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Jun 19, 2009 2:26 PM

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Actually, I didn't say that, but I agree with fisher and you also. There is a difference between the coming of age shounen, character focused first series and the comeback obsessed second series.

Oh, and fisher, I don't know what happened to the green eyes either. I could have sworn that they were there in the Date fight, but I could be mistaken.
Jun 19, 2009 2:35 PM
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noteDhero said:
Actually, I didn't say that, but I agree with fisher and you also. There is a difference between the coming of age shounen, character focused first series and the comeback obsessed second series.

Oh, and fisher, I don't know what happened to the green eyes either. I could have sworn that they were there in the Date fight, but I could be mistaken.


yeah they where there, on martinez though of all people :s
Jun 19, 2009 4:09 PM

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Hajime no Ippo has always been about the comebacks, always. They're just a lot more overdone now, in their new animated form. The manga's kept this constant as well, it's not like there's any clean victories because that would be pretty boring. Yes, the multiple comeback per fights is pretty silly but that's what the show has always offered. Perseverance, fighting spirit and guts. This is specially true when it comes to Ippo and the other guys (takamura was immune to this for a while until he fights hawk). Actually, the fights get even more ridiculous as it goes and there's even more comeback stuff as all the characters move up the ranks.
Jun 19, 2009 4:45 PM

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Jun 2009
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what I meant with the shonen comment was that one of the great things about the first series was that as ridiculous as the techniques are, you always get the feeling that you are seeing a boxing match.

I remember watching some of the fights and afterwards I'd be just itching to hit the sandbag and copy the smash and the flicker, that watching the episode just gets your blood boiling.

And I know that takamura doesn't really have a sunday punch, but at least it should have given me a sense of how takamura moves, and how he fights. What is it about takamura's rhythm that was so unique? Why was hawk so wild? How are takamura's punches so efficient and so dangerous? The anime never really showed us, they just told us these things.

noteDhero said:
Oh, and fisher, I don't know what happened to the green eyes either. I could have sworn that they were there in the Date fight, but I could be mistaken.


I think they just copied the manga directly, which is retarded, since they had always used green eyes before.

Oh, and someone mentioned this before, but the slo-mo made it seem that takamura had such a long time to react while it probably took like one second. It really ruined the notion that takamura could have predicted the punch from hawk.

Oh and the concerto music at the end was the complete opposite of exciting, as if takamura winning the championship isn't the high point of the whole manga. They could have just used the opening song and it made that scene ten times as epic

Oh and they also ended the episode at the wrong point.
fisher_88Jun 19, 2009 5:00 PM
Jun 20, 2009 12:41 AM

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Black cat u mean? How does the atmosphere not engage? We can see his hard work, his support, his pride, and finally success. How can the atmosphere not be anything other than engaging after we have seen takamura travel his long journey and finally achieved his goal.

noteDhero said:
I honestly don't remember the music of the first series so much (exception of the openings), so I don't think that's the problem. It had more to do with the show really connecting the heart of each fight with some earthy struggle on the characters' part. I felt it there in the Date fight, but not so much in the Miyata, Nao, and Hawk fights. There has just been a strange disconnect in what I'm seeing and the intensity of the characters throughout the show.

The big tip off for me is that with the first series (I think it's good but over hyped) I never doubted what the characters were feeling and why, and was engaged in every fight. Here, not so much. Part of that does have to do with the bad idea of making Nao a "bad guy," cheating during the match, and then trying to soften him up for a defeat; and making Hawk a comically one dimensional antagonist for Takamura that I'm supposed feel like he stands a chance in winning against. Maybe the source material can be blamed...but I don't think so much.

@Black Hawk
That's funny, because I never thought that this is what the season was about. Especially because it's called "The New Challenger." I assumed it was completely about Miyata, Ippo and Takamura stepping into their own as boxers. Regardless though, my point was direction that was clear, precise, and set an atmosphere that engages.
Jun 20, 2009 9:29 AM

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My bad, BlackCat. We did see all of his hard work and pride, and seeing him trying to loose weight was fine, but that tension evaporated when they spent a whole episode on the time right before the match and Ippo's fight. So by the time Takamura started fighting, what it degenerated to was a severely undeveloped and overexaggerated character in Hawk against one of the main characters of the show? We all knew how it was going to end.

Then you take the fact that the construction of the episodes is such that one episode one person is winning and the next episode, everything that the announcers, Aoki, Kimura and Ippo were saying were reversed, for four times, and dramatically, everything was eliminated for me by the 2nd or 3rd count at the end of this episode.

Maybe it's me, but atmosphere is almost completely dependent on the director and how he chooses to play with time, silence, and camera movement. As has been discussed, I think that he didn't bring anything to spark a highly charged atmosphere, and relied on source material only to do this. The problem is that he often got in the way of that by playing up inappropriate moments and not focusing on what was important.

That's for the fights. For the training and those inbetween episodes he did as good of a job as the first series (except for the passing the torch moment).
Jun 20, 2009 10:00 AM

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May 2009
3529
takamura ftw, holy shit that was awesome, should i give this an 10??? lol
Jun 20, 2009 12:43 PM

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863
damn this ep was epic hawk vs.takamura was one of my fav in manga and the anime made it epic*tear* overall 5/5 all hail takamura the new WBC junior middleweight champion^^
Jun 20, 2009 3:25 PM

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That was friggin epic! Finally one of the Kamogawa guys won a major battle.

And @ the people complaining , look at the poll. If you dont like THIS episode, you should really drop this show.
Jun 20, 2009 8:48 PM

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I've watched a ton of sports anime in my day, but as "cool" as that episode was, with Takamura finally beating down Hawk, I'm going to agree with the group of people that are generally saying how the whole flow of the Hawk vs. Takamura fight was not done well. This episode especially. I mean, wasn't Takamura on the verge of death at the end of last episode? I don't mind him coming back from that kind of state and winning, after all, that's what shounen is all about. However, they offered no semi-plausible explanation on how all of a sudden he was throwing the types of punches one would throw when fully healthy. Yeah, I understand that whole "instinct" concept and how the boxer's body will remember all of the training they've gone through, but to have Takamura overpower Hawk so suddenly is a bit of a stretch. And "instinct," in my opinion, will help the boxer dodge punches and move his body...not necessarily throw devastating punches.

Regardless, I'll admit that I'm a shounen-junkie and this episode satisfied the shounen fan within me. But I do recognize the flaws that were apparent during the fight.
Jun 21, 2009 12:55 AM

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noteDhero said:
I definitely don't think so. If we're just talking about good direction and setting the a great atmosphere, White Album (especially creating tension), Kemono no Souja Erin, Higashi no Eden, Ristorante Paradiso, Natsu no Arashi, Birdy: Decode 2, and Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou are much better.

For me this isn't even the best of the season, much less the year or the genre.


well theres your problem right there, all the series you listed are basically crap which means you've gotten used to watching crap. no offense.

Take the series for what it is, raw testosterone, toss all this crap about "lol like dis need better music and uhm atmospheres and stuff"

And the blood throw up, they succeeded in that since all of you are talking about it, and got it embedded in your brains.
Jun 21, 2009 2:04 AM

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Aug 2008
896
Amazing. Made me shed some tears.
Jun 21, 2009 5:12 AM

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Jan 2009
475
noteDhero said:
My bad, BlackCat. We did see all of his hard work and pride, and seeing him trying to loose weight was fine, but that tension evaporated when they spent a whole episode on the time right before the match and Ippo's fight. So by the time Takamura started fighting, what it degenerated to was a severely undeveloped and overexaggerated character in Hawk against one of the main characters of the show? We all knew how it was going to end.

Then you take the fact that the construction of the episodes is such that one episode one person is winning and the next episode, everything that the announcers, Aoki, Kimura and Ippo were saying were reversed, for four times, and dramatically, everything was eliminated for me by the 2nd or 3rd count at the end of this episode.

Maybe it's me, but atmosphere is almost completely dependent on the director and how he chooses to play with time, silence, and camera movement. As has been discussed, I think that he didn't bring anything to spark a highly charged atmosphere, and relied on source material only to do this. The problem is that he often got in the way of that by playing up inappropriate moments and not focusing on what was important.

That's for the fights. For the training and those inbetween episodes he did as good of a job as the first series (except for the passing the torch moment).


Yes i think/agree that the storyline was easily predictable and repetitive. But the ending was a little touching :). I just find it engaging because I like the action even tho it may be predictable. =)
Jun 21, 2009 5:26 AM

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2253
I agree with he people who are unhappy with the fight. It was decent but, because of a combination of reasons, it never wowed me like the Ippo vs. Sendo fight at the end of the first series. It was just another fight; a fight that had a lot of build-up and failed to ever reach the heights of the best fight from the first series.

The music didn't help the fight out. Where as in the first series finale 'Imprison' played when Ippo was getting the crap beat out of him and looked out of his depth and the second opening started playing when Ippo was about to finish Sendo off, there was nothing comparable that played during this fight. For the most part, the soundtrack seemed very out of place during the fights.

As for the fight itself, Hawk being demonized and Takamura somehow winning even though he had nothing left in the tank at one point kind of ruined it. I fail to see how it was possible for Takamura to move so well after he reawakened when, before he flipped, he couldn't even defend himself. A very poor and forced end to the biggest fight in the story yet.

It's a shame the series has ended like this because early on I was on the verge of scoring it 10/10. Up until the end of the Date fight, I thought the series was amazing, with an epic fight having followed one of the best fights in the series to date (Miyata)... but the series then seemed to run out of steam after that point, moving far slower and the animation quality dropping. Instead of top marks, the series now has a rating of 8/10 from me - not bad but very disappointing after such a great start.
Jun 21, 2009 6:02 AM
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5302
One of the most epic episode I have seen recently, and probably the best episode of both HnI series (I didn't find most episodes half as epic as everyone thought they were, but I'm OK for this one). It can definitely be seen as an over-dramatic and exagerating episode, but it just felt right in the atmosphere and style of the series. The power of the punches, the blood, the violence and the suffering of the champions' bodies were incredibly well-executed on screen, even if I still dislike the numeric effects, lightning and music.

Well, a nice animation week we had after Higashi no Eden's last episode.

In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same.
Jun 21, 2009 11:48 AM

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One word.

AWESOME
Jun 22, 2009 7:06 AM

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Apr 2009
280
Not bad... But i expected better... what was that hawk puked blood like an infected.(Reminds me 28 weeks later movie). LoL
Jun 22, 2009 8:14 AM

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magnum opus of the series yet.
Jun 22, 2009 4:12 PM

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606
This is why I fucking hate manga readers that post totally and absolutely BULLSHIT after they watch the anime. I'm not insulting you or anything, but OF COURSE YOU WON'T FEEL THE SAME AFTER READING THE MANGA AND WATCHING THE SAME FIGHT ALL OVER AGAIN. IT'S JUST HOW IT GOES.

This episode was perfect. Simply perfect. Takamura said FUCKING no to the green eyes, and threw in the REAL DEAL: LIGHT-FUCKING-BLUE EYES for wild beasts being unconscious.

And of course you can say "NO, IN THE MANGA IT JUST FEELS GOOD MAN; THIS ANIME DIRECTION SUCKS". No, you can't. That would be a terrible excuse.

Takamura made that man FUCKING afraid of him. TOO BAD FOR YOU YOU WERE BORN IN MY ERA! God damn, this episode felt so fucking GOOD in not a sexual way. When the Ippo's gang was crying, I felt like crying; but I am still full of excitement after watching such a DELIGHTFUL ending to the best brawl ever. Hawk, you were strong... TAKAMURA WAS STRONGER.

I couldn't cry, the punches that Takamura threw in the face and body of Hawk were too much. Excuse for being a fanboy, but THIS is the bokushingu anime. Special effects can be a turn down; I don't give a flying crap, it's how HAPPENED in the manga. Blame the technology.

10/10
"Manga readers are annoying, all they do is complain or spoil the anime we discuss in an anime forum. They should really do their whining at manga forums."

Stolen from Janethan23. Add in visual novel readers too
Jun 22, 2009 6:21 PM

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1478
It's not just an issue of vs. the manga. Aionic, vin, and NoteD haven't even read it at all. They still have points to make. The whole issue with this fight is a lot of small production mistakes (music, dialogue timing, SFX) which didn't ruin the fight as such, but did end up making it drag a bit. Avoiding a dogpile of mistakes like that is the director's responsibility. I hope you honestly don't think direction doesn't make a difference in how a story unfolds.

BTW, if you didn't feel the need to capitalize "fucking" multiple times, it would probably have been a better idea not to. Would have made the whole post a little less silly.
Shameless Blog Plugging: animetics.net
Jun 22, 2009 10:14 PM

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Sorry, I had a fanboy rage.
"Manga readers are annoying, all they do is complain or spoil the anime we discuss in an anime forum. They should really do their whining at manga forums."

Stolen from Janethan23. Add in visual novel readers too
Jun 23, 2009 11:08 AM

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Feb 2009
596
The fight is the best in the anime thus far! The music in the last two episodes was played relevant to the situation which added intensity to the fight, I have not seen it in the manga but it must have been what made Ippo to go on this long?!
Jun 26, 2009 2:21 PM

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2551
Meh.

This director's strategy seems to be to spam flashbacks, slow motion, and cheesy special effects. Just not cool.

I really liked Date vs Martinez, but Takamura vs Hawk has been something of a dud.
Jun 29, 2009 7:58 AM

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OMFG epic <3 I loved it !
Jul 1, 2009 9:31 PM

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zeroj said:
This is why I fucking hate manga readers that post totally and absolutely BULLSHIT after they watch the anime. I'm not insulting you or anything, but OF COURSE YOU WON'T FEEL THE SAME AFTER READING THE MANGA AND WATCHING THE SAME FIGHT ALL OVER AGAIN. IT'S JUST HOW IT GOES.


Reading the manga before hand a long ass time ago then watching this fight, I can guarantee you that I was just as pumped watching the anime in comparison to reading it.

People described in your post probably think it's the cool thing to do.

Anyways, fuck yeah, that's mah boi.
Jul 4, 2009 9:32 AM

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106
And you guys will always be the support that pushes me


This really is an amazing show.

Neko's speech made me cry as well lol
Do you know of ‘The Magnificent Steiner’ ? The main character was normally a weak, sickly man. When he was in an emergency, someone would come and help him. A secret friend. But, the main character never realised...... that his secret friend....Was himself.

Grimmer = Legend
Jul 25, 2009 7:47 AM
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Jun 2009
13
Thank you for this, Takamura-san.
Aug 5, 2009 3:57 PM

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Nov 2008
293
Only at this episode i realize that takamura hairstyle changed.lmao
Aug 9, 2009 12:19 AM

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Jul 2008
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I've haven't read the manga so I cant say much of a comparison to the anime. But I did like the fact they made it unpredictable. I was seriously at the edge of my seat.
Oct 31, 2009 10:27 PM

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Nov 2007
3017
Woot go Takamura =] although this episode didn't feel as intensive and I was really looking for some more ... inspirational music it was an okay episode =O
Mar 16, 2010 10:27 PM

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1306
New Challenger overall was a disgrace to Hajime no Ippo. It really took out all of what made the first season of Hajime the greatest anime ever and glossed over them. Stuff was too rushed. Still, some Ippo is better than no Ippo.

The 24th episode was so anticlimactic since they kept showing Takamura and Hawk lose, then win, lose then win, it was so fucking retarded.
Mar 20, 2010 7:12 PM

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Dec 2008
1193
Takamura Champion! Yes!
Jul 28, 2010 6:34 PM

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Jan 2010
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callmeagnew and noteDhero ... Do you guys just like nitpicking at each and everything? I don't even know why I come these threads anymore as the majority of the posts on here are you guys saying the same things you do in each thread. Wouldn't it just be better to make a thread all together and talk as much trash as you want about the 2nd season? I mean it starts to get old after reading your posts more than twice.

In the meantime, Hawk vs Takamura vs the most epic fight of all the anime so far with Sendo vs Ippo (2nd fight) as a 2nd. The ferocity and epicness of this fight though was far beyond anything I've seen in Hajime no Ippo. Takamura have a rival and being able to show off his true strength was incredibly epic.

@ArtRodriguez - How was it retarded? Most, if not all the fights in Hajime no Ippo revolve around the fights going back and fourth to whose winning and whose losing. So I really don't see how that comment has any relevance here. It Was a breath of fresh air seeing this season more focused around World Champion matches rather than Ippo himself. His personality got to me in season 1, he's damn annoying at times. But seeing this season not focus mainly around him and seeing his personality change somewhat was a sigh of relief. Takamura vs Hawk is easily the best fight of the anime thus far. The only thing for me that sucked in this season was Yamada's return and fighting Ippo. Of course this is in the manga as well but to me it just seems dumb to have. I guess the only purpose it served was to make Ippo less naive while in the ring. Overlooking these factors though: Miyata, Date, and Takamura had excellent matches that made this season as good as the first. I'd put it on my top 10 if it had more episodes in it like season 1 did. Can only hope the next season goes beyond what season 1 did in terms of episodes and information in them. And of course I didn't read the manga up to this point but I plan to read from end of this season onward. My point being I don't know what is rushed and what is not in this season, I can only judge what I saw. And to me it was very entertaining and had a good fights this time around.
VitaXJul 28, 2010 8:00 PM
Nov 27, 2010 7:37 AM

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May 2010
362
fisher_88 said:

Also a small note - what happened to the green eyes of determination? Why the hell does takamura's eyes turn blue? I can't believe they could have forgotten such a thing, especially when they made the green eyes such a hallmark of the first series, ans especially when takamura had the green eyes at one point earlier.


determination was always the reason for the green eyes, and only determination. the will to win, to be better than the opponent. if you note the scene before takamura had blue eyes, you see that the reason for fighting wasn't at all determination. He simply wanted to murder his opponent. hawk points it out well, he was hitting in spots that would normally kill somebody. so yeah Ii just don't think the green eyes would've cut it. takamura wasn't fighting from determination, just his animal instinct. although they could've used another color than blue lol, maybe orange or something idk o_O

anyways, i thought the fight was freaking amazing. don't care what anybody says.
although, i wish takamura would've knocked his ass out the ring like the other guy. that would've been awesome xD
now then, what happens next i wonder :)
Jan 6, 2011 7:31 AM

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3777
It took everything Takamura had, including all that hate to turn things back around. I thought it was pretty damn funny how Aoki and Kimura and Ippo and even Itagaki were panicking not really knowing what to think of Takamura's transformation. But really, this lived up to the hype completely. Takamura took on the very definition of a champion by winning this match with everything he had, including the entire country of Japan at his back. Great, great fight!

Also, I have to laugh at the standing count when Takamura is killing him. You don't do a count in those situations, you stop the fight. If the man spews a pint of blood from his mouth you don't continue the GODDAMN COUNT, you stop the fight! I've seen some incompetent refs in this anime, but this one took the cake. Either he's a homer (for the American obviously) or he just sucks and shouldn't have been doing the job... or the mangaka was overdoing it for dramatic effect. I know what genre I'm watching, but still that pushed the limit.

Mar 4, 2011 9:09 AM
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Jun 2010
555
that was amazing!, but i wish there was more from ippo in this season, not just hammer noa. Like a new move that he learns or something. Im sure there is more of ippo from the manga though :)
Jul 23, 2011 10:55 PM

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May 2010
1005
F*ck yeah! haha Takamura won! That was one GREAT fight! It was more of a brawl near the end.. Takamura unleashed a barrage of wild but precise punches which left Hawk cowering in fear! Loved how they depicted Hawk as being scared of Takamura! In the end he might just retire haha
Didn't feel sorry for Hawk as he's a major douche bag.. but I might say that was a lot of blood he was puking out haha Even the referee was grossed out with Hawk LOL
Aug 21, 2011 7:40 PM
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Nov 2009
1503
Takamura is the KING!!
awesome episode 5/5
Apr 20, 2012 11:42 AM
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Apr 2012
6
Can anyone tell me what is the name of the song played at 3:35 when Takamura snaps?
Aug 9, 2012 10:01 AM

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Apr 2009
333
All that passion, the ultimate GAR and that fucking counter. I have to admit this gave me some watery eyes and runny nose, but that was just so perfect.
Jan 16, 2013 6:48 PM

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Aug 2010
188
Needs more blood. lol
Apr 23, 2013 10:35 AM

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Mar 2010
1111
sekai champion :]
Sep 2, 2013 9:08 AM

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Jul 2013
1088
The fight is finally over, and Takamura has reigned victorious, that was an epic blow that Takamura gave Hawk at the last moment. Also, that blood that came out of Hawk's mouth o_o, it was like buckets pouring out. But I'm glad that Takamura came out to be the victor =)
Sep 18, 2013 9:04 PM

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Apr 2012
1242
Takamura is a beast. I love watching him *_*
Sep 22, 2013 6:42 AM

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May 2013
785
Woah best anime in the world :D



Takamura for the BadassMode :D




Hawk face was like ewww his eye was like "hello im out of here"
and whats with the demon eyes hahaha
Nov 27, 2013 9:44 PM

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Nov 2011
127971
HE WON!
Hell yeah, about time Hawk went down with a bang. Ahh, what an intense fight this has been seriously.
Nov 30, 2013 9:16 PM

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Apr 2013
109
WE HAVE A NEW WORLD CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amazing -w-
Jan 24, 2014 9:17 PM

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Jun 2009
4385
Oh look, notedhero is complaining again, didn't see that co,ing.
Aug 13, 2014 2:31 PM

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May 2012
25827
Dat counting! I was totally into that!!! Really impressive ending, I really hoped he won but feared the worse, but now man oh boy this feels great! Really totally epic!
Oct 22, 2014 7:14 PM

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Oct 2012
889
YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!

What a perfect climax. I wonder what the last two episodes will be about.
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