De'Avin Mitchell

This show is very gripping initially, so much so that I watched the entire season in one sitting. The shocking levels of gore and mysterious physical strength displayed in the first 3 episodes strap you to your seat. However the hold the show originally has you by slowly loosens as the show continues. This is for a multitude of reasons: * The plot is simple, and exclusively fight driven. The writers try to attach a bit of personal vendetta's to some of the fights, but the motivations dont go beyond the basis' of pride or pettiness. * The show does a good job at being unpredictable, but I dont know if it is because of creative writing, or randomness. With that, some of the things that happened are unreasonable or just don't make sense, and that is in the context of this already ridiculous plot. There were moments that I literally had to pause the show to laugh at or analyze the absurdities I was watching. * The show is also organized awkwardly. There is always a flashback put in place to explain the random occurrences in the plot, that interrupts the flow of the story. * The same could be said about the plethora of character introductions for characters that will be irrelevant for episodes, or for the entire show. * This is the first time that I can say that I did not get attached to a single character, at all. I think this may be because of the lack of overall believable motivations any of the fighters have. * In 13 episodes you learn more about every other character, than you do the character that gives the show its namesake. The main character quickly becomes a side character in their own show. As the villains easily become the focal points and far more interesting the main character. There are episodes, where it feels like they put Baki in the episode just to remind the viewers that the show is about him. * Animation-wise this show is all over the place. The flat digital-animation used in dialouge is tolerable. However, when there are fights, the show transitions to this laggy CGI animation, comparable to that of the terrible cel-shading used for 3-D Gamecube games. * The character designs are actually very interesting and different to me, however the silhouettes and body shapes become a bit redundant sometimes. I give this an overall 4.75/10. If you're are looking for a hand-to-hand combat anime, that you don't have to think too hard about this is for you. This anime is pretty terrible, but I don't feel like I wanted my time. Nothing is resolved in the first season, and it didn't motivate me to care if a second season ever comes out.