The First Step

Boxing… it’s a strange thing. I find myself strangely attracted to this science, this art, that basically entails beating someone to a bloody pulp. There’s something about the glory, the rush it gives when you are giving all you have to someone else, one on one, in the field of battle.

What does it mean to be strong? This is the question that is the center of the anime series Hajime no Ippo, a.k.a. Fighting Spirit, a.k.a. Knock Out. It is a boxing anime to the core, and there aren’t that many (Ashita no Joe comes to mind, and that was a good one) But still I rank this show as one of my all time favorites.

Ippo Makunouchi starts the series as a timid highschooler who can’t help but get tormented with the local bullies. One day, after a particularly bad beating, Mamoru Takamura, a pro boxer, helps him out. Little do they both know that Ippo will begin the long and arduous road towards becoming a pro boxer himself. Soon the training begins, and the wise and experienced Coach Kamogawa sets Ippo up for his first matches. The road to becoming a Champion has begun.

My most favorite thing regarding this series was the fact that the fights were not seven-episode affairs that streeeeetched out a fight so long you don’t care about it anymore. Most of the fights take an episode or two – three tops. It improves the pace of the anime greatly and it makes it damn exciting, even when I’m watching matches I’ve already seen. In one case I already knew the outcome of one match, but when I saw Ippo go into his K.O. pattern, I got into it like a rabid dog. It’s that exciting.

The fast pulsing soundtrack helps as well as the voice acting. The opening and ending themes are quite good are quite catchy (who can forget ‘I want to feel lost mind?’) most notably the third ending theme, Saber Tiger’s “Eternal Loop,” which sounds like a 90’s rock band (And I geeeeeeeeeeeeeeet up, with my wounded baaaaahdeeey!) The characterization of most of the characters were spot on, and each person is given time to be fleshed out, even Ippo’s opponents. Ippo himself grows; as the series progresses, we see how he deals with the notion of how to become strong. The art style may put many off, but it’s understandable as the manga started out in 1989.

Sports anime have always piqued my interest, and Hajime no Ippo is one of the best, along with Slam Dunk. Give it a try and try not to get put off by the art style – it’s worth it.