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

Reviews

Mar 28, 2024

JJMFREAP

Recommended

Oh yeah, BIG MEN DOING MAN SHIT is back and better than ever. After 17 hears, the story continues, this time with decent animation and a better budget. It's more man than ever! If you don't watch this, you're missing out! So give it a watch so you can grow some hair on your chest and then some testicles from the hair and then more hair on the testicles.

You know, there's this awesome line I remember from the iconic 80's action movie Commando with Schwarzenegger that I believe perfectly describes Baki as a whole:

"I can't believe this macho bullshit!"

That sums it up best if you ... ask me. Speaking of 80's action films, Baki really reminds me of those in the best of ways. The story is simple and straightforward, nothing too overwhelming to tax your mind. The meat and even more meat is in the action scenes and they are consistently awesome and confidently carry the whole thing. There's a lot of absurdity and your disbelief will have to be very heavily suspended to work, but that's fine, it doesn't take itself too seriously anyway and it's just so fun that it doesn't even matter. It's evident that by this point, the author has forfeited any pretext of realism and has decided to dial up the absurdity to unseen levels and just push everything as far as it can possibly go. Forget Stands, Devil Fruits, Nen, Sharingan, Bankai, Quirks or whatever else, anything can be achieved through the power of MUSCLE. And I'm all here for it!

Getting into the nitty gritty mantiddy of it all, this anime is definitely a step up from the old one. It captures the wacky artstyle of the manga really well, the movement is clean, the action is dynamic and the characters are expressive. Also we have fully uncensored blood and gore (and hanky spanky too) and Baki wouldn't feel right without them. The over-the-top violence is just so much more gruesome and graphic than before. This is also greatly helped by the disgustingly visceral sound effects used. All the splooges, squishes, splurts, cracking bones and what not just make your skin crawl and your stomach churn when you hear them. On that note, the music is pretty good two, the two openings are really catchy as well, even though the visuals of the second one suck absolute balls. For other criticism, there is the well known use of CGI during the fights. Now, it's not too bad, it doesn't take you out of the moment too much, but it's still sub-par. I get why they did it, I understand it, but that doesn't mean I condone it. Nonetheless, the fights were still really awesome, so I won't hold it against them too much.

In regards to the plot, you should really know what you're getting with Baki. It's nothing deep, nothing profound, but it's simple and it's fun as hell. The point is to move from one ridiculous fight to the next and that works great. The author's love of martial artis also permeates everything and if you love martial arts, this story is right up your alley. However, there are some valid criticisms. For example, a lot of the convicts felt underutilized. They were hyped up so much but got shredded in no time, probably because the main cast are so much more overpowered than they are. Besides that, what I personally didn't like is that, despite this anime being named simply "Baki", Baki himself feels like a bit of a side character in his own show. He doesn't appear at all in a good chunk of episodes and only gets a couple of fights. For a lot of the time, other characters like Orochi Doppo, Hanayama and Oliva get the spotlight. I don't mind that overall since I absolutely love those characters, but I really wish Baki himself got a bit more attention. I really enjoyed how season 1 of the classic anime was very definitively HIS story, HIS journey of growth. I hope we get more of that in future.

In short, Baki delivers on what it sets out to do. It's macho nonsense that is meant to be fun and exciting and it exceeds at that. As I said before, it has that spirit of classic action movies that have a simple but engaging narrative with the action doing the heavy lifting. Speaking of which, you will need a proper physique yourself in order to suspend your disbelief enough to get it, but trust me, it's worth it. So let's go lift together this very moment so we can reach their level. MUSCLE is the only truth in life. My pronouns are he, because I will never be HIM. But dammit, that won't stop me from trying.

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Sep 11, 2023

Bensonas

Mixed Feelings

Right then, this one was a shame. It's started with much promise, lost its way and finished in a little bit of a mess. That's the summary here is a little breakdown.

What really does shine in this show is the music. It's excellent. Less of a score and more of a series of bangers that appear at the perfect moments. Even the intro music is great. It add a great deal of excitement to fights that honestly, the further you get into the show, are really anything but exciting. The music at times really keeps the show afloat.

Animation wise, it seems to be in line ...

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Jan 12, 2024

MxS7HGS

Not Recommended

Fans of “Baki” already know what to expect. Where the show becomes more interested in establishing a strange and improbable situation between fights, rather than martial arts, logic, sense of coherence and explanations or intense battles. One would wonder how it is possible that even serious injuries, which could be facial wounds or severed hands, can easily be handled if only using simple means like band aids and stitches. The show is not about blood loss or even death because here, there is a divine doctor who can even resurrect people from the threshold of death. The fights themselves, however are not all that inspiring ...

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Poll: Baki Episode 2 Discussion Ulquiorra - Aug 9, 2018	21 replies	by Licentai »» Apr 8, 6:34 AM
what is baki even about 💀 ☠️ 😭😭 lolylolydab - Mar 7	10 replies	by MisterMichael »» Mar 11, 1:59 AM
Why does Baki feel undiscussed on MAL? Zimmu - Mar 7	31 replies	by Zimmu »» Mar 9, 4:13 PM
Poll: Baki Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 ) uninstallthegame - Dec 16, 2018	62 replies	by ahmet1234321 »» Mar 8, 10:41 PM
Poll: Baki Episode 5 Discussion Ulquiorra - Aug 9, 2018	24 replies	by 0YukiPlays0 »» Feb 25, 8:17 PM

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Hanma, Baki

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Orochi, Doppo

Shibukawa, Gouki

Hanma, Yuujirou

Hanayama, Kaoru

Hanma, Jack

Biscuit, Oliva

Doyle, Hector

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