Interest
Baki manga crowdfunds creation of life-size underground fighting arena
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
An exhibition to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Baki martial arts manga will bring the series' underground arena to life--if organizers can raise enough money. Staff are attempting to raise 2,200,000 yen (US$19,700) in a crowdfund campaign on the Campfire website. The campaign will allow for the creation of a full-size underground arena for display at Gallery AaMo in the Tokyo Dome City entertainment district. The arena will also contain remnants of past battles, including bones and teeth of previous fighters.
The organizers jokingly claimed to have consent from Baki character Mitsunari Tokugawa, the man who runs the underground arena in the original manga and anime series. The character will give remarks on the project to backers that support the campaign in December.
In order to entice contributions, the organizers have prepared multiple rewards, including putting backers' names in episodes of the Baki anime, acrylic dioramas, art boards, enamel pins, framed artwork prints, soft plastic figures, and shikishi signed by Baki creator Keisuke Itagaki.
The Baki exhibition is set to open on March 5, 2022 and run until April 17, 2022.
Baki Hanma, the latest anime adaptation of Itagaki's manga series, premiered on Netflix on September 30.
Netflix describes the anime:
The story finally unfolds into a full-blooded clash between Baki Hanma and his father, Yujiro Hanma, who is known as the "strongest creature on earth." The climax of the Baki universe, which depicted the "strongest parent-child brawl in history of the world" in the original manga, has been adapted into the long-awaited anime!
Keisuke Itagaki's original Baki The Grappler (Grappler Baki) martial arts manga ran in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine from 1991 to 1999, and the 42 compiled book volumes from Akita Shoten have more than 63 million copies in circulation.
