Review will be broken down like so :
- Art
- Story
- Characters
- Overall Enjoyment
#Story 10/10
We see Ippo meet his rival or more accurately his “idol” and is inspired by Miyata’s near flawless technique and wants to work harder to be as strong as him and fight him in a pro match. We also meet Coach Kamogawa who takes an interest in Ippo, and trains him personally which other boxers do not get the opportunity of.
So thats my rough summary on the plot, what i love about ippo is how deeply nuanced it is mixed in with a wonderful cast of characters and a well executed journey of boxing. What separates Ippo from most sports anime is : school.
I believe that High School sports are great, it brings relatability to the viewers and allows us to experience school sports that we may never have. But there lies the problem, it is centered around schools, so fixed tournament bracket types, studying and grades are prevalent in most of these shows. It becomes a problem when you watch a bunch of these sports anime, as their tournament style, risks and consequences are inherently similar. But with Ippo, boxing takes place outside of school, so we don’t have to go through that obligatory “studying cause i'm failing in school cause i care more about my co-curricular activities even though i'm a genius” episode. It becomes tiring and underwhelming.
With Ippo we see him grow in boxing prowess without being hindered by school responsibilities. The stakes in Ippo are also higher, as not only does he get beaten physically, he fights with opponents internationally and is much tougher than him. Bringing me to my next point.
I love how international Ippo goes, it feels much more real as we see WBC, WBA, IBC, IBF get featured heavily in Ippo which genuinely enhances the immersion of the manga. It also ups the stakes as being a world champion vs a high school national champion are two completely different realms of existence.
Morikawa-sensei also expertly brings the realism of boxing into the manga while making it entertaining by taking artistic liberties and hyperboles. We learn with Ippo how boxing is done. What i feel is overlooked about Ippo is the fact that many will think “it’s just two guys just throwing fists, there’s nothing different about boxers” This is where they are wrong. Morika-sensei expertly displays to us different kinds of boxers. The two main categories being an In-Fighter and Out-Boxer and many subcategories between the two. This brings out a lot of different fighters and possibilities in the ring. Every fight brings a different atmosphere and stakes in a fight, due to stylistic differences.
After 1299 chapters of Hajime no Ippo, you would expect me to already be sick of reading fights over and over again. But this is not the case. Morikawa-sensei is able to reel in real world boxing problems like getting punch-drunk, severe head-trauma, fist problems and superficial problems of never being able to have a match against someone. It feels so real, it’s the same as watching boxing in real life. I watch a lot of boxing and I can confirm that what ippo brings to the table is very real and genuine. Hajime no Ippo embodies what Coach Kamogawa once told him “Anything can happen in boxing”
#Art 10/10
I adore how Morikawa panels action sequences. It is simple, clean and you see the motion without getting too confused with flashy panels or crazy cuts in angles which can be disorienting in most action manga. A good example is the two panels below (read right to left for the panels) [character faces blurred out so no spoilers]
img49%(https://i.imgur.com/pvOEsVl.jpg) img49%(https://i.imgur.com/tFdbABp.jpg)
The simple horizontal panelling that goes for two pages and rarely changes in size, keeps the reader focused on the action and not get distracted by unnecessary things. The white backdrop is also a beautiful addition in keeping the reader focused to the two fighters. No exposition throughout this exchange between fighters and it really shows how actual boxing matches feel like, no voices, all action until the last second. Morikawa excels at getting his art to speak for themselves.
Another thing he excels at is in showing the speed, motion and strength of every fighter which can be seen below :
You can really feel the weight of every action the characters in Ippo does.The rough look of the characters and punches make them feel so strong and powerful. A small note on Ippo’s comedic art style, it never fails to get me to chuckle and the troll faces are the best i’ve seen thus far, with Slam Dunk coming in at a close second.Just look at this! :
Overall the art for Ippo is exceptional.
#Characters 10/10
The protagonist, Makunouchi Ippo, is a kind, respectful kid who embodies what a Japanese hero is like. He’s not the brightest but you appreciate how passionate he is for the sport of boxing and training for it. Like i mentioned earlier fighters all have different styles in boxing with some even overlapping one another and/or mixing with other styles.
Take my favourite fighter, Takeshi “Tiger of Naniwa” Sendo, he's loud, straightforward, brash and values strength. He displays these 4 skills exceptionally well in fights, loud and brash being how explosive and erratic his style of boxing is. Straightforward in a sense that he’s an in-fighter and goes mano-a-mano, up close and personal with his opponents. He values strength to put this as simply as possible, he punches like a truck, 1 got smash and they’re out.
Not only does it bring new styles of characters and personality. We see how past experiences of Ippo’s opponents translate into their style. Take for example, Ryuhei “The Dragon” Sawamura, he grew up abused and did some pretty messed up things as a child. He grew up bitter and hungry for violence and when he got introduced to boxing, he fought his opponents not to win but to mercilessly destroy them, to the point of disqualifications. See how his childhood, his messed up upbringing affected his style. Not only him, but many others.
Some other examples are Malcolm “The Magician” Gedo, a boxer who fixes fights for money, Alexander “Red Wolf” Volg Zangief a Russian boxer who supports his mother all by himself in japan, hence the Red Wolf = Lone Wolf.
Every reader can find themselves in most characters, not as a fighter but as a person. Everyone is able to relate to the ensemble of characters Hajime no Ippo has. This brings a lot of depth to all the characters and you get emotionally invested and feel happy when they win and upset when they lose.
#Overall Thoughts 10/10 and Miscellaneous Things
Hajime no Ippo is definitely a must read sports manga and is the One Piece of sports manga scene.
Art: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Overall Enjoyment: 10/10