"Baki 2020", opinion on episodes 5-9
Well, I finished the big tournament and I'm a bit disappointed. After such a brilliant introduction, I set myself up that we would still get some bomb scene, and the level of episodes slightly decreased. In some episodes more, in others less. Fortunately, the decline was not too big and I can only blame my excessive expectations. Starting with the worse, the affair between Muhammad Jr. did not appeal to me. and Kozue. However, it is difficult for me to formulate any reasonable arguments. Such random, senseless, and devoid of character matches were already in the first season. Just as boring passages in which the characters behave in a predictable way, as in some average story. Too good to switch to the next episode, too weak to pay any attention to. Oh, just in time to watch with one eye, and the other look at the cell phone and write to the posts of colleagues. It's nice that we saw two old friends who we didn't see in the tournament, but they fought so vaguely that there could be some pieces in their place. I hope it is such a calm before the storm and the author will throw some interesting thread into the Baki-Muhammad-Kozue triangle.
A slightly smaller disappointment was the fight between the 140-year-old champion and Yujiro. At least there were some things that gave a lot of joy or some interesting moments. The most interesting was to stop the fight in a rather unusual way for this series. It was similar in "Hunter x Hunter", although the thread between Illumi and his younger brother is unlikely to be remembered so well. Most of the warriors in "Bakim" go the wrong way, they stretch to the max, doing senseless exercises that will not give them much. Strength and controlled fighting styles are often not enough when there is too much difference in power. Keisuke Itagaki makes fun of it, be it through narration or the lyrics of Olivi or Yujiro. Why live in stupid celibacy and deny yourself pleasure? If we keep fit, we have the right mindset and exercise regularly in the right way, it's enough not to break down, just so much and so much. And even if it happens, you have to take it with your face or have it deep enough in your ass. Just as the over 100-year-old master did, or if the above-mentioned myomas did it, if they had a vision of defeat. As for the startup itself, I was expecting something more. For example, Yujiro using some special technique or counterattack for his grandfather's fighting style, and he limited himself to sheer strength. It is a pity that Ogre did not get any more worthy opponent, with whom he could show more power. It is a pity that he will show something more only after a clash with his son. Well, but nothing, my expectations were met 100%, I saw a beautiful show of strength. And back, this demon on the back of Yujiro is a beautiful but also terrible work.
Although both fighters did not fight very effectively, thanks to a more even level, the fight was less one-sided, and therefore more interesting. Bearded Japanese had his moments and he was not completely without a chance in a duel with Retsu. My favorite fragment was when the Chinese corrected his opponent's beard. The rest of the scenes were no less absurd, such as correcting a dislocated hand, but they did not give me so much joy. In the end, the fight, although I liked most of these 5 episodes, was too weak to remember it for a long time. Initially, I was afraid that Oliva might lose his duel, but I underestimated the biscuit mountain of muscles. I underestimated this not enough, Biscuit was far from lost and maybe he would have let his opponent do more if he didn't get bored. The final was not as effective as the previous warm-up, which ended in disability, although I would have said otherwise if a muscular black man had finished this duel with the first blow from the head. He balanced his body beautifully, as nice as the giant purple bruise in the middle of the face.
In addition, there were a few small scenes that I liked and partly thanks to them I do not complain about the second half of the tournament. I am talking primarily about observer comments and a great scene between father and son. It reminds me a little of the relationship between Askeladd and Thorfinn, at least in one respect. It's about an approach where love and hatred clash. On the one hand, Baki wants to kick his father's ass, but on the other hand, you can see that Ogr loves him the most among all his bastards who run around the world. Baki knows this and appreciates the help of his father. Apparently, their fight will be full of scenes like this one - I can't wait. A lot of warm emotions flow from this picture, like from many scenes from eg "One Piece". And how do you assess the new season of "Baki" so far? :)
