Martial arts anime BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai returns to Netflix with 12 new episodes of a first season that premiered this past February. After Part 1 showed us a bored Baki Hanma (Troy Baker), an undead cloned version of legendary Japanese samurai Musashi Miyamoto (SungWon Cho), and brutal Underground Arena brawls, Part 2 raises the stakes with tougher matchups than ever. As Musashi‘s power and ruthlessness grow enough to put innocent lives in danger, only Baki may be strong enough to stop the swordsman and save the day.
Opening Shot: Paleontologist Dr. Albert Payne (Jeff Schine) makes an emergency trip to Japan, where he tells the press that Pickle (Takeshi Kusao) has been found living in the sewers and must be captured immediately.
The Gist: Part 2 begins with Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Albert Payne (Jeff Schine) traveling from the West to study “primitive man” Pickle (Takeshi Kusao) and the reanimated clone of one of the world’s strongest swordsmen, Musashi Miyamoto (SungWon Cho). However, these two scientific marvels have agendas of their own, as they’re put face-to-face by Underground Arena owner Mitsunari Tokugawa (Matthew Yang King) and Tokyo Skytree secret lab’s team leading scientist Hitoshi Nonomura (Jin Domon). After Musashi and Pickle engage in a brief but intense hand-to-hand fight at Hitoshi’s lab, Tokugawa declares that the two warriors will battle no-holds-barred with weapons in the Underground Arena.
Thus starts a line of top competitors for Musashi to take on in the Underground, while Baki watches on, questioning the purity of Musashi’s fighting. The more time Musashi spends in this modern world that he couldn’t care less about, the more his irreverence and indiscriminate shows of strength turn people against him. Suddenly, the admiration and success he once fought for turn to fear and hatred as he puts innocent lives in danger and slashes through the world’s strongest fighters and Japan’s most elite police officers. With the situation reaching a lethal climax, it comes down to Baki to put all of his intense training to the test in an epic final fight to the death against Musashi Miyamoto.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai will continue to remind viewers of action-packed anime series like Record of Ragnarok, Kengan Ashura, Fist of the North Star, Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting!, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Our Take: BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai Part 2 continues to pack a punch with new episodes full of fierce action, unique art, and even more utter absurdity. This show is truly unapologetically odd and doesn’t take itself too seriously, culminating in an entertaining watch that will always have you wondering what will happen next and questioning what you just witnessed. If you’re looking for an intricate, realistic, or stirring story, this series likely isn’t going to do it for you. But if you want something rowdy, raunchy, and ridiculous, then this title certainly delivers what you want in spades.
BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai seems aware that with its revived swordsman, preserved Cretaceous-era humanoid, and imaginary deadly weapons, it’s jumping the shark, but it’s this purposeful tomfoolery that makes the show amusing in the first place. Its goofy charm, compelling (and potentially off-putting) character designs, and bloody battles fuse to create a singular viewing experience that won’t appeal to everyone, but the people who get it will enjoy BAKI-DOU Part 2 and its seemingly impossible achievement of heightening the already wild storyline. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then just buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Performance Worth Watching: Musashi Miyamoto (SungWon Cho) certainly continues to show why he is a fearsome, legendary warrior as he revels in the chance to cut down a strong new rival in Pickle. Driven by the desire to achieve his former glory, Musashi is intriguing to behold in his brutality and straightforward ambition.
Sex And Skin: No sex, but many moments of insanely muscular men fighting, including a briefly naked Pickle (but you don’t see his pickle, just a bit of his booty).
Parting Shot: After Baki condemns Musashi for his seeming lack of “purity,” Doppo Orochi (Steve Blum) tells Baki that when taken to the extreme, even chaos begins to seem like order, and then claims that the upcoming Pickle vs. Musashi Miyamoto brawl will ultimately be “a battle of purity.”
Sleeper Star: Poor Dr. Albert Payne (Jeff Schine) is out here just trying to drop exposition. share his love for science, and demonstrate his passion for Pickle, only to have his wrist snapped by an undead swordsman. He’s clearly just as unhinged as anyone else in this show, which makes him an entertaining supporting character to behold.
Most Pilot-y Line: This monologue from Dr. Payne, cautioning Tokugawa and Nonomura against letting Musashi and Pickle fight:
“Now wait a minute. You can’t be serious! We have a scientific marvel standing before us in the form of a clone of Musashi Miyamoto. And then we have Pickle, a primitive man extracted from a rock salt layer a half a mile thick! He’s said to have hunted dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. He’s nothing short of a paleontological miracle! Gentleman, you are about to make a grave mistake.”
Our Call: Part 2 of BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai continues to build upon the anime’s big battle sequences, eye-catching visuals, and utter absurdity, making for an entertaining and engaging viewing experience for anyone who enjoyed Part 1. And if you’re a newcomer to the series, just know that if you like gorey action, over-the-top oddities, compelling characters, and buff bods, you should go ahead and STREAM IT!
Maddy Casale is a Chicago-based writer and comedian who covers everything from animated series to Hallmark movies. Follow her on Duolingo @MCasale.
