Martial arts is a highly entertaining subgenre of action that anime and manga fans can’t get enough of. In its category, the Baki franchise is undoubtedly among the most popular. Full of insanely strong characters ready to fight at a moment’s notice, the series focuses on the titular character, Baki, who intends to surpass his father in combat skills.
Of course, like any show of this nature, Baki attracts fans due to its intense and detailed fight scenes, and no matter how many years pass, new people continue to discover and get invested in this fictional world. Good as it may be, there’s something about the franchise that always stumps newcomers without fail, and that is Baki‘s multiple installments.
While many have only heard about the anime and manga simply referred to as Baki, the franchise actually began with Baki the Grappler in 1991. It was only in 1999 that its second manga series, Baki, was created and later adapted into anime format. But what about Netflix’s latest addition to the anime, Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre? That is where things get tricky, as folks sometimes struggle to understand the key difference between Baki and Baki Hanma.
How are Baki and Baki Hanma different?
Essentially, if Baki is a sequel to Baki the Grappler, that makes Baki Hanma the sequel to the sequel. Yes, it’s confusing to have different series with more than one season each be sequels to one another, but it’s also necessary since that’s exactly how the original manga is structured as well.
In its two seasons, the Baki anime adapts the second series of the manga, which covers the Most Evil Death Row Convicts saga, the Great Chinese Challenge saga, and the Godlike Clash of the Kids saga. Baki Hanma, however, animates the third manga series, which explores the Combat Shadow Fighting saga, the Great Prison Battle saga, the Pickle Wars saga, the Warrior’s Struggle saga, and the Strongest Father and Son Quarrel saga.
Despite Baki Hanma often being referred to as the sequel to the sequel, since all the installments take place in the same universe, and are part of the same story, it’s much simpler to think of it as a threequel — which is what it is. Plus, if Netflix continues to provide us with sequel adaptations of Baki‘s main manga series (and there are more), things are bound to get even more confusing. We’ll worry about that when we get there, though.
Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre comes back to Netflix for a two-part second season on July 26 and Aug. 24.