English Dub Season Review: Baki-Dou – The Invincible Samurai Part 1

It’s been a couple years, but at last we’re back in the world of Baki, where being built like a brick shithouse made of raw beef is the prerequisite for being a significant character. While I haven’t gone back and watched the initial couple arcs of this adaptation (remember that this is the second anime based on its manga, the first being released in 2001), I do remember the arcs after it fairly well. Baki went to prison to fight a giant dude with a large wife and got peed on, but ultimately won the day. Next Baki fought a literal caveman revived from the stone age who had no sense of martial arts but did have immense strength, allowing him to beat up a ton of strong fighters and even take a bite of one of them, Retsu, who will be important later. And most recently before this, Baki had a drag out knuckle brawl with his father Yuujiro, who is known as the strongest person in the world, and managed to get away not just with his life, but with his father’s respect, which is saying something because that guy is a piece of work himself. So, while Baki hasn’t been able to rack up many clear wins, we’ve seen him most definitely get stronger and push his limits, but while he has shown great improvement in his fighting journey, he still has a long way to go to get to the top. What could he possibly do next to push forward?

Well, apparently the answer to that is to revive the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, voiced by Internet funny man SungWon “ProZD” Cho. I mean, I say that, but he’s actually been going his voice acting credits for at least a decade now, and it just so happens that his deep commanding voice is the perfect fit for an insanely powerful and legendary samurai who can beat up and slaughter some of the strongest people in a story about strong people. When it comes down to it, this first half of the arc that this batch of episodes cover is really just about everyone reacting to the surprise appearance of Musashi and all the strong guys lining up to get a crack at him. Similar to Pickle, this is another example of the richest and more influential figures of the story playing Dr. Frankenstein and bringing back a really strong guy from the past to see how good he is at fighting the strong guys of today. Unlike Pickle, Musashi is just from centuries ago, not millions of years ago, so he has some reference point for society, but is naturally surprised by all the technological advancements that have occurred. He also remembers his full previous life, as even though his body is cloned, some supernatural stuff is involved to bring his spirit into that body.

And as should be expected by fights in this series by this point, the battles are brutal, humbling everyone who faces this master. Some walk away with a new lesson about their own limits and how to improve, others don’t walk away at all, and still others like Izou Motobe see a genuine threat in allowing Musashi to live in our modern world. Of particular note is the fight between Musashi and Retsu, who previously got his leg bit off by Pickle in a previous arc, and has recuperated with a peg leg, but now wishes to test his mettle against this mythical figure. The ensuing confrontation is intense, and while the ending of the fight is unfortunate, it actually leads to pretty strange spin-off manga that I would not have expected in a million years. But as for this first half the season, it’s a strong start for sure, though it ends leaving us wanting more, for better or worse. Baki himself is present for the initial few episodes, but once Musashi takes the spotlight, our title character fades into the background for awhile. The OP (which is pretty much a clipshow for some reason) seems to be hinting at a final fight between Baki and Musashi, but the path to that in the story isn’t quite present just yet. Still, as much as I enjoyed these episodes, I would probably suggest waiting until the other half is out to watch them all together. See you eventually for that other half!