Anime
Baki The Grappler Volume 9-12 Manga Review – Review
As Volume nine opens, Baki is training again to face his father. Baki walks into a Northern Japan wilderness to find a team of battle-hardened, bloodthirsty commandos that defeated thousands of elite JDSF soldiers by themselves. In Baki The Grappler, everything is true, and nothing is real, and Buddha-level enlightenment comes from crossing over from almost dying to be slightly dead, then finding a way to fight anyway.
There is an actual moment where Baki attains Galaxy Brain as he is schooled in pain and terror by one of the personalities of Billy Milligan, the first person to be acquitted by reason of dissociative identity disorder, who here is simultaneously fighting with, for, and against the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and who is apparently a near god after almost being executed in Uganda.
Every moment of this two-volume training sequence is brilliantly unhinged. As he leaves the mountains, Baki, bloody and beaten, but smiling, thinks, “Mr. Gaia, Mr. Nomura, The Twins, and the knife-user…I’ll never forget you as long as I live!” My man, you don’t even know the names of three of those guys. You spent months with them.
Having undertaken extreme training, Baki once again faces the monster that is his father, Yujiro Hanma. Despite having been trained by elite military forces, Baki doesn’t last long. And, in retribution for her teenage son not being strong enough to beat his adult father in the prime of his life, Baki’s mother is caught up in the fight. Needless tragedy flavored with a heavy helping of murderous psychosis brings Baki up short. His mother never loved him as much as she loved Yujiro, but Yujiro clearly loves no one. Unable to kill his father—which is, apparently, the only acceptable outcome—Baki’s father rejects him, again, as being unworthy of being his son.
After a series of Oedipal scenes with his mother that are extremely uncomfortable to read, Baki’s mom is fridged to give him some motivation to really, definitely want to kill his father. Then the arc ends. Baki returns home, functionally parentless.
Of course, his next action is to jump back into training. From Japan’s elite sword masters to Brazil’s best MMA fighters, Baki gleefully has his body and soul pummeled in the quest to become strong enough to take on his father. It is at this point that the Underground Arena at Tokyo Dome returns for Baki’s second chance to go all out in a battle to be the strongest fighter.
Having been injured (i.e., he died and had to be brought back to life), Director Orochi offers his son up to this next round. We learn that his son, Katsumi, has “perfected” karate and is able to do the bottle chop at only twenty years old! Neither of these things is actually relevant to him being a good fighter, but we can see from his good looks sans scars or sneer that he will be a formidable foe.
When reigning champion Baki Hanma enters the competition, he is excited and confident, but this time, there is a poise in his carriage, the confidence of a man without arrogance. This time, he also brings Kozue, the girl he is closest to, as a guest. When she asks why he brought her to watch him fight, he talks about the dream of being the strongest, but Kozue is unconvinced that his answer makes any sense, really. On the one hand, he’s letting Kozue see his truest self; on the other hand, that arena has got to smell really bad.
And then the fight begins. Once again, we are back in Baki’s dream, as he happily enters the ring to cause pain and misery to his grotesque opponent, a wrestler twice his size. We get a glimpse of Kozue’s reaction to Baki’s fight (horror and confusion, obviously, since Baki really didn’t warn her how bloody it would be), but we have no idea what she will think about his victory. It doesn’t matter all that much; she’s just taking up the space Baki’s mother occupied as “a woman in Baki’s life.” I fear for her. Women in Baki’s orbit do not fare that well.
The art continues to be both outstandingly detailed and ugly as hell. Every stance, joint lock, and punch defies anatomy and, often, physics. Even positions of strength are drawn in fantastically distorted ways. In Itagaki’s desire to show motion and strength, he overcompensates stylistically, crafting stances that would be hideously unsafe and moves that defy gravity. It’s fantastic. Volume twelve seems especially as if he overthought every panel to express this kind of extreme physiology. There is a scene where Orochi’s son has his hand pulled back to slice the glass bottle balanced on his father’s head. Instead of a clean, firm line between his arm, wrist, and fingers, we see a protruding pisiform, fingers curled and separated. In a normal human, this strike would simply knock the bottle off the person’s head and possibly break a finger or two. Not here. Here, the strike is as precise as a sommelier’s saber. Of course it is, Katsumi Orochi has “finished karate” according to his father.
We are now halfway through the story, and Baki is taking us into a competition for the third time. Like previous bouts, we’re sure he’ll win, so it’s simply a matter of sitting back, grabbing some grilled yakitori, or whatever is the preferred snack at underground, illicit, no-holds-barred fighting events in Japan, and watching the wacky opponents rise and fall before Baki.
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© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
The last episode of the anime for this year aired on Fuji TV on Sunday, with the anime continuing next year. The Dragon Ball Super: Beerus anime will take over One Piece‘s Sunday 11:15 p.m. timeslot on Fuji TV, starting on October 11.
The Elbaph arc of the One Piece anime debuted in Japan on April 5. Crunchyroll is streaming the arc.
Toei Animation and One Piece anime producer Ryūta Koike announced in October 2025 that the anime was reducing its annual episode output to a maximum of 26 episodes moving forward starting in 2026. Following the conclusion of the Egghead arc last year, the anime took a three-month production hiatus from January-March 2026. The anime returned in April 2026 for the first of two cours (quarters of a year) with the start of the new Elbaph arc.
According to Toei Animation, the new schedule allows episodes to “incorporate more content, tempo, and pacing of the manga while continuing to leverage the unique storytelling that is only possible with animation.” Historically, with only few exceptions, the anime has aired most weeks since its premiere in 1999. However, the pace has slowed considerably over the years.
© BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION
Dragon Ball franchise executive producer Akio Iyoku stated that work on the Dragon Ball Super: Beerus television anime series started a few years ago and is an “enhanced” edition of the Dragon Ball Super anime that features a reconstruction of the story, and includes new and redrawn cuts.
The official announcement of the anime stated:
The project features extensive new cuts, revisions to existing scenes, a complete re-rendering of all footage, newly recorded dubbing with added score and sound effects, and a full reconstruction of the story. Living up to the name ENHANCED, this edition employs the latest visual expression to deliver greater power and immersion across all scenes, especially the battle sequences. The result is an ENHANCED edition that expresses Akira Toriyama‘s original idea and worldbuilding more accurately, that will be broadcasted with highly satisfying quality.
The staff describes the story:
Several years have passed since the fierce battle against Majin Buu, and Earth has finally regained a brief moment of peace. At the same time, Beerus, the God of Destruction, awakens from his long, deep sleep. Even Kai and Supreme Kai, aware of Beerus’s overwhelming power to destroy entire planets, watch his awakening with great fear… Meanwhile, Beerus hears rumors of a Saiyan who defeated Frieza—and suddenly appears before Goku.Targeted by Beerus, the strongest being in the universe, Earth is in grave danger. Thus begins an Earth-shattering cosmic battle between the God of Destruction and Goku and his allies—a conflict that will shake the entire universe.
Dragon Ball Super premiered in July 2015 and aired for 131 episodes until March 2018. Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and Funimation released the series on home video. Funimation debuted the English dub to its streaming service in December 2016. The English dub premiered on Adult Swim‘s Toonami block in January 2017.
Sources: One Piece anime’s X/Twitter account, Oricon News
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Will the horse girls achieve Most Speaking Characters in a Short-form Animation Series Based on a Video Game?
The Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise boldly announced on Sunday that it is going for the Guinness World Record for the “Most Speaking Characters in a Short-form Animation Series Based on a Video Game” with the new short anime series Umayuru Full Gate! The staff said that Guinness World Records will reveal if Umayuru Full Gate! has broken the record in March 2027.
© Cygames, Inc.
Umayuru Full Gate! is the sequel to 2022’s Uma Yuru. The anime premiered on the franchise‘s YouTube channel on Friday. Episodes follow broadcasts of PakaLive TV.
The Uma Yuru anime series premiered in October 2022.
The Uma Musume Pretty Derby mobile game inspired both Uma Yuru and Uma Yuru: Full Gate! The Uma Musume Pretty Derby game launched in February 2021 for iOS and Android. The game was originally slated for a release in winter 2018, and was delayed in order to raise the game’s quality. The game launched on PC via DMM Games in March 2021.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby‘s English version launched for iOS and Android devices in June 2025. The game won Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2025.
The game’s concept begins with Uma Musume (Horse Girls), girls endowed with excellent running capability, and who aim to become top idols and compete in the national sports entertainment show “Twinkle Series.” Players take the role of both teacher and trainer for the girls in the Nihon Uma Musume Training Center Gakuen (Japan Horse Girls Training Center Academy) and help them make their debut.
Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray, the latest anime of the franchise, aired for two cours (quarters of a year) with a break in between from April to December 2025.
Sources: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby’s X/Twitter account
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Viz Media revealed a new teaser trailer, a new key visual, and the cast for the anime of Keigo Shinzō‘s Hirayasumi manga (a co-production with Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd and Production +h.) on Monday.
© Keigo Shinzo/Shogakukan/Hirayasumi Project
Yūma Uchida stars as Hiroto Ikuta, Mayu Takahashi as Natsumi Kobayashi and Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada.
© Keigo Shinzo/Shogakukan/Hirayasumi Project
Viz describes the human drama story:
At 29 years old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier. Hiroto’s breezy attitude isn’t easy for everyone to understand, though. In a world filled with anxiety, confusion, and grief, Hiroto and the people around him are all just doing their best to figure out this thing called life.
Kei Suezawa (Fate/Grand Order The Movie Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot – Wandering: Agateram, FLCL Progressive) is directing the anime at Production +h. Naoyuki Asano (Urusei Yatsura, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Mr. Osomatsu) is designing the characters. Mika Nishimura (Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Typhoon Noruda) is the art director. Kaori Sawada (What Did You Eat Yesterday?, When Spring Comes) is composing the music.
The anime will premiere in January 2027 in Japan on the NHK General channel. Viz Media also announced in English a 2027 release.
Viz Media and Japan Society are also hosting the world premiere screening of the first episode at Japan Society’s location in New York City on October 7 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Composer Kaori Sawada and producer Junichi Katsutani will be in attendance with Viz Media‘s Community Manager Godswill Ugwa as panel host.
Shinzō launched the manga in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in April 2021. Shogakukan published the manga’s ninth compiled book volume on July 30, and the series has over 1.1 million copies in circulation worldwide. The manga was nominated for the 15th Manga Taisho awards in January 2022, ranked #18 in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha‘s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook in December 2022, nominated for the 27th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in February 2023, and nominated for Best Continuing Manga Series in the 2nd American Manga Awards.
The series also inspired a live-action series, which premiered on NHK in November 2025.
Denpa has licensed Shinzō’s Holiday Junction collection of short manga. The book contains seven one-shot
manga. Shogakukan shipped the book in Japan in July 2016.
Source: press release
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