Netflix Expands Growing Anime Library With New Adaptation of a Martial Arts Classic

Summary Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf on Netflix promises epic martial arts action with a fresh and realistic take on challenge matches.

Netflix's success with martial arts anime like Baki shows its growing ability to find great content for anime fans worldwide.

The rich universe of Garouden, with nearly 40 years of content, offers endless potential for engaging, action-packed stories on Netflix.

With the debut in May 2024 of Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf, Netflix continues its impressive expansion into the anime space with an epic story of bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred martial arts. Indeed, the show promises to be everything a fan of martial arts and combat sports anime could ever hope for. However, outside its entertainment value as a series, Garouden is also a gateway to a wider universe of "strongest man" tales that present a more realistic depiction of the brutally violent world of challenge matches and back alley brawling that more mainstream series such as Dragon Ball or The God of High School gloss over.

As recently revealed by Netflix Anime, Garouden, which is adapted from the Baku Yamemakura and Keisuke Itagaki manga by the same name, which was the remake of the original manga by Yamemakura and Jiro Taniguchi, will premiere on May 23, 2024. According to the trailer, the story will center on Juzu Fujimaki, a master practitioner of the Takemiya Ryu school of martial arts - which, according to the manga, is an eclectic style of fighting that combines elements of Karate, Judo, and Greco-Roman Wrestling.

Juzo has gotten into trouble with the law and, as a result, has gone underground. Now, years later, he emerges from the shadows bent on settling a few scores and getting his life back. He's tougher than he was before he ran away and determined to stand his ground at all costs. Indeed, Garouden's Juzo may differ from the typical protagonist, but his tougher-than-nails approach will be obvious to any fan of martial arts anime.

Netflix Anime Watchers Love Martial Arts

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Since first releasing Keisuke Itagaki's Baki in 2018, Netflix has noticeably picked up on the appeal that martial arts and sports combat stories have with its anime-watching audience. According to a Netflix statement at the time, Baki was one of its most popular titles among all its shows and series becoming one of the top ten series in almost 50 countries. The next year, Netflix dropped another martial arts classic, Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon's Kengan Ashura, which was followed by Baki's sequel Baki Hanma in 2021. The upcoming release of Garouden is clearly in line with its development philosophy.

Juzo's story alone, however, does not constitute the full extent of the Garouden narrative. Indeed, Juzo is a secondary figure in a larger cast of characters, all of whom - much like Juzo - possess seriously deadly abilities with the hands and feet. Garouden is based on a series of martial arts novels that Yumemakura has been writing since 1985. Most of the older chapters of the franchise were later adapted into several different but linked manga series - first by artist Jirou Taniguchi, then by Keisuke Itagaki, of Baki fame, and later by Masumi Nobe.

The real star of the Garouden tale is Bunshichi Tanba, an extremely talented, tough, and confident karateka/street fighter with a "Goku Complex". He lives for training and combat and wants nothing more than to be the best fighter there ever was. To that end, he challenges and takes on all comers. While initially successful, he is eventually defeated by a fighter he believes is well below his own level of skill. So begins his quest to train, fight, and improve himself so that he will one day defeat the man he lost to and continue on his ultimate quest to be the best.

Related Every Anime on Netflix Netflix is a great place to stream anime, and with over 200 series and movies on the surface, fans certainly have plenty of options.

Netflix Has A Growing Ability To Find Great Anime Content

As in most other martial arts manga stories, Tanba's tendency to test out his training by fighting others means he comes across a multitude of opponents. However, rather than just introducing them as the protagonist's next opponent, Yumemakura gives most opponents as much attention to the background and origins as he does Tanba. This is how the story comes upon Juzo - the star of the new Netflix anime.

After Juzo settles a few of his scores, in brutal fashion, the community mistakenly believes it's Tanba who's been going around beating up people. When Tanba learns of this, he searches all the underground and back alley spots normally associated with challenge fights. Eventually, he finds and identifies Juzo as the culprit. Of course, he then confronts and challenges Juzo to a duel.

Keisuke Itagaki has penciled the majority of the Garouden manga. In 2018 Yumemakura returned the favor by authoring the ongoing Yuuenchi - Baki Garden series - a Baki spinoff series that integrates characters from the Baki and Garouden universes.

If Netflix Anime wants to grow its martial arts/combat sports library, they couldn't have picked a better source for content than Garouden. First, with nearly forty years - and counting - of content, it offers a near-bottomless well of stories that anime creators can pick and choose from. Indeed, the debut season's focus on Juzo Fujimaki demonstrates the variety of stories that are available to adapt.

To be sure, Juzo's story is far from being the most interesting in the series. Second, Yumemakura's attention to detail about the fighting world details common values such as perseverance, dedication, and discipline that will resonate with fans, regardless of whether they are fans of martial arts or not. Netflix has certainly put Garouden in a great position to be the next hit series - for years to come.

Source: Netflix