Manga Video have done well previously with gore-drenched fightoramas like Fist of the North Star, and Grappler Baki heads down the same line, the plot being utterly negligible, and little more than a thin cover for an escalating series of fight scenes involving the hero. To its credit, these are often quite imaginative - you have to admire any villain who special move involves physically ripping out your nerve fibres - but it still runs into the old problem with animated martial arts, namely that it's nowhere near as impressive as the 'real' thing, done by Jackie Chan and his colleagues. It's watchable enough on a one-off basis, but I have absolutely no interest in ever seeing it again.
Jim McLennan
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