Grappler Baki

Grappler Baki is a Japanese animated television series produced in 2001 by the studio Group TAC. It has two seasons of 24 episodes each: the first aired from January to June 2001, the second, subtitled Maximum Tournament, from July to December of the same year. The source is the manga by Keisuke Itagaki, whose first series was published in 1991–1999 in the weekly Weekly Shonen Champion from the publisher Akita Shoten. The first season adapts the early underground tournaments, the second the Maximum Tournament. According to the English Wikipedia, Itagaki holds a second dan in Shorinji kempo and practised amateur boxing during his service in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The main character Baki Hanma fights opponents from various martial arts, from karate and aikido to Chinese kenpo, boxing and wrestling. The themes of the source are bouts between styles and mixed fights. The 2018 series Baki by the studio TMS Entertainment is not a continuation of this series: it is a separate adaptation that begins with different story arcs. The manga has also been adapted in animated versions from 1994 (OVA) and 2016 (OAD).

Martial arts in this work

Fact and fiction

According to the descriptions of the characters in the source, the heroes represent various martial arts. Yujiro Hanma masters karate, taekwondo, boxing, judo, jujutsu and wrestling, whereas Baki Hanma follows no single style. Doppo Orochi is a grandmaster of the Shinshinkai karate school with a tenth dan; this school is fictional. Retsu Kaioh represents Chinese kenpo and Goki Shibukawa aikido built on the principle of aiki. These descriptions come from the manga. We did not find in the sources which of the named characters appear directly in the 2001 series.

People and martial arts

• Keisuke ItagakiAuthor· Shorinji Kempo (real practitioner)

Details

Status

Completed

Seasons

2

Episodes

48