Hajime no Ippo
Hajime no Ippo: Fighting Spirit!

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What can I say about Hajime No Ippo other then it's a great story that gives otaku everywhere some self confidence to be strong.

The story consists of one Makanouchi Ippo, a social outcast who is picked on because he is passive, poor and smells bad because of his family fishing shop. One day Ippo is being bullied out in the open and a man jogging by scares off the kids. Ippo asks the man to teach him how to be strong and thus begins Ippo's run of determination.

The theme of this manga is "What is it like to be strong?" and pure determination and hard ... work. It has very good character development showing every last spec of emotion that all the characters feel at every moment, as well as epic fights (although I do admit the fights wouldn't be like that if they were real)

There is a good bulk of training in this series and it takes up a good chunk of the series but is more then made up for when the fights roll around. And you know what? I don't mind all mind that much because that's what boxers do. Train, fight, train, fight. Very good insight on what a boxers day to day life is like.

The comedy in this manga is great. Usually in manga when there is filler people dread, but Hajime no Ippo delivers the most hilarious filler I have ever seen in my days.

All in all Hajime no Ippo is a great long running story with a mangaka that has as much stamina as his protagonist when it comes to writing. (And I'm not sure about all of you but Hajime no Ippo has motivated me to start working out more and become more active)

Overall Rating
10/10

Summary Scores
Story: 9
Art: 7
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 9

The reason for the submission of this review is that I thoroughly enjoy the series (so much so that I read 870 chapters in 2 weeks, whilst going to school), and that the other half caps review is trash.

First off, the premise of the story is very similar to any other shounen manga, Eyeshield 21, Naruto, etc. I could go on. However, it is unique in the fact that boxing is a blend of both the action and the sports genres - leading to none of that ridiculous superpower crap, yet not sounding completely unrealistic and solely created to ... maintain interest I might add, when a new ability or move is created.
In the first few hundred chapters the story progression is relatively quick, with Ippo advancing through the Pro Test, the Rookie Tournament, Japanese Rankings, and finally the Boxing Championship.
However, past this point it is simple title matches - that is not to say the enjoyment is greatly diminished. I still enjoy it to this day, definitely one of the higher rankers of shounen manga.

The art is pretty archaic, not so much so that it is downright unattractive; but, it still maintains that aged feel of classic manga. Although it has somewhat progressed throughout its publishing the overall feel is still there. I personally don't mind it, but to say I prefer it to the the standard of modern art styles would be incorrect. Although, the actions scenes are brilliantly illustrated, utilizing in full huge swishes of wind and the like.
Character design is, again, good, but nothing amazing.

Characters, the part where this manga truly shines - Takamura is undoubtedly the most popular character; his antics make him a very likable chap. However, he is not simple comic relief. He carries an aura of idolization, with all boxers in Kamogawa Gym, save Ippo's eventual kouhai - looking up to him. This admiration is not unwarranted, Takamura's record is superhuman and he is an absolute beast in the ring.
Ippo, somewhat standard fare, the young, naíve boy unhappy with his current life experiences a contextual epiphany and suddenly desires to become 'stronger'. However, Ippo is unique in that he does not start off as a complete wimp, containing power equivalent to those several weight classes above him.
The rest of the support characters are sufficiently likable, one may find themselves sympathizing with Aoki and Kimura's plight, being overtaken by their kouhai and never being able to retrieve the Champion belt.
I also found the Itagaki puns hilarious.

Enjoyment was very high, the fights keep ones testosterone at its peak, at least with what a manga can achieve at any rate. The training is amusing, the large amounts of manliness, guts, effort flying around is enough to get one's posterior on the edge of their seat.

Overall, Hajime no Ippo is one of my favourite mangas to date, and a shining example of a good shounen sport manga.

Since the author realized that he's going to make this run as long as he lives (or as long as there's interest) it has become a formulaic, and repetitive story. It basically runs like this:

-Training
-Fights
-End fight filler
-Rinse and repeat... FOREVER!

Of course there are good fights with the occasional serious Takamura title match. However, there are too many filler fights (Ippo title defense and Kamogawa gym underling matches) to keep things interesting during volume 50+. With how things are going, this manga will stretch forever.

It is likable though since I have lasted up to v60 and still going but I have found myself scanning the post ... and pre-fight fillers as well as the filler matches in hopes to get to the more important matches. This basically sums up how HNI is going.

Unless the author keeps things interesting, I will simply skim through the repetitive and formulaic discussions/fights and go through the important matches.

Ever thought of reading a good sports manga which combines quality and quantity? You need something to feel and dive into? Then Hajime no Ippo is the best manga for you.
It may be that you discovered the Ippo anime and are not sure whether to start reading the manga or not because of the huge amount of chapters (1000+). Well, it's definitely worth the time. But let's review this manga as if you had no knowledge of it.
Story:
The story begins rather simple, a boy named Makunouchi Ippo is getting bullied and to grow stronger, he starts with boxing under the very strict trainer ... Kamogawa Genji, an old but very experienced man.
There he meets his idol and competitor Miyata Ichiro who becomes Ippo's motivation to train harder and harder.
Sounds rather simple and you might think it'd get repetitive after over 1000 chapters, but it doesn't. The story shifts from character to character in the Kamogawa Gym and even from former challengers which become part of the ongoing story.
Where the story shines is that it combines multiple genres and subplots into one huge ongoing storyline. You have extremely hilarious comedy (most times about genitals, stupidity and later puns), dead-serious boxing matches with immense tension, drama, slice of life (combined with comedy or things to think about, so no boring stuff) and some love life, most characters are adults after all. Build-up and pacing are very well handled, you don't even notice little time skips.
Everything is connected to each other so you often see friends/former challengers appearing in the story even after their fight with the main cast either for plot or comedy purposes. So it's no "enemy appears-loses-next enemy suddenly appears" pattern, it's dealt with great story telling, build-up and characterization skills. The crazy thing is that you never know who wins which is an ongoing phrase in the story ("you never know what can happen in boxing"). It's not rare in this show to cheer for the "enemy", because they're do well written.
Art:
Now, you have to consider that this manga started it's serialization in '89, so don't expect too much in the first hundred chapters.
I have to admit, when I first encountered this show, I didn't like the art at all, but that was because I was used to the generic shonen art style which doesn't need time to adapt to.
This art is really great. You have wonderful double pages of either the park with the sky where Ippo & co. are always jogging or epic boxing matches with perfectly drawn shadows and motions; even the faces of the crowd have emotions drawn into them. You can tell from this description alone that this is drawn with a lot of passion and love. Character designs and overall world building are rather retro but it is really cool and fitting. I couldn't imagine Ippo with flat screens and smartphones.
What makes "Ippo" a relaxing read is also the pattern of the panels. It stays retro by having strict panel borders, not like most new manga where you have to find out what's actually drawn there with characters out of their already screwed up panels. So the art looks simple but is drawn with lots of love for detail. Even after 25 years of serialization it never disappoints to stay fresh.
Character:
"Ippo"'s characters are so unique in their respective way. No fight is random because we get introduction and characterization of new challengers to an extent that you sympathize with their determination to win which ends in very dramatic and breath-taking matches.
Spirit is a key point in every character in "Ippo", there are fights when someone even being unconscious keeps on fighting for his goal which speaks for the character's determination.
Some early beaten characters appear later on in the story where we get to see how their boxing career unfolds which often crosses with other former introduced characters. The characters' growth is immense as you could expect from this long running sports manga.
Enjoyment:
It really never gets boring. Between the serious fights you have light-hearted, inspirational or funny moments and even detours from boxing like cooking or baseball matches - always ending in a hilarious way or benefiting to further events. Even our beloved Ippo has a really funny and cute "love" which is often held back by a certain someone or other occurrences, but always really funny and cute. You will even cheer for Ippo to be as strong minded and confident with women as he is in the boxing ring, haha. When you're into a long exciting match you will have read 30 chapters before you even noticed. The pacing slows down remarkably during fights to thoroughly explore the way the competitors are fighting which really is necessary and a good point.
You get to learn a lot about real life boxing when some real boxing strategies or punches are being introduced which is also a huge plus. It never ceases to amaze me how well the mangaka George Morikawa combines boxing punches or strategies with each character's personality.

Overall this manga is recommendable for everyone open to read a longer project and not searching for one-shots to add to their finished manga list. You don't even need to like boxing or sports, this manga is so thrilling, inspirational and funny. Most people I know who saw the anime (yes, they're too lazy to read the manga, but I'm working on that) got the extreme urge to work out or start jogging because this manga portrays how hard work pays off over and over again.
Don't feel scared because of the huge number of chapters, see it as a blessing that you don't have to wait weekly for one chapter but instead read as much as you want for the first weeks or months until you caught up. :-)

This is the manga I started my return to manga with. It's the manga that has broken me for every other manga.

I originally said "1400 chapters? I'll read 200 chapters and see if I want to go on." I ended up reading all 1400 chapters that were out at the time... and I still crave more, pretty much every single chapter was excellent and enjoyable, and even where the manga currently is (With out spoilers). I'm still thirsty for more of Hajime no Ippo's style.

The thing about Hajime no Ippo is the characters is what makes it ... stand out. Ippo Makunouchi falls into boxing almost accidentally, learning from a big beast of a man called Mamoru Takamura about how to box. And while Takamura does help him, really his purpose in the manga is to guide him to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym.... well almost.

You see Mamoru Takamura has his own arc, he wants to be the best fight, not the best fighter in his class, not the world champion he wants to be a six title World champion, the best that ever was, and the thing is... He might just be able to do it.

Aoki and Kimura are two fighters in the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, and while they could be called side characters, both of these characters have long arcs through out the series, and the thing is... each of these characters arcs feel interesting important and unique. While every character in the series "Wants to win fights"... they each have their own strategy, fighting style, and storylines. Even the coaches get enough development that over 1400 chapters you grow to care about every character.

This isn't even true for the gym itself, the opponents are wonderfully written and many of them get enough development to be their own side characters. To say more would be spoilers, but I particularly have one of Ippo's opponents as my favorite character, and no not the one everyone else choses.

There's also no plot armor, there's no "hero's ability" every single fight two fighters enter the ring and both characters feel like they can lose. The minute you think you know who will win a bout, is the exact minute that the tide will change, and the manga will pull the rug out from under you, and the fact that even our main character might take a loss makes each bout even more engaging than a typical manga where we know who has to win everything. There are heartbreaking bouts, there are surprises, and there is the absolute joy when a fighter gets a victory, every single time.

The point though is 1400 chapters flew by, almost every fight feels amazing to the point where I might go reread only the fights, the character development is usually above average, the storylines are well developed but usually don't linger (ok the current arc is going on way too long, but there's so many pieces that have been developed during it). And the fact is.... this series broke me.

But before that I have to say that Hajime no Ippo isn't perfect, some plot lines feel lost to time, to the point that even the manga brings up rivalries that are now stone cold. Some characters who many people thought was the next coming of a main character have been relegated to the far background, and the romance story is slightly drawn out (though I think many fans overblow that problem)... But these are minor problems over a series that out of 1400 chapters, probably has above 1350 enjoyable chapters.

So how did Ippo break me? Because Hajime no Ippo's bar is so high, that because I started with it, almost no other series will come with in my expectation of manga. Amazing consistent characters, great fight scenes that are easy to follow but flow well, a story that never truly cools off, and a manga that has over a thousand chapters that never makes you want to stop?

There's not many mangas that have one of those points, but all of them together? It will be hard to beat, and that's my standard for manga. Even Berserk which is an absolute joy to read I think fails the fight scenes just enough for me to think it doesn't reach the same heights as Hajime no Ippo. Hajime no Ippo is truly a monster worth of it's own World Champion belt... and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Note: I will be unlikely to follow this review up, until possibly the end of this series (decades from now likely.) But be assure I'll still be here, loving this series every single release.

So this Manga starts off absolutely Amazing and is thoroughly incredible throughout about 900 or so chapters. EVERYTHING AFTER THAT IS ABSOLUTE TRASH PLS DON'T READ IT I AM DOING YOU THE GREATEST FAVOR. This manga is as bad if not worse than the way Fairy Tail went out towards the end and i do not make that statement lightly. Essentially what i mean by this is the whole entire last arc is the worst thing to ever grace the medium that is manga. Ippo our MC goes on a large training montage and road to redemption which is all great and dandy but ... after that man......after that i can't even say without raging. Its bad guys, real bad. Like so bad i feel like my best friend of 18 years stabbed me in the back and stole my wife from me (if i knew what that was like i imagine it'd be the same feeling as this). Just dont read this after around Chapter 900 or you might break your laptop in anger and disappointment as so many other people have. Specifically chapters 1199-1202. Skip those or risk my voice in the back of your head saying "I told you so". Unfortunately this is just a Manga that went through the all too classic downfall of having gone on for too many chapters and eventually lost everything that made it so great from the start. After all 1200+ chapters is quite a lot and this was almost to be expected but just the way this manga falls apart is heartbreaking.

-This review is in English and Spanish.
-Esta Review esta en inglés y Español.

ENGLISH

-Hajime no Ippo, an anime / manga well known for its great story, its charismatic characters and ...... Just Kidding, now I start the manga review.


Story:5/10 (1-268) 3/10 (269-???)

The story begins with a world conveniently armed at the convenience of the protagonist, parents with a tragic past, enters boxing in a way NOTHING casually ("casually knew a boxer at a convenient time) and wants to box because he saw a video (an excuse to get him to box without complicating too much).Besides this,the plot does not have much more, just wants to know ... that it is strong, through boxing (In addition to being an excuse, the protagonist is already strong), This could be passable until the 268th chapter, would have ended up as your typical history of action and self-improvement, but not the author extended it (to earn more money), But no, it has lengthened, this would not be a big problem if the character changed or showed the relationships between the characters (which happens in a limited way) Is exactly the same, the character trains fight, wins and from time to time interact between them, for a mangan of 100 chapters or 200, but for one of more than 1000? no thanks.

Characters:5/10
The protagonist is a gary stu, kind, energetic, kind, without fail and besides that his family has a very convenient tragic past.One reason why Ashita no Joe works so well is because the characters change, progress and evolve,In addition to not only training and boxing, the characters feel human,change their way of thinking while here in +1100 chapters does not change ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, although now seems to change a bit, I doubt it is a big change Of trancendence for the manga, The villains follow the same pattern, they appear reckless, and then they present them as tragic (with the exception of one or two), in the end fatigues is continued pattern, The secondary ones are the best for much of the manga, a more adequate past and with a greater motivation than "knowing that it is being strong" and each time the series is presented, it improves even if they only give it small bows every so often.


PS: The relationship between ippo and kumi is one of the least credible I have ever seen.

Art:10/10
Every action series that wants to succeed has to have a great quality of drawing, and this is not an exception, although at first it is a dirty drawing, it ends up improving at an incredible level, the best point of the manga for a lot, nothing negative I have to say.

Enjoyment:5/10
Although at the beginning I was surprised, at the end of the chapter 300 to 400 begins to decline and from before half of the manga is already boring, predictable and others.

Overall:4/10
I do not recommend it, there are many better action sleeves, but if for some reason you get to read the manga you should not see much beyond the 300 or 400 chapter since the rest is more of the same, repetitive, boring and static.

ESPAÑOL

-Hajime no Ippo,un manga bastante conocido por su gran historia sus personajes carismáticos y.....era broma,ahora empieza la reseña del Manga.


Historia: 5/10 (del capítulo 1 al 268) 3/10 (desde el capítulo 269 en adelante)

La historia comienza con un un universo construido a conveniencia del protagonista,familiares con un trágico pasado,entra al mundo del boxeo de una manera NADA casual (conoce a un famoso boxeador en un momento conveniente) y quiere boxear porque vio un video (una mera excusa para meterlo al mundo del boxeo sin complicarse demasiado) además de esto quiere saber que es ser fuerte a través del boxeo (además de que es una excusa,el prota ya es fuerte desde el comienzo).
Esto podría ser pasable hasta el capitulo 268,habría terminado como tu típica historia de acción y autosuperación,pero no,el autor lo alargo sin motivo alguno (para hacer mas dinero) esto no seria tan grave si los personajes evolucionaran o cambiase algo,pero no,es como ver un vídeo en bucle y el mejor ejemplo es el Mashiba vs Kimura,cuando parece que algo va a cambiar vuelve a su status quo,esto no seria tan grave para un manga de 100,200 o 300 capítulos,¿pero mas de mil?no gracias.

Personajes:5/10
El protagonista es un Gary Stu,amable,enérgico,altruista,sin fallos y además de eso su familia tiene un pasado trágico (nada conveniente)
Uno de los motivos por los que ashita no joe funciona tan bien es porque hay una verdadera interacción ente los personajes que afecta mucho a la trama,además que no solo es entrenar y boxear,los personajes se sienten humanos mientas que aquí se sienten de cartón osea (planos y blandos)además de que en +1100 capítulos no cabía nada,aunque ahora parece que vaya a cambiar algo no lo hará,seguirá manteniendo su estatus quo.Los rivales siguen un arquetipo,aparecen temibles y luego te los cambia con su pasado trágico (a excepción de uno o dos) y al cabo del tiempo fatiga esto.Los secundarios son lo mejor del manga,su pasado y justificaciones son mas adecuadas que las de el prota y cada vez que aparecen el manga mejora aunque solo le den un arco cada cierto tiempo.

Arte:10/10
Si quieres hacer un manga de acción de éxito tienes que hacer unos dibujos de calidad y Hajime no es la excepción, si bien al inicio del manga tiene un trazado algo sucio,con el paso de el tiempo mejor muchísimo hasta un punto incomparable con la mayor parte de mangas de acción,la verdad es que en este apartado no tengo quejas.

Disfrute:5/10
Si bien al principio me gusto,sobre el capitulo 400 ya empieza a aburrir y ya antes de la mitas es los mismo,ver peleas que no cabían nada con un patrón repetido y demás.

En General: 4/10
Hay muchos animes de acción mejores,pero si un día te da un ataque de inspiración y por algún motivo te lo quieres leer no deberías mas allá del capitulo 268 o como mucho mas allá de su pelea contra Sawamura ya que mas allá de allí no hay nada mas destacable y es una completa perdida de tiempo.

For a long time I succesfully avoided reading Hajime no Ippo, allthough knowing, that it is one of the longest running current mangas and widely regarded as a great sports manga. However after exhausting my backlog of mangas to read, I finally started it and read all 1000+ chapters in under two weeks. That alone should tell you, that I enjoyed Ippo.

I won't get into detail about the story, there are probably more than enough ressources to read about this. Basically it's about Ippo, a weak and shy boy, who gets bullied a lot. Through chance he meets the rising boxing star Takamura and joins ... the Kamogawa gym. He then starts his journey through the ranks of the boxing world in a quest to find out, what it's like to be truly strong.
After a while most of the time the manga follows a pretty strict formula. First a boxing match is announced and/or a new enemy is announced, then follows training and pre match strategy meetings, followed by the fight, followed by some "filler" like chapters that depict the every day life of the Kamogawa boxers in a generally humorous way.

While the story is mostly predictable, it is presented well enough to be interesting and continuing reading. The true strength of Hajime no Ippo lies in it's characters. While Ippo himself is a pretty one dimensional character, he is still likeable, and it's easy to identify with his struggles to find the self confidence needed in the ring. His gym mates are genuinely fun and interesting. Just for an example, there is Takamura, whose monstrous strength and eccentric behaviour makes him not only the star of the gym but also the center of most of the mangas humour, which you could either call archaic or classic. Either way it is funny.
Most of the time the opponent of Ippo are rather well written characters with their own motivation and a lot of them reappear either as recurring enemies or as new found friends or rivals. More than once I found myself conflicted who I wanted to win in a fight, Ippo or his opponent, which really shows, how much you can relate to these characters.
The only weak point within the casts are the opponents of Ippos gym mates. They are often just there to provide a match, but rarely get much of a backstory. While I can understand that most of the panels should focus on Ippo and his matches, a few more fleshed out fights for Aoki or Kimura would have been nice.

Then lets focus on the art for now, which is probably one of the most polarizing parts of the manga. You really see, that this manga is from a different era. Even with the slight variations in the style that the manga went through, it style can again be described as either archaic or classic. For fans of old school mangas this might be a plus point, but for me it wasn’t. I found the art to be functional but the character design is not my thing. Even more so I think a lot of the characters look bland, and more often than it’s tolerable I had problems remembering who a recurring character was just based on his face.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t good parts in the art however. The fights are exceptionally well done, the perspective used and the generous use of speed lines really makes certain scenes stand out. Especially whenever powerful moves are used, a turning point in a match occurs or the manga shows a knockout scene, you can really feel the impact of the attacks through the art alone.


Hajime no Ippo is definitely a good manga. While it might not have reached the expectations I had for its long running record, it is a good read and even non sport fans will probably enjoy the characters and their struggles. If you can cope with the archaic art style or even like it more than the current ones, you should try it out. If you start it you’ll have something to read for quite a while.

There are battle mangas, and there are sports mangas. Hajime no Ippo falls in the latter category. Boxing isnt fighting, its a sport. Two sportsmen getting in a ring for a regulated professional athletic match. For that reason, with only one or two real exceptions, there are no antagonistic evil boxers. The story starts off following Makunochi Ippo, a young bullied boy who, after meeting a pro boxer, is inspired to become one himself. with a style reminiscent to Mike Tyson (without Ear Biting), we see Ippo climb the ranks of the featherweights. At a certain point, the story becomes less about Ippo (though he ... is the primary focus) and become an ensemble, as the mangaka George Morikawa said "Everyone in Hajime no Ippo is a main character." Additionally, it isnt solely about the sport. One of the biggest reasons why Hajime no Ippo has been as long running as it has is because of its humor and character development, both of which are to be praised. due to the fact that this is manga, the matches are obviously slower than what they really should be, considering a round lasts 3 minutes. This actually serves as an advantage for a number of reasons. The blows and patterns are shown in greater detail to be easier to understand, and we can see the thoughts of the boxers and their seconds as they strategize. These two things serve a very important purpose. The amount of strategy and mental planning show that boxing isnt simply two guys punching each other, but is a sport that requires a lot of strategy, instinct and intelligence. One of the most prominent things to mention is fighting spirit. Yes, one of the most common and overused tropes in shonen manga is in here too. And not only does it work, it fits absolutely perfectly and is a major symbolic theme in the series. Such masterful use of the fighting spirit trope is amazing and is on par with that of Gurren Lagann. Analysis of the series and a couple rereads would show that the series actually shows the cultural symbolism of fighting spirit and the origins of the trope. In fact, it is possible to interpret the series as being somewhat metaphorical of Japan's conflict between its traditional culture and the post-war westernization. I wont explain more, i dont want to spoil anything else, so I'll just conclude with this being a masterpiece.

Even if it's usually labeled as that, Ashita no Joe it's not the best option for boxing fans, but for people who appreciate a great storytelling, characters and drama. If you are looking for the best approach to boxing as a sport there is nothing close to Hajime no Ippo.

Some people say it gets boring or is too long, but in fact there is not a single moment when you think you are reading filler chapters, HnI is like following boxing in real life for a decade or so, new fighters arise, others decline, etc. With Hajime no Ippo even if there is a main ... character (Ippo) this is not just his story, but the story of boxing during the years of his career. There you have many weight classes, different boxing styles and the personal life of each one of those boxers.

That's why this series is so long (1311 chapters as I write this review), because usually any pro boxer will have around 30 to 60 fights in his career. You can't rush things, this is not a narrative created by Morikawa, but a translation of a reality to a manga, the perfect portray of that reality (as luckily happens with HnI) needs to be this long, each one of these characters needs to evolve, to train, to change in their weight classes, be the best in their countries to go for the world fights; it's not about repetitive storytelling, it's just about how this reality works. That's why for me right now HnI it's probably at the best moment of the entire series, because many of the characters are approaching or are already in the elite fights, if you think it's dragging too much maybe the problem is that you really don't appreciate this sport, and you are looking for just another story where this is only about a main character who gets bullied and the story ends when he gets his Japan belt and marries the girl he likes.

George Morikawa makes clear his love for boxing and knowledge about it, many of the fighters and situations come from real life and boxing history. If you share that passion for this sport Hajime no Ippo is the way to go, if you are looking for a great and moving story maybe Ashita no Joe is a better option.

THE BEST FIGHTS IN MANGA! (EXTREMELY LONG REVIEW!!!)

Art:
As with any good fighting manga, impacts are *very* well drawn and conveyed, the speed and footwork of these fighters are incredibly shown and helps immerse you that much deeper than what watching Rocky or a real life Match could do. It's simply beautifully violent, and makes you feel very hype. The way the characters look like they've been hit by a grenade or truck with each punch is captivating, and the unique angles Morikawa offers later on in the series as techniques get more and more advanced are utterly jaw-dropping and hype-inducing. Each foot and each fist ... move in such fluidity and power that you could swear you see the panels are moving!

Very rarely does anything unique with the manga format, like drawing a full character on a page with panels, or having a fist come out of a panel and into another. Though this does increase as the manga goes on. The only consistent outlier being The cheering SFX that are plastered almost everywhere during fights in the Arenas, which helps to communicate that the audience is going wild.... If you can read Japanese that is. But it's a simple "ア" sound effect which literally just means "A". So the cheering is just "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", just generic SFX but still helps in solidifying the crowd's presence in the matches. Character designs are top notch, there's practically no-one you will forget the looks of, and the artistic evolution of the series as Morikawa matured as an artist is, just like one piece, endearing. The manga is definitely sometimes a product of its time, with some pretty unexpected humour, this might be because Morikawa hasn't worked on much besides just Ippo and one other manga I believe, but the way he keeps the art style of the 90's with a modern flair really helps root the manga in its 1990's setting even more.

Fights:

The best fights in manga*.

The asterisk is there because these are grounded, realistic fights. Well, Morikawa takes some liberties as all entertainment products do, but they are the best realistic and choreographed fights you'll ever see in Manga. Somehow, Morikawa manages to make every fight unique, you start to wonder just how the man can make the next fight interesting because Boxing is pretty simple, but you're surprised every time. All Boxers are unique and have skills that you will remember them for, while still sticking to that realistic tone the series goes for. The themes of hard work and talent are incredibly used and captivating as the good characters fight all sorts of foes from Hard working good guys giving it their all in a fair fight to Talented bad guys just wanting the fight money and playing dirty. The best thing about the fights is that you never know who's going to win most of the time. Morikawa expertly makes the fights feel so tense and the feeling of "Will the hero lose?" Is present in almost every single fight even well into the manga which presents every fight as insanely gripping and fun to read.


Characters/story:

The characters are amazing. While people rarely have any emotional moments akin to One Piece, they are still effective and each and every one of them has a special backstory and reason to fight or live that is specific to them. There isn't much "darkness" to this manga however, so while the fights remain engrossingly violent, very rarely do you fear for the lives of the characters themselves, leading to quite a light feeling read that still manages to make you shake in excitement. You find yourself sympathising with even the most evil foes, just like One Piece sometimes does. The manga also sometimes brings back old characters, keeping them relevevant and making the manga feel less like a Manga and more like a living, breathing world where things continue to happen outside of our views of just the main character. Some characters fill generic roles, such as the love interest, which can lead to some being pretty shallow. But with the sheer amount of characters in this manga, that's okay. The main cast continues to develop somehow despite having so much screentime, which isn't a bad thing, and you don't get sick of the characters despite spending so much time with them. You feel like you actually know these people, but at the same time you wish that someone else would be getting the spotlight once in a while.

Still, the characters are a massive part of Hajime no Ippo, and it is an absolute joy witnessing every moment, from silly to tragic, with them. The cast is also a sausage fest. Which makes sense, Boxing for women was extremely unpopular in the 80's/90's and still is to this day, but for most of the time this manga was releasing, especially its creation date, it makes sense that it's only Guys who fight and women play supporting roles. As the manga takes place in the 90's, so too does its attitude for women and men. Which can be a negative for some, but it was part of the times. Women are generally the problem solvers though, and they offer things the men cannot. However as the boxing is so much of a focus, things like romance are few and far between, with characters even pointing this out to the reader. Things just gestate and some will find this problematic but I didn't. Comedy however, is the second biggest focus for this manga. It's extremely funny, and every character has gags or other jokes that make you laugh or chuckle, without taking away from the seriousness of the Boxing or character drama. Most of the characters are fleshed out with extensive backstories even hundreds of chapters after their debut. One point of contention I have is that some characters are obviously, how do I put this, "held back" from progressing in order to maintain the status quo. While the status quo is amazingly fun, it is noticeable when you see someone who really should be moving up in the world being held down by Morikawa in order to keep them around in the plot. Though there are reasons for this in the story, it's made even more apparent if you have kept up with the story for the decades that it has been ongoing. It's the only blemish on an otherwise perfect cast. Again, the story isn't as deep as one piece, in fact sometimes I expected the manga to get really dark only for it to be something not dark at all. But that's not a bad thing, however In my own personal preference I'd wish for a bit more darkness, but as that would overshadow the boxing, I can see why they didn't go that route. It's still an absolutely enjoyable story full of decently hard hitting moments and is perhaps the funniest manga I've ever read to top it all off too!

The biggest issue I have with the manga is its' lack of variety. While the downtime between matches are long enough reprieves, said downtime is almost always still about boxing. Whether it be training, or just talk about boxing. This makes sense as it is important exposition and reflection, that's not the issue. It's so HYPERFOCUSED on boxing that the manga SORELY lacks anything else. Romance, Drama, dark moments, even just slice of life are extremely rare or aren't focused on enough to be substantial. Your pretty much getting only boxing, which can, depending on your preferences or personality, be repetitive. Comedy and gags make up 99% of the non-boxing sections, which are some of the greatest comedy and gags you'll ever see, may also not be some people's cup of tea. The sheer focus on boxing is commendable, but it is not a manga that satisfies all avenues of media. Morikawa routinely pokes fun at this aspect of HNI and goes as far as trolling the readers that something of substance in the subplots of the manga will ACTUALLY develop further, only for it to become a gag. The humour is still the best in manga history, but the blueballs is rightfully the biggest flaw in HNI and will affect everybody differently. It's actually insane how this manga has been going on for over 3 decades and some character relationships or plot points have barely even developed. So be sure to get your fix from other sources while reading Hajime no Ippo, but you should still BINGE this manga like I did to retain as much information as possible, because as I said, older characters and events are referenced or used almost constantly.

Setting:

The setting is hard to criticise. On one hand, it's pretty boring compared to exploring the entire world of One Piece and its fantasy varied environments, but on the other, this is a modern day 90's Japan Boxing manga so it lacks interesting environments. In fact, Hajime no Ippo could be a stage play with how simple the manga presents itself. There are a few key locations the story centers around: The Gym, The Arenas, and a running embankment. With some other lesser used places like restaurants, Ippo's home and boat, and a few special places like visiting other Gyms or other character's houses sometimes. It's hard to fault this manga for having extremely bland environments, the environments are not interesting at all which is a shame, but it's the fighting and the character interactions that is the real draw of Ippo. But the fact that you don't notice how much the manga takes place in only about 3 major locations goes to show how strong the manga is in its core strengths.


Overall:

Hajime no Ippo is one of the best manga ever created.

Its fights are captivating, Artwork is jaw-droppingly impactful, the characters are endearing and the comedy is absolutely hilarious. It is a must read, the 1500 chapters just fly by. A heads up that this manga isn't officially translated, the manga only just started being officially released in 2023 with the first 100 chapters. The chapters unfortunately do not redraw the sound effects so it's pretty lazy especially because it's such an old damn manga, but at least they add a little translation below them in English. But at least it's getting an official release! The fan translations are great, until about 700 chapters in where for about 100 chapters your stuck reading quite low quality scans, with them even acknowledging this. However it returns to it's normal quality later on in the 800's and the translators sometimes even help with boxing terms and knowledge as well as Haijime no Ippo trivia when it's relevant. So please stick with them. The official release will take well over a couple decades to finish at their current pace, so the fan translations are the way to go. But If you can, please support Hajime no Ippo by buying officially licensed merch and the official translations!

(All of the anime content covers up to chapter 500 or so, and of the few clips I have watched, is insanely hype and the SFX, voice acting, and choreography are some of the greatest I've ever seen. If you have the time, the anime could be also an amazing way to consume Hajime no Ippo. But the manga is obviously no slouch itself, and as someone who's read hundreds of manga, It fits comfortably in my top 5.)

This manga is one of the greatest ever made, it's a masterpiece despite its flaws and has the best* fights you will ever read.

This is a manga about boxing. And I meant that to a fault. It's not going to hit you with some drama, crazy twists and turns, or philosophical questions. It's strictly about boxing. And I'm not just talking about the MC, although a lot of the plot naturally involves him, but every boxer character gets their own spotlight and even a whole arc dedicated to their match. Even the supporting aspects of boxing such as the gym, trainer, corner, and media were explored.

That being said, after 1000+ chapters and ongoing, it does get very repetitive. Just like a real sport would, it doesn't get any ... farther than the cycle of training, match, win/defeat, and repeat. The most definition you could get is when a character gets an injury and has to fight through recovery, but that's it. So the key to making a sports series like this is how making each cycle entertaining. Of course with how many fights have been written in this series, not all of them will be good. That's just statistics at this point. But when it gets good, or when it takes turn to cover a character that you love, then it will be a treat.

Through its long run, however, the series still maintains its core thesis: the power of hard work and perseverance. And if that is not the quintessential core of a sports series, I don't know what would be.

HNI has a very special place in my heart. Starting the story over a decade ago as a preteen, I have some how managed to still keep up with it. Its a unique story, that at its best it can touch on fundamental themes of family, persistence, determination, harshness of life and loss.

At its worst however, it can seem a monolithic work to sludge through especially considering the scope of its length (1300+ chapters at this recording). And admittingly its not for everyone.

Possible cons
-The length usually pops out at most newcomers and even some people who have read a majority of the ... chapters. This manga is a lot to read.

-Its humor can be a little crude or outdated. While some might enjoy that, after 1300 chapters it can be a bit tiring reading the same dick and balls jokes lmao.

-Lack of focus. While Morikawa does offer a lot of material and amazing arcs, he also tends to leave them hanging with out much of a good resolution. The romance goes no where, characters finish their arcs only to come back with out a clear direction. To trudge along in a limbo of short breaks in the main story line or as comic relief characters.

Possible pros
-The story while long is filled with fantastic stories here and there. Some arcs by themselves would fit as short one shot mangas that would do well.

-While I would hesitate to say the fighting in hni is realistic, it is grounded in
some reality. Ippo and co all typically have to train. There is a distinction between the "talented" and the "with out talent" but not to an unbearable extent. Some of the fights at a certain point become straight out wacky but eventually revert to a more normal setting

-The emotional effects. While I will not say hni is a drama or its goal is to be overly sentimental, it does a good job connecting to the audience. Morikawa seems to dig deep into life experiences as a medium. There is something for everyone in HNI, whether you consider it enough for the amount of work to go through can only be up to you. I have enjoyed it and hope one day soon to read an ending

Disclaimer: I watched the anime first, then picked up the manga where it left off. They aren't very different at all though. I fully recommend the anime as well.
This manga is an amazing feel good story about a bullied boy named Makunouchi Ippo who joins a boxing gym after being saved from a brutal beating by a strong boxer named Takamura Mamuro. The story then mostly follows Ippo and Takamura through increasingly difficult tests in their pro boxing careers.
The cast is not limited to only these two, in fact there are many other important rivals, and three other gym mates that all have expansive ... and very realistic motivations for what they do. In fact there are at least two fights in the story where I actually rooted AGAINST Ippo because his opponent was either way cooler, or had much more at stake.
If you like action, read Ippo
If you like realistic love storys, read Ippo
If you like amazingly fleshed out characters, Ippo is for you.
Even if you think boxing is a boring sport, i can wholeheartedly recommend you this manga, as it has a certain spark that you don't see too often these days

Hajime No Ippo Dispite it Having some weak points.Its still a great Manga never the less.

Story:9
The story started out simple Ippo whats to know what it mean to be strong.While that is a pretty simple goal its self later on.Ippo goes into a deeper meaning.That the "strength" he wanted wasn't phsyical strength but something much deeper than that.

Art:9
The early chapters of Hajime the Art isn't bad but not good either.But Its Progression becomes aperent.Morikawa-san has one of the best art progression ive seen in a manga.The Climax of each fight Morikawa puts so much build up and anticipation then when the final shot comes in.Morikawa ... puts so much detail into one big hit and in that one punch the illustration really shows the impact and the destruction of the punch.Now going from that part.The Art also conveys so much emotions through every punch


Characters:10
Personally I like to the of Hajime No Ippos Characters as the One Piece of Sports Manga.Such a Large cast with very strong motivations and dynamics to them that they get arcs dedecated to them.Not one character is there just to box they all have there personal reasons on why they do boxing.In Most cases you might find your self rooting against the MC himself.

Enjoyment:10
This Manga can really teach you so much about boxing.Morikawa even takes the time to show you the basics.Then walk you along with some more advanced techniques.And Often teach you about real life boxers manly from their style to their careers as a boxer.I enjoyed this manga So much that im a fan of Boxing now.

Overall:
Now this isn't the perfect manga out their but if anything it has very few flaws.Honestly one of the greatest Sports manga Ive had the plesure of reading.Now the length may be a huge turn off for yall and I can understand that.So if you wanna cut down on the number of chapters you wanna read the I advise you watch the anime(it covers 558 chapters).Either way your going to see some power and impactful moments.
PS:My Favorite Quote
Coach Kamagowa
"Constant effort is life's greatest shortcut"
Thank You for Reading :)

What can i say except that i have re-read this manga about 8 times. Due to the amount of chapters it is a great read, a lot of story and a lot of character development, at times you want them to win you want them to get up and continue, and you feel like you're there watching it live.
At the beginning like all great manga the art was good but had some flaws however over the course of the manga the art has changed slightly but enough to make it a lot better to read. It isn't one of the manga where the main ... character is OP from the start which is why this anime is great it slowly builds up the main character making each fight better as you just want him to win.
It is filled with comedy and it also has its serious bits, and each fight you just get more excited for whats to come.
Overall i gave this a 10 out of 10, this is because every series has its flaws even if they are slight, but this manga from my perspective was great with minor flaws, this manga is enjoyable even if you don't like boxing however at first it slowly progresses as it would realistically based on the time between fights, however this is what makes the series better as it hypes up each of the main fights for the main character and other characters in the series.

For the part of the manga up until the anime covers, I would give a rating of nine-point something.Let's call this the good part, for the rest of the review.This series HAD some of the best character development and thrilling action with the right amount of good comedy mixed in. It was almost a masterpiece. Then the train keeps on going off track many number of times and gets really frustrating. All the logic and realism behind fights is lost and we lose on the action prospect of the manga. There is no sense of progression in the MC's skills at this point as really ... small things disrupt his ability to perform well. I don't understand the intentions of the author as he seemed to develop the character to be more skillful.But looking at these fights we see that the skill is all lost and it all comes to GUTS.This is the same bull that many other shounen manga and anime has put out. I understand the part bravery and not giving up plays in winning. But that alone would never guarantee a win. A really good main character who was skillfully developed to be a great boxer was deprived of his skill in the later episodes and it all came down to the so-called GUTS.This might not seem like a very big issue but this decision completely destroyed the thrill which I got from the fights in the good part. Fights in the bad part always turn out to be a slug fest as our protaganist withstands with GUTS and destroys his opponents with his magical punch.The action part of the manga is really bad in the bad part of the manga. Next let's talk about characters. As i had mentioned earlier this show had some excellent character development in the good part. Very few anime/manga come close to the level of the character development shown in this manga. The characters don't just have a backstory, they have very good and interesting backstories (sometimes). Even the MC had a really good character development as an underdog rising to the top. But as usual the in other part of the manga this falls apart. The newly introduced characters do come with short backstories but the already developed characters kind of fall short even though they were interesting in the beginning.Takamura becomes a jerk.Ippo becomes a loser who always thinks others are better than him and he will get up as long as he can.His confidence is removed from his character(He sees the characters he has already defeated as people he can't defeat).Miyata becomes ignorant.Aoki and Kimura become ______.Well they are just there.I was really disappointed with how Ippo's character developed. The thing that made the Ippo-Miyata interactions so damn interesting in the good part was that they both saw each other's as rivals.This changed in the bad part.Ippos now sees Miayata as an Idol, someone he thinks can't defeat, he is just satisfied to fight with him.This is another bull the author has pulled on us.There goes character development.Now let's come to the weakest part of the manga.I will not separate this into the good part and the bad part as I believe a story should be seen as a whole. An ingenious beginning doesn't mean that a bad ending can be forgiven.Don't read any furthur if you don't want spoilers but I think you should read ahead even if they are spoilers because you would feel pretty disappointed,disheartened,betrayed if you found out this part from the manga. Well here it goes if you decided to read along.After 1200 chapters, Ippo breaks with no chance of a comeback. If there is a comeback at all, then it would be a shitty one. Because it's not the spirit that is broken, it's not the skill that is broken, It's his body.It can't be reversed.Even Ippo knew it.Before he broke completely Ippo wanted to show the completed Dempsey Roll to everyone.But he breaks before he can.This is absolutely a very bad path to follow and end things, especially so for a manga this long.It's over there is no come back.This manga can't have a decent ending.One thing the manga does good is with the comedy.It never gets old and keeps up until the end.

The review is over.Thank You for reading through if you did.A small footnote before I leave.I heard the author of this manga is very sick.I pray for his fast recovery.This is just a speculation but Ippo might be a personification of the author himself.He may be suggesting that no matter how much enthusiastic he is, he can't keep up with his old self with a broken body.Well that is just a speculation though.

When first looking at this series the sheer length might be ta turn off, which I can understand, but if you choose to give this a shot I guarantee that you will enjoy this adrenaline packed ride. This was the series that first got me into reading sports manga. I judge the quality of a sports manga on if it can make me interested in a sport that I previously did not care about before. Hajime no Ippo does this extremely well.

The story arcs are formulaic, but it works. I equate it to watching a good Rocky movie, over and over again without it getting ... boring. This series has a lot of comedy and a bunch of hilarious moments as well.

The art in the beginning is a little off, but later on it becomes more polished and detailed.

If you like sports manga this is a must read, the time investment is great, but it will be well worth it.

Entre más avanza mejor se pone, es increíble, 1300 capítulos y todo lo que hace es gustarme mas. también hay que decir que en serialización las peleas no serán tan amenas pero igualmente pienso que se puede disfrutar muy bien, god-tier manga. el diseño de personajes diferencia culturas y me parece adecuado, los nijongos se ven bastante usuales y los americanos, mexicanos, y demas asiaticos también tienen rasgos que los diferencian, la calidad de la historia mejora con los giros en la carrera de makunouchi. en recuento la experiencia es muy buena y las expectativas de la historia son como un sueño (xd).

“There are times when working hard may not be enough. But those who succeed worked hard.” – Coach Kamogawa

Hajime no Ippo show me how I can be strong if I fight back! Yes, this manga could give strenght to someone who are weak. Not many works has the same impact in my life as Hajime no Ippo, an boxing story!

It has been 2 years since I start to enjoy reading Hajime no Ippo, imeadily after the anime adaptation, and the sensation of being more strong at every chapter hasn't change. For me, who loves a good shounen, Hajime no Ippo, can continue to be ... published indefinitely.

The stereotypical phrases, like: "Fight back", "Don't give up", "Look ahead" are present in this show, but they don't impact you that simply. Hajime no Ippo shows that you can't improve yourself only winning, only training hard or only being talented! Being strong is a lifestyle. To obtain it you have to follow the rules, learn by your mistakes, train hard everyday, like the characters does! Doesn't matter winnig or losing if you fight like that!

The narrative is pretty good, solid and imprevisable. I can't tell who is gonna win the fight before it ends. The art fits very well to the genre. Fillers after the fighting are hilarious!
Never was disappointing!

THANK YOU!