If One Piece has taken the adventure genre by storm, then Baki is the front face of action manga. Every action maniac otaku is aware of Baki, and its Netflix anime adaptations have also garnered quite a bit of attention.
While both belong to the Shonen genre, they could not be more different. In fact, even their manga drawing styles are vastly different. But is one of them superior to the other?
Keisuke Itagaki and Rumiko Takahashi Discuss Their Visual-Centric Techniques
In an interview with Keisuke Itagaki, Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Inuyasha and Urusei Yatsura, talked about the primary techniques that she implements in her manga. Her first requirement is that the manga should be easy to read, and interesting for the reader.
Keeping the reader in mind is the most important aspect…I want the reader to feel, “I can see it” rather than “I can read it.”
Itagaki wholeheartedly agreed with her, and admitted that there are many manga where the sentences are structured to make it more interesting. Both mangakas praise a battle in Ashita no Joe, in which Danpei offers a lengthy explanation of his fight against Wolf Kanagushi. Both the authors agreed that this is a stellar example of a manga where reading is the focus.
Baki is more drawing-centric and does not use huge speech bubbles to explain a situation. While the authors agree on their preferred creating technique, they are respectful of other styles as well. In fact, they know that the ‘reading’ style also has its place.
Itagaki concludes that he always keeps in mind that any text panel should be readable in a breath.
But most of the time I want to make it understandable just by looking at it.
Another technique discussed by Takahashi is to divide the speech bubbles if a single dialogue becomes too long. In fact, the dialogues should encourage you to proceed to reading the next.
The Difference Between One Piece and Baki‘s Storytelling
Every mangaka’s storytelling techniques are different. You cannot compare one to the other, as they all serve different purposes based on the genre, intent, suitability, and the mangaka’s personal preference.
While Baki is an extremely visual-centric series with few explanations in speech bubbles or dialogue boxes, several other manga are the exact opposite. Eiichiro Oda‘s One Piece can be categorized as the polar opposite of Baki.
It is common knowledge that One Piece contains many panels for explanations. Many fans complain that these information-heavy chapters are exhausting to finish. While it is extremely tempting to skip a few panels, that is the gravest mistake to ever make with One Piece.
Every dialogue and panel in One Piece is important and could even prove to be an easter egg later in the series. This is especially true for explanation-heavy chapters as they set up the reader to receive humongous plot twists.
However, the lengthy dialogues aren’t a staple in One Piece. While some chapters have long explanations, others are immersed in battles with crisp dialogues. Baki, on the other hand, has always preferred minimal dialogues with beautiful action sequences.
You can read One Piece on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
