Grappler Baki

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Grappler Baki is a simple and straightforward story about becoming the strongest man in the world, make great largely by its brilliant execution that makes it the giant that it is today.

To start with, I believe that Baki series as a whole is one of those shows where your experience is far better now that you can binge-read it rather than waiting for the next weekly or monthly for chapter. I know the same can be said to other series too, but Baki is different because the pages can be filled with tons of fight choreography and very little dialogue, making your reading-time a lot ... shorter than your average manga. This, along with some other things, is what really becomes grating when you wait for the newer, still ongoing Baki sequels like Baki-dou (2018).

The fights are, from start to end, both well told and well choreograph in a way that manage to immerse you so much that, at least for just a moment, you might actually believe anything they said is true and possible.

The characters are iconic, each with their fighting style and batshit insane backstory that still manage to make you grin and laugh over how ridiculously over the top they are even 20 years after it's written.

Of course, things are rarely all sunshine and rainbow. The Baki series, especially later on has these little quirks that can annoy you at times. For example, falsely hyping up characters for chapters after chapters only to beat them in one or two panel, and a long and repetitive narrations that interrupt the flow of a fight without adding much of anything to its nonexistent plot.

It's also worth mention that this is the first of the Baki series, so the art can be seen as less refined when compared to the later Baki. While some people can see it as a plus. either to see the artist growing or preferring the older art style, others might see the art as amateurish and ugly. Also the head feels too big in the earlier chapters, especially for the bigger guys.

Overall, it's pretty excellent. Just keep in mind that Baki is a manga purely about fighting and you shouldn't expect first-class Shakespearian story inside of it.

°English Version°

After so much time I finished Grappler Baki by Keisuke Itagaki and it effectively becomes one of my favorite works by now. A manga full of incredible moments, completely exaggerated and surreal. But besides that, a frantic madness that does not stop.

The story also engages very quickly, especially when they tell us the most pre-adolescent part of Baki, with the theme of his mother and showing him that he is also as strong as his father. The hardest moments for him take place here and that greatly improves the work later on.

The tournament arc is excellent on its own, one of the best tournaments ... I've seen. Also adding and bringing back so many characters makes it even better.
Jack, Retsu, Katsumi, Hanayama, Shibukawa, are some of those excellent fighters who are now joining the group.

Baki is an excellent protagonist and his development suits the story very well. Everything that happens to him in his life has his weight and, above all, Baki is basically an excellent person who avoids, unlike his father, being too lethal when it comes to fighting.

But the crown goes to HIM, Yujiro Hanma. The weight that this guy has in the story is incredible, no matter what is happening, when he shows up everyone focuses on him and what is happening loses importance. Not ironically the best antagonist I've seen in an anime/manga.

Now it's time to start New Grappler Baki with the whole arc of the prisoners, which was what made me start this series in general.
This manga does not disappoint and only gets better.
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°Versión en español°

Después de tanto tiempo me termine Grappler Baki de Keisuke Itagaki y efectivamente se convierte por ahora en una de mis obras favoritas. Un manga lleno de momentos increíbles, completamente exagerados y surrealistas. Pero además de eso, una locura frenética que no para.

La historia también engancha muy rápido, sobre todo cuando nos cuentan la parte más preadolescente de Baki, con el tema de su madre y el demostrarle que el también es tan fuerte como su padre. Los momentos más duros para él se dan acá y eso mejora muchísimo la obra más adelante.

El arco del torneo es excelente por sí solo, uno de los mejores torneos que vi. El hecho también de agregar y traer otra vez a tantos personajes lo hace aún mejor.
Jack, Retsu, Katsumi, Hanayama, Shibukawa, son algunos de esos excelentes luchadores que ahora se suman al grupo.

Baki es un protagonista excelente y su desarrollo se adaptan muy bien a la historia. Todo lo que le va pasando en su vida tiene su peso y, por sobre todo, Baki es en el fondo una excelente persona que evita, a diferencia de su padre, ser demasiado letal a la hora de luchar.

Pero la corona se la lleva EL, Yujiro Hanma. El peso que tiene este tipo en la historia es increíble, no importa lo que esté pasando, cuando aparece todos se centran en él y lo que esté pasando pierde importancia. No irónicamente, el mejor antagonista que vi en un anime/manga.

Ahora toca empezar New Grappler Baki con todo el arco de los presos, que fue lo que me hizo empezar esta saga en general.
Este manga no defrauda y solo mejora.

I'm a good target for this since the author is heavy on k1 and combat sports as me, but even so this is not that good. I feel his love for it and that passion, but the execution is too farfetched. Always in a really narrow line between being based on realistic fights but also on absolute fantasy as if they were superheroes.

Who I find believable and somewhat rooted on the personality of some women is Baki's mother, usually portrayed as one of the worst manga mothers. And yeah the main motive for it it's her sex drive and animal instincts that the ones that ... are like that are notchs above almost any man, Yuujiro is more important for her than her son who is just what keeps her in contact with Yuujiro. And without spoiling anything for her to gain Yuujiro again she needs that Yuujiro feels proud of Baki's strenght so she would do anything she could to regain that ultimate man, more manly and agressive than anyone, don't know if this term exist but yeah a "thug digger" that usualy ends thrown stabbed in a road after upgrading 4 boyfriends each one crazier than the previous one because of loving that feeling of being the woman with the ultimate motherfucker around.

Sometimes Baki it's fun because of being so hyped up but at other times it just doesn't feel engaging. I would not recomend it since if you don't even are into these things I don't see what could be the appeal of almost 42 volumes that 40 could be fights. Only recomended as I said before if you really like fighting things or if you find really worth an anime / manga just for the sake of having strong man or love those chad alpha sigma homoerotic memes for betas ;P hahaha

I like many of those GAR mangas and could be one of my top genres but not just because Guts is such a MAN, what a chad, pff..

I really recomend Shamo that could be similar in some thing to Grappler Baki and that it's only problem is its TERRIBLE ending, everything else is great.