Baki

After emerging victorious from a brutal underground tournament, Baki Hanma continues on his path to defeat his father, Yuujirou, the strongest man in the world. However, he gets no time to rest when the tournament runner, Tokugawa Mitsunari, visits him at school. He reveals to Baki that five incredibly dangerous death row inmates from around the world—all skilled in martial arts—have simultaneously escaped confinement and are heading to Tokyo, each wishing to finally know the taste of defeat. Tokugawa warns that, due to his well-known strength, Baki is bound to encounter them sooner or later, and he will not be their only target.

Adapting the first saga of the second manga series, Baki centers on the all-out war between the esteemed martial artists of Japan and those of the dark underground world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Baki: New Grappler Baki, Baki Tokubetsu-hen Saga
Prequel:	Grappler Baki: Saidai Tournament-hen
Alternative version:	Baki: Most Evil Death Row Convicts Special Anime
Sequel:	Baki: Dai Raitaisai-hen

Ginga, Banjou
Japanese

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Staff

Hirano, Toshiki

Director

Simone, Jamie

Director, Casting Director

Urakami, Keiko

Sound Director

Urakami, Yasuyuki

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "BEASTFUL" by GRANRODEO
	2: "The Gong of Knockout" by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas

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Ending Theme

	1: "RESOLVE" by Azusa Tadokoro
	2: "BEAUTIFUL BEAST" by DEVIL NO ID

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Dec 16, 2018

AndoCommando

Mixed Feelings

Five men, all considered some of the most violent and dangerous criminals in the world await death row. Each one locked in high-security prisons across several continents unbeknownst to each other and, as if by sheer coincidence, break out from their penitentiaries and head for Tokyo Japan. Their goal: to challenge the fighting champion of the underground Baki Hanma in the hopes of finally tasting defeat.

Baki is somewhat of an anomaly when talking about the series in depth. On the surface Baki comes across as the stereotypical shounen following a teenage boy training to become the world’s strongest fighter, a label currently held by his ... father Yujiro Hanma. However, when delving deeper into the story, Baki manages to encapsulate the concept of fighting and the themes that tie with such. The struggles, sacrifices and suffering felt when facing an almost unachievable goal, the unbridled enjoyment of experiencing your passion to the fullest and even the jaded, dreary perception that can set in when constantly at the pinnacle of one’s field of interest – all are just some of the core ideas the series is firmly rooted in and all remain prevalent in this adaptation of Baki.

This version is set shortly after the Maximum Tournament arc, acting as a direct continuation to the past TV adaptations of Baki almost 2 decades ago, but still serves a solid entry point for newcomers of the franchise. The first OP gives enough backstory on its own – Baki wins a fighting tournament and is crowned the world champion, but that title behaves more like a proverbial target on his back, attracting the group of convicts whose unmatched strength had led each to grow bored of life and now seek to challenge the young prodigy. This premise eventually leads to a showdown between the death row inmates and Baki alongside other underground martial artists prominent in past seasons; a 5-on-5 no holds barred match where fights are free to run amok between fighters anytime and anyplace, which would also include various other characters in this battle between discipline and technique against sheer brutality and ability. It’s an arc that easily creates excitement and anticipation as to how such a story will play out, but the execution of this turns out to be a mixed bag depending on your expectations for the anime.

The plot for this arc, while it may seem grand on paper is actually fairly simplistic; progression and development are both dependent on fights between martial artists with at least one character gaining something from each encounter, from a newfound strategy to beat an opponent if they ever fight again to realizing weaknesses that keep themselves from becoming stronger. One would think this approach would make each fight more meaningful and hold more weight, except that when reflecting back most fights in this show came off forgettable and even sporadic, the latter being the result of very poor structure and pacing. Baki has a habit of introducing new characters and flashbacks at random points in the story, with some flashbacks being as long as 10 minutes in the middle of a match. It’s a habit that seriously disengages the viewer from the tension and unpredictability that this arc is founded upon, to an unpardonable extent with how often this is bound to happen. This kind of storyboarding is what constantly brings down my engrossment of the narrative here as it continues onward, meanwhile the eventual outcome of this arc is seriously underwhelming given how each of the five criminals are written off so unevenly. The lack of a succinct structure results in some antagonists being beaten in quick fashion in order to build towards the next arc of Baki and thus required bringing past characters back into the mix to do just that. Narratively, it looked to be full of ideas and potential develop but lacked a clear direction and framework to present the arc in a carefully planned and orderly manner.

The character development for Baki is also lacklustre to an extent. Characters in Baki can often be considered embodiments of their chosen martial arts style, with the values and overarching philosophy of each forging the minds, bodies and souls of their practitioners. Through this understanding the show probably appears to be stacked with many distinct personalities to play with at the writer’s leisure, yet it remains difficult for many to leave a strong impression on the audience. Partly due to awkward plotting as stated earlier, but also apparent is a lack in clear focus and development to keep most characters important. The events are often made out as more vital than the characters taking part in them. This leads to not only a declining interest in the fights as the series continues, but also makes the majority of characters used here more likely to be lost in the shuffle and only used when convenient.

Baki as a whole has always been primarily about Baki Hanma, the protagonist, and his father Yujiro, the strongest creature on Earth both feared and respected by all. These two are constantly integral parts to the overall story as they should be, yet to witness so many side characters be treated so sparingly can be disheartening to say the least. However, my biggest problem with this adaptation when it comes to characters is with its handling of the main character Baki Hanma. This is a problem that I feel is more prominent to those who have followed the series from the beginning and have seen Baki grow from the hot-headed impulsive gifted brat to an exceptional fighter worthy of being called a champion. But in this arc, Baki appears…. different. Not only is his personality more laid-back but his train of thought and subsequent actions at times come off somewhat autistic. It’s a take on the character that I had never envisioned or pictured, not only acting as the cause for several awkward moments, but also frankly feeling like a betrayal of the character that I remembered watching and reading. Baki still receives his own development throughout this arc, moving from a reserved anxious style of fight to the spirited, confident attitude that made him such a force to be reckoned with. Except for when you find out this change and increase of strength is solely due to Baki losing his virginity.

I wish I was making that up.

If you were to read Baki in its manga counterpart, one of the first aspects that would catch your eye would be the artstyle. There is a keen eye for detail in not only making each technique such a crucial part of the series, but in making the character designs such exaggerated portraits of strength in the human anatomy. A clear expression of weight and power through this absurdist aesthetic creates a strangely beautiful sense of art that further pushes Baki from the standard shounen manga series. If you were to watch this version of Baki, the visuals would easily be the first part that grabs your attention. But unfortunately, the visuals here are kind of trash. It is certainly an improvement from previous installments, but comparing it to the quality of its contemporaries, this has so many glaring issues. Designs have a habit of appearing out of perspective on different angles, animation for the most part is cheap and the juxtaposition of 2D and 3D animation is so god awful it is near impossible for viewers to take most fights seriously. It also doesn’t help that the fight choreography makes the battles come across more turn-based than a Pokemon game. For one of the most jarring experiences I have ever had for watching an anime. I’m honestly surprised how I can say a show with so many technical issues can still be tolerable, but here’s the crazy thing: I actually enjoyed the show.

Earlier I called Baki an anomaly, and this entry in the franchise is no different. Baki (2018) is honestly an insane show that should not be so entertaining to watch, from both faults in production and writing. But here we are, with a series seemingly unbridled in taking action and martial arts to the irrational, all whilst taking itself absolutely seriously. This level of sincerity is almost palpable through every episode and makes it difficult not getting drawn into the bizarre logic of Baki, no matter how grating the lack of fluid animation and coherent writing may get. In this arc, Baki takes the leap of embracing its own ridiculousness to evolve into a genuine spectacle for the eyes that is hard to not take notice of, and with the finale acting as a teaser to a possible continuation of the story, I expect that the best of Baki is still yet to come.

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Dec 19, 2018

Mohammad-q-mata

Not Recommended

[Minor Spoiler]

What triggered me the most, is that at the beginning, when they introduce the five criminals, it appears that they're as strong as Baki's father. And one of them fought Baki at the first few episodes, but Baki was nothing in comparison to him. However, after few episodes the five criminals started to look so weak (like very very weak), which didn't make any sense. Even two of them together couldn't defeat Baki.

Also, during some of the fights, the animation effects looks so weird and childish. It seems like if it's a video game or something, and it was too awkward to watch.

The ...

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Dec 16, 2018

Uber_Bacon

Recommended

There are few words that describe Baki (2018), the only one that comes to mind is “violent” which is both an extremely accurate and flawed description of the show. One one hand, the show is extremely violent, people are getting completely OBLITERATED in like three punches but sometimes it feels like it’s really going easy on us.

TL;DR I’d give this show an 8 (rounding down the 8.2)
Let me preface this by saying I haven’t watched any of the previous Baki animes, so I’m not too caught up with the Baki lore or anything. That being said, the show feels really basic… there’s not much ... in terms of “story” from what I gathered. That being said, if you’re a fan of just fighting, nothing really tying the fights together beside a couple of words, this show is for you.

Story: 6 Story? What story?

In all honesty, I feel like I should give this a lower score, there’s honestly not much in terms of story AT ALL. But I also feel like it doesn’t really matter since the show doesn’t NEED a story either. That being said: one of the absolutely greatest parts of the show would be the surprise element: you have NO idea who’s going to win in a fight (save for a few individuals). This really stood out since most of the time, there really isn’t any sense of suspense when the main characters fight a secondary character or when a protagonist fights an antagonist. But in Baki, you genuinely have no idea WHAT’S going to happen, it really raises the stakes by making every character able to lose from the most hyped up guy to the thirdary character shoehorned in five minutes ago.

Art: 7 Baki is in this weird place where at some points the animation is GREAT! Someone gets kicked in the face and you can feel the impact… but then it flies back to a still image with camera movement to simulate action.

I’m in turmoil when trying to review its art because, on one hand, some of its animations seem lazy and half-assed but on the other hand you can really FEEL the impact of most of the hits. I can’t really give it an accurate review so I’ll just leave it with a 7

Sound 10: OOH The sound THROUGHOUT the anime was near PERFECT!

Going back to what I said in the “art” section, part of the reason why every hit felt genuine was the sound, from fracturing bone to explosions, everything had a certain weight behind it that I really can’t properly explain. The OST was also great, tracks were noticeably reused but still sounded epic no matter HOW many times they replayed it, and it also boasts one of the greatest endings of all time (in my opinion), the sound of Baki is almost as crazy as the show itself.

Character 8: I personally like it when an author writes a character with no intention of them being liked by anyone.

The characters in Baki seem relatively different from each other, but the major disparity between them would be their fighting styles. On one hand, you have the honorable martial artists, each with their own history and methods of fighting and on the other hand, you have the (mostly) despicable death row inmates who focus on more underhanded tactics to win (example, most of the inmates used explosives at least once).

Enjoyment: 8 Dumb fun

Baki is the true TOURNAMENT ARC anime and I LOVE it for that.

Overall: 8

There’s not much else to say except: “wow, this show is fun to watch”

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