This year at the American Manga Awards, Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow won a very well-deserved Classic Manga Award. This post-war bildungsroman of a young man discovering himself through boxing is a moving tale. Now, we also have an English-language edition ofBaki The Grappler, another classic fighting manga. By Keisuke Itagaki (who might be best-known by modern manga readers for being the father of Paru Itagaki, creator of BEASTARS), this series, as the obi copy reminds us, has influenced a generation of movies, games and anime and has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. Going into this volume, I bring decades of interest and training in martial arts, and I have read so, so many fighting manga. I could not wait to crack the pages of this volume from Kodama Press.

Right off the bat, the cover tells you the kind of work you're about to read. Kinetic, but not “pretty” art. The cover art shows us Baki mid-punch; his mouth open, hair swinging on the front, his upper arm over-muscled, with protruding veins in a look that in 2025, reads “steroids,” on the back. Movement, strength, force, power…this is a blood and guts manga, and if you want pretty, this ain't that. This isn't even a “story,” per se, but a full-contact match rendered in illustration, with all the violence one expects of a seinen manga.

The story begins in situ at the 18th Real-Fight Karate Tournament Championship, where Suedo, the 4-time champion, is beating up junior members in his dressing room as a warm-up. Immediately, we understand that art is a moral polygraph for our characters. Suedo, while huge and powerful, is ugly inside and out. Into this arena strides our symmetrically muscled youth, Baki Hanma. Although he wears a white belt, the scars on his body are a testament to fights in less-regulated places. His smile is perfect. His boasts are delivered as common-sense statements. Suedo comes off as a caricature, but of the two, Baki is far less realistic.

Interestingly, to this modern reader used to every sport or hobby manga being a primer, this is not a teaching manga. Art and story mostly eschew explaining moves. The fighting here starts over-the-top and gets ridiculous quickly— action is indicated with frenetic motion blurs, but actual techniques are not identifiable, unless stated. In one memorable panel the action is a huge blur that is given expository subpanels so we can “see” what specific techniques we missed. I've sat through a lot of martial arts competitions, and they aren't usually this exciting or this filled with illegal moves. This ref was a bum, lemme tell ya.

We are made to understand that Baki's history is in less-regulated fighting. The rumors swirl, but while none of the competitors really know him, the chairman of the Karate tournament does seem to, and has some plans in mind. What does this mean for our dazzling youth? I certainly have no idea. Baki seems a bit of an uncarved block in this volume, focused on practice and fighting to the exclusion of having any personality other than “I'm better than you,” said with a gleaming smile. I've mentioned smiling several times, because teeth are two steps beyond allegorical in this book. Samson may have had his strength in his hair, but fighters in Baki seem to keep their strength in their teeth. Suedo's mouthguard is said to increase his power by 30%! Sure, why not?

The end of this volume backs up into what little we learn about Baki himself. He lives with a landlady and her daughter, who is his classmate in high school. Baki is a prime target for gladiatorial sports teams, but who he is and what his personal goals might be are left a mystery for us to discover in future volumes.

David Evelyn's translation is top-notch —you can hear the throaty growl of Suedo's taunts, the insinuating tone of the chairman's “I know what you are” commentary, and Baki's sparkle and shine as he takes control of the match. Letterer Rafael Zaiats does a solid job on the words, doing retouch on sound effects when possible and subtitling in ways that highlight the original without confusing already-busy pages.

Kodama has given us a classic feel for a classic manga. You can almost imagine the salarymen on the Yamanote line reading this as they head home from a long day at work. The volume size is substantial, so we don't have to squint for details. Baki The Grappler manga has had multiple spin-offs, anime adaptations, and even a stage play, but Kodama's edition really gets us good seats to a tough, hard-fought Karate match. You can practically smell the sweat and blood, and hear the roar of the crowd.

The fighting is utterly ridiculous, but so much fun, it is hard not to be entertained by this modern-day Lancelot whose strength is as ten because his heart is pure. Or, at the very least, his smile.