Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

- [rock theme music playing]
- [lyrics in Japanese]
[in English] Don't be, be, be afraid ♪
Don't be, be, be, be afraid ♪
BAKI-DOU: THE INVINCIBLE SAMURAI
[Baki] Everybody practices
running upstairs,
but where's the fun in that?
[sighs]
Now, running down them…
[sharp ping]
…all the way…
[gulps]
…in one go!
[dramatic music playing]
Legs and arms into it!
Keep falling!
And the only way not to fall
is to go even faster,
right to the bottom!
Oh, not again. Right now?
At a time like this?
How is that even possible?
There it is!
Another yawn?!
[grunts]
I knew that would happen.
Still, I'm kinda surprised.
[panting]
I never thought running downstairs
would be that boring.
[crowd cheering, whistling]
[man 1] I'm so bored.
I don't care about this belt anymore.
I'm getting tired of these pointless
"pound-for-pound" matches.
[man 2 grunting]
[man 1] I've been the champion
for seven years.
- I've won too many damn times.
- Huh? Hey!
[grunts]
[man 3] What's the matter with…
- [grunting, determined yelling]
- [man 1] I've had my fill.
[grunts]
[man 1] There's nothing else
this sport can give me.
[bones crunching]
[man 1] I don't wanna be known
as the best anymore.
I wanna be known as the strongest.
Huh?
All right, that's enough!
[shocked gasping, murmuring]
But, Mr. Atlas, I don't understand.
Why go to Japan?
That's obvious, isn't it?
Everyone knows the strongest man
in the world calls Japan his home.
Can you explain why you want to fight?
Seems to me you've already gotten
your fair share of recognition.
Am I wrong?
I have, but then I saw
that fight between father and son.
[Tokugawa chuckles]
Well, isn't that interesting?
And what did you think of the fight?
Never in my life
have I seen the human body move
with such grace and beauty.
So… that was the impetus.
Shogun Tokugawa,
it's come to my attention
that you're promoting that boy,
Baki Hanma.
[Tokugawa] Hmm.
You think you can beat Baki Hanma?
Well, I am here, aren't I?
I came to the other side
of the world to find out.
I'm assuming you're aware that this battle
will be light on rules, hmm?
[chuckles wryly]
That's precisely why I came.
It's no secret
you make over 400 million yen per match.
I do, yes.
But in this match you're promoting,
I'm not looking to be paid.
The title of "The Strongest on Earth"
will be payment enough.
[chuckling] I don't know,
that kid fights pretty hard.
And I do too.
Well, in that case…
are you in any condition to fight?
I'm always ready.
We could have the fight tonight.
- All right, then. Tonight it is.
- [splutters] Tonight?!
The match will go forward this evening.
- Oh, well, let's not rush into this.
- Is there a problem?
No! No, no, no, no, no!
I've got no problem at all.
It's just that tonight is a little sudden.
And Baki Hanma hasn't even been informed
about the match yet.
[Tokugawa slurping]
[satisfied sigh] Mm-hmm. I assure you,
he's got nothing else to do tonight.
So he'd be killing time
with our fight? [chuckles]
There is something you should know,
Mr. Atlas.
Baki Hanma will never pass on a fight.
[Atlas] Oh…
Baki is the strongest
because he never refuses a fight.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime.
[Atlas grunting softly]
Yes, that's right. It would be tonight.
Against an American,
some kind of martial artist.
Mixed martial arts. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, he's… he's a heavyweight.
That's right. Mm-hmm.
All right, perfect. Uh-huh. Okay, thanks.
- He says he'll do it!
- Oh… oh.
[Atlas] Soon my opponent will arrive.
He'll come striding through that doorway.
The one they call the strongest.
[crowd cheering excitedly]
[uneasy music playing]
[crowd cheering, whistling]
[Atlas] This…
kid?
That's Baki Hanma?
[Baki] Hmm.
[Atlas] It's definitely the same face
I saw on the video.
But he's so…
so small.
Is he a featherweight?
Lightweight at best.
I mean, he's only half my size.
I see now. Look at all the scars
carved into his body.
And at such a young age.
No doubt this kid is a seasoned warrior.
Each scar, each and every one,
are all pieces of this boy's history.
- [daunting music playing]
- [Atlas gasps]
[gasping]
[shocked gasping]
What the fuck did I just see?
In front of me is a boy
who could easily be mistaken for a girl.
And behind him,
a monster that feels both new
and strangely familiar.
[confused muttering]
[gasping]
[shocked murmuring]
[man] Excuse me. Sir?
- Mr. Atlas?
- Uh…
[man] Are you ready to begin, Mr. Atlas?
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'll say it once more.
All weapons are prohibited. That is all.
Fight fair and square,
and may the strongest man win.
[Atlas chuckles smugly]
Now, that's a simple rule.
As long as I don't use weapons,
anything goes.
Hmm. You're aware that this battle
will be light on rules, hmm?
[Atlas] This is exactly what I wanted.
- [crowd chanting] Sam Atlas!
- Huh?
[crowd] Sam Atlas! Sam Atlas! Sam Atlas!
- Sam Atlas!
- [Sam] They're calling my name?
Sam Atlas!
Sam Atlas! Sam Atlas!
[Sam chuckles] Are they cheering
for the underdog?
[crowd] Sam Atlas!
[Sam] Are they implying that a victory
is unlikely for me, a heavyweight?
How can their faith in this puny child
be so unshakable?
It should be obvious
to anyone looking at us
that Baki Hanma weighs
half as much as I do.
Even the legendary boxer who fought
in ten different weight classes,
Manny Pacquiao, wouldn't dare
challenge a heavyweight to a fight.
Weight difference is a wall
that not even legends can overcome.
Baki Hanma,
what is this magic that you use?
[referee grunts]
[Sam] How will you try
to take on someone like me?!
Ah, I can't wait to find out!
He's a flawless fighter.
He executed a perfect victory,
and in a matter of seconds.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye,
the entire match was settled.
I knew it when I first saw him.
Here I was, brimming with excitement
at the prospect of a fight,
but Baki, his expression,
his body language…
He was clearly bored.
I forcefully stomped my foot down,
then followed
with a high kick at close range.
But that was all a feint.
I came in with a hidden straight
that I thought would connect.
But he dodged it.
And right then, he grabbed me.
[dramatic musical sting]
This wasn't any kind of human strength.
I couldn't pry him off,
and my grip strength is almost 300 pounds.
And then he apparently shook me.
That's all that I can remember.
I blacked out,
because my brain was being slammed
up against the inner walls of my skull.
Repeatedly and incessantly.
No room for ifs or buts.
A truly decisive victory.
[birds twittering]
[Sam] What sticks with me most
is what I saw in the end.
[chuckles to himself]
He's a nice guy.
He didn't wanna add insult to injury.
I know because I saw him
trying to stifle his yawn.
[man] The prime minister
is waiting for you.
[Tokugawa] Then he can wait a little more.
[man] Understood, sir.
Is it me,
or does the tower look a little twisted?
[Tokugawa chuckles]
Of course it does. It is DNA, after all.
[man] Huh? D… DNA?
Allow me to welcome you,
honored Prime Minister.
The staff and myself
have been awaiting your arrival.
I, uh…
My apologies, Prime Minister.
My name is Hitoshi Nonomura.
I work as the project's team leader.
Team leader? Okay.
[Tokugawa] Mr. Prime Minister,
the wheels have already been
set in motion.
I, uh, I'm not sure what you mean.
We can't back out of it now.
Uh, my lord, I mean no disrespect,
but I'm afraid I haven't been informed
of any of the specifics or details
of today's meeting.
I was just told to come in workwear.
[mysterious music playing]
[Nonomura] We won't be making any stops.
This elevator will take us
straight to the lab,
366 meters underground.
[Prime Minister] What on earth
could this be about? Underground?
And more than 300 meters?
All beneath Skytree, no less?
Why is it buried so deep?
- How has Mr. Honer been doing lately?
- He's been waiting for you.
[Prime Minister] What exactly
are they planning on showing me?
Wonderful to see you again, Mr. Tokugawa.
[Prime Minister] Something like this
under Skytree?
This is unbelievable.
How did they do all this?
I never heard about this.
How was I never told
about this secret base?!
Mr. Tokugawa!
Mr. Tokugawa!
[Tokugawa grunts softly]
I deserve an explanation!
Why, certainly. It's for my creation.
Your… "creation"?
What it is you're making?
Exactly 1,000 meters
below the top of the Tree,
we are working on building a human being.
Don't tell me…
You wouldn't! [gasps]
You're not making a clone?
Prime Minister, follow me if you will.
[Prime Minister] What is this? A mummy?
My goodness, it's huge!
Uh, who am I looking at?
I believe it's someone
that you might know.
He needs no introduction.
He comes from far, far away,
from Kumamoto, in fact,
and his name is Musashi Miyamoto.
[terrified yelling]
[Tokugawa] Keep your voice down!
Are you trying to wake him?
[chuckles] But I jest,
the whole purpose of this project is
to wake him from this slumber.
[hesitating nervously] Musashi Miyamoto?
Our team of experts, led by
the incomparable Dr. John here…
Howdy.
…successfully removed
the fossilized spinal cord
and were able to extract
intact blood vessels.
But even more exciting were
the viable red blood cells that remained.
Essentially, we were able to harvest
soft tissue and proteins from the remains.
It's insane! Stop your research!
The international scientific community
has agreed
human matter should never
be used for clones!
[chuckling] Mr. Prime Minister,
I wonder if you'd have the courage
to say the same thing
in front of Musashi himself.
[narrator] This grave can be found
in the Kumamoto Prefecture,
a precious cultural heritage site.
However, the remains
once interred here have disappeared.
It was the body of Musashi Miyamoto,
buried here in the second year
of the Shoho Era.
[intriguing music playing]
[Honer] I will never be able to forget
the excitement I felt that day.
The day I got my hands on the spine
of a Tyrannosaurus Rex,
a dream I'd had for years.
At long last, I could finally do it.
Every laboratory or museum that I visited
flatly rejected my proposal
to split the spine.
Their reluctance was something
I simply couldn't understand.
Why are so many paleontologists content
with just displaying their specimens?
Why conduct your examinations
from the outside?
The interior has so much to tell us.
The spinal cord. The skull.
The eggs.
Why not split the specimens open?
What's the most important part of the egg?
It's not what you can see,
but what's inside.
The shell is just a capsule!
And my reasoning was sound.
Indeed, the experiments I administered
went beyond my expectations.
At the time, it was common knowledge
that only the hard elements
of a body could fossilize,
such as bones, teeth, and eggs.
There came a day
that knowledge was overturned.
When I found soft tissue,
I discovered blood vessels
inside the spilt fossil of a spine,
and that spinal tissue was
more than 70 million years old.
The vessels were still flexible.
They could even be stretched.
Furthermore, when I analyzed the proteins
from the fibers attached to the bones,
I found the amino acids
and their chain sequence.
In fact, I was the one who discovered
that dinosaurs share
a distinct genetic relationship to birds.
It was only a matter of time
before I'd be able to extract
genes and DNA.
Yes, creating living clones of dinosaurs
was no longer a pipe dream.
And so I publicly presented my thesis,
and the response was tremendous.
Just four days after my presentation,
I was paid a visit
by a gentleman from Tokyo.
He arrived with a trunk full of cash.
He explained that it was a deposit.
You really think that money will buy me?
I'm insulted!
But that amount of money
was nothing to be insulted by.
What I found waiting for me in Tokyo
was a small, sharp-eyed man
who looked like he had stepped
out of a samurai movie.
His code name was "Noble Elder."
I would like you to help me.
[Honer] At first, I didn't understand
what he was asking.
But then, he cut to the chase
and asked me directly.
And this is what he said…
I want to make a human.
[Honer] Since he was making this request
of a paleontologist,
he wasn't talking about practices
or personalities.
No, he was proposing human cloning.
The international consensus
on cloning of human genetic materials
was that it was clearly taboo.
I was defending this logic as common sense
when I heard something
that made me doubt my own ears.
I will provide the remains
of Musashi Miyamoto.
[gasps]
I was visibly stunned
by this out-of-nowhere name drop.
Naturally I knew who Musashi Miyamoto was.
The most famous swordsman in history.
The legendary samurai.
A symbol of historical significance.
- Will you have a look?
- Yes, I want to see it!
Considering the fossils
you've been working on,
he may as well be flesh and blood.
[Honer] That shock was just a prelude
of things to come.
A huge facility had been prepared for me
366 meters underground.
It was spectacular.
By far the most advanced
experimental facility that I'd ever seen.
The scale, the equipment,
all of it was so incredible,
it was unbelievable.
Behind a series
of highly reinforced doors,
there Musashi lie as if in a deep sleep.
Allow me to explain.
[Honer] The awe was so profound
that the old man's words
no longer reached my ears.
The tower aboveground
was nothing more than camouflage,
634 meters tall.
Six-three-four in Japanese
can be read as Musashi,
naming it after him.
The structure features a spiral
that can be seen when peering up at it,
representative of
the twisting double-helix of DNA.
But all those cleverly hidden secrets
didn't matter at all to me.
Noble Elder.
- Huh?
- I don't need the money.
Just let me do it.
I know I can.
I will bring him back to life.
Even if it goes against God's will?
[Honer] At the prospect
of dazzling immortality,
I turned my back on God
without a moment's hesitation.
Oh, thank you. Thank you, Noble Elder!
DIE, BAKI
[narrator] Baki had completed
his regular training for the day.
He was so exhausted,
he could scarcely move.
He was enjoying the sound
of his own heartbeat in his chest.
[heartbeat pounding]
[narrator] Then something echoed
in the boy's ears,
a reverberation
different from his own heartbeat.
- An unrelenting rhythm.
- [Baki gasps]
- [heartbeat reverberating]
- [uneasy music playing]
[Baki] That's not
my heartbeat.
[gasps]
Who the hell's is it?
[heartbeat reverberating]
[Baki] Huh? Who could it belong to?
[heartbeat reverberating]
[Baki] What am I hearing?
Whose heartbeat is this?
[heartbeat reverberating]
[Baki] It's not any beat I know.
It's… it's different.
It's none of them.
[narrator] With painstaking care,
the spinal cord of master swordsman
Musashi Miyamoto was removed.
It appeared almost more feline in shape
than human.
In fact, its shape was reminiscent of that
of large cats like lions or tigers.
[Nonomura] My God, look at it!
[Honer] It's in even better condition
then I could've imagined!
I agree, Professor. But all the same,
isn't it too thick for a human?
And the shape… It doesn't even look like
it came from a hominid.
Skeletons can be quite eloquent.
The shape and size of the bones
can be seen as testaments.
They show the owner's
life practices and activities.
If that hypothesis proves to be true,
this must be the spine of a samurai.
We don't see the skin
or the muscle beneath it.
His training was so rigorous,
he changed his skeleton.
That was the daily life
of this legendary swordsman.
[Nonomura] I wonder what his face
looked like as a result.
The self-portrait left behind
is too stylized.
I wish that da Vinci
or Vermeer had painted him.
Have you forgotten, Mr. Nonomura?
We don't need a portrait
to know what the man looked like.
Because, with his DNA,
we will create a living,
breathing, Mr. Musashi!
[dramatic music playing]
Pr… Professor!
Please come take a look, Mr. Nonomura.
You don't even need a microscope.
You can see the arteries
with the naked eye.
[Nonomura] You're right. I can see it.
I can even see
the elasticity you talked about.
Mr. Tokugawa was
absolutely right about this.
These remains aren't mummified.
It's almost flesh!
Just look at how abnormally thick
his vessels and arteries were!
We will become the parents
of a brand-new Mr. Musashi!
- [laughs wildly]
- Be careful.
[Baki panting]
[tense music playing]
All right, how long
has this been going on?
As usual, I've already run
more than 25 miles.
I can't blame it on overtraining.
Moving my body,
that's the only way
that I can heal myself.
Oh! Oh, here it comes again?
And at the tail end of a full marathon.
[yawning]
Hmm.
That mysterious heartbeat,
the yawning that won't quit…
Just what is this?
I feel like something's coming.
- ["Mountain Top" by Novel Core playing]
- [lyrics in Japanese]
[in English] Yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah ♪
I'm on the mountaintop, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah ♪
I'm on the mountaintop, yeah ♪
[music ends]