Hajime no Ippo

Today my review is about one of the best and long running sports anime/manga ever.

On the red corner: The champion - Hajime no Ippo!

Hajime no Ippo is about Makunouchi Ippo and his love for boxing. The manga has been written since 1989, and at the time I am writing this review there are already 1034 chapters (whaaat?) and the anime is starting his 3rd season - Hajime no Ippo: The Rising.

The most relevant characters: 

Makunouchi Ippo - The hero of the series. Ippo grew without a father since a young age, as he died in a fishing boat accident. He worked with his mother on their fishing boat ever since, developing good balance and strenght by carrying huge boxes, sometimes even more than an average person. He´s a kind, good harted boy, making him being easilly bullied. He enters the boxing world by being saved by Takamura, and his aim is to know what's to be strong. He's a in fighter hard-puncher, often called by the commentator by "The Wind God" and his secret weapon is the Dempsey Roll.

Takamura Mamoru - The Senpai of Kamogawa Gym. Taken from the streets by coach Kamogawa as he has seen his potential in a street fight, has been focusing on boxing ever since. Obnoxious and rude he is always ready to pick on the other gym members, and looking down on their achievements, but his sincerety moments make up for this and make them respect him. Despite many of the comedy passing through him, his skill is for real, as he is the most powerful boxer in Japan, having destructive punches that eventually give him Two World titles in two different classes, despite being several weight classes below his optimal weight. His nicknames are ''The Japanese Hawk" and "The Lord of Perverts". His aim is to conquer all the weight classes above him.

Kamogawa Genji - The Founder of Kamogawa Gym and Takamura and Ippo's Trainer and Second. He was a prizefighter after WWII. Along with Ginpachi Nekota and Dankichi Hama, developed a style of fighting that eventually would be the forerunner of japanese boxing, envolving science in his theories. He has a great boxing knowledge, and he's proud of Takamura and Ippo even if he doesn't publicly admit it, and even he gave the coaching of Itagaki to another gym coach, he's astounded by his talent. He retired after breaking his two hands by overusing his sunday punch, The Tekken (Iron Fist).

Tatsuya Kimura - As a delinquent in his teenage years, he starts boxing after being defeated by Takamura in a street fight, in an attempt to get vengeance on him on whats he's best. He develops true love for boxing afterwards and he eventually gets to respect him. His skills are average, but even so he gets a shot at a title once.

Aoki Masaru - Along with his best friend Kimura, he was a delinquent in high school and starts his boxing carrer for the same reason as him. He has a orthodox and messed up style of boxing, making his fights a comedy show. He is one of the show's comedy fuel, as being Takamura #1 target. He uses the Frog Punch and the Look away strategy in combats. His type of girl are the ugly ones.

Myata Ichiro - Ippo's first and main rival. Regarded a prodigy since early age, he is coached by his father who retired with a broken jaw. After being defeated by Ippo after a week of training he leaves kamogawa gym so he can fight Ippo on the ring. Later he leaves Japan and starts boxing on the harsh Pacific scene, never entering the race for the japanese title, but eventually being the OPBF champion. He's an out-boxer and his speciality are counters, the style his father used. He is a proud person, and respects Ippo as a rival. His nicknames are "The Prince of Counters" and "The Lightning God".

Itagaki Manabu - He appears later in the series, entering the kamogawa boxing gym soon after Ippo becomes the Japanese Featherweight champion. He's a genious out boxer that sees Ippo as his great inspiration, as he is in the same weight divison as him. His main weapons are his speed and amazing concentration, that make him see like the opponent is in slow motion. As he is more talented than his senpais, he's the target of jealousy of kimura and Aoki. His nicknames are "Speed Star" and more recently "Chronos" or "Time God". He also loves making puns.

Date Eiji - A former Japanese featherweight champion, and the only japanese to fight Ricardo Martinez. He was retired for years because of his utter defeat at Ricardo's hands, but eventually returns to the ring to fight him again. He's also the only boxer to have defeated Makunouchi Ippo, and retires after a second fight with Ricardo Martinez, an event that makes Ippo step up his boxing game. His special move is the Heartbreak Shot, a corkscrew punch that stops the oponents heart for some seconds.

Sendo Takeshi - the 2nd rival of ippo. Sendo's style is very simillar to ippo, and his strenght is also on the same level. He's straight forward and has confidence in his skills, making him a little bit arrogant. He loses to Ippo in the Rookie Tournament final, and loses the japanese featherweight title to him as well. His special move is the Smash Uppercut and his nicknames are "The Rocky" and "Naniwa Tiger".

Ricardo Martinez - He's the Super World Champ of the Featherweight class. Being undefeated  he became world champion at 21 and he has defended the world title 21 times. He's eventually the main goal of Ippo, after being defeated by his left in a sparring match. His nickname is ''El Diablo".

The plot starts simple like a normal shounen sports series, Ippo is a kind hearted, work hard type of guy that is bullied by his classmates. He is saved by Takamura and begs him to train him in boxing, and after showing his hard work to Takamura he eventually brings him back to the gym. Starting from that its shown the life of a boxer and his hardships. The show has a lot of comedy as Takamura, Aoki and Kimura are always picking on Ippo or picking on each other. Is the typical boys friendship, always messing around with each other but caring for each other at the same time, and it's easy to relate to that aspect.

Ippo's elephant sized penis, a running joke in the series.

The anime takes the route that Ippo is not a genious fighter, so he has to compensate with hard work. Ippo never has an easy fight, with the opponents always having a special move or a secret strategy against him. That's the strong point of the series. It's never easy for Ippo, and because of the harsh training  and the great rivalvries that emerge from it, the show feels real and even if it has some fictional moments, it feels a down to earth story. It's easy to get caught up on the story, its fast paced and the fights are never dull, having Ippo gaining some experience in some way after each fight. Other good point is that the series focus in all of the kamogawa gym boxers, so its not always Ippo fighting, giving the spotlight to other members frequently, so we don't get tired of the good mannered Ippo.

Ok, Takamura sometimes steals all the spotlight, but thats why we love him.

The soundtrack is average, with only the openings standing out, but its not an important fact because unlike other shows, it's not important for the build up of the tension, as the plot writing is made that it begins from the start of a match being decided.

If you like Hard working heroes, good rivalries and sports this is the show for you. I recommend it to anyone, even if they have doubts for sports anime. The gem is the story.

As i stand in the manga, the story still has a lot to go, because they will focus on side characters in meanwhile despite Ippo starting his fight against the world's #2.

Art 4/5 - George Morikawa's style is very different to the reguar style that has been showed since the 90's, and its a good thing.

Story - 5/5 - It's the great point of the series

Soundtrack 3/5 - Aside from the openings, there isn't a track that stucks in your head.

Excitement - 5/5 - It's impossible for you to stop watching, and not root for the Kamogawa gym!

Hajime no Ippo is hit with a hard 17 K.O. Punch!