Introduction
Doppo Orochi sits down to watch the final match of his karate school's youth tournament. Atsushi Suedou, one of his disciples, faces off against Baki Hanma, a fresh teenage boy breezing through the matches. Intrigued by the boy's strength, Doppo, alongside another of his disciples—Kiyosumi Katou— visits the notorious Tokugawa underground ring—a hidden freestyle fighting arena that prohibits only weaponry in its matches. Upon arriving, they learn that Baki is set to face none other than Koushou Shinogi: an infamous karate master and user of the lethal Cord-Cutting technique.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
10 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
_Bubassotto_
Revisiting it today, I completely changed my opinion about this special.
In my previous review, I gave it a 5/10, but after rewatching it, I realized I was being unfair to it. Despite being far from one of the best parts of the franchise, this episode has qualities that I didn't appreciate the first time I watched it.
The biggest highlight is undoubtedly the art and animation. There's a very particular charm to older productions, and this special manages to capture that perfectly. While delivering that characteristic nostalgia of 90s anime, it also presents a visual that's extremely close to the adult Baki portrayed in the manga. In fact, it's probably the adaptation that most closely resembles the character's original appearance during this period of the work, something we rarely see in…
Read at the sourcePierceAllAlone
So I never liked fighting movies, and this did nothing to change that. It was absolutely a better watch than Heavy, and was able to achieve a more interesting plot in a similar runtime. The animation has aged, but it's not awful or anything, and you gotta have that cheesy ass 80s soundtrack. The fight scenes are fairly well done, and the movement is mostly fluid. The main character is likeable enough for sure,and even his main opponent wasn't really a bad guy per say. If you don't count the ripping people's nerves out bit. I wouldn't watch it again but that's cause I fucking hate boxing movies. I can recognize that it's generally an ok movie that someone else can thoroughly enjoy though
Read at the sourceEoussama
What a weird and equally nice change of pace.
The first striking change was definitely the art style, this having been an older adaptation of Baki does show its age but never with less character and drive. Something about this old, crusty animation felt more alive and appealing than the TV series, it was clunky but responsive, amateur but full of life, and it definitely had a distinct flair for the action.
Given the short airtime, I couldn't be harsher on the mediocrity of the storytelling, it was a queue of fights against some fighters that we see in the main series, one thing I should mention though is how better and more ominous Shinogi looks here, scarier and intimidating that on the main series. And without forgetting this version of Baki, it's honestly my favorite looking version o…
Read at the sourceSubjectL
- Grappler Baki -
Let's review the 1994 OVA titled "Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter".
Welcome to the random world of Baki the Grappler.. where and what is going on in terms of development? Your guess is as good as mine. This OVA throws you right into the action with no explanation. Having viewed the English dub of the OVA I can say.. DON'T. I think most people that wish to go back and watch this will enjoy it much more in Japanese. The 90's was a brilliant time for many things.. you name it: Music, Sports, and even Entertainment. Falling into the entertainment category is anime. Along throughout the 90's we received the not so notorious OVA for Grappler Baki. I want to start and say I'm a huge fan of the TV Series for Grappler Baki. Having watched this after the TV series was a hug…
Read at the source-Anokata
Oh boy, another seriously underrated OVA. Truly a shame how so many great OVA from the 90s don't get the praise they deserve on this site.
So after watching the first season of Baki I decided to check out the older OVA before continuing with Season Two. But let's review this beautiful piece of art step by step:
Story: 9/10 The OVA covers up the Karate tournament which was animated as well in season one of Baki the Grappler (TV). Nothing outstanding but a simple and great tournament setting which I love and in my opinion one of the best ways to present great fights and Baki is a pure-blooded fighting series.
It doesn't show anything from the main overall plot of Baki (one day beating his dad) but it decided to focus solely on this Karate tournament. Good choice.
Art: 10/10 As a fan of o…
Read at the sourceLuquillo
I never liked this anime and time really hasn't done it any favors at all. I decided to rewatch it only because I recently gave the TV series Baki the Grappler a rewatch. I'm not normally a fan of remakes, but this is one title that really needed it through the 48 episode TV series, because this anime is so bland to the point it can barely even fall back on its action.
Yuji Asada did a very poor job directing this anime. There is pretty much no story and the plot is non existent. Before some crazed fan decides to leap and shout out the short run time as an excuse. I recommend giving Battle Angel a watch to see what a competent anime director can do in a short time. This anime is all about the fight and nothing more which wouldn't be a problem if they were all good.
Baki is competing in a…
Read at the sourcescriptweaver
Grappler Baki. Ah yes, I remember this one. I first saw it after renting it from a hollywood videos in '08 (I think). I (litteraly) just recently went about rewatching it for the first time in years. Here's how I'll start this off. Nostalgia is a cruel mistress.
When I first came upon this little movie, I was delighted at sight of it. I remembered the cool fighting scenes and the interesting, yet original fighting techniques being used. Most of all, the main characters Goku-like energy and personality was definatly something I loved when watching it. Problem is, when you watch it with more negative and picky tastes then when your younger, your in for nasty surprises.
Character: Since I already made a comment on the subject, I'll start with character. To me the characters are a mostly pi…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
And yes ppl i like short fighting ova´s, like this one, compared to the serie´s made about a decade later thats more on a darker and more serious note, this ova was more , well made on a more kidfriendly style by animation. storywise its not too shabby, weras it was an era were fighing anime popped out of the ground all over japan, but still is one that´s wellknown there till this day, Chara. fightingstyle and introduction are always special, villians to, and damn it was a bloody, bonebreakin´ rivers of bloodletting matchup thats settled in the story since most take´s place at an tournament. Nice old soundtracks from that time fits in here and there, nice animation and something that can been seen as an japancultclassic for fighting anime
Read at the sourceanimegorey
Some of the technics will make you cringe. Good OVA to the series. This was out long before the tv series so animation is a little older looking. Basically, it's a longer episode of the series. The characters are actually the same. I saw this first, and while watching the series, I realized they basically absorbed the OVA into the series. In other words, if you saw the series, you seen this OVA. Still, it's worth a watch, especially if your a Baki fan.
Read at the sourceKain
After seeing the baki episodes i wanted to try out this movie. Its not as good as the series but it still makes up if you want a little "shot" of baki. This was made before the episodes and sadly the spisodes did not finish beacuase of finacial problems. But If you løiked baki the grappler episodes chances are you will this one too. Defintely a must for baki fans!
Read at the source