TMS Entertainment to animate 26-episode anime

The staff of the upcoming anime adaptation of Keisuke Itagaki's Baki ( New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero ) manga announced on Wednesday that Netflix will premiere the anime in summer 2018 inside Japan, and in fall 2018 outside of Japan. Akita Shoten's Weeky Shōnen Champion magazine previously stated in January that the series would premiere this year.

TMS Entertainment (Lupin III, ReLIFE) will animate the 26-episode series, which will also air on television. Netflix describes the story:

The protagonist, Baki Hanma, trains with an intense focus to become strong enough to surpass his father, Yujiro Hanma, the strongest fighter in the world. Five of the world's most violent and brutal death row inmates are gathering to face Baki. Their objective is to taste defeat -- their unmatched strength and skill have led them to grow bored of life itself, and they now seek out Baki in the hopes that he can overwhelm and utterly crush them. In this crisis, other underground martial art warriors gather to fight by Baki's side: Kaoru Hanayama, Gouki Shibukawa, Retsu Kaioh, and Doppo Orochi. An epic showdown between violent death row inmates and Baki and his friends begins!

Weekly Shōnen Champion revealed last November that the manga was inspiring a new television anime adaptation.

The anime will feature the "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" arc from the manga. Baki is the second installment in Itagaki's overall series. The manga ran for 31 volumes in Weekly Shonen Champion from 1999 to 2005. The manga recently inspired an original anime DVD (OAD) adaptation that also depicts the "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" arc. The OAD was bundled with a limited edition of Itagaki's 14th Baki-Dou manga volume last December.

The "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" arc features underground ring fighters in the no-rules combat environment of death row convicts. The OAD highlights five individuals from prisons around the world who "long to know defeat." The five individuals break out of their respective prisons and head to Japan.

Sources: Daily Sports Online, L Magazine