| Baki
the Grappler Vol-1: Warrior Reborn (2001)
Released by: Funimation
Running Time: 100 Minutes
By Jeffrey
Couto
Introduction
Today we’re taking a look at Baki the
Grappler another entry in the ever popular fighting/tournament
genre of the anime world. These shows are typically characterized
by having a protagonist who through the course of the story
will run into several exotic challengers who have a variety
of fighting techniques or approaches to combat and fights
them to develop his own skills and either defend the world
or build his skills up. It’s a simple concept, but when
done well it’s quite entertaining.
This series which is based on a very popular
manga title that ran for over 40 volumes in Japan, takes all
of the basics components of this type of fare to come up with
a surprisingly addicting show that manages to rise above many
other similar programs with its particular approach to the
formula.
Story
"Every warrior’s life is but a
moment. These fearless fighters exist knowing all too well
that each moment could be their last. There is always someone
stronger, or faster. There is always someone unafraid to go
to any length to ensure victory, or survival. And at least
once in each warrior’s life, that warrior wonders what
it would be like to be the worlds best. It is this great unknown,
this passion for power that drives the Grappler. Each must
choose to throw all else aside to achieve their goal, or forever
shrink into the shadows, their potential unfulfilled. Feeling
his training to be the strongest fighter in the world is going
nowhere, Baki Hanma quits his program believing that the only
coach he needs is himself. Baki stumbles on his first step
into this new world. Will he learn from his errors and achieve
his potential? Or will he forever disappear among the millions
of fighters who never realized that one must crawl before
one may walk? Seize the Moment!
" -- DVD Box
Review
The first volume in Funimation' s release
of Baki the Grappler features episodes one through four in
the series, which include:
Episode 1: Stirrings of Destiny
It’s late in the evening and a group of 100 young gang
members has assembled to take on an opponent, one single opponent.
His name is Baki and his fighting power and skills are feared
by everyone in the streets. When they finally meet up Baki
ends up knocking out around 30 of his opponents before the
police show up and break the fight up. Disappointed by his
performance he comes to realize that his training is not adequate
anymore and that if he is to surpass his current fighting
prowess and raise the stakes with even more challenging opponents
he better come up with a more innovative way to improve his
skills.
While searching for inspiration Baki runs
into a champion fighter using Muay Thai boxing against a sparring
partner at a local gym. Inspired by what he sees he decides
to challenge the fighter to a sparring match and see how he
matches up. Will he be able to hold up against a professional!?
Episode 2: Those Who Squirm
After putting up a good fight Baki easily falls to the Muay
Thai champion he challenged in the last episode. Frustrated
by his performance however he becomes inspired to improve
himself through harsher training similar to the one his dad
(the world’s greatest fighter) went through to get to
where he is. To accomplish this Baki packs up his bags and
heads out to the mountains where he will do his best to improve
his abilities.
Meanwhile back at home Baki’s mom is
working behind the scenes to set up some challenges that she
thinks will help Baki get to where he needs in less time.
This results in the hiring of Kaoru Hanayama a 15-year-old
mafia gang boss whose size and power terrify even the most
seasoned of fighters!
Episode 3: The Beast of Yasha Crag
Deep in the mountains Baki meets up with an old friend of
his dad, who fills him in on some of the training he should
undertake while in the words. He also tells Baki of the giant
Yasha Ape, a monster so large, so ferocious and powerful that
few fighters have ever survived an encounter with them to
even tell the tale. One of the few lucky ones who was powerful
enough to not only survive the encounter, but also to beat
the Yasha Ape was Baki’s father. Therefore Baki decides
he is going to match his father’s achievement, but will
his first encounter with the ape result in disaster!?
Episode 4: The Fang and the Tears
With hard training that include a near death experience Baki
has begun unlocking secret powers and mental skills needed
to advanced his abilities. Confident in his achievements Baki
sets out to take on the Yasha Ape once more, this time to
the death. Will he be able to finally overcome this opponent!?
For a tournament/fighting anime to succeed
it has to cover some fundamental story elements and clichés
of the genre, which include, but are not limited to, a tournament-like
structure, exotic fighters that have different powers, techniques
and exaggerated physical attributes, strange training methods
and devices and most importantly a likeable character who
the audience wants to see challenged and triumphant in the
end. If you can hit all these areas and add an interesting
story, good characterization and solid pacing then you have
what it takes to be a good fighting anime series. In the case
of Baki the Grappler not only are these point well covered,
but in many respects they are surpassed!
As the story starts Baki is presented to us
as a trouble-making street punk who’s out for nothing
more than a good fight. We see this through his initial encounter
with the 100 street toughs that take him on, the graffiti
leading to his home and the dialogue that the detective and
rookie policeman are having while following Baki home from
that first fight. At first he comes across as an unlikable
smart-ass, but as the story quickly progresses we see why
he was acting this way and what is truly motivating this behavior,
which as it turns out is a combination of his mother pushing
for him to become powerful like his father and Baki’s
own desire to become strong.
With these two main driving forces pushing
him on Baki starts his journey to become the world’s
most powerful fighter by setting off on his own and testing
the boundaries of the human condition. Ultimately, these initial
steps onto the road to an ultimate fighting form are what’s
at the center of the episodes contained in this first volume
of Funimation’s domestic release of Baki the Grappler.
As such these episodes do a terrific job at
setting the stage for what is to come and the fights Baki
will have to overcome. From physical and mental obstacles
that he is to overcome to unbelievably fun bouts between Baki
and the Yasha Ape everything that you could want in a fighting
anime series is present and accounted for. The pacing of everything
is well done to boot, so we go from one event to the other
with an adequate speed (not too fast, but they also don’
skimp on narrative details), which adds quite a bit to the
overall package, especially if you’ve seen a lot of
these type of shows before.
On the production front this series is well
put together with a solid frame rate, sharp looking visuals,
a varied color palette and neat visual effects. The action
scenes are depicted with a lot of kinetic energy and interesting
angles that add to their explosiveness onscreen. The one thing
that I wasn’t as blown away by were some of the character
designs, especially Baki’s, which remind me a lot of
hybrid anime drawings by people trained in more Marvel/DC-like
comic art style.
As far as the audio component of this anime
goes I loved all aspects of it. The soundtrack in particular
was noteworthy with several good techno pieces that pumped
up the action and added another layer of energy to the fighting/training
scenes (as if they weren’t energy-packed already). The
voice acting was on-target with everyone putting in a solid
performance on both the Japanese and English dubbed tracks.
Finally, the DVD itself is an all around well
packaged product with a variety of extras that round off the
episodes in this volume on a positive note. DVD extras include
a small section on Muay Thai Boxing that goes over the basics
of the sport, manga art stills, anime stills, character profiles,
episode summaries, previews of other Funimation releases and
audio commentary for episode 1 by the English dubbed track’s
director and lead actor. Inside the DVD box there is also
a small booklet with more info on the company’s other
properties and releases. Both the audio and video transfers
are crystal clear with no real issues to speak of.
Final
Thoughts
I have to admit that I was surprised at how
good this one actually turned out to be. My first glimpse
of this show was in the form of an advertisement in Super
7 Magazine and I remember that I thought the main character
design (Baki) looked poor. Now that I’ve seen it though
I’m in love with this series! So much so that I watched
volume two as soon as volume one was over!
This one is very highly recommended for all
anime fans, especially those of you who enjoy tournament-style
shows.
Jeffrey
Couto |
