It is something that happens very rarely in animated film when two well known anime series battle it out. And it comes as no surprise that this crossover movie by TMS Entertainment, Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura, is just what its name suggests; however, Baki and Kengan Ashura respectively presented their leaders: the protagonist of the book who was a rascal Ohma Tokita and The eponymous Baki Hanma. Therefore, while these films have been touted as being able to create a level playing field between them as they explored possibilities for compelling blood feuds that could spark into life at any moment and be resolved with the kind of high stakes such stories deserve, this has not been achieved here.
In contrast to Kengan’s team of flashy young upstarts who are often seen as the away team, Baki’s cast members are portrayed as a bunch of frightening veterans from underground martial arts world. This does not come off as surprising when you consider how many more episodes and tournament arcs Baki has compared to Kengan. For two seasons now, Kengan hasn’t even completed its first tournament arc yet, and Ohma still has some ways to go before realizing his full potential. In other words, we are talking about a film where all the potential blood feuds would be treated like friendly exhibitions instead of becoming an even playing field.
All things considered though, Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura takes itself far too seriously because if it didn’t then probably there would be no reason for us to watch it. It so happens that while jogging one morning, both Baki and Ohma stumble upon each other and in their eyes lock together there occurs an earthquake. Meanwhile every other fight in the movie has been teasing out each respective anime’s guys with showy flashbacks, also letting everyone speak their piece (even if we know exactly what will happen next). All of these fights in Baki VS Kengan Ashura are packed with twisted body horror, incredible knockouts and unusual styles. Moreover, any of these battles that take place consist of easily understood motions because of the over-exaggerated movement by Baki Hanma’s titular fight choreography.
While the 2D art style of the former and a pumping metal soundtrack ripped off from Kengen Ashura are used well here, this is not the case for everything else in this movie, which lacks an important ingredient that makes both shows so special: their strange narrators. Instead there is play by play and color commentary coming out from the peanut gallery fighters instead of you know what. But it also interrupts combat flow, which has always been a trademark of both series, to an extent. This is further compounded by countless cutaway gags where characters critique each other’s physiques, have impromptu arm wrestling contests or dare each other into chicken fights in the lavatory all contributing to defeat senseless revelry as opposed to advancing it.
Most terrible than that though is when it ends up feeling like a series of disjointed signature moves one after another without much connecting tissue to make these blows feel as though they belong together as one impressive move set. And then it becomes even more annoying with those foolish aside onto side-characters whose funny pay-off lines don’t justify their existence eating into the film’s three dream match-ups during its hour long runtime.
Final Words
Baki VS Kengan Ashura is better off watched with a little caution. It’s tough not to be dissatisfied by just how harmlessly this crossover handles its dream matches, even though most of the fights in it are explosive and insane. The sum total of martial arts anime between Baki Hanma and Kengan Ashura is much more compelling than what is presented here. That does not mean that it’s dull think rather of it as an optional after-dinner sweet for those who have eaten a whole meal of each series at once.
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