Hajime no Ippo

In his father's absence, teenager Ippo Makunouchi works hard to help his mother run her fishing boat rental business. Ippo's timid nature, his lack of sleep, and the sea smell make him an easy target for relentless bullies who leave him bruised and beaten on a daily basis. Mamoru Takamura, an up-and-coming boxer, rescues Ippo from a violent after-school incident and takes him back to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym for recovery. Takamura and his fellow boxers, Masaru Aoki and Tatsuya Kimura, are stunned by Ippo's powerful punches—a result of strong muscles developed through years serving his physically taxing family business.

Following brief training under Takamura, Ippo impresses the other boxers in a practice match against prodigy Ichirou Miyata. He gains a rival in Miyata and a coach in Genji Kamogawa, the gym owner and a former boxer himself. As Ippo takes the first steps in his official boxing career, he faces off against a series of challenging opponents, each more powerful than the last. Victory, loss, and a cycle of dedicated training await Ippo on his journey to achieve greatness. With his tough body and unstoppable fighting spirit, the kind young man seeks to take on the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Makunouchi, Ippo Main

Kiyasu, Kouhei Japanese

Takamura, Mamoru Main

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Aoki, Masaru Main

Takagi, Wataru Japanese

Kamogawa, Genji Main

Utsumi, Kenji Japanese

Kimura, Tatsuya Main

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Sendo, Takeshi Supporting

Onosaka, Masaya Japanese

Zangief, Alexander Volg Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Miyata, Ichirou Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Mashiba, Ryo Supporting

Tanaka, Masahiko Japanese

Date, Eiji Supporting

Aizawa, Masaki Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Ooshima, Mitsuru Producer

Yoshimoto, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Sep 21, 2025

Karl-_-CxJ

Recommended

Hajime no Ippo is one of those anime that takes a simple premise and turns it into something truly inspiring. At its core, it’s the story of Makunouchi Ippo, a shy boy who lost his father at a young age, helps his mother with her fishing business, and gets bullied on a daily basis. His life changes after an encounter with a professional boxer, Takamura, which sparks his dream of stepping into the ring himself. What follows is a journey of growth, grit, and the pursuit of strength.

Story & Themes
On the surface, the story may feel familiar, an underdog protagonist finds his calling through a ... sudden turn of events; but Hajime no Ippo stands out because of how well it’s executed. Yes, parts of the plot are predictable, but the emotional weight, attention to detail, and unexpected moments sprinkled throughout keep you hooked. Each fight isn’t just about winning anymore, it’s also about the convictions, struggles, and personal stories of both Ippo and his opponents.

The series excels at motivation. It captures the essence of discipline, determination, and the “never give up” spirit. At times, you’ll find yourself itching to try boxing moves, or at least imagining yourself stepping into the ring. Beyond boxing, it teaches lessons about perseverance, sportsmanship, and the pursuit of one’s goals.

Characters
The characters are where this anime truly shines. Every major boxer has their own beliefs, backgrounds, and reasons for fighting, making them more than just obstacles for Ippo to overcome. Every character, even Ippo’s opponents, is given enough background and personality to make their fights meaningful.

Makunouchi Ippo is simple, kind, and humble. From being bullied and timid to becoming a professional boxer with explosive punches and iron willpower, his growth feels natural and deeply satisfying. He respects his opponents and learns from every encounter—truly embodying sportsmanship.

Takamura is the beast of the series hilarious, larger-than-life, and an absolute monster in the ring. He’s the perfect role model and older-brother figure for Ippo, and his presence alone elevates the anime.

Genji Kamogawa, the gruff but wise coach, is a “kingmaker” who shapes his boxers with tough love and scientific training. His knowledge and methods feel grounded and make Ippo’s development believable.

Supporting characters like Kimura, and Aoki add depth, variety, and plenty of comedic relief.

Comedy & Dialogue
Despite being a boxing anime, the comedy is spot-on. Whether it’s the antics of Kimura and Aoki, Takamura’s pranks, or the exaggerated facial expressions, the humor never feels forced or cringey. The dialogue is simple but effective, hitting the right emotions at the right time.

Music & Animation
The soundtrack is one of the highlights. From adrenaline-pumping rock tracks during fights to emotional pieces in quieter moments, the music always matches the tone and often gives you goosebumps. The animation has that nostalgic retro vibe, it may not be as fluid or flashy as modern anime, but it works beautifully for the era it portrays. Fight choreography, slow-motion shots, and action sequences are executed with precision, making the matches intense and exciting.

Pacing & Fights
The pacing is steady, initially fast but later balanced to give arcs and fights proper weight. Each match is hyped with enough backstory that you care not just about Ippo’s victory but also about why his opponents fight. Whether it’s raw power or technical skill, every boxer brings something unique to the ring, making the fights unpredictable and thrilling.

Final Thoughts
Hajime no Ippo is more than just a sports anime, a story about discipline, determination, and finding the strength to keep moving forward. It has heart-pounding action, motivating themes, hilarious comedy, and characters you’ll remember long after finishing the series.

Yes, sometimes it’s hard to fully connect with certain emotional beats, and the older animation may not appeal to everyone. But those are minor drawbacks compared to the sheer enjoyment this anime offers.

Score: 10/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 20, 2013

NavyCherub

Mixed Feelings

There are plenty of stories about a young man finding some sort of passion and following it to some sort of logical conclusion, and Hajime no Ippo chooses not to stray from that basic idea very far. Luckily for original creator Morikawa George, not straying far from this premise seems to be the recipe for a successful comic that has lasted more than 1000 chapters week after week since its original Shounen Magazine publishing in 1989. This adaptation by Madhouse and director Nishimura Satoshi is longer than your usual TV anime run, at 75 episodes, but it doesn't quite cover the incredible length of Nishimura's ... original comic. Instead, it opts for a sort complete story in itself, covering protagonist Makunouchi Ippo's career from its inception until his eventual championship.

This works in the show's favor since, despite its length, not much time is wasted. The story progresses in a rather linear fashion from one fight to another, introducing Ippo's opponents one at a time and moving Ippo himself steadily up the ranks of a young boxer. However, since very little of the show is not about Ippo himself, the routine does become a bit stale quickly. By the second or third fight, it is already apparent what the formula Morikawa George is using consists of. Ippo's next enemy is stronger than his last, and he must somehow adapt to this, typically by learning some new technique. And when the fight itself comes, it all boils down to Ippo winning through his sheer tenacity - no matter what his opponents throw at him, he just doesn't give up, and you just know the spectators will feel the need to comment on his never ending stamina between every single round. In all truth, while simple, this is both tiring and unsatisfying, especially since Ippo's opponents are almost always significantly more interesting and endearing than Ippo himself.

The narrative wants me to root for the hard working underdog Ippo, but it usually turns out that I want his opponent to win. This is because Ippo's enemies are fleshed out enough for the viewer to understand how they've trained for this day and what is at stake for them. These are typically much more convincing arguments for their victory than Ippo's, who is new to the boxing world and is on the losing side of the fight until it eventually comes down to, once again, Ippo simply lasting longer than his opponent despite an overwhelming disadvantage. In particular, I found myself rooting for the Russian boxer Alexander Volg Zangief. The emotional weight of his fights and career was more powerful than anything Ippo ever managed to achieve.

Ippo's romantic life is also given some focus, but it seems more like an afterthought. His romantic interest, Kumi Mashiba, is your typical ideal domestic housewife and devoted fan. Her relationship with Ippo begins with a quick meeting at a flower shop very early in the show and, despite their insistent tendency to meet frequently, it never really progresses very far.

Regardless of Ippo's boring fights, there are moments of interesting boxing action. Specifically, the writing and choreography of the fights seem to become levels better when Ippo is not one of the participants. This shows in two places in the show - a short arc about Ichiro Miyata training in Mexico, and the subplot about Takamura Mamoru earning and defending his title. In both of these the viewer finds more complex characters and detailed, well-thought out fights that capitalize on everything their respective subplots have to offer. If only there was more of these sorts of fights and less of Ippo winning not because he deserves it but because he has to win somehow for the plot to progress.

The animation is a real highlight of the show, at least during the fights. The camera feels loose and free, not restrained by the cheap but easy to animate single angles that usually plague TV anime. The boxers' movements are accentuated by wind effects like they are kicking up dust every time they move, but it is used tastefully so that it only adds to the experience, something that can only be done reasonably in animation. Successful hits look painful, damage to the boxers accumulates as the fights go on. However, outside of fights, the animation becomes par for the course, though still not bad for an early 2000s TV anime. Madhouse pulled off a show that looks ahead of its time. The sounds are of similar quality, always tasteful and adding nicely to the experience.

Hajime no Ippo has moments of brilliance, and it is rarely so extreme that it is unbelievable, but it is weighed down a great deal by a shallow and boring protagonist and a formualic progression.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jul 31, 2009

Rampant

Not Recommended

Rather than try to review a ton of aspects of a 76 episode show, I want to give a few specific criticisms.

My biggest criticism is on sound, or specifically the obvious replication of Trigun's drippy, dramatic, and perfectly fitting music in a place that it does not belong at all and is utterly disruptive, leaving any scene with it utterly bereft of its intended impact. The music in this series is fine when it is just bitchin' guitar solos, and at its best when it reinterprets the Rocky theme, but it is at its absolute worse when it mistakenly transplants Trigun's music.

My second criticism iis ... that the way they shoot to the audience at fight climaxes or whatever is supposed to be an especially exciting part is extremely disruptive, especially in early fights. It inflates the time that each fight takes, reduces the tension and excitement, and can serve no possible purpose but to help dumb viewers realize "oh, so now I should be excited again, okay!!" I do not mean when they flash to trainers or the members of the gym for analysis of the matches, since that is genuinely useful, but just the roars of the audience. It gets better in later matches (as in not happening), but then does come back again.

A third criticism on a similar subject is where, in early scenes, they extremely blurred both the top and bottom of parts of fights to show THERE IS SO MUCH ACTION GOING ON! They finally learned their lesson, but it was really disruptive in the early stages of the series.

Finally, a more plot related implement, still for the fighting, is that they repeatedly rely on Ippo being the one specifically shorted by the gong ringing, not the opponent, in an attempt to add tension by making Ippo the comeback kid over and over.

I think it is nice that they do try very much to make you care about and root for all characters, even though it is obvious that Ippo is the one that you are supposed to like most, and I like the time they spend on each character even though I did not like a lot of them (especially not Ippo's oh so shy routine).

Obviously, this series is enjoyable and generally well produced and paced. I think that it is quite overrated, especially because of the flaws I pointed out, so I just wanted to give people something to keep their expectations realistic, since this is not a "best anime ever," not even a great one, merely a good one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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