Baki-dou recently released its first trailer for its Netflix debut next year, promising far more hard-hitting action for Baki Hanma and his fellow combatants. Now that Baki has defeated his father and become the strongest creature walking the Earth, creator Keisuke Itagaki is making sure to hurl a wild new challenge his way. Before we see the Son of the Ogre return, there are more than a few martial-arts-based anime series that might be worth your time if you’re looking for an anime that breaks bones along the way.
The events of Baki The Grappler might sometimes be hard to believe, such as resurrecting a long-dead caveman and seeing the titular character fist-fight with a giant praying mantis, but its martial arts are based in real-world styles. Throughout the anime adaptation, we’ve witnessed characters challenge Baki and his cohorts in the ring, demonstrating knowledge of martial arts and techniques used in our world. Throughout the series, the anime’s narrator will often take the chance to discuss whatever martial art is being used on the screen. It might sometimes be hard to believe that a character dipping their fists in oil and smashing them into broken beer bottles was used in real life, but Baki proves this was the case. Luckily, while we wait for Baki’s comeback, other anime can help fill the void.
Hajime no Ippo
Yes, boxing is a martial art, and Hajime no Ippo creates the best anime to focus on the “sweet science” in the history of the medium. The story of Ippo sees a young fisherman try his hand at boxing, and while there are no world-ending stakes for the anime adaptation, the conflicts in the ring might be put other anime battles to shame. Luckily, if you’ve never had the chance to dive into this series, there is plenty of catching up to do. Throughout two seasons that consistitute over one hundred episodes, a long-running manga series, movies, and video games, the series has become a fan-favorite for capturing the feel of boxing in an anime style.
Hajime no Ippo was a major influence on Creed 3the film starring Michael B. Jordan in the “Rocky universe.” That live-action film, directed by Jordan himself, paid serious tribute to Ippo’s journey, delivering scenes with an anime style. Hajime no Ippo’s influence is a massive one, and it’s definitely worth your time, even if you haven’t experienced much boxing in your life.
Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo is often lumped in the same wheelhouse as Cowboy Bebophosting both a fluid animation style and soundtrack that push it into the upper echelon of anime. Fuu and Jin are worthwhile characters in the trio headlining the series, but the martial arts master to check out in the anime adaptation is Mugen. Harboring a Capoeira style, Mugen’s mastery of this unique martial arts matches his unpredictable personality and also gives Samurai Champloo some of the best fight scenes in any anime.
What also works for Samurai Champloo is its episode length, harboring twenty-six episodes as a “one and done” style story. Rather than needing to spend over one hundred episodes to see the full story, the series takes around a quarter of the time. When it comes to fight scenes, Samurai Champloo is tough to beat, in the martial arts arena and otherwise.
Naruto
There aren’t too many anime fans who haven’t heard of Naruto before, but there might be some who don’t recognize that some of the best martial artists in the anime medium exist in the Ninja World. Specifically, fights like Kakashi taking on Obito, Naruto fighting Sasuke, and any battle Rock Lee and/or Might Guy find themselves in highlight Masashi Kishimoto’s amazing reliance on martial arts for the story of the Seventh Hokage. While Naruto can often fall into the same trap as Dragon Ballin perhaps relying a bit too much on energy attacks, physical fist fights can be found throughout, and they’re some of the best in the anime world.
Unlike Samurai Champlooor Hajime no Ippomaking your way through Naruto is no easy undertaking, especially if you’re looking to explore the Ninja World through only its anime adaptation. The long-running series has decades of stories, with over one thousand episodes in its history if you count the original series, Naruto: Shippudenand Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. With Boruto: Two Blue Vortex playing out in the manga, the anime has yet to receive a return date, but expect more martial arts action to arrive on the small screen.
Dragon Ball
Sometimes, in the face of the universe-ending battles of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, the original series that started it all becomes lost in the shuffle. Throughout the original Dragon Ball, Son Goku had to mostly rely on physical prowess and work on his martial arts skills, as throwing out a Kamehameha was no easy feat. Most of the Dragon Ball fights, that weren’t joke fights of course, would routinely see some of the best martial arts of any anime employed to hammer home their point.
While recent Dragon Ball series like Always and Super have incorporated martial arts, the employment of energy attacks and bizarre moves have moved far from the earlier days of the series. The original Dragon Ball anime is worth checking out, not just for its amazing martial arts, but amazing storytelling from creator Akira Toriyama.
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