Alternative TitlesEnglish: The First Step Synonyms: Fighting Spirit
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 76
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 4, 2000 to Mar 27, 2002
Duration:
23 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.941 (scored by 6943 users)
Ranked: #52
Popularity: #259
Members: 11,021
Favorites: 924 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
boxing comedy shounen sports |
SynopsisMakunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to Takamura boxing gym to heal his injuries. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo’s classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo’s journey to the top of the boxing world begins.
[Written by MAL Rewrite] |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Hajime no Ippo
Sequel: Hajime no Ippo - Champion Road, Hajime no Ippo - Mashiba vs Kimura, Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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Xinil
184 of 248 people found this review helpful
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76 of 76 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
First, let me say that I'm not a fan of boxing. In fact, I pretty much hate the sport. Honestly, who likes seeing people getting their head beat in every day?
With that being said, this series is brilliantly done. There's comedy, romance, and plenty, plenty, plenty of plot. Follow Ippo as he grows as a person and as a professional boxer. You'll laugh, and you'll probably cry here or there. The fact that I don't even like boxing never came in to play. You'll probably find yourself doing some jabs here and there while watching the show too. It's that captivating.
The supporting characters are awesome. Takamura, Kimura and Aoki are all equally hilarious. Each has a distinct personality that make them all very lovable. They also support Ippo as he meets his trials of boxing and life.
Definitely give this series a try. You won't be disappointed with the 76 episodes. In fact, you'll probably end up reading the manga because you don't want it to stop! read more
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Master_M2K
55 of 77 people found this review helpful
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76 of 76 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit) is a fantastic Shounen, Sports, Comedy, Action anime produced by one of the greatest studios ever (Madhouse). Even though it doesn’t tell the entire story, the story it does tell is truly amazing, with all its manliness.
Video Alternative
It’s about your classic teenage underdog (Ippo Makunoichi) who’s pretty shy and gets bullied and looked down upon, by some of his peers. Then one fateful day he comes across a boxing gym, with a great pro boxer, and soon attains the desire to become a boxer. Sure this set-up sounds very typical for a shounen sports drama but I personally enjoyed this story about the underdog overcoming continual obstacles. This formula does get pretty repetitive after a while but the flow during and between matches; helps set the steady pace of the developing story. Shame it had to end though.
Ippo is the character that this entire series revolves around and that is good because he’s a very likable character for the average viewer. It is easy for some viewers including myself to relate to his desire to be reborn and what’s more is that viewers can watch him develop and struggle to achieve his goal. What’s also great is that plenty of time is spent introducing and giving some back-story behind Ippo’s opponent, before the match, which makes things more interesting when his opponent also has a valid reason to win. Furthermore there are quite a few supporting characters to enjoy as well, because some are just truly hilarious.
The quality of the animation may be dated but thanks to Madhouse’s expert animators, it suits this anime adaptation perfectly. There’s even quite a fair bit of detail put into the surroundings. Sure the character designs are very unappealing but what matters in this manly show is the actual boxing, which is animated perfectly. The characters move fluidly but sadly there are quite a few corners cut, especially when it comes to recycling scenes.
The quality of the sound is awesome; above all when it comes to the fighting with powerful SFX for the punches and a thumping soundtrack to go with it. There are also quite a few mellow tunes to go with the everyday goings on but some of them are inferior compared to others.
Overall Hajime no Ippo is a highly entertaining anime series that is able to capture the pure essence of boxing, with some truly memorable bouts. Even though the whole “overcome any obstacle with hard work” thing is getting a bit played out in the shounen genre, it still proved to be an effective plot device in this series. Some may be daunted by the sheer length of this series (76 episodes); nevertheless if you the type of person who enjoys this type of combat shounen anime, then without a doubt you’ll enjoy the experience.
^_^ read more
Recommendations
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Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi is the same as Hajime no Ippo but the difference that Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi is about Martial Arts and not about Boxing as in Hajime no Ippo.
Both anime have a weak main character who strives to become stronger.
They both are about bullied boys with no friends who discover fighting by meeting someone who beats up the bullies and the boy (Ippo/Kenichi) decides to take on fighting. Then they shift between training and facing enemies of increasing difficulty until the get to the one on top. Although there are some unavoidable differences (ippo boxes and his enimes are in the pro boxing scene and kenichi uses many different martal arts and fights the dominant gang, Rangarock and the humor is different too), the two anime are pretty much the exactly the same and although I´m not into martial arts or boxing, they are both entertaining, motivating, interesting and worth watching all the many episodes
I found Ippo and Kenichi really similiar when speaking about personality, also both start as weakling underdogs but after tremendous training both kickass. If you liked main character development, you should check this one.
Hajime no Ippo and Kenichi are very similar, mostly by looking at the main characters. Makunouchi is a weakling, Kenichi is a weakling. However, they both train hard and become stronger in order to achieve their goals. Makounouchi wants to know what it means to be "strong", and Kenichi wants to become stronger to protect his friends from harm.
Though Kenichi is about martial arts and Ippo is about boxing, these anime's have very similar main characters. They both start out weak and slowly get stronger and stronger. What I loved about these shows was watching them train and then seeing the results of their training come out in the middle of their fights! They are both also very funny series', though Kenichi is a bit more lighthearted and has a little more romance thrown in.
Hajime no Ippo and History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi are very similiar. You can tell by looking at the pictures. Both Ippo and Kenichi are weaklings. They have been into fights and beaten but Ippo joins the Boxing Gym and Kenichi joins the Ryouzanpaku dojo so they can become stronger. They learn from their master and they both train hard to become strong so they can achieve their goals.
Similar leading characters that both train hard to become strong. Both get trained by masters at a gym, or in the case of kenichi at his Dojo.
Both have some good comedy moments, but more so kenichi.
Both shows are fun and the main characters are very similar both go from being weak to getting stronger.
Both animes are action packed combined with good humor. The story revolves around a character who used to be picked on, but gains confidence when training to become a better fighter. The difference is mainly between the style (boxing vs. martial arts) and the arena (boxing ring vs. street fights). If you like one of them, you WILL like the other one.
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Both about sports. Main character goes through necessary personality changes to further their goals, in said sports. More Humor, than Hajime no Ippo.
Both Ippo and Sena are thrown into a world which they have no knowledge about, yet both seem to find their place and their talents which help them rise to the top. Also, they both have a group of friends to support them.
The biggest similarity both shows have is both main characters seem like ordinary people, with the potential to become extraordinary, and are thrown into an extraordinary situation in which their natural talents seem to develop at a fast pace.
Both have wimp-like main characters at the beginning. But they get stronger and stronger. You can LMAO while watching*most of the time*.
Both protagonists start out unaware of the sport, but through hard work and determination become good at it.
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Opening Theme#1: "Under Star" by Shocking Lemons (eps 1-25)
#2: "Inner Light" by Shocking Lemons (eps 26-52)
#3: "Tumbling Dice" by Tsuneo Imahori (eps 53-76)
Ending Theme#1: "Yuuzora no Kamihikouki" by Naoya Mori (eps 1-25)
#2: "360°" by Mori Naoya (eps 26-52,75)
#3: "Eternal Loop" by Saber Tiger (eps 53-74,76)
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