Summary

Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf on Netflix promises epic martial arts action with challenging matches that are fresh and realistic. Netflix's success with martial arts anime like Baki shows its growing ability to find great content for anime fans around the world. Garouden's rich universe, with nearly 40 years of content, offers endless potential for engaging, action-packed stories on Netflix.

With the May 2024 launch of Garouden: Path of the Lone Wolf, Netflix continues its impressive expansion into the anime space with an epic story of no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle martial arts. Indeed, the film promises to deliver everything a martial arts and combat sports anime fan could hope for. However, beyond its entertainment value as a series, Garouden is also a gateway into a wider universe of “strongest man” stories that present a more realistic depiction of the brutally violent world of challenge matches and alley brawls that more mainstream series like Dragon Ball or The God of High School gloss over.

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

Juzo got into trouble with the law and as a result went underground. Now, years later, he appears from the shadows with the intention of solving some problems and getting his life back. He was tougher than before he ran away and determined to stand his ground at all costs. Indeed, Garouden's Juzo may be different from the typical protagonist, but his tougher approach will be obvious to any martial arts anime fan.

Netflix anime viewers love martial arts

Since the initial release of Keisuke Itagaki's Baki in 2018, Netflix has clearly recognized the appeal of martial arts and combat sports stories to anime audiences. According to a Netflix statement at the time, Baki is one of the most famous titles among all its shows and series becoming one of the top ten series in nearly 50 countries. The following year, Netflix launched another martial arts classic, Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon's Kengan Ashura, followed by the Baki Baki Hanma sequel in 2021. The upcoming release of Garouden is clearly a good fit. with the company's development philosophy.

However, Juzo's story alone does not make up the entire story of Garouden. Indeed, Juzo is a supporting character in a larger cast of characters, all of whom – like Juzo – possess seriously deadly abilities with their hands and feet. Garouden is based on a series of martial arts novels that Yumemakura wrote back in 1985. Most of the series' older chapters were later adapted into various but related manga series – first by artist Jirou Taniguchi, then Keisuke Itagaki of Baki. famous, and then Masumi Nobe.

The real star of the Garouden story is Bunshichi Tanba, an extremely talented, tough, and confident karateka/street fighter with a “Goku Complex.” He lives to train and fight and wants nothing more than to become the best warrior ever. To achieve that goal, he challenges and confronts all who come. Despite his initial success, he was eventually defeated by a warrior whose skill level he believed was much lower. So he begins his journey to train, fight and improve himself so that one day he will defeat the man he lost to and continue his ultimate quest to become the best.

Netflix has an ever-increasing ability to find good Anime content

As in most other martial arts manga, Tanba tends to test his training by fighting others meaning he faces countless opponents. However, instead of just introducing them as the main character's next opponents, Yumemakura pays close attention to the backgrounds and origins of most of the opponents like Tanba. This is how the story happened with Juzo – the star of the new Netflix anime.

After Juzo brutally settled some of his scores, the community mistakenly believed that Tanba was someone who went around beating people. When Tanba learned of this, he searched all the underground and back alley spots often associated with challenge battles. Finally, he found and identified Juzo as the culprit. Of course, he then confronts and challenges Juzo.

Keisuke Itagaki is the writer of most of the Garouden manga. In 2018, Yumemakura returned the favor by authoring the ongoing Yuuenchi – Baki Garden series – a Baki spin-off series integrating characters from the Baki and Garouden universes.

If Netflix Anime wanted to grow its martial arts/combat sports library, they couldn't have chosen a better source of content than Garouden. First, with nearly forty years – and counting – of content, it offers a nearly bottomless mine of stories from which anime creators can sift through. Indeed, the first season's focus on Juzo Fujimaki demonstrates the diversity of stories available for adaptation.

To be sure, Juzo's story isn't the most interesting one in the series. Second, Yumemakura's attention to detail about the world of fighting highlights universal values ​​such as perseverance, dedication, and discipline that will resonate with fans, regardless of their background. martial arts fan or not. Netflix definitely booked Garouden in a great position to become the next hit series – for years to come.

Source: Netflix