Not many characters have their stock rising in the Baki series, but Hanayama is one of them. Alongside Nomi no Sukune II, Hanayama is the only one to score a lopsided victory. He returns in the second Baki Dou series’ competition between the Underground Arena and Grand Sumo. His next appearance sees him give Musashi his toughest fight to that point, with the buildup honing in on the fact that he’s made stronger by his lack of familiarity with the legendary samurai. This marks a turning point for Hanayama’s fighting prowess. Both Mitsunari Tokugawa and Yujiro himself discuss how Hanayama is held back by the fact that he’s still wrestling with that memory. The actual impact wasn’t made clear until Baki Dou. Hanayama being shaken by his encounter with Yujiro several years earlier was alluded to in Hanayama’s fight with Spec in Baki. It’s not that he isn’t strong enough to beat Yujiro, it’s that he’s traumatized from their first meeting in Baki the Grappler. What makes this fight ultimately work in Hanayama’s favor is the fact that Itagaki is very explicit regarding why Hanayama lost. Yujiro and Hanayama have a very brief fight, with Yujiro beating Hanayama with just one hit. Initially it seems like Shibukawa was right. Though it was relatively subtle, one of the main subplots of the first Baki Dou series was cementing Kaoru Hanayama as one of the best fighters in the franchise.Įarly on, Gouki Shibukawa discusses Hanayama’s complacency relative to other characters, suggesting he’d fallen behind the main cast. By the end, he was familiar with how to counter most techniques and likely would’ve been an even greater threat to Yujiro. It was shown early on that Musashi didn’t know how to handle modern martial arts, but that changes during his run in the series. The fact that he ran counter to every norm established in the series makes him a logical contender to beat the seemingly unbeatable Yujiro. Not only did he primarily use weapons, but he was also someone who approached each fight with the intent to kill his opponent. The resurrected samurai was the perfect foil to the established Baki cast. Their fight doesn’t have a definitive conclusion with Izou Motobe interrupting, but it was teased that the big bad of Baki Dou may have been able to beat and even kill Yujiro. Miyamoto Musashi squares off with Yujiro Hanma fairly early on after his introduction in the series. Miyamoto Musashi was in position to beat Yujiro Hanma already With a demon back reveal still up his sleeve, fans should be feeling great about how Jack stacks up in the grand scheme of things. Put those asterisks together with the fact that Jack recently defeated Nomi No Sukune II, and it’s clear that Jack is finally meant to be a definitive top-tier fighter in the series. It was even shown that he could have potentially beaten Pickle if the caveman had gone in for the kill after delivering his fight-ending combination. He could have beaten Izou Motobe in Baki Dou if Motobe wasn’t using weapons and had perfectly prepared to fight Jack. It’s strongly implied that Jack could have beaten Baki in the finals of the Maximum Tournament if he didn’t suffer complications from his PED usage during the fight. The key difference between Jack and pretty much every other character in the series is the fact that every loss on Jack’s record comes with an asterisk next to it. On the contrary, he was actually on a disastrous losing streak until fairly recently. This isn’t to say Jack wins all the time. This might sound ludicrous at face value, but the reality is that Jack is actually the most-protected character behind Yujiro in the series. Jack Hanma actually has a good chance of potentially beating Yujiro if they fought. Jack Hanma actually has a good chance to beat Yujiro Fans can look forward to their first taste of Pickle in Baki Hanma season two, which was recently confirmed. A Pickle with real fighting skills to go along with his raw strength would potentially be the strongest character in the entire franchise. There are subtle teases that he’s learning actual martial arts techniques through his exposure to other fighters. He starts off as one of the best fighters sheerly through his physicality and physique. The Pickle introduced in Baki Hanma is definitively not a fighter on par with Yujiro, but Itagaki left Pickle’s fighting potential open to interpretation. Pickle is presumably the only character that is physically stronger than Yujiro, something that Baki specifically notes ahead of their fight. The character is coming off a loss to Miyamoto Musashi, but he inhabits a unique space within the Baki franchise.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |