Hajime No Ippo Review

Hajime No Ippo is a Shounen manga adapted into an anime with an OVA and movies. I did not care for boxing as a sport before watching this show, but HnI has managed to keep my interest for 75 episodes and still hungry for more. It follows the journey of a boy named Ippo who is constantly the target of bullies at his school and does not have any friends. His life takes a drastic turn when he is introduced to the world of boxing and aims to become a strong boxer himself, defeating countless powerful opponents along the way on his road to the world title. You should absolutely watch this show if you enjoy shounen shows and well-animated fight scenes with likable characters and fantastic music that you will definitely be adding to your workout mix. After this section, I will begin going into spoilers.

“What does it mean to be strong?”

This question is established from the very first episode when Ippo seriously considers becoming a boxer, speaking through tears to someone he considers an idol in the world of fighting. What does it mean to be strong? Is it being able to knock out foes with a single hard uppercut? Is it taking dozens of painful punches and still having the guts to get up? Or is it the courage to drive forward at opponents even with the danger of getting punched in the face? Hajime No Ippo aims to answer this question by putting our protagonist Ippo through several deadly trials at the hands of interesting opponents.

One of my favorite things of any shounen is watching the hero slowly get strong throughout the series and comparing them at the end to how they were at the start. Hajime No Ippo does this very well by making the protagonist Ippo go through a seemingly impossible task of grabbing 10 leaves really fast. Then by making Ippo fight against a boxing prodigy for his immediate first task once he steps foot in the gym for the second time in order to show the audience his potential skills that will shine throughout the show.

The Characters

One of the strongest parts of Hajime No Ippo are the characters. Almost every single character is likeable and has an interesting background, even the ones that only appear in a couple episodes (Jason Osma). These are the characters that ended up being my favorite in the show aside from Ippo.

1. Mamoru Takamura

The very first boxer that we see in the show. It’s amazing how he goes from an intimidating and fearful fighter to an idiotic intimidating and fearful fighter throughout the show. There is never a dull moment with Takamura on screen, every single scene he is in is always interesting, and the animation for the show always seems to get better whenever he is fighting. From the fierce middleweight champion who can take down bears to the big brother of the group, Takamura is the most memorable character of the show and will always stick in my mind out of every character from any anime I have watched.

1. Ichiro Miyata

What good is a hero without his rival? Miyata fits this role perfectly. He is Ippo’s initial motivator to get strong when he gives him his first sparring match and a taste of boxing power. It is great watching Ippo improve and defeat foes for the goal of catching up to Miyata and fighting him for the Rookie tournament, only for the roles to become reversed and for Miyata to be the one who needs to catch up to Ippo so that they may fight again. This is a healthy rivalry where both Ippo and Miyata heavily admire and respect each other’s strength, and I look forward to where Miyata’s journey will take him in the remaining Hajime No Ippo adaptations that I have yet to watch.

1. Takeshi Sendo

The tiger really is the best animal that represents Sendo both as a character and a fighter. From the first moment I saw him, I knew right away what this guy was about. A ferocious man filled with energy who only cares about fighting his next stronger opponent so that he can prove to the world he is the number one fighter. He basically fills Miyata’s former role as rival once Miyata leaves the scene and focuses on climbing back up, and he is an excellent rival to Ippo. Watching his charm capture the hearts of all of Osaka was similar to how he captured mine, and I found myself rooting for either Sendo and Ippo to win, since they were both worthy of the championship title.

Stunning Animation

There was never a moment in this show where the animation dropped low enough to take me out of my immersion. Every single scene was animated very well, and every fight scene was beautiful. If I were to list the best shots from the show, this review would be one-hundred times longer than it already is, so if you want to get someone into watching Hajime No Ippo, I recommend showing them these shots.

The sound design was also amazing, every single punch always felt like it had a lot of impact behind it, and the punches that did not have a lot of force behind them always felt shallow before the characters would say they were. I was never bored a single second while watching Hajime No Ippo, and the animation played a huge role in that.

The Music

Usually in anime, there are a few songs from the soundtrack that stick out to me, and I will listen to them outside of the show. Hajime No Ippo is a show where almost the entire soundtrack stood out to me. The best song in my opinion has to be Inner Light, the second opening for the show. I think this opening fits the show perfectly, and every single moment in fights where it played only served to amplify the quality of the scene even more. If this show and its soundtrack do not motivate you to work out, then nothing else will. Every song used in this show perfectly invoked the correct response from me when it started playing, like when Ippo suddenly counter attacks his opponent or Takamura is up to his usual dirty hijinks. The music in Hajime No Ippo is top quality.

Kumi Mashiba

I was originally going to put Kumi under the character section, but I feel she deserves her own section.
The first time we see Kumi is a simple shot of her riding on her bicycle and Ippo gazing at her, interested in her beauty. I did not think much of this and simply thought she would be part of a romantic sub-story that would not go anywhere. This changes once Ippo finds her working at the bread shop and eventually learns that she is Ryo Mashiba’s little sister. I love that they made her the sister of a character that Ippo fights, because this makes Ryo a more important and reoccurring character to the story, as well as giving him more depth and background so the audience stops thinking that he is just a masochistic monster.

Kumi’s role in the story shifts dramatically once she starts reaching out to Ippo more (starting in the hospital) and establishing a friendship with him. It is obvious that there is a mutual attraction between the two characters, but it does not feel like every scene with them is wasted filler. I always felt like both characters were getting closer and becoming more comfortable talking to each other and opening up to each other. Every interaction between the two was always so fun to watch and I was always looking forward to the next time Kumi would appear. These are some other shots of Kumi that I particularly adore.

Conclusion

What does it mean to be strong? Hajime No Ippo is a story about the journey that our protagonist takes in order to answer this question, and although he ultimately does not reach it even after becoming the champion, there is more to Ippo’s journey that remains to be seen, and I am highly excited to see the rest of it. Hajime No Ippo is an extravagant show that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys the typical zero to hero shounen story and is into boxing anime. The comedy in the show also ranged from serviceable to funny, which is always a bonus. The ending to the first 75 episodes is incredibly satisfying and leaves the viewer hanging just enough to get them interested in the manga, but not so dissatisfied from what the show provided them. This is the reason as to why I personally rate this show a 97/100 for now. If you have read this entire review and have still not watched this show, I highly implore you to start watching right away, as you are missing out on what could potentially become one of your favorite shows of all time.