Editor’s note: The original April 2022 version of this article was lost, and no archived copy could be found. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the sources cited below, and added what happened afterward. “Season 4” is a shorthand used by some outlets and fans, not Netflix’s name for the series; the article explains how the numbering works.
Fans waiting for a fourth round of Netflix’s “Baki” got their answer in late March. Netflix announced that “Baki Hanma,” the latest series in the martial arts franchise, will get a second season, Anime News Network reported. Some outlets and fans have called that new season “Baki season 4,” but Netflix does not use that name, as explained below.
Why it gets called season 4
Netflix has released its “Baki” anime under three different titles, and ANN described “Baki Hanma” as the third Baki series on Netflix, in its report on the new season. That is why the numbering gets confusing.
- “Baki” (2018): 26 episodes that premiered on Netflix in Japan on June 25, 2018. Outside Japan, Netflix released the first 13 episodes in December 2018 and the second half on March 19, 2019, according to ANN. Five death row inmates come looking for Baki, hoping someone can finally beat them.
- “Baki: The Great Raitai Tournament Saga” (2020): Netflix India began streaming what ANN called the second season of “Baki” under this title on June 4, 2020, ANN reported.
- “Baki Hanma” (2021): All 12 episodes were released on Sept. 30, 2021, ANN’s encyclopedia lists. ANN described it as a sequel to the Raitai tournament series.
Counted in order, the newly announced “Baki Hanma” season would be the fourth season, which is where “Baki season 4” comes from. Netflix’s announcement, however, called it the second season of “Baki Hanma.” Outlets were using the shorthand well before then: ComicBook.com ran the headline “Netflix Confirms Fourth Season Of Baki” in September 2020 for what became “Baki Hanma,” and What’s on Netflix later added a note that a “Part 4” under that name was not happening and that the series would continue as “Baki Hanma.”
What the new season is about
ANN reported that the new season will focus on Pickle, a fighter described as a warrior from a bygone, primitive age. Netflix’s description of the earlier “Baki Hanma” season, which ANN quoted, calls it a clash between Baki and his father, Yujiro Hanma, who is billed as the strongest being on the planet.
The anime adapts Keisuke Itagaki’s “Hanma Baki – Son of Ogre” manga, which ran in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shōnen Champion from 2005 to 2012, ANN noted. Itagaki’s saga began in the same magazine in 1991 with “Baki the Grappler.”
Cast and release date
ANN’s report on the announcement did not include a cast or a release date. In the first “Baki Hanma” season, Nobunaga Shimazaki voiced Baki, Akio Ōtsuka voiced Yujiro and Toshiki Hirano directed, ANN’s encyclopedia shows. ANN also reported that Kenji Nojima, Yasuhiro Mamiya, Kōichi Yamadera and Masashi Ebara joined the cast for that season.
Until Netflix set a date, any premiere window was a guess.
What happened next
The wait lasted more than a year. In May 2023, What’s on Netflix reported that the season would arrive in two parts. “The Tale of Pickle & The Pickle War Saga” streamed on July 26, 2023, and “The Father VS Son Saga” followed on Aug. 24, 2023. ANN’s encyclopedia lists 27 episodes for the season, with Shimazaki and Ōtsuka back as Baki and Yujiro.
Netflix then paired the franchise with another fighting manga. “Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura,” a crossover film in which Baki faces Ohma Tokita, premiered worldwide on June 6, 2024, Netflix announced.
The next full series moved on to Itagaki’s later manga. “Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai,” in which a secret plan seeks to revive the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, was set to release all 13 episodes on Netflix on Feb. 26, 2026, Anime Corner reported in January 2026. Hirano is listed as director, with TMS Entertainment handling animation production. ANN’s page for the series lists a press release dated June 18, 2026 saying Part 2 was available on Netflix.
