WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 of Baki, now streaming on Netflix.
Going into the third season of Netflix's Baki, one of the main attractions was always going to be how the titular youngster overcome his shriveled wrestling body after being poisoned by an enemy. He was infected by Yanagi despite beating the convict, and Sea King Retsu decided to bring Baki to the Raitai tournament so his warrior spirit could fight the poison. He just wasn't recovering back in Japan so Retsu figured fighting with Americans, Japanese and Chinese brawlers would reinvigorate the kid.
It sounds a bit ridiculous but given the nature of the series, and the mystical aspect of combat, there is some credence to it. And so said, so done, because martial arts and wrestling are what brings Baki back. However, when you dissect what cured the 17-year-old, you have to admit that it's a perfectly cheesy for a young adult love story.
In his first fight, Baki goes up against China's Sea King Li. Li's one of the tournament's most experienced combatants and to make it worse, he's also a Poison Hand like Yanagi. In other words, Baki is going to fight someone just like the man that has placed him in this precarious spot. He trudges on, though, undeterred by the fact his body can barely hold up.
He's lost body mass, not to mention his breathing and overall energy levels are weak, which allows Li to really do a number. So much so that Baki ends up on the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. He's at the feet of his girlfriend, Kozue, and it seems like she's about to throw in the towel. She's crying over his bloody body as all she wants is for him to end the sport and come back with her. Interestingly, as her tears fall on Baki, there's a chemical reaction within his body and he begins regenerating on the inside again.
Baki sprouts back up determined as ever, and quickly shows off the skill of old. He takes Li out in formidable fashion and leaves the crowd thirsty for more. Even his evil dad, Yujiro the Ogre, is in awe as he sees the best of the abandoned son he wants to test himself against someday. It's very corny that his girlfriend's tears bring Baki back but it also makes sense because Baki's body works on his emotions. He and Kozue lost their virginities to each other weeks before, and Baki evolved into an elite fighter in the blink of an eye, which Ogre noticed.
The intimate act relaxed the fighter and brought out the best in him, so his father is glad to see his son becoming a man. As for the young lovers, Kozue's tears reminded Baki of the person waiting on him following his victory. His pride and ego helped catalyze all this, starting a chain of events in Baki's body where he assimilated Li's poison and counteracted the one Yanagi already stored in him. So, while the tears weren't actually part of the chemical cure, they're the match that lit the spark. You can tell Yujiro is a bit cautious, though, because if Baki truly understands love and fighting for someone he loves, he might even outgrow his dad.
The Ogre fights only to kill, which could prove to be his one weakness as the world's strongest man, causing him to observe how love is affecting Baki positively. Of course, Yujiro could be hiding a couple more tricks up his sleeve but he now knows Kozue is indeed a big motivator for Baki. With his son healed fully after eating a hearty dinner, the Ogre knows he's inching closer to their long-awaited showdown with a Baki that he might be severely underestimating.