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Baki Anime Reveals More Characters, New Visual, 2nd Opening Song

The official website for the new anime of Keisuke Itagaki's Baki (New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero) manga revealed more characters and cast, a new key visual, and the opening theme song for the series' second cours (quarter of a year) on Thursday. The anime's second cours will debut with episode 14, which will premiere on Netflix in Japan on September 24 and on Tokyo MX1 on September 30.

The newly announced characters and cast are:

Houchu Ohtsuka as Biscuit Oliva

Kenta Miyake as Jack Hammer

The band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas is performing the new opening theme song "The Gong of Knockout." Kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa provided motion capture for Baki for the song's opening video for the anime. The first Blu-ray Disc box set for the anime, which will ship on November 16, will include behind-the-scenes content for the production of the opening video.

Musical group DEVIL NO ID is performing the anime's new ending theme song "BEAUTIFUL BEAST."

Netflix premiered the anime on June 25 inside Japan, and this fall outside of Japan. The series will have 26 episodes and is also airing 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!

The anime features the "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" arc from the manga, which features underground ring fighters in the no-rules combat environment of death row convicts.

Toshiki Hirano (Rayearth, Dangaioh, Magic Kaito: Kid the Phantom Thief) is directing the anime at TMS Entertainment (Lupin III, ReLIFE). Fujio Suzuki (Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo, 009-1, New Getter Robo) is designing the characters. Tatsuhiko Urahata (DNA², Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, Tsuredure Children) is in charge of series composition.

GRANRODEO performs the show's opening theme song "Beastful," and Azusa Tadokoro performs the first ending theme song "Resolve."

In addition to the Netflix premiere screenings, the anime is running on the Tokyo MX 1, Sun TV, TV Q Kyuushuu, TV Aichi, KBS Kyoto, and Hokkaido TV channels. The anime premiered on Tokyo MX1 on July 1, about one week after it started running on Netflix on June 25.

Baki is the second installment in Itagaki's overall series. The manga ran for 31 volumes in Weekly Shōnen 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 in December 2016.

Itagaki's original Baki The Grappler martial arts manga ran for 42 volumes in Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine from 1991 to 1999. The manga has more than 63 million copies in circulation. The series has received two television anime adaptations and an original animation video.

After the Baki sequel manga finished in 2005, Hanma Baki then ran in the same magazine from 2005 to 2012. The Baki-Dou sequel series launched in Weekly Shōnen Champion in March 2014 as the third sequel to the original Baki The Grappler manga, and it ended on April 5. Baki-Dou will resume (with different characters for "Baki" in the title) as the manga's fifth part on October 4. Media Do licensed the Baki manga and released the first three volumes digitally on August 15.

Sources: Baki anime's website, Animate Times