Tamal Kundu
Netflix’s original net animation ‘Baki Hanma’ (alternatively known as ‘Hanma Baki – Son of Ogre’) is based on the namesake manga series written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki. The Shounen action-adventure manga is the third entry in the sprawling ‘Baki the Grappler’ series. The anime’s plot revolves around the eponymous character, an 18-year-old Baki Hanma, as he undergoes relentless training to prepare for his showdown with his father, Yujiro “Ogre” Hanma. In season 1, Baki abducts the US President so he will be sent to the Arizona State Prison, where Biscuit “Mr. Unchained” Oliva, the Strongest Man in America, is incarcerated. In season 2, a monstrous human from the Jurassic/Cretaceous era piques the interests of all the fighters around the world, including Baki, and they come to Tokyo, Japan, to test themselves against this titan. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘Baki Hanma’ season 2. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Baki Hanma Season 2 Recap
Toward the end of the first season, ‘Baki wins against Oliva, who forces him to leave the Arizona State Prison so he can be the most powerful man in the prison again. Meanwhile, in Colorado, excavators find a colossal man preserved in the rock salt layer 701 meters underground alongside a tyrannosaurus rex, revising the scientific presumption about the prehistoric world. The scientists, led by Noble laureate Albert Payne, initially think that the T-Rex was hunting the man. However, they soon realize that it was the other way around. The body of the T-Rex is damaged beyond repair, but the human’s isn’t. They try to revive him using the method that has been previously used to revive prehistoric microbes.
However, it isn’t this method that eventually wakes the prehistoric man. Instead, it’s the smell of T-Rex meat being cooked. The man doesn’t know the modern language, so his actual name, if he ever had one to begin with, is probably lost forever. People start calling him “Pickle” because he was found preserved in saline rock. Shortly after his revival, Pickle proves how incredibly strong and powerful he is when modern weapons, including a robotic exoskeleton, prove ineffective against him. Even bullets bounce off his skin. Eventually, Gerry Strydum comes and promises to take him to Japan, where there are fighters just like Pickle. Even though Pickle doesn’t understand exactly what is said to him, he calms down.
Arriving in Japan, Pickle rapes a female reporter who gets too close to him, despite the efforts made by the security personnel to stop him. Pickle doesn’t have any idea about the modern notion of morality; he does almost everything instinctively. However, it gradually becomes apparent that he does possess the intelligence of an average human being without the benefits of experience and education.
Predictably, he piques the interest of all great fighters in the world, including Yujiro, and they come to see him at the US-based facility. For men like these, Pickle poses an unprecedented challenge. The man’s diet comprised the dinosaurs he hunted and killed with his bare hands. It’s a tempting prospect to measure themselves against him. Initially, Baki chooses to stay away from all this. In the past, his desire to seek out challenging opponents has brought pain and misery to otherwise peaceful beings, and he really tries his best to avoid repeating that.
The first to challenge Pickle in modern times is Sea King Retsu, the champion Kung Fu fighter. It turns out that Pickle will not eat anything he hasn’t killed himself, prompting him to go a month without eating. Dr. Payne becomes concerned, as do Strydum and Mitsunari Tokugawa, who runs an underground arena under the Tokyo Dome. Because of his desire to fight Pickle, Retsu convinces Tokugawa to offer him as a potential prey.
While he puts up a brave fight, Retsu proves to be no match for the prehistoric man, who eats part of Retsu’s leg before he is knocked out. When Retsu wakes up at the hospital, he feels ashamed that he couldn’t keep his end of the bargain with Pickle but acknowledges that he wanted to live.
The next one to challenge Pickle is Katsumi Orochi, the adoptive son of Doppo Orochi and the current leader of the Shinshinkai Karate chain of dojos. With the help of Retsu and Grandmaster Kaku, Katsumi develops a style of attack that can break the sound barrier. For most of his life, Katsumi has been considered a spoiled prodigy, including by Doppo. When Yujiro tells him that no one respects him to his face, it seems to ignite a fire within the young man, and he works relentlessly in the fight against Pickle. It takes place at a baseball stadium in front of tens of thousands of people, most of whom are Shinshinkai disciples. Katsumi destroys his hands and one leg while delivering his sound-barrier-breaking attacks. Although Pickle rips out the arm with which Katsumi attacked him twice, he doesn’t eat it. Instead, he prays before retreating from the battlefield with an empty stomach.
The third fighter that challenges Pickle is Jack Hammer or Jack Hanma, Baki’s half-brother, who has made steroid cocktails part of his regimen and surgically restructured his body several times to gain more height. Hew matches Pickle’s ferocity but is defeated twice. As it becomes apparent that he will likely challenge Pickle again, Baki and others intervene. Inevitably, Baki takes the field against Pickle for their climactic fight. In the season finale, the fight comes to an epic conclusion. Meanwhile, the new American President, Barack Ozma, swears that the US will do its utmost to maintain an amicable relationship with Yujiro.
Baki Hanma Season 2 Ending: Does Baki Win Against Pickle?
Baki holds off his desire to fight Pickle for a long time. He acknowledges that Pickle is a rare specimen and should be treasured, but the fighter within him is as eager as ever to test his powers against this beast of a man. In one of the earlier episodes, Pickle slaps him into the stands while Baki is musing about being a better man and not challenging anything that might seem dangerous. Toward the end of the season, Baki waits on the other side of the arena, hoping Pickle will get hungry and attack him. But he learns that Dr. Payne has found a solution to their problem of feeding Pickle. He has brought the rest of the T-Rex to Japan and is now in the process of reproducing it in the lab. As Pickle only fights for food, he doesn’t have to fight again.
When Baki realizes this, he humiliates Pickle by slapping him, forcing him to evolve and fight for his pride. As the fight progresses, Baki slowly gains the upper hand through the techniques and skills he has accumulated over the years. However, when it seems he will win the match, Baki lets his hubris take control of his actions and fight Pickle on stamina alone, which is the latter’s forte. Pickle wins the fight by executing a move, once more doing something he has never done before.
Despite being a prehistoric man, Pickle has his own sense of honor. He cries over his defeated foes as a show of respect. Even the act of devouring his opponents stem from the respect he has for them. The fight between Pickle is only witnessed by three people: Retsu, Tokugawa, and Yakuza boss Hanayama. After the battle is over, Hanayama observes that Pickle was forced to use a move against Baki, even though the former was stronger. This underscores that Pickle was afraid of losing to a modern man and was forced to invent a move.
What Happens to Pickle?
After Pickle’s fight with Baki, the concerned parties wonder what to do with him. The only fear he has is of wasps, which is linked to a traumatic childhood experience. He tried to eat a wasp after killing it and suffered the effects of its venom, making him realize that there are things that can hurt him even if they are dead. As it is revealed that Pickle fought multiple modern fighters, a growing demand to return him to his original state begins to take shape.
Dr. Payne warns against such action, pointing out that they might be passing up their problem to a future generation. Eventually, a global vote is conducted to determine whether Pickle should be put back in the rock again or allowed to live in the present. About a billion people vote, and the former option wins by a little more than 1,000 votes. But before he can be put back in the saline rock, Pickle delivers the head of the T=Rex to Strydum as a show of appreciation before vanishing into the maze of Tokyo.
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