Baki
By Jeremy Looney,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Brutal graphic violence in over-the-top martial arts anime.
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Baki
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Based on 2 parent reviews
Sex scene
Good anime
What's the Story?
Based on the manga series Baki by Keisuke Itagaki, BAKI is a show about the fighter Baki Hanma (voiced in English dub by Troy Baker) and his ongoing journey to surpass his father Yujiro (Kirk Thornton) as a powerful martial arts warrior. To reach his goal, Baki must fight many strong and unique fighters in an illegal underground fighting arena. This anime picks up where the 2001 series left off, with Baki continuing to surpass his father after emerging victorious in the brutal underground maximum tournament. News of his victory has garnered the attention of five evil death row convicts who escape prison and go to Japan to find Baki, in the hope that they will finally have found an opponent strong enough to deliver them the taste of defeat.
Is It Any Good?
Story takes the back seat to over-the-top action in this wild and brutally violent martial arts anime. Baki is a show purely about bloody and exciting fights -- the story is nonsensical and there isn't much to take away from the plot. Baki does feature a memorable cast of diverse characters; many of the eccentric fighters come from around the world and have unique styles of martial arts and philosophies regarding fighting. These fighters often don't have much time to shine, though, as they're frequently upstaged by their Japanese counterparts.
While the plot is lacking, there are many interesting flashbacks and monologues that explore martial arts techniques and explain character motivations, although sometimes these bits of exposition are poorly paced and interrupt the flow of the fighting action. If you don't mind the graphic violence, gore, and lack of a complex story, there's still a lot of entertainment that Baki can deliver with its hard-hitting action.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the importance of goals and discipline in life. What characters stand out as disciplined? Are there characters who go too far to achieve their goals?
Talk about the graphic violence in this anime. How do depictions of animated violence compare to depictions of live action violence, and what effect do these depictions have in the real world?
TV Details
- Premiere date: December 18, 2018
- Cast: Troy Baker , Steve Blum , Kirk Thornton , Cherami Leigh
- Network: Netflix
- Genre: Anime
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: August 2, 2023
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