Baki Season 2 Pushes Worldwide Debut to June 4

Production of the second season of hardcore fisticuffs anime Baki March of 2019 has been more than a little rocky. After the first season premiered on Netflix back in December of 2018, fans were clamoring for more. An announcement in revealed that the follow-up season would be premiering in December of that year, but the calendar date came and went with no Baki. It’s taken a little longer than expected, but now Netflix has confirmed that the new season of the over-the-top martial arts series is set to debut worldwide on Netflix on June 4.

The anime continues the Netflix-produced anime adaptation of Keisuke Itagaki’s manga Baki (New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero). Season one premiered on Netflix in Japan with a weekly broadcast starting on June of 2018, but wouldn’t be released outside of Japan until December of that year. The new season, however, is set to debut across the globe on the same day and date. Along with news of the new release plans, 12 new characters and voice actors have been revealed for season two:

Kenichi Ogata as Kaku Kaiō
Yoshiyuki Kouno as Son Kaiō
Yasuhiko Kawazu as Yō Kaiō
Daichi Endō as Mon Kaiō
Ryuuzo Hasuike as Jo Kaiō
Hiroaki Ishikawa as Mō Kaiō
Takanori Hoshino as Samwan Kaiō
Tomoaki Ikeda as Ri Kaiō
Satoshi Taki as Han Kaiō
Yutaka Aoyama as Juku Kaiō
Hideaki Tezuka as Shobun Ron
Hiroki Yasumoto as Shunsei Kaku

The voice cast from the first season of Baki is also set to return, while GRANRODEO will be performing the opening theme song for the series. The ending song, meanwhile, will be performed by Ena Fujita.

Netflix describes the story of Baki as follows:

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 is once again being produced at TMS Entertainment, the company responsible for Lupin III and ReLIFe, with much of the staff and crew from the first season of Baki returning to work on the second season of the show. Toshiki Hirano, known for his work on Rayearth, Dangaioh, and Magic Kaito: Kid the Phantom Thief, will be directing the new season. Character designs are being handled by Fujio Suzuki and Shingo Ishikawa. The former previously worked on Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo and 009-1, New Getter Robo, while the latter was on staff for Tetsujin 28: Morning Moon of Midday. Tatsuhiko Urahata is in charge of series scripts, having previously worked on DNA², Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, and Tsuredure Children. The second season of Baki will have a new art director, though, with Masanori Nishiyama taking on the role. As for other returning staff, Hiromi Miyawaki is once again handling color design, Tatsuo Noguchi is the director of photography, Yuriko Sano is the editor, Kenji Fujisawa is composing music, and the sound directors are Keiko Urakami and Yasuyuki Uragami.