Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament: "All Alone" with Yet More "Child Prey"

The "tournament arc" is possibly one of the most iconic & representative pieces of an action manga, and it makes perfect sense. It's an arc that represents the most basic of desires in this kind of story, the urge to become stronger to combat tougher foes, and the reasons behind the fighting don't need anything more than "being the best", though one can always add in something extra to give it a little more "oomph". Similarly, people love tournaments in pretty much any form of combat sport, so it was only the natural way of things for Keisuke Itagaki to eventually tell his own take on the tournament arc in Grappler Baki. In fact, out of a total 42 volumes, this tournament covers roughly 22 volumes, or just slightly over half of the entire manga! So, after Baki's early days as a 13-year old boy & his days as the champion of the Underground Arena, what kinds of insanity can be found within Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament, the second season of Free-Will & Group TAC's adaptation of the original manga?

Baki Hanma has proven himself to be the undefeated champion of Mitsunari Tokugawa's underground arena for a few years now, and even the likes of the Shinogi Brothers & Mt. Toba have proven to be incapable of besting him. Therefore, Tokugawa decides to try something different to help keep things fresh & give his champion a true test of his abilities: The Maximum Tournament. A 32-man tournament, split up into four blocks of 8 (plus four reserves, just in case), featuring the absolute toughest in the world, spanning various fighting styles. From known faces like Doppo Orochi, Kaoru Hanayama, the Shinogi Brothers, Mt. Toba (as a reserve), & Baki himself, to top professional fighters like boxinc champion Ian McGregor & wrestling legend Kanji "Antonio" Igari, to infamous names like biker gang leader Chiharu Shiba, Doppo's foster son Katsumi Orochi, legendary jujutsu fighter Goki Shibukawa, & Chinese kempo master Retsu Kaio, plus unheard of warriors like Yujiro Hanma's personal pick Yu Amanai or Canadian pit fighter Jack Hammer, this will be a tournament unlike any other.

Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament wastes absolutely no time getting started with the tournament, and by the end of Episode 1 we already see the first two matches, which includes Baki's Round 1 fight. It's also interesting in that it instantly subverts some expectations, as some characters who were shown fairly notably in the last eight episodes of Season 1 are more or less eliminated immediately. This applies specifically to Izo Motobe, who is eliminated rather quickly, & Kiyosumi Kato, an infamous student of Doppo's who I didn't bring up in Season 1. Kato, in particular, acts as the surrogate for the viewer, as he was brought into the Underground Arena fold alongside the viewer, and even here in the tournament he stays around to act as the medium through which the viewer can learn how various competitors fight. As I indicated in Season 1, while the Childhood Chapter was where Keisuke Itagaki was able to give Baki himself some needed character development, it's the Underground Arena where you get the real feeling that he can execute his manga in the way he meant for it to be. This is all the more true with the tournament, as nearly every single fighter utilizes a different style, with the only similarities being Doppo & his students, and maybe variations of specific styles, like three forms of kempo or various forms of wrestling. Characters like Hanayama & Shiba also allow Itagaki to show some more free-form "brawling" styles, which help add to the variety.

Give credit where it's due, because Itagaki did make every character
easily identifiable from each other. Doing that for 36 characters isn't easy.

Not just that, but you really get the feeling that Itagaki finally decided to just start going all out, because even within the first few episodes the viewer bears witness to some sheer insanity. Mt. Toba makes his match debut by literally having a van brought into the arena, followed by Toba literally just falling on top of it from the rafters, utterly destroying it. Amanai is inserted into the tournament by Yujiro actually folding another competitor in half, snapping his spine & possibly killing him, too. Jack's trick, which is revealed early, is best described as "steroids use on steroids". When Kureha & Kosho Shinogi fight in Round 1, Kureha gets his neck nerves cut by his little brother, which blinds him, only for Kureha to simply perform surgery using two fingers, which returns his sight. Chiba gets his right arm broken in his first fight, so he simply bashes it against the wall of the arena until it's nothing more than a mutilated heap, all to prove that he didn't need it in the first place. This is all shown in just the first eight episodes of the season, too, so if you think this is wild, then know that this is only the beginning! As the years went on, Baki in general would become famous for showing all sorts of utterly absurd sights, and the Maximum Tournament is where the manga starts truly becoming the series that it is now known as.

Of course, while the fighting itself is main attraction, there are also stories to be told in between & even during all of the insanity. Kozue Matsumoto gets invited to watch by her paramour Baki, only for her to go through wild emotional whiplash, not understanding why anyone would go to the extremes these warriors do for something as ephemeral as "being the best". Doppo knows that he's now past his prime, especially after his fight with Yujiro in Season 1, but refuses to simply bow out, even when his own body is starting to resist. Katsumi is a cocky karate "genius" who claims to have "perfected" the art form, but has never truly been pushed to his limit, which gives him a drive that he's never truly understood before. The fight between the Shinogi Brothers showcases a nice bit of sibling rivalry, especially from the perspective of younger brother Kosho. We're shown the backstories for many of the fighters, with some being given more focus, like that of Retsu Kaio, who would go on to be a popular part of the supporting cast of later entries. Finally, there's the truth behind who exactly Jack Hammer really is, & though he's no doubt insane & crazy, he's still not an out-&-out villain, as he does show respect when he feels it's truly necessary. In fact, the overnight tournament (yes, this all happens over the course of a single night) ends very much like it would in real life, with all of the contestants simply heading back home & returning to normal life; some might have made new friendships or gained respect from others, however. Really, as a massive tournament, there isn't too much to really get into in terms of an overall plot, and instead the fights themselves are the main attraction.

At least in that regard, the fights are all really interesting & offer a lot of different executions. At first, the fights can be rather quick, mainly to help establish who to look out for amongst the original 32, but in those fast bouts you do get a great feel for how each of the different styles work, and it's all a great credit to the detail Itagaki puts into his fighting. For example, Ian McGregor's boxing is established as having a major weak point by being so focused on only using fists, which restricts his range, but since it's not a boxing ring McGregor is able to play around with his environment, while still keeping true to boxing. In comparison, Chiharu Shiba's style is really nothing more than self-destructive headbutting & wild strikes, all while leaving no room for defense, but he makes up for his lack of skill with nothing more than sheer "guts", giving reason & passion behind his seemingly mindless style. Meanwhile, someone like Igari utilizes mind games & showboating just as much as he does physicality, becoming a downright wrestling "heel" if need be, even though these fights are all "shoots".

In the end, though, Itagaki likely shows his honest feelings about how to be a stronger person by the time you get to the quarter & semi-finals. Simply put, it's that the "truly strong" are those who simply learn by living; all of the training in the world can't surpass life itself. Shibukawa is over 70 years old, and it's because of his long life that he's become so naturally talented, to the point of being able to literally counter any attacks thrown at him, even by others who call themselves "masters". Retsu Kaio earned his "Kaio" title because of his pure natural ability, not because he trained harder than anyone else or because he had stronger convictions. Fittingly, Baki's fighting style is called "Total Fighting", because there is need to define it in any strict terms, not to mention that he adopts maneuvers & techniques from others that he sees in action. Baki fights using pure instinctual ability, putting his complete emotional entirety into every fight, even if his pre-fight traditions include engorging himself with food & drinking de-carbonated soda. In fact, Baki's face in this season is more often than not shown with sheer indifference, which matches the way he'd become most recognizable whenever Itagaki would draw him. As a young adult, Baki's emotions come out only when absolutely necessary, unlike his childhood days, where he was a spitfire of boundless emotion. He has grown as a young man, and by the end of this season he's definitely not the boy he was in the first episode of Season 1.

While there was no gap between the end of Season 1 & the beginning of Season 2, the staff did see some changes. The biggest two would be Katsuyoshi Yatabe being the new director, & Naoyuki Itou now handling the character designs. Yatabe is definitely an interesting choice to go with, as his directorial resume is more synonymous with anime aimed at younger audiences, like Dinosaur King, Before Green Gables, & the first three entries in the Brave Series, or more notorious & infamous fare... Like Boku no Pico & its two sequels; hey, you have to make money somehow. Still, it's likely his experience with something like the early Brave Series that made Yatabe a good fit for Grappler Baki, as the fights here are all done extremely well, and since those are the primary focus in this season, that means that the show generally flows excellently & never wavers from that focus. Unfortunately, the flipside of this also applies, which means that just about any other scene that doesn't have either fighting or some sort of show of power has the risk of looking kind of rough; pretty much any shot of the crowd is prone to having some rough drawings, for example. As for Naoyuki Itou, character design really isn't his forté, with his only notable other time in the position being the OVA adaptation of Angel Densetsu, which admittedly has a similarly serious-looking style as Baki; in fact, he's more known for directing today, with his big work being the Overlord anime. Anyway, Itou's designs here are much, much more accurate to Itagaki's style as it's known today than Futoshi Higashide's were in Season 1, and that's honestly to the anime's benefit. This is mainly because of Itagaki's penchant for giving his characters all sorts of wild & crazy looking faces when in an intense situation, and Itou's designs here match them perfectly. Overall, aside from some rough spots in less important bits, the visuals of the Maximum Tournament look great, and I think it even manages to look better on modern TVs on the whole, compared to Season 1.

As for the rest of the staff, it's more or less the same as before, so Atsuhiro Tomioka returns for series composition, Project Baki's soundtrack is retained, & even the whole "Replacing Ryoko Aoyagi's OP theme with dir en grey" thing is here again. In terms of the writing, it's actually well done & clever, utilizing eliminated competitors in non-combat ways, like having Kureha realize what Jack's been doing to his body & trying to warn him of how it will eventually destroy him, or simply have them act as extra commentary on what's going on in a fight. Still, I can definitely bring up at least one example of a part of the manga being removed from the anime, as Shinshinkai Karate's Atsushi Suedo, who is seen here mainly as a commentator & supporter, references having fought Baki before, which is something that's never seen in either season of the anime; this was apparently something from the very beginning of the original manga that wasn't adapted. Still, that little bit aside, the story seems to do an excellent job covering roughly 22 volumes of content into 24 episodes, though I'm sure being mostly fights helps in that regard, and there are even hints at later developments. Retsu Kaio's past brings up a shadowy figure that's not properly introduced, and the final episode (a standalone that explains some of Yujiro's past) introduces viewers to Biscuit Oliva, a powerful character that would return in the Most Evil Death Row Convicts Saga that the new Baki anime adapts. As for the music, Project Baki's OST is still just as outstanding & fitting, while "Child Prey" does fit slightly better here than it did in Season 1, though the early-00s CG used all throughout the OP footage (which shows Baki, Doppo, & Kaio doing various kata) really has aged supremely poorly. As for the original OP theme, "all alone" by Ryoko Aoyagi, it's a hyper-subdued & chill R&B song, sung in 100% Engrish, that doesn't match Grappler Baki in any way; it's not a bad song on its own, but it has become pretty infamous for being such an ill-fitting anime theme. As for the ED theme," loved..." by Ryoko Aoyagi, it's similar to Season 1's "Reborn" by being a softer song, but it's lyrics about staying in love is just as much of a mismatch for this story arc as "all alone" is, but at least it's a good song, when taken on its own.

As for the voice cast, the returning actors all deliver performances that are just as good as before, though Masami Kikuchi's Baki is generally more subdued, to match the change in personality the character went through. Moving on, Mugihito & Keiji Fujiwara voice Doppo & Katsumi Orochi, respectively, and they each deliver fittingly stereotypical karate master voices, with Mugihito going for an old, experienced, & generally easy-going man, while Fujiwara goes for the brash & cocky genius; they're old hat styles, but they're always reliable. Similarly, Shibukawa & Retsu Kaio are also given experienced-sounding, but also self-assured, performances by Hiroshi Naka (Garp in One Piece) & Kunihiko Yasui (Iori Yagami in King of Fighters '95 to XIII).  Meanwhile, Naomi Kusumi (Shasuryu Shasha in Overlord) gives Tokugawa a neat bit of duality, generally being larger than life & full of sheer glee & happiness, but in the most serious of moments gives off a feeling that he can be dangerous in his own ways. Another notably fun performance comes from the late Toshitaka Shimizu, a small name seiyuu who voiced the play-by-play announcer with tons of emotion & great enthusiasm; sadly, he would commit suicide in 2003. Finally, the rest of the cast is rounded out by similarly dual-natured performances, i.e. being able to deliver both calmer & more wild moments, by Koichi Sakaguchi (Jack), Masaya Takatsuka (Amanai), Sachiko Kojima (Kozue), Tomohiro Nishimura (Chiba), & Toru Okawa (Igari), among many others. Sure, they all kind of play to their respective characters' stereotypes, but at the same time that makes it easy for them to get a real natural feel for these wild personalities.

As for the dub, I will say that it is better than the first season on the whole, which had a feeling of stiffness throughout; in comparison, this season feels more natural, performance-wise. Greg Dulcie & Sonny Strait voiced Doppo & Katsumi, respectively, and both offer different styles when compared to their Japanese counterparts, with Dulcie giving a less elderly, though oddly gruffer, performance for Doppo, while Strait's Katsumi is more straightforward, lacking the gruff that Fujiwara gave. In comparison, R. Bruce Elliott & Ed Blaylock's Shibukawa & Retsu Kaio, respectively, are much more similar to their Japanese counterparts, almost to the point of sounding intensely similar in some instances. Doug Burks' Tokugawa is also similar to the Japanese original in some ways, only nowhere near as old sounding. Credit must also be given the Brad Jackson, who plays the announcer just about as passionate & emotionally as Shimizu; the guy could have seriously gone into actual announcing & made a career out of it, honestly. The dub also has its fair share of actors voicing multiple characters. Chris Sabat voices Kosho Shinogi and Mt. Toba (& barely masks it), Daniel Penz handles both Jack & Andreanof Garland (which is amusing, because they fight each other at one point, so it's Penz vs. Penz), Aaron Dismuke handles both Kosho & Kureha as children in a flashback, Troy Baker voices Rob Robinson & Kiyosumi Kato (& would go on to voice Baki himself in the new anime!), & Kyle Hebert handles Hanayama & sumo wrestler Kinryuzan (who don't fight each other, at least). Regardless, I am happy to see that FUNimation's dub did improve for this second season.

All that said, the dub does have an odd & annoying habit of renaming characters, however. Igari's first name goes from "Kanji" to "Kanjou", Andreanof Garland's last name gets completely altered into "Zargon", and even Jack Hammer is changed to "Jack Xamma", which actually removes the reference to his true identity! It's so bizarre that FUNimation would implement changes like these, as well other smaller changes (like giving Tokugawa's underground arena an official name, Supreme Fighting Circuit/SFC, when it's supposed to be super-secret, or changing Yujiro's nickname from "The Ogre" to "The King"), in a dub made during the mid-00s, well after the time when such things were standard. This also happened a couple of times in Season 1, but it's much more utilized in this season, which is disappointing. Also, the dub commentary each DVD single had stops happening halfway through this season, so only Volumes 7-9 include it, which is sad; they weren't the best commentaries, but they were fun to listen to.

Ain't It Cool News really described it best when it comes to Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament: "It's pure action. There's no false stakes, no false drama, no false ambition."; there's good reason why FUNimation included the quote on the last three DVDs. This second season is nothing more than a straight tournament, with no ulterior motives, no bait & switches (aside from those that result in the reserves being brought in), no actual "villain", & only a single revelation at the end that can truly considered "major", but even that one doesn't change the reason for why anyone is fighting. This is simply fighting in its most pure & honest, though definitely through the insane-yet-earnest lens of Keisuke Itagaki. Really, this season is very much like when I watched Chosoku Spinner back in 2017, and while it sounds patently absurd to say that an anime filled with insane & violent hand-to-hand combat is similar to an anime about children competing to see who's the best at using a yo-yo, I think it actually explains best the way Itagaki handles Baki, in general. Once you get beyond all of the violence & insanity, it's really a very straightforward shonen action series, and it shows just how much love & respect Itagaki has for the genre. Unfortunately, both of FUNimation's releases for this original anime, the DVD singles & the later Viridian Collection boxset, have long gone out-of-print & now command some wild prices, making it tough for newcomers to check this anime out, especially if they become curious after watching Baki on Netflix. Without a doubt, Grappler Baki deserves a new release.

Anime © Keisuke Itagaki・FREE-WILL