Everyone has their reason to fight. Whether it's for a family member, for a memory, for making ends meet, or just for loving the sport.
Story and characters:
This series is powerful. It's inspirational. No, it's way beyond inspirational. Each episode will give you a surge of motivation to just do anything. To be active in any way, and as a personal case, it made me start practicing sports again. This is the kind of series you'd want to show to your kids, but it's, not one bit, an anime just for children.
Hajime no Ippo is no ordinary anime about sports. It's about sports, passion, and determination. About struggles, persistence, pushing beyond limits, fear, courage, and overcoming obstacles. It isn't like anything I have ever watched in the sports genre, let it be an animated series or a non-animated one. It truly is the authentic meaning of a masterpiece. It's, by no means whatsoever, a short anime. But every single episode of the series has importance, none of them are empty fillers. Hajime no Ippo shows the true meaning and struggles of being a sportsperson. It shows both the dark and bright side of boxing.
I have always been a huge fan of boxing but never once considered watching it in an anime series. What grabbed my attention was the fact that Hajime no Ippo is one of the most highest rated anime series ever, which made me extremely curious and eager to give it a try. How can someone possibly make such a long anime series when it's just about boxing? Is it episodic? Is it full of fillers? What about this anime makes it so special?
I started the anime with the intention to watch only the first episode so I can avoid it and move on, I was completely sure I wouldn't manage to even finish it.
And hell if it didn't prove me wrong.
From the very first episode, you get engulfed into the anime. The main character is an abnormally pathetic, weak, naive character. The moment you lay eyes on him, you know you'll be in for one hell of a character development. He's someone you can definitely root for, and cannot help but love. The passion he has for boxing is shown in every single episode.
But it's not him exclusively.
This is where the anime truly shines. It will take almost every character you get introduced to, and fill them with life, persistence, and determination. It will suck out all the possibilities of the characters coming off as shallow or one dimensional. Ippo surely was the main character of the anime, but trust me when I say you'll find yourself in a continuous state of confusion, wanting both parties to win, not fully wanting Ippo to win. Moreover, you get to see how a match is viewed by many people. Everything is thoroughly explained in a very interesting and engaging way. There is a huge amount of detailed, accurate information about the world of boxing. You'll get to see the importance of rivals and competitors. And how they can motivate you way more than your supporters can. Sometimes even more than your own self. You'll go out of the series understanding at the very least what boxers go through, if you did not manage to catch the basics. George Morikawa made sure to constantly show us the struggles they go through, what goes through their minds, and how they manage to get up no matter how many times they fall down. The anime is a direct punch to the moronic idiots who say boxing is all violence and brutality with no thoughts.
Moreover, the anime showed me something I have ALWAYS failed to see in drama/comedy anime. The comedy ---wait for it--- comes at the RIGHT time! No jokes! Combining drama with comedy is not an easy task. Most if not all of the drama/comedy series I have seen so far make a huge, sloppy, awkward, cringe-worthy mess of the two combined genres. It would always end up with supposedly 'funny' scenes coming in the worst timing plausible, detaching you from the 'dramatic' scene and leaving you very uncomfortable. Morikawa does not once commit this huge mistake. And if pulled off, such as this case, it can be a mesmerising series. The dialogues are very well-written and executed. The anime simplifies the basics of boxing whilst showing the complexity of being a boxer.
Art and music:
I should mention one of the strongest, if not even the strongest part of the anime. Now I won't say it was flawless or even near flawless, there is a lot of lazy work and a huge amount of repeated scenes. But what made it special is how well presented the facial expressions of the characters are. I have never seen such a powerfully drawn and animated characters, their facial expressions are extremely expressive and very well suited, I'm not exaggerating when I say it's much, much more powerful than in non-animated series. The fighting scenes, repetitive ones excluded, are very, VERY well done. The alternation between spectators, cornermen, the two fighters, and the commentators adds a superb amount of suspense. At some points I felt that I was in Ippo's place, being out of breath with heavy shoulders. The voice acting couldn't have been any more flawless, and the right background music came at the right time, but it needed more music.
Sure, there were things that annoyed me about the anime, but they were all minor and can be overlooked. The repetitive scenes and glossed over Miyata annoyed me most. It was very surprising to know that Miyata's teammates gave up so easily on him when Ippo showed, as we're shown that Miyata has been with them since he was a preteen. My other minor problems are mostly personal/what I preferred. I was looking forward for an anime about a very ordinary guy that gets beaten and loses a lot and then starts climbing to the top. But Ippo trained with a very talented coach and was around the best fighters. As for his inexperience, how he gets beaten to a bloody pulp in every fight makes up for the fact that he can beat those who exceed him in experience. He learns rapidly in his extensive training and in the fights, in the hardest way possible.
Overall: 10/10
My enjoyment level exceeded its limit. The anime made me happy, sad, angry, but most of all, it ruined my nerves. The average match takes about two episodes, which is equivalent to 40 minutes. And the big matches take about 3 episodes, that's a whole, ongoing hour of extreme tension. The final match had me holding my breath till the very end, I literally had to take fast, deep breaths after it was all done. Don't get fooled by the idea of a single, small match getting extended to 2-3 episodes, you won't feel a tiny bit bored through any minute of it.
It's beyond impossible for me to re-watch anything even if it's a year after, but somehow, some way, I've started re-watching the series even before finishing it. Worthy of being my first ever 10/10 rated series.
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