Baki the Grappler Vol-3: Jungle Warfare (2001)
Released by: Funimation
Running Time: 100 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

It’s with great excitement and anticipation that I returned to the world of Baki the Grappler some nights ago. This show more than any other in recent months has caught my attention with its back to basics approach to the whole fighting/tournament style anime show genre. The story itself while not revolutionary or particularly surprising does provide of the necessary hooks to keep you coming back for more and then some however, and boy does it have me hooked!

With volume three things only get better and pumped up as Baki takes on a new set of opponents to help sharpen his skills. Let’s check it out!

Story

"Baki is back! And this time, he's faced with his greatest challenge yet...a head to head battle with his father. With impossible odds weighing against him, Baki knows that his father, the undefeated Yujiro Hanma, will do anything to win. Now, with only one month to prepare for the fight, he must push his body and mind to theilimit or die by the same man who gave him life.

Feel the thrill of victory and the pain of defeat as you watch Baki battle through an elite army of soldiers, face a powerful and deadly foe and deal with tragic, life-changing loss. When the time for the epic clash with his father finally arrives, he may find there's more at stake than just bloodshed." -- DVD Box

Review

The third volume in Funimation' s release of Baki the Grappler features episodes nine through twelve in the series, which include:

Episode 9: The Division
Having overcomed Kaoru Hanayama in a closely matched fight, Baki’s father Yujiro Hanma, suddenly showed up and finished Hanayama off, sending him straight to the hospital. Days later while training in a local park Baki’s father re-appears with a grim message for his son, a fight challenge! The time has come for Baki to show his father what he is made of, or else.

Nervous and not sure on how to handle the situation after Yujiro leaves the park Baki is surprised a second time, this time by his father’s military compatriot, who offers the young fighter a chance to become strong enough to take on his father. Baki is to take on five mercenaries currently hiding out in a remote island location and build up his skills by taking each of them down, despite the fact that even the Japanese defense forces can’t catch these guerillas! Will Baki be able to stand up against these skilled adversaries?

Episode 10: Battlefield
Baki has arrived at the remote island location! Now with all five mercenaries hot on his trail it won’t be long before the battle begins, but who exactly is Gaia, the super soldier among his enemies who is said to be the equal to his father in strength and fighting ability? Baki may not live long enough to find out!

Episode 12: Gaia
Gaia has been unmasked! Can Baki take on this unbelievably powerful opponent? He will have to be quick on his feett and figure out an attack strategy before it’s too late! This is now a fight for survival!

Episode 13: Bite Marks
The day of the big showdown between Baki and his father nears! As the time nears both fighters take in some last minute training, but is this enough to help them overcome their opponent?

Wow! This show just keeps getting better and better! With the episodes in this DVD things really start picking up momentum and taking us down the road that has been hinted at since the beginning, an all out battle between Baki and his father, the undefeated Yujiro Hanma. It also starts taking a story element that has been heavily emphasized in the previous stories, Baki’s sense of honor and fairness, and using it as a way to contrast the character against his father who has no need for such ideals.

In fact Baki’s father exploits those very ideals that Baki holds and uses them against him, first by sending Hanayama to the hospital after he was already injured and then by showing Baki the decapitated head of the Yasha Ape, which our hero had fought valiantly and then befriended. These actions fuel Baki with rage, which is exactly what his father is looking for in his son, but Baki’s ideals will not be easily manipulated by such theatricality. Over the course of the four episodes in this DVD this theme is explored and integrated into the storyline as a way for us to understand who Baki is and why he is different from his father despite being as brutally violent and powerful as his old man.

As with the previous storyline we also get an opportunity here to see Baki develop his fighting skills and techniques via a sequence of battle in which our hero takes on more powerful and unpredictable opponents than he has before, five military mercenaries who not even a normal full-fledged army garrison can take on. This makes for an even more exciting fight than the one in which he took on Hanayama because not only is he engaging several opponents who are using weapons, camouflage and military close combat fighting techniques, he’s also taking on someone whose powers are as legendary as his father’s, but whose approach to fighting is in the end similar to Baki’s.

By the end of the DVD and as we near the title match between Baki and his father, our young hero has not only become stronger in all respects, but also become friends with all of his previous opponents, which brings about the support that Baki needs to take on his undefeated opponent. This looks like it will become the main subject in the next episode and going into the much anticipated fight and I for one can’t wait to see how it becomes an integral part of the story and how the support of Baki’s new friends helps turn the tide in this impossibly uneven match-up.

In terms of character development these episodes see Baki’s continued evolution from a street tough into a refined fighter whose combined skills and relentless willpower are unbeatable. The challenge by his Yujiro combined with his opposition to Baki’s ideals of justice/fairness in the fighting arena also help accelerate our protagonist’s drive to define himself, ultimately putting him on a slightly different path than his father. It’ll be interesting to see how the battle between these two powerhouses changes Baki’s character.

As with the previous episodes the productions values here were quite good 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 continue to not be impressed by are 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 goes I loved all aspects of it. The soundtrack in particular noteworthy with several good techno pieces that pump up the action and add 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.

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 J-Rock music video, director/actor commentary for episode 9, episode summaries, clean copies of the opening and ending themes, character profiles and previews of other Funimation releases. Inside the DVD box there is also a small booklet with more info on the company’s other properties and releases as well as little cardboard cutout pieces with the characters from the show in them. Both the audio and video transfers are crystal clear with no real issues to speak of.

Final Thoughts

It goes without saying that Baki the Grappler is an absolute must watch if you enjoy fighting titles or series with a tournament like structure to them. This series deliver on all the conventions of the genre and then some. I’m eagerly looking forward to the release of volume four to see how the fight between father and son turns out.

Very enthusiastically recommended!

Jeffrey Couto