Baki - Reviews

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ImpactfulStar's avatar
Mar 9, 2022

Let's be honest, It's trash. Just because I say that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. It's trash but in a good way. If your looking for a action anime with good plot/story and animation, this is not it. Its worth watching because it funny and entertaining, not because it's good.

3/10 story
5/10 animation
7/10 sound
6/10 characters
5.3/10 overall
VenomousPrince's avatar
Nov 30, 2020

Yeah...ehhh..ok..It really is a simple anime .Just some huge fighters(most of them criminals in this season) that compete in a tournament and fight each other.It is enjoyable to watch because of the fights and the only good part it is actually the ending[Spoiler ahead⚠️], because Baki is in a near death situation and he is going to compete in the Raitai Tournament..

4/10 story
7.5/10 animation
7/10 sound
7/10 characters
6.5/10 overall
JustAkeno's avatar
Sep 2, 2021

I think this anime is just too unique and it confuses people (it confused me too, which is why I stalled it, until I realised it really is just supposed to be a fighting anime and nothing else).

This anime is clearly not aimed at a wide audience, like most generic anime that you will find (shoutout to isekai anime!)

No writer is dumb enough to think "hEhE fIgHt fiGhTs oNly is GoOd iDeA". It's clear that the writer just felt like making a story like this. To me it feels like he treated it like 'art', as he was not conforming to common standards.

It simply does not make sense to be aware of this, and still think that the anime is bad. You may not have liked the anime, but that's completely irrelevant to how much skill and thought it may have taken to write something like this.

I say "may" because although I'm no longer confused about the anime, I still struggle to understand some things. For all that I know, the writer may have actually just created this story on a whim and did not actually care to put effort into it,

but if this work was planned and intentional, then props to him for not making something generic whilst caring about appealing to the biggest amount of people..

1/10 story
?/10 animation
?/10 sound
?/10 characters
7/10 overall
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fullmetalftw's avatar
May 11, 2020

I remember watching a few episodes of the original Baki the Grappler on the Funimation channel back in high school. Didn't think much of it. A friend showed me the first 2 episodes of this and I was intrigued. After having finished binging it, I'm intrigued as to where it is going, but I'm a little disappointed in its execution.

The show starts off strong with the premise of 5 convicts all getting a call to come to japan to "taste defeat". As another reviewer said, the convicts get pushed to the back burner as it fizzles out and the story of the second season starts. Around the halfway mark, characters get introduced and the brief backstory is given for them. Next episode, they're never mentioned again. Baki doesn't feel like the main character, but that he's just second fiddle in an ensamble cast. I'm still going to watch season 2, but trying to push through the back half of season 1 was a bit of a chore.

Animation starts off strong as well. The glaring negative that made me knock points off was the CGI. I get that it will be used at times in today's day and age, but the quality was just lacking. One fight in particular (amusement park. that's all I have to say) is about on par with the quality of the CGI of the Agent Smith fight in Matrix: Reloaded. I feel like Netflix realized their mistake with using it, as the back half of the season saw less and less.

Sound design is solid. In my opinion, good music is one you don't even notice because of how it fits perfectly with the scene. It doesn't contrast with the action or draw attention away by sounding out of place. Impacts sound painful and the voice acting is superb.

The characters feel fleshed out with personality, but lacking at times. Biggest issue I had was the introduction of characters who had full backstories in the original series or manga, being given 1 episode, and never seen again. Potential spoiler: I'm talking about Kosho Sinogi. He shows up in one episode, gets his ass kicked, and we never hear from him again. Who was he? Why should I care about him? Who is the old guy who shows up in episode 20something, kicks ass, and then no mention again.

Overall opinion. I enjoyed it, but it's rough around the edges. I'm hoping for some refinement in the second season both animation wise and character wise. If you're interested, give it a few episodes to see if it sparks something, but be prepared to have to sloug through the back half of the season.

5/10 story
6/10 animation
8/10 sound
7/10 characters
6/10 overall
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zvezdata's avatar
Jul 14, 2022

Netflix just had to ruin this great anime, didnt they?

The original manga and anime exist, yet this Netflix version of Baki starts off every time with the text "a Netflix original anime". Yet there is nothing original about it - the names, characters, artstyle are from the original manga which has existed long before Netflix was a thing. But this is not why i didnt enjoy this anime.

Warninng: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Do you want to watch bleak, sad attempts of coloring the great linework of the original Baki? However with the addition of completely anatomical incorrect depictions of human body? And no, I am not talking about their muscles proportion-wise to their bodies or other people's bodies, we are talking about drawings with obvious mistakes.

Do you want to watch the satire version of Baki? A satire version so full of bullsh*t that the laws of physics, biology, chemistry and pure common sense simply do NOT apply?

Where all the characters are so heavily covered by plot armor that there is nothing that can actually kill them? No amount of electricity, underwater pressure, lack of oxygen, bullets from a shotgun shot to bare skin from 2 meters, jumping off of skyscrapers or any spine or neck bones injuries can possibly hurt or knock them unconscious...

Where if you have a brain, you'll either be replaying the last few sentences that you just heard in disbelief of the stupidity of what was just said or just laugh out loud, wondering how high where the writers when they wrote this sad excuse of a script? Oh you want an example? Okey, how about the 1st episode - the introduction of Baki - who,  according to the narrator can see into people's DNA to find their weaknesses? Yet they constantly depict him as a boy who doesnt care for school/studies and is not very smart at all. Also this is not a sci-fi anime, it's a brawler type of anime, so why did the writers add this for the main character is beyond me.

One where every battle, no matter who is fighting who and mind you, they are all very deadly and experiences fighters... always start with 1 guy surprise hitting the other, with the guy being hit just doing a surprised pickachu face for 5 minutes until he decides he's fine, he's taken no dmg because after all, he has an insane amount of plot armor, at which point he will start attacking and the other guy will stare surprised. This is not how the original Baki was. This is horrible fighting in every way possible. One guy got shot in both knees, but you know what, the writers decided that it would be so cool if they finish the fight with "and do you know who was the last guy standing? That guy, inspite of being shot in both knees!" 

The whole idea of a "real battle with no rules" was already a thing in the original Baki in the underground tournament. This anime didnt bring anything new to the table. Not only that, the whole speach about "anyone can be attacked anywhere, at any time, even if they're sleeping, having dinner or even while having sex!" had me laughing with tears! As if any of these guys was going to get laid any time soon.

This anime was so bad it made even Jojo look like a decent anime and Jojo was 99% guys bromance or checking out and fighting while complimenting eachother, so I really cannot stress enough how dissapointed I was with Netflix's Baki.

1/10 story
1/10 animation
3/10 sound
1/10 characters
1/10 overall
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