“Baki Hanma” arrived on Netflix on September 30, 2021, with a simple promise: a son who wants to be stronger than his father. The father is Yujiro Hanma. The son is Baki. The gap between them is the whole show.
Directed by Toshiki Hirano at TMS Entertainment, the series adapts the third part of Keisuke Itagaki’s “Baki the Grappler” manga, following the second season of Netflix’s earlier “Baki.” It ran two seasons and 39 episodes, ending August 24, 2023.
Trailer, via Netflix Anime.
A Prison Built for One Inmate
The first season sends Baki into Arizona State Prison to fight a man called Mr. Unchained. That premise is the best thing the show has. A prison is a closed system, and a closed system forces a fight to mean something.
Nobunaga Shimazaki voices Baki. Akio Otsuka voices Yujiro, and the performance carries weight the writing sometimes drops. Hochu Otsuka voices Biscuit Oliva. Takeshi Kusao voices Pickle.
The cast is deep, and it needs to be. Toru Furuya narrates. Rikiya Koyama is Sea King Retsu. Kenta Miyake is Jack Hanma. Takuya Eguchi is Kaoru Hanayama.
Two Sagas, Four Theme Songs
The second season was announced on March 24, 2022, and released in two cours. The first half landed July 26, 2023, and the last half on August 24, 2023. Each half brought its own music.
- “Treasure Pleasure” by Granrodeo — first opening theme
- “Unchained World” by Generations from Exile Tribe — first ending theme
- “The Beast” by Wagakki Band — “Tale of Pickle Saga” opening
- “Wilder” by Upstart — “Tale of Pickle Saga” ending
- “Sarracenia” by Sky-Hi — “Father VS Son Saga” opening
- “Salvia” by Be:First — “Father VS Son Saga” ending
That is six songs for 39 episodes, and the rotation tracks the show’s real structure. “Baki Hanma” is not one story. It is a prison arc, a Pickle arc, and finally the father-son fight the title has been promising since episode one.
Where the Show Earns Its Keep
The genres here are animation, action and adventure, and sci-fi and fantasy, and the series leans on that last edge rather than hiding it. The show treats its fighters as forces rather than people, and that is the correct call for this material.
What holds up is the patience. Baki spends a long time losing before he is allowed to be close. The Arizona State Prison arc works because the show is willing to make its hero small.
What does not hold up is the middle. Two seasons and 39 episodes is a lot of runway for a story whose ending was never in doubt, and the Pickle saga stretches a good idea across more episodes than it can carry.
What the Score Says
The audience score on TMDB sits at 8.1 out of 10 across 567 votes, and that number is about right. “Baki Hanma” is not a great animated series. It is a very good one with a clear thesis — that inheritance is a fight, not a gift — and it commits to that thesis for its entire run.
The father-son finale is the reason to watch. Everything before it is the price of admission.
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