Five convicted murderers from around the planet, all super-strong masters of the martial arts, escape and travel to Japan to meet in a no-rules duel with five other muscle-bound, super-strong masters of the martial arts. Their real mission? Try to develop some interest in an anime series which has a weak, underdeveloped story-line.

Basically, the plot of Baki, apparently a sequel to an earlier series, is a thin excuse for a series of hand-to-hand battles in which oceans of blood are spilled. That’s really it. There is a character named Baki, a 17-year-old martial arts champion, whom we rarely see. The fights the thing in this anime. So if you like mindless action, this one may be for you. If you like a good story with interesting characters, you will be bored stiff.

The fight sequences are well animated, but the rest is done on the cheap. I kept wishing for the fighting to end, just to get on with the story. When a fight is concluded, I am reminded there is no real story.

I’m on a losing streak here. The past three anime series I have posted about have been total dogs. Netflix Streaming has Baki. I’ve seen some good anime on Netflix, but now it seems they are just buying the rights to any old thing. Maybe the next one will be good.