Baki: New Grappler Baki

Five powerful death row inmates break free from their respective prisons in America, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Russia. Each convict flees to Tokyo to achieve his one goal: to suffer defeat at the hands of the world's strongest fighters.

Seventeen-year-old fighting champion Baki Hanma continues to train his body beyond its limits in order to one day challenge his monstrous father, Yuujirou Hanma, to a battle. Baki grows bored with his obligatory high school studies but finds comfort and strength in his budding relationship with Kozue Matsumoto. The quiet stasis of his life is disrupted by the arrival of the death row convicts as each criminal proves his might in displays of lethal force across Tokyo.

To combat this growing threat, Baki bands together with yakuza Kaoru Hanayama, rival Retsu Kaiou, mentor Doppo Orochi, and elderly jujitsu master Gouki Shibukawa. Together the five warriors agree to seek out and defeat their criminal opponents. But Baki faces the added burden of protecting Kozue from his evil new enemies, and he must fight to prove himself worthy under the watchful eye of his father, Yuujirou.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Baki: New Grappler Baki was published digitally in English by Media Do International/Akita Publishing from September 16, 2018 to August 27, 2019. The series has also been published through Comikey since July 15, 2023.

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Characters

Hanma, Baki

Main

Kaiou, Retsu

Main

Orochi, Doppo

Main

Motobe, Izou

Main

Hanma, Yuujirou

Supporting

Hanayama, Kaoru

Supporting

Hanma, Jack

Supporting

Biscuit, Oliva

Supporting

Doyle, Hector

Supporting

Dorian

Supporting

Reviews

Jul 10, 2022

DeltaWDarko

Recommended

New Grappler Baki is the second serialization of the Baki series, and this is the first I experienced, watching the anime. Upon reading the manga, my thoughts are kind of mixed.

The first arc is the 'Strongest Death Row Inmates' arc, which takes up around 60% of this serialization. Five death row inmates from around the world simultaneously and independently break out of prison and head to Japan to fight strong bois and 'know defeat'. I have a soft spot for Baki and usually forgive its faults, but I think this arc might just be the worst in the series, or at least one of the ... worst. It comes down to the structure. It's very repetitive. Prisoner meets mainstay character -> The two fight -> Prisoner escapes a few times-> Repeat until the prisoner is captured. There's no rising of stakes with these encounters either; Dorian was probably the strongest, but he was beat second. Doyle was probably the weakest, but he was defeated third. It's a huge anti-climax. There's also the issue that Baki, the titular character, doesn't show up nearly as much as he should in the arc. Don't get me wrong, side characters are cool, but the main character should still be the focus. I think another issue is that none of the Inmates really show up again after being beaten, besides Dorian who shows up briefly in the next arc. As such, the arc is pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

The thing is, none of this matters when in one chapter, while things are getting tense between Baki and his girlfriend, Yujiro shows up and says, "Have sex like 12 times a day, it'll make you stronger." And Baki and his girlfriend do have sex, and Baki's strength doubles and he beats TWO of the convicts (They escape, but still). Yes. All of that happened. A guy swallows a grenade and throws it up, One of the prisoners has poisonous vacuum hands that he poisons Baki with, but Baki is fine because someone else has poison hands that cancels the poison out...

Muhammed Ali's son shows up and wants to date Baki's girlfriend Kozue, is built up as one of the strongest characters in the series. The thing is though, he gets beaten up five days in a row by different people, the last of which is his Dad. Upon hearing Ali Jr say, "I kind of have multiple broken bones and stuff, can we fight later?" Ali says, "My son doesn't want to fight a man while he can barely walk and has several fractures? What a WIMP!" And then beats Jr up. After healing, Ali Jr fights Baki, who beats Jr in two hits. THEN, Kozue rejects him and he NEVER SHOWS UP AGAIN. This probably disappointed most people, but I thought the fact that the author just randomly started hating Ali Jr was hilarious.

None of this really makes the issues with the Inmates arc better, but it does distract from them. The next arc is actually pretty good, although it's another Tournament Arc. Yujiro actually has a really good fight, and the others are pretty good too. The next is the aforementioned Ali Jr abuse arc, at which point Baki is like, "We should fight soon Dad." and this serialization of Baki ends.

The characters introduced are a bit meh. The inmates are a mixed bag overall, another issue with the arc. All of them have the same motivation, and all of them fight dirty. Doyle has a bit of development I guess, but it's not great or anything. There's just not much to say about any of them, really. Biscuit Oliver is actually pretty good though. He's portrayed in a similar fashion to Yujiro, but he seems a bit more carefree and casual. Kaku is funny, but he's not in the series a lot. Point is, the new characters aren't really compelling. Yujiro is even better though, Retsu, Jack, and Shibukawa are cool. The others are fine for the most part.

I've been ragging on the series a lot, but there's one element that is undeniably good: The art. It has detail, style and expression. The sense of flow and impact is some of the best in any manga. The character designs are pretty good too.

The point is, I enjoy New Grappler Baki, but it has several issues. I haven't decided if I enjoy this more than the previous serialization or not, but I still enjoyed it. The anime is definitely inferior, but at the same time, watching all the insanity with friends isn't something that can be experienced with manga. Decide for yourself how you want to experience it.

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May 12, 2022

JEREmias1

Recommended

°English Version°

Where Baki's first manga shined, this one failed to maintain that quality.
The truth is that he remembered "New Grappler Baki" much better than it ended up being, even though the anime also faltered at times, he remembered it much better. This does not mean that he had good moments.

Baki is pretty much out of the story because he doesn't directly participate in any major fights during all arcs except the ending (although he does have some good moments, but very loose ones).
He is more focused on his love life and this feels heavy and boring.

The arc of the prisoners starts very well with the ...

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Nov 7, 2020

LisaLisa98

Recommended

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SEVERAL SPOILERS

Well, the manga can start in a strange way for those who haven't read the previous manga, just like me, but the first episodes have alreadyWell, the manga can start in a strange way for those who haven't read the previous manga, just like me, but the first episodes have alreadyWell, the manga can start in a strange way for those who haven't read the previous manga, just like me, but the first episodes already make a great introduction, shows Baki and the villains of a way that you are aware of the whole universe, in short, the first episodes ...

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