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BAKI THE GRAPPLER BOX SET |
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 5.1 & 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 600 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/23/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 02/01/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD | | |
SYNOPSIS:
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?
All 24 episodes of the first season collected on 6 DVD volumes.
REVIEW:
Baki’s rise to be king of the ring is far from an easy one. This testosterone laden fighting series shows a lot of flexed muscle, gritted teeth and blood spilled. The anime is a series of hard hitting no holds barred matches where a grueling death is the most likely outcome. With each match Baki is tested mentally, emotionally and physically. He must overcome his own doubts and weaknesses as well as the strength of his opponents to become the best and one day defeat his ultimate rival – his father.
Baki’s father Yujiro is the top fighter and that sets up an intriguing and sometimes disturbing family dynamic between Baki, his mother who fights for his affection, and the man who would sooner kill his own son than help him. Yujiro is incredibly sadistic and completely without mercy. An episode towards the end of this season where Baki faces off with him, and his mother gets in the way, reveals just how cruel and murderous Yujiro truly is. It also sets up a deeper and far more personal reason for Baki to step in the ring and dethrone his father.
The show does an excellent job of building up not only Yujiro but all of Baki’s opponents as seemingly impossible fighters that Baki must somehow, someway, defeat. It makes for a more compelling series. Each fighter is freakier than the last and each has their own abilities that Baki must use his head as well as his muscle to overcome.
These aren’t clean and pretty fights. The animation makes sure to show us just how down, dirty and bloody these fighting tournaments are for the characters, showing impossibly muscled fighters with physics defying skills. Characters die, usually quite gruesome deaths after long and grueling fights. It’s a brutal anime that fight fans will enjoy.
EXTRAS:
This box set contains muscle bound bonus features including a hard cover glossy art box, character profiles, FUNimation trailers of other titles, Baki the Grappler stills, clean opening and ending animation, manga art stills, and Muay Thai Boxing which is a text articling the background of the sport, its rules and attire. There is also Baki trivia, J-Rock music video Dir en grey – Child Play, and commentary on one episode per each DVD volume (that’s an impressive total of 6 commentaries for the box set). The commentaries are done by the very funny English ADR Director Jeremy Inman and later ADR Director Chris Cason. The directors speak candidly about the show and the process of dubbing along with the various talented English voice actors from the series that join the commentaries.
IN SUMMARY:
Baki the Grappler is a hard core fighting anime at its most merciless! |
