“Baki the Grappler” is an action-oriented martial arts anime and manga series created by Keisuke Itagaki and originally published in Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine starting in 1991. The manga follows the exploits of Baki Hanma, a talented teenage martial artist with the ultimate goal of defeating his father Yujiro, “the strongest creature on earth.” Since the conclusion of its original manga series, “Baki the Grappler” has received four sequel series. The most recent of which, “Baki Dou” began publication in 2018.
The series received its first anime adaptation with a 45-minute OVA (original video animation) released in 1994, followed by a 24-episode series in 2001 (via Baki Wiki). Most recently, Netflix began releasing adaptations in 2018 under the simple name “Baki.” The third and most recent season in this adaptation, titled “The Great Raitai Tournament,” was released in 2020. Now fans are wondering when they’ll get to see Season 4.
Cast
As of this moment, there have been no official casting announcements for “Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre.” That being said, fans can expect to hear the usual voice actors make a return for this entry. Netflix’s “Baki” series cast actor Nobunaga Shimazaki as Baki, with Tôru Furuya acting as narrator. Meanwhile, actors Troy Baker and Kirk Thornton portrayed the same respective roles in the English Dub (via IMDb). The same pattern can likely be expected for major characters such as Retsu (Rikiya Koyama/Kaiji Tang) and Kozue (Sora Amamiya/Cherami Leigh).
Plot
Following up “The Great Ratai Tournament” arc, “Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre” will likely prove itself a faithful adaptation to its namesake. As the third manga series in the “Baki” line, “Hanma Baki: Son of Ogre” continues Baki’s story as he trains and faces new opponents in preparation for facing his father in hand-to-hand combat. Assuming the show stays faithful to this plotline, major story arcs will include Baki’s bouts with characters such as Biscuit Olivia and the prehistoric caveman, Pickle.
This simply scratches the surface, however, as even side characters in the “Baki” universe get their own arcs and their own crucial fight sequences. The development of Retsu’s character, for instance, will likely continue in “Son of Ogre.” As always, however, there is no telling for sure what this series will look like until Netflix releases it. Until then, fans can satisfy their appetite for “Baki” by re-watching the anime’s previous seasons or even delving into the manga.
Release Date
Thankfully, Netflix has decided to continue adapting the series with another new entry. Season 4 of “Baki” is called “Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre” and is slated to release on Netflix sometime shortly. However, it is unclear if this will be released as another season of Netflix’s existing “Baki” series or if it will be considered its own show. Regardless, the official teaser trailer for this upcoming sequel was released back in September 2020. However, no official release date for the new series was given. As a result, there is no real definitive release date at the moment.
