Netflix’s adaptation of the classic shonen manga Baki Hanma has come to an end – and it’s a brilliant end.
With the bombastic, thrilling, and action-packed fight between our titular protagonist Baki Hanma and his antagonistic father Yujiro, the strongest fighter in the world, closely followed by the emotional reconciliation between father and son and Yuijiro’s long-awaited acknowledgment of his son’s strength as a fighter (exactly what Baki has been training and waiting for all these years), Season 2 Part 2 delivered a perfect finale. It’s the kind of finale creative writing teachers will tell you to write – our main hero has achieved his dream, reconciled with his father and longtime foe, and settled down for a happily-ever-after.
With an ending like that, you might think that Baki Hanma stands a snowball’s chance in hell of getting renewed – after all, hasn’t the story reached its natural concussion? Why would Netflix want to drag out the story for another episode, seeing as Baki’s reached his happily ever after? Let’s discuss.
Baki-Dou
The original Baki the Grappler manga, written by Keisuke Itagaki, chronicles the titular Baki’s rise to becoming the most powerful MMA fighter in Japan. From there, its many sequel mangas take the series into a decidedly supernatural twist, as they stray from MMA fighting and into battles with prehistoric dinosaur-wrangling frozen cavemen (yes really) and downright impossible-in-real-life feats of martial arts – all, of course, leading up to Baki’s ultimate showdown with his evil father, the strongest fighter in the world, Yuijiro Hanma.
But the manga doesn’t end there. After the end of the original Baki Hanma manga, Itagaki went on to write three more sequels: Baki-Dou, Bakidou (trust us, it’s written differently in Japanese), and Baki Rahen (which only just began serialization in late August 2023), all of which showcase the further adventures of Baki and his friends.
And yes, if you’re wondering, the question of “What will Baki do now?” is answered and addressed. Turns out, Baki, a martial artist in his soul, feels bored and discontented without a strong enemy to train to fight against. Luckily for him, a legendary powerful (real-life) historical warrior (we won’t say who it is, though) is resurrected and wants nothing more than to conquer and shed blood like he did in his life. This arc, as action-packed as any you’d want from Baki the Grappler’s many sequels, has never been brought to life on screen before, and would be a feast for martial arts lovers.
‘Baki Hanma’
Are We Getting a Third Season of Baki Hanma, and If So, When?
Netflix has ample material to adapt. The only question is, will they? We at Streaming Now are leaning towards no. Sorry, Baki Hanma fans. Baki the Grappler may be a cult classic, but it’s not a series with much mass appeal, and the second season was divisive among fans (at least considering the IMDb reviews). It’s quite probable that Netflix will decide to cut its losses and let the series end at its natural stopping point – both keeping fans happy (well happy-ish) and letting Netflix concentrate on its works that will reach a wider audience.
But if that wasn’t what you wanted to hear, don’t lose hope yet. We could be wrong. Baki-Dou still has lots of action up its sleeves, and it’s entirely possible that Netflix will decide to take that action to the big screen. If that’s true, seeing as Season 1 dropped in 2021 and Season 2 dropped in 2023, we could expect a 2025 release date for Season 3 of Baki Hanma. Watch this space.
Baki Hanma is streaming now on Netflix.
