Martial arts series Garōden is finally getting an anime adaptation at Netflix – 39 years after the novels debuted.
Netflix's synopsis for the series, titled Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf, reads: "On the run from his troubled past, Juzo is forced into competing in a deadly underground fighting tournament. Skilled in the respected martial art Takemiya-ryu, Juzo must navigate a path filled with formidable foes and his personal demons – all while dealing with a bounty of three million yen on his head and a detective on his trail." Sign us up.
In the trailer, which you can watch above, we see plenty of martial arts; as the streamer notes, the show has captured movement from a range of martial artists across boxing, karate, sumo, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu for extra realism. It certainly shows so far.
Garōden started out as a series of novels penned by Baku Yumemakura, with the first 13 installments released from 1985 to 2003. A manga adaptation by Jirō Taniguchi followed in 1989 and ran until 1990, with a second adaptation by Keisuke Itagak following in 1996 and running until a hiatus in 2010. Alongside those, there have been prequel and sequel stories, a feature film, and two video games. Netflix's show is the first anime adaptation, however.
Netflix has had great success with its anime adaptations before – its live-action version of One Piece, for example, was a triumph, with One Piece season 2 confirmed.
Garōden: The Way of the Lone Wolf arrives on Netflix this May 23. For even more, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best anime shows on Netflix to stream now.
