Method to Madness Podcast – Baki the Grappler
Episode 34: “Tell Me About Your Mother…”
Baki the Grappler
Run Time: 47min 33sec
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Baki the Grappler has some serious frickin’ issues! You go in looking for your daily testosterone fix, but you walk out with an unsettling lesson in anthropology.
To become the Alpha male, one must dominate over all others. The ultimate sign of dominance over another man is to not only beat him in combat, but also steal away his mates. And since our fathers are the iconic male figure as we grow up, it is only once we’ve beaten and usurped him that we truly feel dominant over all.
Read that last paragraph again, do some math, and try not to vomit.
Baki's father is possibly Carrot Top.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
May 18th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
The opening theme is actually from a really hard-core j-rock band call Dir En Grey which I was really into a while back. They’re very good.
You got your Baki in my J-rock!
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May 23rd, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Hi guys, interesting podcast. Heard about it by way of AWO.
Quick correction: Baki the Grappler is a 48 episode anime series, made up of 2 24-episode seasons. It was entirely licensed, and it was entirely fansubbed. Unfortunately, the licensed DVDs look like crap, which is why there was a second fansub recently released that adds the licensed subs and dub to R2 DVD rips.
The anime covers the first saga of three that make up the manga, which continues until today. In Japan, they recently celebrated the 20th year anniversary of the original manga. And if you think the anime is insane, everything only gets crazier. Examples: Yujiro fights Muhammad Ali, a frozen caveman who fought tyrannosaurus rexes on a regular basis is thawed out and turns out to be the world’s ultimate warrior, Grappler Baki shadow boxes against dinosaurs, and Hanayama defeats an opponent despite having his jaw and kneecaps blown off with machine gun ammunition.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Hi guys, interesting podcast. Heard about it by way of AWO.
Thanks! Welcome aboard! Check out the archives for some other great episodes!
Examples: Yujiro fights Muhammad Ali, a frozen caveman who fought tyrannosaurus rexes on a regular basis is thawed out and turns out to be the world’s ultimate warrior, Grappler Baki shadow boxes against dinosaurs, and Hanayama defeats an opponent despite having his jaw and kneecaps blown off with machine gun ammunition.
Holy CRAP. Did they jump the shark in the manga after the anime came out or did they just decide, “Let’s not put any of the really awesome stuff in the anime.”?
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Milo Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 5:26 am
The anime is a really close adaptation of the first saga of the manga, I think it’s just a matter of the story getting exponentially more insane as it continues.
The thing that really sets Grappler Baki apart from every other fighting manga I’ve ever read is that the author puts spectacle first and foremost above everything else. It’s more important to him than characters being cool, the story being realistic, and fanservice. Still, that spectacle is always couched in some amount of realism, even if it’s a tiny amount. For example, a character developes a technique which allows him to punch at the speed of sound, but as you can see, not without great personal cost: http://i40.tinypic.com/2l8999u.jpg
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Maur Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Wow, that’s nuts. That image alone fills me with immense glee. I think I might just have to go out of my way for this manga.
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May 23rd, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Not bad, got a little repetitive towards the middle. Also, holy spoilers. Good thing I watched this show before hand. Part of the charm to Baki is that you literally cannot see the crazy shit it throws at you coming so taking that element out hurts it. You are just watching and thinking “okay, typical training montage. What’s the gimmick? How’s he going to push himself to the limit? Ridiculous Weights? Crazy running exercises? Holy shit… he just threw himself off a cliff”.
I liked how you compared everyone to having some kind of crazy mental disorder though it seems you fast-forwarded through a lot of it since you didn’t quite remember people’s names or who they were. :p
Also why are there two options for “notify me of followup comments via email” at the bottom? O_o
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Also, holy spoilers. Good thing I watched this show before hand.
We try to make spoiler warnings when applicable, but just about every podcast we do is bound to have them.
…you didn’t quite remember people’s names or who they were. :p
That’s totally on me since I suck at names. Kevin usually remembers or writes them down, but we both tend to just use whatever nicknames I come up with for them. You’ll notice this especially in our podcast for Dark Cat.
Also why are there two options for “notify me of followup comments via email” at the bottom? O_o
This is probably due to the WordPress plugin that allows us to do direct replies to comments. Still figuring out how it works, so things like that are bound to appear.
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Maur Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
OK. That’s cool. Good to see you’re not averse to criticism. I know the internets are full of trolls but it’s chagrining how sensitive or uptight people are.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
HA! As you listen to this podcast more, you’ll see that we have no shame. :p
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