Review will be broken down like so : Story Art Animation Characters Sound Overall Enjoyment 100https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/crop600x315/cms/news.3/159766/baki.jpg Story 7/10 Baki: Dai Raitaisaihen directly continues off from the Netflix Baki season where Baki is poisoned and Retsu has brought him to China to participate in the Great Rai Tai Tournament which only occurs every 100 years. Its a pretty basic premise but an enjoyable one at that. Keisuke Itagaki is great for coming up with the most over the top madeup martial arts which always sounds damn convincing. For some this may put them off from the absurd powers certain characters wield. Personally its so over the top and it takes itself so seriously its hard not to enjoy it. You can tell Itagakisensei puts in a lot of thought for the characters he creates. People argue that oh Bakis characters are bad because they have absurd martial arts techniques and theyre lazy and boring I would say otherwise no one but itagaki can come up with this out of the world of martial arts. However where the story kinda felt boring at times was how they have this buildup on this epicscale tournament which kinda falls flat for me. Dont get me wrong the fights were just as insane as they usually are but the tournament itself didnt bear any weight to why they were all there fighting. Like the victors become the new Sea Emperor which has no buildup or explanation to what they are. I know Itagaki could care less about this because from the way he writes and creates characters its safe to say he just wants to see a good beat down between these crazy characters hes made. The overarching narrative of Baki wanting to beat his dad is still very present but not nearly as prominent as the original Grappler Baki manga. Thats the one consistent thing in Baki and Im glad they havent forgotten that especially since the previous season it wasnt nearly as present. All in all the story is really just men fighting men to come out on top. Its a basic premise with crazy characters and I sure as hell enjoyed it. If youre looking for something deeper this really isnt it. Despite my score I know for a fact I enjoyed the hell out of it I just wanted to be unbiased as much as possible. Art 7.5/10 I personally like the art. Crazy over the top muscle with very unrealistic human physiques. The art is the type where either you love it or hate it. It doesnt look traditionally anime. Its Itagakis style and for me I always like mangkas with unique art styles. A standout in design is Muhammad Ali and Ali Jr. They capture the expressions that Ali is known for just look at this: 42https://i.pin.com/originals/22/50/ab/2250abe05c4794474e5580d35a917a6b.jpg 52https://i.ur.com/Cejuhlv.jpg It might not look exactly the same but without a doubt did they capture Alis expressiveness and the most important part the eyes. You definitely can tell its Ali by just the expression and look of the anime versions eyes. I thought they nailed Ali in this one. My problem with the art comes from the way characters dress theyre really uninspiring and a lot of the time characters dress really similarly. There really isnt any standout in clothing of the characters. Itagaki thrives in shirtless battles where his skill in overexaggerating the muscle anatomy. Another gripe I have is the overuse of punch lines: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/CourteousLimitedCoralsizerestricted.gif used previous season footage to prevent spoilers In the manga it works really well but when they bring that to anime it feels less impactful cause you dont actually see the fist/kick connect. In certain scenes it works but in others it just feels less powerful. Animation 8/10 Thank god they stopped using the PS2 CG. It really pulls me out of my immersion when I see streetfighterslookingesque characters start throwing hands. It felt so bad and the action in general lost a lot of oomph. TMS Entertainment definitely learnt their lesson and played to their strengths of actually good action. The animation in this way is really good but nothing too groundbreaking for it failed in having clean straight action. I think there are too many cuts and action lines to express punches and speed. While it is not wrong or bad but personally I felt slightly let down and wished for more long takes and such. Characters 6.5/10 Bakis development in this arc felt like it had less screen time. But at the same time I reckon Itakagi did it on purpose. He essentially developed Bakis character through Muhammad Ali Jr. I say this because we see a lot more of Junior rather than Baki especially in the second half. In my honest opinion I believe Itagaki did it on purpose to set up the killer Episode 12. Itagakis great at expectation subversion. Through the simplicity of the story and characters there are certain plot elements I expected but were utterly thrown out the window and made for a pleasant surprise. Ill further explain this in the spoiler tag below The Chinese Sea Kings in this arc didnt feel too significant even though theyre supposed to be the highlight of the entire arc. I felt that if you were to compare the Most Deadly Convicts to the Sea Kings the convicts had some build up to them and had relatively cool backstories. While the Sea Kings were kinda like punching bags. They were strong but they didnt really impact the story that much they were quite pathetic to be brutally honest. I still enjoyed the fights though well choreographed and they had cool powers. In my opinion the savior to the Sea Kings was the Sea Emperor Kaku. His fight with Yujiro was pretty epic. Two opposites clash. Two ideals going against each other. Hes a wise but really brutal elderly man. He pulls off a lot of what people would refer to as big brain. He had a major impact in the story particularly bringing two individuals together without us expecting it. Sound/Voice Acting 8/10 I personally thought the Voice acting was great. They all sounded how I expected them to. Except for Junior. Im sure Soichiro Hoshi is a talented man however everytime Junior spoke I just could not take it. He sounded so weird in my opinion. Its one of those things where you dislike something but cant really tell why. To me it just sounded weird and it always broke my suspension of disbelief. Akio Ootsuka obviously nailed Yujiro Hanma he really brings out the tough menacing beast Yujiro is. Probably my favorite VA performance in the entire of Baki. There really wasnt anything that was too outstanding nor bad they all sounded good. I love the OP the OP is an absolute banger Im listening to it as I write this review. My typing speed has increased my adrenaline has shot up and I want to taste defeat. But in all seriousness Granrodeo nailed Bakis new OP. It captures and escalates the hype of the show it really gets me pumped before the start of the episode. But obviously if I was to compare this to Beastful Beastful is still definitely better but 2 great phenomenal songs. For me it fell at the ED. The ED doesnt capture Baki and if Im being really honest I forgot how it sounded and had to listen to it again. It just doesnt suit Baki. If it was a traditional sports anime it would work but this is Baki were talking about. It feels like a shounen song with Junior and Baki having a friendly rivalry when in reality its nothing but. For me it was forgettable and not really a good song and even in the context of another shounen sports anime it just does not feel all that great. The OSTs were pretty hype though I would like to point out that it isnt utilized as much as the previous seasons. I felt like they were holding back in using the soundtrack. But it did feel amazing whenever it was on. No real qualms about it really good soundtrack to get your blood pumping. Foley in this show was pretty mediocre at times during bloody gory and literal bonecrushing scenes it sounds so brutal and disgusting. Where in others it sounds like they really like the wshhh sound effect. I dont know why I noticed that but I hear a lot of sharp sounds which isnt bad but gets repetitive. Maybe adding variety to the type of sounds may help but overall pretty standard. Overall Thoughts 8/10 and Miscellaneous Things Honestly this is one of those shows where you either love it or hate it. Its really up to the person watching whether they can appreciate the over the top nature of this show. For some it may feel really boring because the fights revolve a lot around made up martial arts. For me I thoroughly enjoyed it. Theres no deep meaning behind it but its a show where you can appreciate the intense action and originality of how these characters fight. If you fancy a good fighting show this is definitely for you. Story: 7/10 Art: 7.5/10 Animation: 8/10 Characters: 6.5/10 Soundtrack: 8/10 Overall Enjoyment:8/10