Daily Cartoon: BAKI E.12 “Candy”

Welcome back to another Baki recap! This is the penultimate episode of Part 1 and, to be honest, I have no idea where this show is going or how they’re going to leave this off. It appears as if there was about six months in between drops of Part 1 and Part 2 so I’m assuming there has to be some kind of cliffhanger consistent with each episode, but I don’t know whether or not it’s going to be something “huge” to leave you with that “ohhhhh dip” feeling or just another fighting moment that leaves you with bug eyes over what just happened which is basically par for the course in these chapters.

Twelve episodes in, I can truly state that I’m happy I went out of my comfort zone a bit and started checking this out. Anime has never really been my thing even though it has definitely influenced some of the shows I’ve been into over the years, but this series has a nice frantic pace and the fight scenes are unlike anything I’ve ever been accustomed to.

Yesterday left us with Doppo Orochi challenging Kaioh Dorian with Doppo having been able to break Dorian’s hypnosis power enough to be able to keep focus and continue fighting the actual person rather than the illusion that Dorian is able to project as we’ve seen in other fights (most notably against Kato in Dorian’s underground lair). For the first time, Dorian is being pushed to the point where he starts to think he may be in a fight he can’t win.

We did actually get a check-in on Baki who was again on a date with his maybe-not-quite-yet-official girlfriend Kozue, and though they are not interrupted, they are being watched, this time by Baki’s own father Yujiro Hanma who is supposedly one of the stronger characters in this universe.

All this and more as Part 1 winds down! Let’s get to it!

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 11 “Tiger Slayer”

Welcome to Week 3 of Baki recaps! With all the chicanery that went into Friday’s episode, I’m pretty sure you can’t wait to dive back in with me today.

Dorian is still a hunted man by everybody who’s ever heard of Shinshinkai for his savage beating of Koto, but after being – for all intents and purposes – kidnapped and brought to an amusement park to face the wrath of the Shinshinkai, he (I think) kills strongman Atsushi Suedo by throwing him out of a moving roller coaster. I say “I think” because I’ve thought a lot of people have been killed thus far and, honestly, I don’t think a single one has wound up dead. Maybe Spec, but he’s also 97 years old and had a good run.

We were left with Dorian coming face to face with Katsumi Orochi and Kaioh Retsu where Retsu connects some pieces of his past and realizes that Dorian is a legendary Kaioh from his old dojo. He immediately drops the need for vengeance and shows respect to Dorian by telling him that it’s a pleasure to finally meet him.

This has basically become Kaioh Dorian’s show – especially since HE DRYHEAVED OUT A GRENADE AND PULLED THE PIN BEFORE ANYONE COULD EVEN REALIZE WHAT WAS HAPPENING – and this new development cements that he’ll play a major role in today’s episode as well.

Still waiting on anything having to do with the guy the show is named after…

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 10 “Air Duel”

Welcome back to another Baki episode recap! Two weeks have come and gone now with this show and it has definitely been something. As I’ve said throughout, this is not a show I would have found on my own or that was in my wheelhouse, but it was recommended by a chum and I’ve been enjoying it.

When we left off, Dorian had killed Kato, slit his throat with that crazy technologically advanced wire he carries and left his body zipped in a heavy bag at the Shinshinkai Dojo. Except for one thing: Kato wasn’t dead. Yeahhhhhh, I have to let that go. Because, trust me, I watched it, that dude was fucking dead.

But he’s not.

So now over a million Shinshinkai members worldwide have it out for Dorian, but let’s be honest, how many of them have a legitimate shot against him? Probably just the two or three we already know about: Kaioh Retsu, Doppo and Katsumi Orochi. Maybe there’s another guy somewhere too. There’s always another guy.

I don’t even know if this tournament thing is still going on since this seems to be just about settling scores rather than becoming the best fighter in the world. At least that one I’m more comfortable with leaving to the writers seeing as how I don’t have much Kumite experience.

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 9 “Shaken Shinshinkai”

Welcome back to another episode recap. It’s episode nine of Netflix’s Baki and we’re coming off one of the wildest fucking things I’ve ever seen where Kaioh Dorian hocked up a hand grenade in the middle of a fight and pulled the pin causing a massive explosion at the home of fight promoter Tokugawa.

All the good guys are MIA. They’ve all disappeared in the aftermath as did Dorian who retreated to a secret underground hideout he keeps. It wasn’t a good enough secret, though, because as Dorian settles himself in, he’s met by Kiyosumi Kato (apparently it’s “Kato” in the show and “Katou” in comics as I kept calling him yesterday), the “master” – as he’s called – of Katsumi Orochi who runs the Shinshinkai Dojo. Dorian warns Kato that he’s out of his league and when we left off, Dorian was dipping his hands in grease and rolling them in glass shards because he fights for keeps. Kato ain’t about this life, but he’s got no choice.

Now remember: this is happening in the immediate aftermath of a FUCKING GRENADE going off in someone’s house that both these guys were inside of. If I survived that, sticking broken glass to my fists would be the last think on my mind. Legit, I’m going to go home, order something from Uber Eats and lay on the couch. I’m not even going to shower. My couch is just going to have to suck it up and smell like explosion until I Febreze it.

But that’s where we are. Broken glass hands starts now.

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 8 “A Match Vs. A True Fight”

Welcome to a hump day cartoon episode recap! Now that we’ve gotten into the thick of this series with most (all?) of the intros behind us, we’re starting to see expansion of the characters and what makes them tick, so to speak.

Baki Hanma, our title character, has surprisingly been on the back burner for most of this as the writers have kept the focus, for the most part, on the group of five escaped death row inmates, using that time to build them up and present them as a massive threat.

For his part, Baki has mostly been talked about and mentioned as this legit teenage wunderkind, but although his reputation proceeds him, we haven’t seen much of what made him the winner of the last big tournament that was held in Tokyo. Finally, yesterday’s episode gave us a taste of what he is capable of, but when Yanagi had finally had enough, he was able to put Baki down rather easily.

I’d imagine that this is a pretty tough pill for Baki to swallow and today’s episode will pick up in the aftermath of that as Baki is just coming to the realization that he was defeated. All this and more on today’s exciting episode of Baki!

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 7 “A Formidable Team”

Welcome back to another episode recap as we delve further into Netflix’s Baki. Real talk, this shit has been bananas from the jump and now that Baki himself is finally involved in a fight, I’m thinking today’s installment is going to go to 11.

It’s about time Baki got himself into some shit. Before this, he’s been mostly an urban legend with some short flashes, but we’ve yet to see him really do some wild shit like cut a dude’s hand off or fill a man’s mouth with bullets. Ya know, the traditional honor code of fighting stuff.

Also take into account that when we left off, Baki was in school so this is yet another time where good innocent citizens of Tokyo are thrown into harm’s way for the sake of having a Bloodsport tournament. Moral of the story: never go to Tokyo.

Now that I’ve gotten my now-daily PSA about Tokyo out of the way, let’s hit play and watch a cartoon.

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 6: “Sergeant Katahira’s Report”

Welcome back to another week of BAKI episode recaps! We had a pretty exciting first week getting introduced to a new show and now that we’re smack in the middle of the fighting I’d expect the action and excitement to only rise to another level.

When we left off, Spec and Hanayama were in the midst of battle with Hanayama looking for Spec to yield. Spec has no honor, of course, so as he said he’d had enough, he shoved a handful of bullets into Hanayama’s mouth and punched him in the face setting them off. We closed with an explosion, not knowing whether one or both men were injured or killed.

Credit where it’s due: that’s a pretty damn ingenious method of attempted murder.

We’ll see the fallout of this fight and whether the herd has been thinned and jumpstart plenty more, I’m sure. If there’s one thing this show has mastered, it’s how to engineer a fight scene.

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 5 “Want Some More?”

Welcome to another cartoon recap! We’ve had a nice thing going the past few months and we’re going to keep rolling through with the Netflix series Baki.

Yesterday’s episode was the beginning of the actual tournament, but we learned that it wasn’t a competitive event in the traditional sense as it wouldn’t be held in the arena, but on the streets when fighters least expect it. The purpose of this is that anyone can train and fight on cue, but it takes a special kind of warrior to be ready when he doesn’t see it coming.

This has led to horribly gory fights happening on the streets of Tokyo in full view of civilians that apparently just treat these things as just another day in Tokyo. Hence, I will never visit Tokyo.

Yesterday’s episode ended with Baki out on a date with his neighbor Kozue Matsumoto and though all was quiet, it was revealed at the end that the two were being watched by escaped prisoner, Spec. Seeing as how these episodes pick up where the last left off, I’d expect that to hold true today. No sense in waiting any longer, let’s get to it.

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 4 “The Battle Begins”

Welcome back to another Baki episode recap! These episodes go pretty quickly so being up to the fourth one already seems crazy. When we left off, Tokugawa had assembled all five of the prison escapees at his underground arena, but before anything could really pop off, Baki arrived and then Doppo Orochi.

There’s not a lot to say other than that. It’s not like I have any theories or deep-dive questions with what’s gone on thus far. It’s simply, there’s going to be a fight and we’ll see who the strongest is. Sometimes, simplicity is best.

So we begin with Episode 4!

Daily Cartoon: BAKI Ep. 3 “They’re Finally Here!!”

Another day, another episode recap, another look at Baki on Netflix. When we left off yesterday, the five big escapees had just begun to arrive in Tokyo to challenge Baki, but Baki has already had the pleasure of meeting Spec who beat the shit out of him and then went to prison because he needed somewhere to stay until the tournament started.

We got a glimpse of how strong Baki is in the last episode when we was attacked by a group of midcarders who he made short work out of, but haven’t fully seen why Baki is such a talked about and noted fighter.

Today’s title feels like a giveaway as you’d assume everybody was already on their way to Tokyo so maybe they meet up for dinner or something at one of those family style restaurants where everybody passes around the plates of chicken parm. I’d watch that.

Speaking of watching that, let’s get to today’s episode.