I'm gonna start off by stating the obvious; if you're looking for a good shonen with well-developed characters and a well-constructed story, Baki is not an anime you should watch. Most of it makes absolutely no sense; characters will lose enough blood to fill a pool, get shot in the kneecaps, receive 5 lethal doses of poison, and act like nothing happened. The characters have weak motives and constantly defy what logically should happen. That being said, this anime is so damn entertaining. There's just something about watching absurd, bloody fights between guys that more jacked than a Reddit mod's dick that is so entertaining you can't stop yourself from watching.

First, let me talk about the fights, because they're the only reason anyone in their right mind will watch this show. A quick note: the CGI fights are god awful. They look like shit, and caused my eyes physical pain. Thankfully there are a limited amount, and they disappear entirely as the season progresses. I will be referring only to the 2D hand-animated fights in this review. The fights in this show are goofy and nonsensical, but so entertaining. They're basically nothing but a few seconds of one character delivering a brutal attack, followed by an impossible recovery repeating in a cycle until one eventually wins. However, the animation is crisp and satisfying, and every time the fight changes momentum it gets more and more entertaining despite how predictable it is. The fighters are so retartedly strong and manly that you want them to continue getting up and beating the shit out of each other. Thankfully the show consists mostly of fights, and you are constantly provided with adrenaline roller coasters that inject an intense feeling of manliness straight into your weak anime baby brain. They defy logic; but that's exactly why they're so fun.

Secondly, I will talk about the characters. Fundamentally, they are straight-up bad. As I mentioned, they lack any convincing motivation and development throughout the entirety of the show. The only character who experiences any growth at all is Baki himself, and even then you have to watch the couple of seasons after this to see it. Thankfully, the character designs and rushed backstories are intriguing enough to make the fights (the reason you watch the show) worthwhile. They repeatedly defy logic to get strong and recover for no reason other than becuase the mangaka felt like it. Everyone has an over-the-top badass reason to be as strong as they are, making the clashes of beefy, manly wills really entertaining. The characters are poor, but good enough to allow the strong point of the show (the fights) to shine.

Lastly, I will talk about the plot. To get to the point, there is none. There's a horribly boring mini romance ark that I skipped to get to the fights faster. All it leads to is SPOILER ALERT Baki getting his dick wet and magically getting stronger to fight some bad guys in the following fight. While there is practically no plot, there's enough semblance of one to provide context for the characters to interact and fight with each other, which is all that's really needed. As is the case with the characters, the plot suffices just enough to allow the fights to exist while being enjoyable.

Before any pretentious anime snobs get upset at my high score, know that I am basing it strictly off of entertainment, unlike pretty much any other anime I've watched. That's because that's how it should be rated. It doesn't take itself seriously or try to be anything that it isn't. It's just ridiculously strong goofy and strong characters beating the shit out of each other with unmatched manliness and muscles. Think of it like an Adam Sandler movie; it's not meant to be good, it's meant to be enjoyed for the goofy mess that it is. As someone who normally watches anime on a deeper level, Baki was a nice breath of fresh air that allowed me to enjoy some fun fights without worrying about finding underlying themes or complex character motives. If you're like me and just want to enjoy an anime mindlessly every now and then, I highly recommend that you watch this goofy ahh anime.