Nanbaka

Nanba is the world's most formidable prison, built to incarcerate criminals who are too slippery to stay in ordinary confinement. The four inmates who occupy Cell 13 are particularly cunning on that behalf, having escaped every other prison with a perfect success rate. There is Juugo, a specialist in locks who has spent the majority of his life in prison; Uno, a gambler with great intuition; Nico, an otaku whose body reacts strangely to drugs; and Rock, a bruiser with a love for food. The daily shenanigans of the four prisoners always cause trouble for the building supervisor, Hajime Sugoroku, who desperately tries to prevent them from breaking out of Nanba.

Nanbaka follows the comedic, sparkle-filled exploits of these prisoners and their guards. From three square meals a day to sports festivals, prison life in Nanba isn't actually that bad—and it is the closest these four have to a home.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Juugo Main

Uemura, Yuuto Japanese

Nico Main

Kobayashi, Daiki Japanese

Uno Main

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Sugoroku, Hajime Main

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Rock Main

Shiozaki, Ire Japanese

Gokuu, Samon Supporting

Hoshi, Souichirou Japanese

Hyakushiki, Momoko Supporting

Akesaka, Satomi Japanese

Hitokoe, Mitsuru Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Tanabata, Seitarou Supporting

Okuyama, Keito Japanese

Tsukumo Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Takahashi, Tomoko Producer

Iwamoto, Masako Producer

Sugi, Takuma Producer

Reviews

Dec 13, 2021

Lovely_Hollow

Recommended

If you're in need of something that is funny and light-hearted then this is perfect.
The show is pure comedy with those few moments of seriousness and fights. I loved the character's vibrant designs and colour. The fights in it were great. It isn't like some comedy animes where it's just a random day every episode. This anime actually has a storyline and has some character development. The only one that actually gets good character development (or any development) is the main character Jyugo. Overall its great if you just want to enjoy something that's funny but if your looking for something that has exciting ... fights and a really good storyline then Nanbaka isn't it

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Oct 28, 2025

whiteflame55

Mixed Feelings

I thought this show was fine.

The character designs are colorful and diverse (don't know why everyone and everything is so sparkly, though), the comradery between the leads is pretty well realized (with Jugo as the one who brought them all together), and when this series leans into the humor and spectacle, I think it works decently well. The short tournament they had in the middle is this series at its best.

However, it doesn't really handle the balance of serious to funny very well, leaning mainly into the latter before pulling a hard right turn into some of the heavier content. It doesn't quite ... give me whiplash because at least it telegraphs that it's taking that direction eventually, but it still feels out of place in what otherwise behaves as a rather lighthearted and low stakes story. Couple that with the fact that lot of the story turns feel pretty tropey, including a few short idiot plots in here where no one talks until they're near the point of dying or killing one another, and while there are some real dangers, they don't get enough of a spotlight to feel well-realized.

Maybe part 2 will expand on this in a more balanced and more effective way, but so far, it hasn't been working for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 17, 2024

heycoolbook

Not Recommended

i'm gonna start the review by saying, that i'm probably way over the intented demographic (i'm 28 yo), and that i only watched this because of my sister

so what can i say about nambaka? i felt asleep halfway throught episode 4, so that should tell you how was my experience watching this, i didn't laugh once in none of the 13 episodes, and as i previoulsy said, and to be fair to the mangaka, i'm probably too old for this kind of jokes, so the humour didn't click with me. The character design i'm not a fan of it, it's too bussy for my liking ... i guess? or i don't know what it is, but i can't come to like them, the constant use of sparks around character was another thing i didn't like, the colors were too bright for my liking, surprisingly the animation was alright, with some highlight in the episodes regarding the tournament, so if you're over the age of 15 probably stay away from this, or not, give it a try if the artstyle and synopsis intrigue you

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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