Before I get into this story, to give some context, I've been watching Anime movies and series since the late 1980's. A series that I would rate 8 or higher (originality, artwork, storyline) would be Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Attack on Titan, and Parasyte. Ratings of 5 to 7 might include Naruto Shippuden, Samurai 7, and some of the Dragonball series.
I'm up to P2E21 on Netflix and I've come to a conclusion. I would not recommend this anime to anyone.
First: None of the characters are relatable. They have little or no redeeming personality traits, they have almost no character development with the exception of the main character, and perhaps one or two others...and that development still doesn't make you enjoy their progress or want to root for them in any way, whether they are "good" or "bad".
The storyline, then, is poorly composed. There is little incentive to watch one episode to the next other than to hope the action and story start picking up or making some attempt at evolving. So far as I can tell, Baki never succeeds at this through the episodes I've watched. Even if it does eventually, by the 22nd episode I should be thoroughly engulfed in the story, but I'm not.
The artwork: It's pedestrian. The body shape and faces of the characters change quite a bit from the first few episodes to where I'm at now. They are all over-muscled to the point of abstraction and dumb as a brick. The detail and FPS are very low...like the old G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons. And they had much better stories.
Finally, there is simply nothing original about this series. A bunch of strong characters fighting each-other. Violence. The old traditional looking bald Japanese "master" and manipulator. The growth of Baki through "love" is hilariously underwhelming.
I'm unsure as to why Baki gets such high ratings. Anime should inspire emotion. Baki tries too hard and only inspires boredom.
I'm up to P2E21 on Netflix and I've come to a conclusion. I would not recommend this anime to anyone.
First: None of the characters are relatable. They have little or no redeeming personality traits, they have almost no character development with the exception of the main character, and perhaps one or two others...and that development still doesn't make you enjoy their progress or want to root for them in any way, whether they are "good" or "bad".
The storyline, then, is poorly composed. There is little incentive to watch one episode to the next other than to hope the action and story start picking up or making some attempt at evolving. So far as I can tell, Baki never succeeds at this through the episodes I've watched. Even if it does eventually, by the 22nd episode I should be thoroughly engulfed in the story, but I'm not.
The artwork: It's pedestrian. The body shape and faces of the characters change quite a bit from the first few episodes to where I'm at now. They are all over-muscled to the point of abstraction and dumb as a brick. The detail and FPS are very low...like the old G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons. And they had much better stories.
Finally, there is simply nothing original about this series. A bunch of strong characters fighting each-other. Violence. The old traditional looking bald Japanese "master" and manipulator. The growth of Baki through "love" is hilariously underwhelming.
I'm unsure as to why Baki gets such high ratings. Anime should inspire emotion. Baki tries too hard and only inspires boredom.