The Winter 2025 Anime Preview Guide

Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Season 2

In recognition of his achievements, Kinnikuman wins the "Survival Match for the Kinnikusei Throne," the final test of his career, and is crowned the 58th Great King of Kinnikusei! He returned to his home planet from Earth, got married, and said goodbye to eight years of fighting. About a year and a half later, the entire universe was supposed to be at peace...but following the dramatic appearance of the next round of Perfect Choujin, Kinnikuman and his allies must go to the Pyramid Ring and fight them to protect the peace.

Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Season 2 is based on a manga series by Yudetamago. The anime series is streaming on Netflix on Sundays.

One of the main things I love about Kinnikuman is how this series always finds a way of one-upping the sheer ridiculousness of what's happening. It's not enough that Perfect Choujin—whose themes include, but aren't limited to, a polar bear and I-can't-believe-it's-not-Devilman—have appeared. They must also fight in the most ancient of arenas: a pyramid full of pristine wrestling rings that have somehow been buried under the Egyptian sands. Of course, it's been there the whole time. Why wouldn't it be? It just makes sense. Obviously. Five (three) stars, no notes, wouldn't change a thing.

Predictably, though, this wasn't a terribly eventful episode. Season one ended with the appearance of more Perfect Choujin talking about the Pyramid Ring. So this episode, of course, is mostly spent watching our protagonists getting to the Pyramid Ring and talking about how cool it is that they're back following a medical suspension. A few matches have started, but nothing too substantial as of yet. It seems like Brocken Jr.'s match will be first, though, but I guess we'll see. But most of the fun of Kinnikuman is in the absurdity and the matches themselves. Even if not much happened in this episode, it doesn't dampen my excitement to watch more of this series.

Also, is Masaaki Endō doing the opening theme? How blessed we are, indeed! I've heard better openings by him (how is anything supposed to compete with his Gaogaigar opening?), but any time I get to hear a new song, I consider it a treat and a Kinnikuman series and Endo are a perfect match. That said, I can't talk about the tracks and not also talk about the ending theme, which is effectively an ode to Kinnikuman's love of gyudon. What a fun and silly song, and totally on-brand for Kinnikuman.

So, in short, it's not the most spectacular premiere episode, but the potential's there, and I'm looking forward to watching more all the same. This episode was more about set-up than anything else. But the animation still looks fine; it's neither the best nor worst-looking anime of the season, and it still looks perfectly on par with season one. While I doubt this'll be my choice for anime of the season, I nonetheless look forward to getting my weekly dose of anime wrestling.