The first episode had a unique feel to it but it was still just a simple bullied kid that wanted to stop the bullying. Nothing special. But as soon as those leaves were grasped, the show took off, spiraling into a heartfelt boxing banana. Ippo really had a way of just making you want him to be good at whatever he did, giving this anime another hook to its already thrilling boxing draw.The side main characters really have a way of playing with you as well, like they make you want to hate them for what they do, but at the same time, its so hard to turn away from their funny and ghastly humor. I feel that they added very detailed backstories for these characters very late in the anime and it really bothered me. I'm not sure why it did, but it just didn't feel right that they only had their spotlight 50 some episodes in, where the creators easily could've but more of a back story into the other characters that came up.
The art was mediocre, really had its feel to the whole thing but still made it hard to deal with at time. They took little Ippo who looked like he barely hit the 100 pound mark, and turned him into someone who looked like he could've been straight out of a marvel comic, huge muscles and giant build, aswell as the tiny head that made it look even weirder. Another struggle I had was the noses. I think Ippo went through atleast 20 plastic surgeries through this anime, as his nose NEVER looked the same between episodes, nor did most other characters' noses.
The theme songs were terrible. Both outros and the second intro was a major turn off. The only one that I actually liked was the first intro because it flowed with the images it was using as the intro video.
My overall enjoyment of the anime was definatlly above and beyond most other animes for the simple fact that it kept true to its boxing crucantail, only letting in a little bit of drama here and there, Ippo had his little romance every couple episodes, and the random bs had its fill, but it NEVER iterfiered with the main goal of the anime! BOXING! Because of this fact, it is defienly a high reccomandation for anyone, not only boxers, who wants an anime that actually stays true to its opening story!
My overall rating of this anime 9/10 but I still think it is a must watch to any and all, due to its pure beauty of being an anime that stays true to what it wants to do!
