Anime Profile: Nanbaka

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Nanbaka is set inside Nanba Prison, the most secure correctional facility in the world, where the four legendary escape artists assigned to Cell 13 of Building Five are universally considered uncatchable. Jyugo is a chronic escapee weighted down by indestructible shackles he has never been able to remove; Uno is a smooth-talking gambler with a weakness for women; Rock is a cheerful brawler who will demolish anything that interrupts his meals; and Nico is a manga-obsessed eccentric whose body refuses to recognize injury. Whenever they grow bored, they escape on principle, then return to their cell in time for breakfast.

Their long-suffering guard is the absurdly skilled supervisor Hajime Sugoroku, a humorless martial artist who treats every breakout attempt as a personal insult. Most episodes follow the inmates' increasingly elaborate schemes against Hajime's ever more punishing countermeasures, until a deeper mystery surfaces involving Jyugo's shackles, the man who put them on him, and the dark history behind Nanba Prison itself.

Animated by Satelight under director Shinji Takamatsu, based on Shou Futamata's webcomic, the series mixes hyper-kinetic comedy and lavish color design with surprising flashes of pathos. It first aired in 2016 as a 13-episode TV run, followed in 2017 by Nanbaka - Part Two, a 12-episode ONA continuation.