My favorite sports manga of all time. It’s number 17 on the list of best-selling manga for a reason i.e. it’s good. And it’s really, really long as well. It’s best read in huge chunks at a time, which is why I haven’t followed the weeklies in roughly 5 years, but I still consider it one of my favorites. Whenever someone on a forum or chatroom asks for a sports manga, a shounen manga or a long-runner, my first question is always “Have you read Hajime no Ippo?” Followed by “Go read Hajime no Ippo” if the answer is no.
Like most sports series, Hajime no Ippo also works excellently as an anime, though ideally you want to follow both the manga and anime for the best experience. The anime, especially the first season, is spot on in every way you can imagine. The voices are perfect for the characters, the soundtrack by Tsuneo Imahori is awesome and really gets you fired up and the action is tense, fluid, perfectly drawn, perfectly timed and perfectly animated. Although it’s unfortunate that Ippo didn’t do so well when it came to the west as Fighting Spirit, (and I bought all the DVDs
My top 5 reasons why Hajime no Ippo is so great
1. The characters are the best ever. The main character isn’t as annoying as other wimpy main characters tend to be and the supporting cast is one of the strongest in manga history. Even the match opponents are nicely fleshed out without going overboard. You’re bound to find someone you can root for, whether you like jokey comic characters, serious dignified ones or legit tough guys.
2. It is soooo funny! When he’s being funny, I think George Morikawa is probably one of the best comedy mangaka in the business today. Some of his sight gags are just so funny they have me rolling on the floor in stitches no matter how many times I read it. He’s great with silly puns as well and I still find myself saying “This isu naisu!” sometimes.
3. The women don’t take over the show. I’ve read too many series that got derailed by romantic hijinks to get happy when the main character of a shounen series falls in love. Some readers may find it frustrating that Ippo still hasn’t gotten together with Kumi after 1000 chapters, but I prefer that to this becoming some soppy love-soaked romance.
4. The action is great. Especially when you watch the anime, you can really feel the impact of every single punch. The boxers move (reasonably) convincingly like real boxers and adopt many of the same poses and actions. Some things might be a bit annoying for real boxing fans, e.g. Ippo’s terrible guarding skills, but everyone can enjoy the slightly over the top attacks which are crazy but juust subtle enough to be almost believable.
5. It’s a super long-runner. This may be a plus or minus depending on your point of view, but if you’re enjoying a series, the longer it lasts the better, right? The earliest 40 volumes or so are the high points of the series, but even now it’s still an excellent series with plenty of room left for growth for all the main characters. If you haven’t read the series before, now is a good time get in and enjoy a nice, long binge.
I think I’ll take my own advice and catch up on 5 years of missing Ippo action. Archive binge, here I come!