and then severe arteries and nerves to cripple them. I found myself cheering on Shinogi to outright kill Baki; and Baki is the main character who's suppose to be liked. This is something that should never happen.

The animation is very grimy. It's very low budget with not much attention paid to the backgrounds. There are quite a few static backgrounds during the matches and a small amount of reused cels. Fortunately, there are times when the action stands out. The fight between Baki and Shinogi is very brutal with some gory, deep penetrations and ripping of nerves. The blows are bone chilling with some high impact. Therefore, there is something to like here even though every fight before this isn't even worth talking about. The BGM really doesn't add much life to this lifeless anime, and I hate the English dub too. Carter Cathcart voices Baki and this guy is annoying. I really hated Baki's shrieks and yells. I wish Shinogi would have just strangled him to death. I recommend the sub which is better but doesn't really help this anime much.

Grappler Baki shouldn't have been made for any reason. This short OVA makes me appreciate the TV series even more despite being unfinished. One can tell that this OVA had a story just screaming to be let out. There was potential every where and I remember hoping this anime would get the series treatment when I first saw it back in the 90's. Overall, I only recommend this title to hardcore anime fans whom must see them all. If you do not fall into that category then skip this completely for the TV series, because you're not missing anything by leaving this alone.

Highs: Some brutal action towards the end

Lows: Nothing else besides the brutal action towards the end