When it comes to the manga world, fans might consider few authors more successful than Yoshihiro Togashi: the genius brain behind Hunter x Hunter, the superhit action/fantasy manga series that has been fans’ favorite for over 24 years up until its most recent volume released last year.
However, as it turns out, someone tougher has beaten Togashi in his own game, and that someone is Keisuke Itagaki, aka the mastermind behind the epic martial arts manga, Baki the Grappler, which has entertained fans worldwide for over 32 years.
Keisuke Itagaki’s Baki the Grappler Became More Successful Than Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter
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Manga fans know what a legendary series Baki the Grappler has been. Unlike anything else, the series has been winning the readers’ hearts with Keisuke Itagaki’s unique art and writing. So much so, that it even beat Yoshihiro Togashi‘s Hunter x Hunter for becoming one of the most successful manga series of all time.
Though Itagaki is not well known publicly as he highly values his privacy, his works on Baki are a true masterpiece. His intense attention to every little detail, expansive fight dialogues, ferocious fights, and thoroughly detailed facial expressions to make Baki the greatest fighter in the world (both manga as well as real) certainly paid off, for fans just can’t get enough of his works.
As it turns out, Baki the Grappler has successfully sold more than 85 million copies ever since its debut in the manga industry back in 1991. On average, this stands at around 600,000 copies of every single Baki tankobon sold. This is huge as compared to Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter, which had over 80 million copies in circulation while being a critical hit among fans.
Thanks to this immensely rewarding response from fans, Keisuke Itagaki’s Baki the Grappler has been alive in the manga communities for over 32 years, with its fifth and most recent part Baki Dou ending over two weeks ago on the 7th of September, 2023.
Baki the Grappler Was Created At Keisuke Itagaki’s Beginning In The Manga Industry
Considering how long Baki the Grappler has been a major favorite among the manga community as well as Keisuke Itagaki’s synonymity with it, most manga readers were mistaken of it being the author’s only work. However, that’s not true.
As it turns out, Itagaki has drawn other manga as well. In fact, Baki was only the second work that he created at the beginning of his career in the industry!
Two years before Baki, Itagaki had initiated his manga career with his first-ever manga titled Make-Upper, released back in 1989. Though it was only a three-volume manga, it wasn’t a ‘gritty fighting manga’, but rather about a muscular beautician who adorned his customers with exaggerated violence.
Yes, you read it right. It included stuff like the one time he literally rewired his female client’s brain by initially jamming his fingers into her eye sockets. Although a bit too extreme, this showed traces of the author’s signature writing style along with becoming Baki’s trademark.
Regardless, Baki the Grappler is still regarded as Keisuke Itagaki’s best work to date: After all, it left behind Yoshihiro Togashi’s superhit Hunter x Hunter in the race to become more successful!
Source: CBR
