Baki Netflix Original Anime Series - Cinema Headz Reviewz - Review

Hey everyone, this is Cinema Heads and today I'm joined by JP. And today we are going to review Baki, the animated series. It's a Netflix original. It's not a Netflix original. That's what they're calling it because that's what they call everything that they get the rights to. But yeah, this just came out. Was this video going to be out Friday? So it came out this past Tuesday. I've watched the whole thing. And I've watched the first nine episodes. First nine episodes. Okay. And now, you've seen the movie. I saw the movie that came out in 1994. 1994. And then they came out with a series in 2001 that lasted until 2007, I believe. And then we waited a decade. We've both been fans of the series and the character for a while. Huge, huge fan. I was super excited that Netflix got the rights to this and we're going to be able to watch it. So what I want to do right now is kind of get into the positives of this series. Thirteen episodes. So let's get into the positives right now. JP, what did you like about the show? Well, the thing I liked about the show and that I liked about the original movie is the fight scenes. Because it's all about martial arts, this whole thing. You know, a big underground martial arts tournament. And in the movie, you kind of get introduced to the character, Baki. And he fights these two guys. And everything is martial arts fighting, but it's way over the top and gory and crazy. And the series, the new series, continues that. Yeah, it's like even way more over the top. Even the first series that they did in 2001, it's way more over the top than that was. So yeah, the fighting in this one is amazing. I totally agree with JP. Like we said, it's like ultra violent and gory. Like, stuff that could never happen in real life. But it was great in the series. The other thing that I like is the introduction to new characters. And this one isn't a tournament. Which, we'll get into that later. But this one's more of, it's about... Essentially, I think it starts right where the first series left off. He wins that tournament. Now he's in school. Still has the strong feelings for the little lady. So I think what the show is trying to give off is he just wants to live a little normal life for now. His goal isn't to be the strongest in the world and kill his dad. That's what the series was about. So it's five inmates, I guess, feel his presence is what is going on. Yeah, they kind of get summoned by the guy that runs the tournament. Right. So five death row inmates escape. They want to fight Baki. Most of them, I'm pretty sure they just want to taste defeat. They've never been beaten. So they can feel Baki's presence and they think that he's going to be the one to give them that. The first taste of defeat. And then all kinds of craziness happens throughout the series. So I like the introduction of the new characters. There's five of them. All of them are great. And the other plus was they still have characters from the series that reprise their role here. So that was a plus. I did like that. Is there anything else? I kind of like that it's not a tournament. This one, personally, I think it was cool that they went a little bit of a different direction. It wasn't exactly the same. Right. But they wanted to make it more like fights in real life situations versus fighting in a tournament. Because they said you can fight anybody and you can plan to fight in a tournament. It's when you fight in a moment that's unexpected, that's when you find out if you're a real fighter or not. Right. So it's like pretty much no rules. You can use weapons anytime, anyplace. There's a scene where Baki's at school, like literally at school. And a guy jumps in the classroom and attacks him real quick. So it's just like a free-for-all. So essentially what happens is the little tournament director, there's the five. And then he gets his five, which is Baki and then four other characters from the series. I think one of them is not. I can't remember. The one with the ponytail? Yeah. I don't think he's from the series. No, I think he is. The Chinese fighter? Yeah. Dang, I can't remember. I know the guy with the eyepatch is for sure. The Yakuza boss for sure. He's dope. And then there's Baki, obviously. And then there was the little guy with the glasses. I think he's in... Dang, I can't remember the guy with the... It's been over ten years. So I did like that. During the show, also what I liked is they do go back to the series. They don't give you like a huge refresher on the series, but they do bits and pieces, which I thought was good, too. I really thought it was good. Anything else? Any other positives? I think that was it. I actually haven't covered most of it. Other negatives. Okay, so I'm going to dive in here real quick. One, I'm upset that we only got 13 episodes because I think the series, or the first season, is 26. It's either 24 or 25 or 26. We only got 13. I don't understand why that is. That's frustrating. I wish Netflix would just release it all at once. Yeah, I just... If the first season is done... Because you watch the whole thing in a day. I watch most of it in a day. I only have a few episodes left. I watched all 13 episodes as soon as I got home from work on Tuesday. That's how excited I was. But yeah, it's only 13. That bothers me. Not only that, but the first four or five episodes is all set up. Okay. So it really doesn't get all that interesting. So you thought it was kind of boring the first couple episodes. I mean, I wouldn't say boring. Or slow. Yeah, slow. And then it starts to pick up more around episode five-ish. But... Yeah, I don't know. I didn't really mind it, the first four or five episodes. I was okay with it. Maybe it's because I was just too excited. I don't know. But the more I watched it... The other thing that is a negative. The ultra cheap CGI. And it only happens in certain parts of fight scenes. But it completely takes away from that. Because the animation is actually really nice. That's another plus. The animation looks good. I really liked it. I liked the way it was drawn. It looks completely different from the series. The fight scenes look great. All the people getting their faces smashed in looks great. All the blood looks great. And then there would be these spots where it was really... I mean cheap, cheap CGI. That threw me... Every time I saw it, I was like, gosh... Darn it. That's not what I would say, but... I can't say the words I'd say on this video. But it was horrible. And honestly, that's a theme with Netflix in general. Their CGI is just not good. Yeah. Every time they get a... Except for Seven Deadly Sins. Maybe a couple of other ones. But most of them have really sh**ty CGI. Excuse my language. You're going to have to get that out. But it's horror. It's just so... The way it looks... They didn't even try. It came across very lazy from the director. So the movie... There was one director for that. In the series, there was a different director. And in this series, there's none of... The movie and the two series didn't have the same director. All completely different. And I'm pretty sure it follows the manga. People get really upset if I say it wrong. Manga. There's a manga. So that's what it's following. But good lord. The CGI just throws it off. Not only that. I was telling JP this. I don't know if you noticed it. There's a part. One of the villains is fighting this other dude. He has a jacket on. He takes it off to get ready. They're talking. He walks up to the guy. Goes to throw a jump kick to the dude's face. Dude blocks it. But in the scene where he jumps up in the air to kick him, he's wearing a jacket. The jacket is on. After he had taken it off. Then when he hits the ground from getting blocked, his jacket's off. That threw me off. There's another part where the dude with the patch, the bald guy who's awesome. His hand gets chopped off. There's a scene where he's standing there with his arms down. His hand is there. And then the very next scene, his hand is gone again. What? Just inconsistency in the animation. Yeah, like I've seen it in movies. Like because of all the editing. You're recording a bunch trying to put everything together. Never have I seen it, I don't think, in animation like that. That threw me off big time. The other thing is, Baki, the show's called Baki. This guy's only watched like eight or nine episodes. You don't really see him do anything. Well, I mean, so far I haven't really seen him in much at all. And I get they're introducing the new characters, which is great. But I really wanted to see Baki. But that's probably part of the reason that they should have released all 20 episodes. Instead of just what we got. Because I'm sure he makes his appearance eventually. Yeah, I mean, he's just not really in it very much. Which kind of just drove me insane. It's all fight scenes. The majority of every episode, it's a fight scene. And it's great, but it's not one involving the main character. I get that's the arc of him. He just wants to be normal now, he's not really thinking about his dad. He's got his girlfriend now. He's in love. That's all great, that's a nice little arc. But I was expecting him to get out of that into the fighting again. So yeah, I know it's going to seem like there's a lot more negatives than there is positives. I think it's still good. It's definitely entertaining. I mean, the main thing is the fight scenes, and the fight scenes are still there. Yeah, it's still super entertaining. It's exactly what you want in a Baki anime, I think. Especially if you've seen the movie or seen the other series. But there's a bunch of little things, man. That CGI throws me off. Some of the weird editing just kind of throws me off. And there's random characters that the show almost makes it seem like they're main characters. And then they fight, and it's kind of like they're there real quick, and then they make it seem like they're this main character. And then they fight, and then all of a sudden they're not anymore. I don't know. Just kind of rushed all around, yeah. And I'm hoping, because again, this is the first time we've seen the first 13. I'm just hoping Netflix didn't edit stuff out. I don't know why you would give us the 13th, and not just the full 24, 25, 26 episodes. And the way it ended, you could tell. I could be wrong. It just didn't seem like it was a mid-season finale. It just seemed like a regular episode, and then Netflix didn't give us the rest. So I'm hoping that everyone watched it, and it does really well for Netflix. And they give us the rest, because I want to see the rest of these episodes. Yeah, because it's just half. So hopefully that all works out. Honestly, I kind of hope that Netflix drops it, and somebody else picks it up. Yeah, like Crunchyroll or something. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know why Netflix does stuff like this. They've done it before, too. I mean, their anime is getting pretty popular. It's getting pretty big for them. It draws a lot of attention for them. Honestly, I don't think Netflix is the place for anime. Yeah, I totally agree. Hulu just signed a deal with Funimation. I like Funimation. Yeah, Hulu has a crap ton of anime. And they signed a deal with Funimation, so they're obviously getting into it. I think anime is starting to become like… I mean, I feel like it's always been pretty big. But now it's starting to be pushed to the forefront of… What is it called? The pop culture. Excuse me. So, yeah, man. I hope we get the rest, and we don't have to wait forever for it. Because that would be lame, man. The way it cuts out, episode 13 is kind of like, Okay, well, damn. That was it, you know? So I watched it all in one day. I just couldn't wait. I was super excited. I'm probably going to finish it today. It's awesome. So, anything else? I mean, definitely go check it out. If you're a Baki fan, you have to. If you watch the original movie, it's definitely worth watching. Yeah, we waited 10 years, 11 years for it. So hopefully we continue. So with that being said, yeah, man, that's it. That's it for this video. Leave us a thumbs up if you liked it. Comments. Let us know if you want us to review anything else. I think this was our first anime series review. First series review. The only thing we've done other than this was the Attack on Titan. That's right. We watched the movie slash first episode of season 3 or 2. First three episodes of season 3. Yeah. So, yeah, if you want to see more of this, let us know. If you want more anime reviews, let us know. Let us know what you want us to review. Yeah, because we love it. Yeah, it's great. So what's today? Today's Friday. So see you guys Monday, hopefully with that Aquaman review. Hopefully that's awesome. And, yeah, see you guys on the next one. Later. See ya. Oh, boy. I'm excited. Hi, Santa. All I really want for Christmas, you ask? All I want is for all our viewers to subscribe. Give us a thumbs up. And like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I would also like them to really share our videos. I think that would just be swell, Santa. Please bring that to me for Christmas.