Grappler Baki

Original Title: グラップラー刃牙
Romanized: Rurappuraa Baki
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Baki Hanma is a generally happy student with a rather odd hobby; he likes fighting. Specifically, he likes fighting in a secret martial arts tournament that gathers the greatest fighters of the world and pits them against each other in really nasty combat. Whether you're a sumo wrestler, a karate expert, or a guy who specializes in ripping out your opponent's nerves, you're welcome (as long as you can keep quiet about it, of course). Anyway, Baki may be the youngest fighter the tournament has ever seen, but he's also the best, and he really enjoys what he does.

The story starts off with Baki entering a regular Karate tournament (as a warm up) and taking it by storm. He then moves on to the real challenge--that guy who likes to tear nerves (you knew he was going to come into this, didn't you?). Baki's pretty confident, but then again, he's never taken on somebody who can blind or paralyze an opponent using just one finger...

Quick Review

Rating: 2.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 7/5/2003

Grappler Baki is a weird martial arts fest that serves up a sizable helping of humor, two or three plate-fulls of (very violent) action, and plot relegated to the parsley part of the meal--small and only there for decoration. There's absolutely nothing to it other than fighting, and the hero Baki cheerfully grins through the most vicious and bloody of battles, even when he's on the losing end, and even though he has no reason to be fighting other than for the heck of it. That, I must admit, was a change from the average martial arts philosophy.

If you enjoy a good spirited (albeit graphic) fight (or two), have a look at this one--perfect for your daily dose of nerve-ripping fun! Be warned that it's just an intro to the comic series, although it's not a cliffhanger.

US DVD Review

The DVD includes all the standards for a USM release; Japanese and English soundtracks, an English subtitle track, an illustrated menus providing access to a scene index, clips that introduce the characters, and jumps to the battle scenes, plus there are trailers of some other USM releases. Note that the DVD is the only way to get the subtitled version.

Content Guide

Probably qualifies as 13-up due to the fairly graphic violence.

Violence: 3 - Nobody dies, but things get pretty messy (there's no clean way to tear out someone's nerves).

Nudity: 1 - Standard martial arts exposure, all on guys.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Nada.

Language: 1 - Not noteworthy.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a long running (40+ volume) manga series, which explains some of the rather abruptly and dramatically introduced characters who proceed to do absolutely nothing. To my knowledge, the comics haven't been professionally translated into English as of this review. There's also a much more recent TV series based on the same character.

For the true Baki-head, there is also a Playstation 2 game of all things. If this hilarious Grappler Baki review is any indication, though, the game is very, very bad.

Availability

A single OAV available on DVD from US Manga Corps.

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