Baki fans, your shelf is about to get more dangerous.
Kodama Tales, the manga label under Kyodo Printing Co., Ltd., has licensed Keisuke Itagaki’s New Grappler Baki manga for an English release. The first two volumes are scheduled to ship in November, giving English-reading fans another proper entry point into one of manga’s most unhinged martial arts franchises.
This is not some random side chapter either. New Grappler Baki is the first sequel to Itagaki’s original Baki The Grappler, which ran in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1991 to 1999 and finished with 42 volumes. Kodama Tales started publishing the original manga worldwide in English back in October, so this new licence keeps the momentum going nicely.
In Japan, New Grappler Baki is simply known as Baki. It ran from 1999 to 2005 across 31 volumes. Kodama Tales’ announcement used non-final cover artwork from the manga’s Japanese “Complete Edition,” which collected the story into 17 volumes. Media Do also releases the manga in English.
For Malaysian and SEA fans, this matters because Baki has become way more visible thanks to Netflix. A lot of newer fans here probably discovered the franchise through the anime first — maybe during late-night Netflix binge sessions, maybe through those absolutely ridiculous fight clips shared around Discord and TikTok. Having more of the manga available in English makes it easier to follow the franchise properly instead of piecing the timeline together like a gym bro detective.
And yes, the timeline is long. After New Grappler Baki, Itagaki continued with Hanma Baki, which ran from 2005 to 2012 and reached 37 volumes. Then came the first Baki-Dou, launched in 2014 and completed in 2018 with 22 volumes. A second Baki-Dou followed from 2018 to 2023, using different Japanese characters for “Baki” in the title while keeping the same romanised name. The current main manga, Baki Rahen, began in August 2023.
There is more Baki on the way too. Takaaki Hayashi is launching a new spinoff titled Baki Gaiden Doppo: Hitori Nomi Kui Aruki — translated as Baki Side Story Doppo: Drinking, Eating, Walking Alone — in Akita Publishing’s Champion RED magazine on May 19.
On the anime side, Netflix has carried a lot of the modern Baki boom. The newer Baki anime first launched in Japan in June 2018, with Netflix later releasing it outside Japan. Baki: Dai Raitaisai-hen arrived worldwide in June 2020, followed by Baki Hanma in September 2021. The second season of Baki Hanma dropped in 2023, covering the Pickle storyline and the Father VS Son Saga.
Most recently, BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai, based on the first Baki-Dou manga, premiered worldwide on Netflix on February 26 with its first 13 episodes released together. A second cour is also planned as a Netflix exclusive.
So if you are a Malaysian fan who only knows Baki from Netflix, this Kodama Tales release is a solid excuse to start reading the manga properly. The anime is wild, but the manga is where the full madness lives.
Source: Anime News Network