Watching—'Baki'

The story of Baki has been running weekly in the Weekly Shonen Champion magazine since 1991, and has since been collected into 132 volumes. The series is written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki, who himself is an experienced fighter, having experience in amateur boxing and Shorinji Kempo. The style of the manga has evolved from the clear 90s aesthetic to keep up with the modern look. The 2018 incarnation of the anime that is currently on Netflix was produced by TMS Entertainment, the same producers as the likes of Orange, D.Gray-Man, Megalo Box, and ReLIFE,to name a few. Four shows which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

From the start of the series we are introduced to an outlandish plot, a 17-year-old high school student has just returned from a brutal martial arts tournament, a student who has the musculature of Arnold Schwarzenegger from his body building prime. Simultaneously, five of the world's most dangerous criminals all break out and make their way to Tokyo with the sole purpose of fighting Baki, hoping to finally taste defeat. This brings out a brutal fighting method that is far from the style of fighting the protagonists are used to; and therefore, are forced to adapt in order to have a chance at simply surviving.

Every single fighter in this show has a ridiculous physique with ludicrous musculature, and yet they are all distinct from each other with their own personalities, helping to differentiate between each other. When the frame is still and is focusing on the intricate detail that has gone into the artwork detailing the bodies of the fighters, the visuals look great. It is when the characters move during a fight that we see the show start to come apart at the seams, not being able to handle what it has to carry. Many of the fights transition to 3D models of the characters, and the change is so drastic that it takes you out of the show every single time it happens as it sticks out like a sore thumb. It is far more comparable to the character models that can be found in the game Jump Force than anything that should be in an animation. The movement of the 3D models lack a weight that fails to sell the impact of the punches being landed on the characters, as they look far too elastic in their movement. Furthermore, there are instances when the artwork on screen looks outright terrible, giving the impression that the image used was a first attempt without any of the corrections made to refine an image. This would be forgivable if the image was an in-between or even a single key frame from one of the fight sequences; however, the one I am bringing attention to is an image of two people standing still, facing each other, and talking. A frame that lasts a couple of seconds. Finally, there was an instance where the outline of the character had not been coloured in all the way, leaving a gap between the colouring and the outline where the wall behind the character was appearing, literally, through the character.

The show has a strong start to the narrative with the introduction of the characters and the setting up of the main antagonists. Once the stakes and the rules had been set however, things slowed down, perspectives shifted. Characters disappear completely for multiple episodes at a time with so much regularity that you forget that they are a part of the show to begin with, until they pop up for a courtesy hello to remind the audience they exist. To add to that, characters are constantly being introduced to the point that it was difficult to keep track of who was who. (Granted, I have neither read the manga, nor watched the 2001 anime). The fighting in the show seems quite hollow (as it feels as if it is a fight for the sake of having a fight). The main reason why this is the case is because we, as the audience, do not know what the individuals are fighting for clearly, and when it is properly explained, it is at the near end of the fight. The only one who I felt had a clear motivation for was Baki, who was in a relationship. Out of the entire show, which was dedicated to incredibly strong individuals fighting, it is the romance between Baki and his girlfriend that I found the most interesting.

Despite all the negatives that I have listed so far, this is a show that I still managed to enjoy a fair amount because of the strength of the characters' personalities, and some of the pure outlandish things that happen in the show. Taking much of the technical mishaps out of the equation, there is a very good time to be had with the show, as it falls on the category of pure fun. The exaggerated bodies, the unorthodox posing, and the larger than life characters make it a fun ride. Another plus is that they do not hold back on the brutality front, as things get quite gory and bloody.

As of this writing, only the first half of the anime has been published on Netflix, with the second half scheduled to come out soon. As far as a recommendation goes, my advice is to watch the first episode before making a decision. The still images are fantastically drawn when displaying the characters' physiques, the characters' personalities are fantastic, and the romance is heartwarming in its innocence. These points helped me get through the anime while having a decent time. I half recommend the first episode of the show at the very least.