When Netflix added shonen anime sensations like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and One Piece to its library, it lagged behind some of its competitors. But no one can argue the streamer wasn’t a forerunner in anime’s most underappreciated genre: mixed martial arts. After thrilling shows like Baki Hanma and Kengan Ashura (and in anticipation of their hotly-anticipated crossover special on the horizon), I hoped Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf would be yet another notch in Netflix’s belt. Unfortunately, you’re more likely to discreetly check your phone while Garouden is on than pump your fist alongside its enthralled peanut gallery.
Directed by Atsushi Ikariya and adapted from the 1989 manga of the same name, Garouden follows a martial artist named Juzo Fujimaki who is on the lam after killing the assailant of his instructor’s daughter. While living as a fugitive and saving stray civilians from threats that include, but are not limited to, grizzly bears, Juzo is coerced into joining a deadly underground fighting tournament called Kodoku. Garouden presents itself as an exhilarating firecracker of a drama about a man battling his inner demons and lethal martial artists with nothing to lose. In reality, it’s more akin to a slow-burning incense candle that threatens to lull its viewers to sleep.
Though unmarred by the jarring 3D animation that made early Baki and Kengan episodes difficult to watch, Garouden’s animation style is equal parts stiff and lifeless. Its eight-episode run is plagued by distractingly horrendous compositions in which 2D characters stand awkwardly within what appear to be airbrushed real-world environments. Although the attention to detail in the rotoscoped professional wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and karate moves is admirable, none of that matters when the fight scenes lack tension, drama, or a sense of struggle. Most of Garouden’s early bouts are as exciting to watch as current-day Steven Seagal performing half-assed wristlock takedowns to the beat of a raucous heavy metal soundtrack. And boy howdy does that music strain to inject some energy into this mediocre fighting anime.
More bizarre is the fact that Garouden seems to be aware that it’s not cooking in the action department. Most, if not all, of the tournament's fight scenes – which commence in the fourth episode – either end unceremoniously or exclusively depict the final blows. Which isn’t to say there are no stimulating visuals to be found here: Depicting Juzo fighting his “inner wolf” – a rough neon outline bursting at the seams – is a stellar choice.
Garouden is like a slow-burning incense candle that threatens to lull its viewers to sleep.
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Sadly, the only times the show effectively flexes its artistic muscles are during its opening and ending themes, which feature real-world macro photography of nature, growling wolves, and silhouettes of repurposed rotoscoping. Any anime where the credit sequences eclipse the animation sandwiched between them is on the back foot. Alas, that’s the case for all eight episodes of Garouden.
