Fighting Spirit
Encyclopedia
Fighting Spirit, known in Japan as , is a boxing
manga
and anime
series created by Jōji "George" Morikawa
which is serial
ized by Kodansha
in Weekly Shōnen Magazine
. The plot follows the story of highschool student Makunouchi Ippo, as he begins his career in boxing and over time obtains many titles and defeats various opponents.
The manga has been running since 1989 and spans 96 tankōbon
so far. A 76-episode anime
adaption titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! was produced by Madhouse
, Nippon Television
and VAP, directed by Satoshi Nishimura and ran on the Nippon Television Network from October 2000 to March 2002. One OVA and a movie were also produced. At the end of 2003 the anime was licensed in North America
by Geneon
. Geneon released it as Fighting Spirit. It was called Knock Out! in the Philippines
.
On September 15, 2008 it was announced in Weekly Shōnen Magazine that a second season of Hajime no Ippo would begin airing on January 6, 2009. The second season is called Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger and concluded on June 30, 2009.
However, after a week of tough training, involving nightly hours, Ippo manages the technique in the nick of time. He waits for the jogging Takamura to come by his usual path, and manages to surprise Takamura by not just catching all 10 of the falling leaves, but only doing it with his left hand. This impresses Takamura greatly, and he informs that the action required to catch all 10 leaves was called a boxing jab, and Takamura invites Ippo back to the boxing gym for introductions.
When they got back to the gym, the coach, Genji Kamogawa, was not at all impressed by Makunouchi's lack of fighting spirit, and therefore, was challenged by Takamura to have a practice spar against a member of the gym. However, Kamogawa decides to give Ippo a severe challenge and tells him to spar with Miyata, a man that's also 16, the same age as Ippo. However, Miyata is known as a boxing prodigy and is one of Kamogawa gym's future hopes. Takamura gets extremely worried with this prospect, as Miyata skill is way above the 4-rounder pro boxer. As expected, Ippo loses by KO, but not until Miyata struggles dodging his punches and finally ends the match with his trump card: "The Counter" The coach Kamogawa decides that he has great fighting sense and spirit and decides to train him to eventually become the Japanese Champion with a world ranking while Miyata became the OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation) Champion. Both are expected to hit high in the world rankings and eventually, fight each other for the World Champion's belt.
The story focuses heavily on character development, even during the matches something is learned about the fighters. Ippo and his friendly rivalry with Miyata is the main draw in the early part of the series. That later changes to Ippo's path towards the Japanese Featherweight Championship and eventually the world championship. Along the way we are given glimpses into the other side character's pasts, motivations, relationships to others and current boxing trials. A colorful cast of support characters and opponents as well as side stories concerning their path in the boxing world rounds out the series.
, then later the PlayStation 2
and Game Boy Advance
, and recently to Wii
, as well. Two of the games have been released in North America and in PAL
territories. There was some confusion regarding the Western title Victorious Boxers 2: Fighting Spirit prior to its Western release, as this is generally assumed to be the same game as Hajime no Ippo 2: Victorious Road, when actually it is the next title in the series, Hajime no Ippo - The Fighting! All Stars. The Japanese released Victorious Road is unique amongst the titles as it includes the option to create your own boxer and control his training, diet, weight etc. The second Western title, Fighting Spirit, gives the player a choice of over 70 fighters for VS play. Each title has its own story mode which closely follows that of the manga, though obviously the storytelling is not of the same quality.
Recently, Ippo and Takamura have also appeared in the crossover video game Sunday VS Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen! as playable characters.
Anime news network website
2009 that the director of the first series is working on a new movie.
, who also did the third opening theme song. Various tracks of guitars, drums, piano, horns, and combinations of the instruments were used to help accentuate the mood and action of the scenes. The soundtrack was released in Japan on two CDs, "First KO" & "Final Round". The music for the second series was composed by Yoshihisa Hirano
.
Opening Theme Songs
Closing Theme Songs
for shōnen
. Anime Academy gave the first anime series a glowing response; all five reviewers rated it above 90%, with one referring to the series as "the cream of the crop" of the sports genre in anime, and another stating that "fighting and character development have never tangoed so well together". Fanboy.com listed the series as one of their "Top Ten Underrated Manga".
Music
Other
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series created by Jōji "George" Morikawa
George Morikawa
is a male Japanese manga author known for the long running series Hajime no Ippo. Hajime no Ippo is a boxing manga, following the main character, Ippo, through his life and boxing career. Hajime no Ippo, as of February 2010, has 90 tankōbon, or volumes, and was adapted into its first anime series...
which is serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
ized by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
in Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Weekly Shonen Magazine
, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...
. The plot follows the story of highschool student Makunouchi Ippo, as he begins his career in boxing and over time obtains many titles and defeats various opponents.
The manga has been running since 1989 and spans 96 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
so far. A 76-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaption titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! was produced by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
, Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
and VAP, directed by Satoshi Nishimura and ran on the Nippon Television Network from October 2000 to March 2002. One OVA and a movie were also produced. At the end of 2003 the anime was licensed in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Geneon
Geneon
is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan...
. Geneon released it as Fighting Spirit. It was called Knock Out! in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
On September 15, 2008 it was announced in Weekly Shōnen Magazine that a second season of Hajime no Ippo would begin airing on January 6, 2009. The second season is called Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger and concluded on June 30, 2009.
Story
Makunouchi Ippo was an extremely shy high school student who never had the time to make friends because he was always busy helping his mother run their family fishing charter business. Because he kept to himself, a group of bullies led by Umezawa got into the habit of picking on him. On one particular day, these bullies decided to give him a rather serious beating, but a middle-weight professional boxer who was passing by stopped the bullies and took the injured Ippo to the , owned by retired boxer Genji Kamogawa, to treat his wounds. After Ippo awoke to the sounds of boxers training, the boxer who saved him, Mamoru Takamura, tried to cheer Ippo up by letting him vent his frustrations on a sandbag. It was then that they had their first glimpse into Ippo's talent for boxing. After that incident, Ippo gave the situation a lot of thought and decided that he would like to begin a career as a professional boxer, and when he conveys this message to Mamoru Takamura, he gets verbally reprimanded due to the fact that Takamura thought Ippo was taking professional boxing too lightly. However, Takamura felt that he couldn't outright refuse Ippo, especially since his feat of punching the sandbag much harder than anybody else in the gym (except for Takamura). Therefore, he challenges Ippo to catch 10 falling leaves from a tree simultaneously after a week of training, fully convinced that Ippo would fail, Takamura jogs away as he continues his roadwork.However, after a week of tough training, involving nightly hours, Ippo manages the technique in the nick of time. He waits for the jogging Takamura to come by his usual path, and manages to surprise Takamura by not just catching all 10 of the falling leaves, but only doing it with his left hand. This impresses Takamura greatly, and he informs that the action required to catch all 10 leaves was called a boxing jab, and Takamura invites Ippo back to the boxing gym for introductions.
When they got back to the gym, the coach, Genji Kamogawa, was not at all impressed by Makunouchi's lack of fighting spirit, and therefore, was challenged by Takamura to have a practice spar against a member of the gym. However, Kamogawa decides to give Ippo a severe challenge and tells him to spar with Miyata, a man that's also 16, the same age as Ippo. However, Miyata is known as a boxing prodigy and is one of Kamogawa gym's future hopes. Takamura gets extremely worried with this prospect, as Miyata skill is way above the 4-rounder pro boxer. As expected, Ippo loses by KO, but not until Miyata struggles dodging his punches and finally ends the match with his trump card: "The Counter" The coach Kamogawa decides that he has great fighting sense and spirit and decides to train him to eventually become the Japanese Champion with a world ranking while Miyata became the OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation) Champion. Both are expected to hit high in the world rankings and eventually, fight each other for the World Champion's belt.
The story focuses heavily on character development, even during the matches something is learned about the fighters. Ippo and his friendly rivalry with Miyata is the main draw in the early part of the series. That later changes to Ippo's path towards the Japanese Featherweight Championship and eventually the world championship. Along the way we are given glimpses into the other side character's pasts, motivations, relationships to others and current boxing trials. A colorful cast of support characters and opponents as well as side stories concerning their path in the boxing world rounds out the series.
DVD
Geneon distributed the Fighting Spirit series in North America on 15 DVDs with 5 episodes per disc. The first DVD was released on July 6, 2004 and the fifteenth released on December 19, 2006. The DVDs included English and Spanish language tracks, as well as the original Japanese. The movie, Champion Road, has also been released in North America on DVD by Geneon. Unfortunately, plans for the second OVA, Kimura vs Mashiba, are not in the works. Disc sales of the series did not break even. The first DVD was the best selling at ~5,000 units with each DVD afterwards selling ~1,000 units. Many fans blame the lack of marketing and the negative appeal that a sports anime has on the mainstream audience. As Geneon USA closed its doors at the end of 2007, the US rights of the series are in question.Video games
There have also been some video games based on the series, first released on the PlayStationPlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, then later the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, and recently to Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, as well. Two of the games have been released in North America and in PAL
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
territories. There was some confusion regarding the Western title Victorious Boxers 2: Fighting Spirit prior to its Western release, as this is generally assumed to be the same game as Hajime no Ippo 2: Victorious Road, when actually it is the next title in the series, Hajime no Ippo - The Fighting! All Stars. The Japanese released Victorious Road is unique amongst the titles as it includes the option to create your own boxer and control his training, diet, weight etc. The second Western title, Fighting Spirit, gives the player a choice of over 70 fighters for VS play. Each title has its own story mode which closely follows that of the manga, though obviously the storytelling is not of the same quality.
Recently, Ippo and Takamura have also appeared in the crossover video game Sunday VS Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen! as playable characters.
| System | English Title | Japanese Title | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... |
N/A | はじめの一歩 THE FIGHTING! | Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! |
| PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory, known in Japan as , is a Japanese-developed boxing video game created by New Corporation for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. It is based on the manga and anime series, Fighting Spirit. Though the original series is very popular in Japan, it is not... |
はじめの一歩 VICTORIOUS BOXERS | Hajime no Ippo: Victorious Boxers |
| N/A | はじめの一歩2 VICTORIOUS ROAD | Hajime no Ippo 2: Victorious Road | |
| Victorious Boxers 2: Fighting Spirit Victorious Boxers 2: Fighting Spirit Victorious Boxers 2: Fighting Spirit is the North American sequel to Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory. Its original Japanese title is . In Japan, it is actually the third game in the series to be released on the PlayStation 2. Because of this, it is sometimes confused with the actual second... |
はじめの一歩 ALL☆STARS | Hajime no Ippo - The Fighting! All Stars | |
| Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China... |
N/A | はじめの一歩 THE FIGHTING! | Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! |
| Nintendo DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... |
N/A | はじめの一歩 THE FIGHTING! | Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! |
| Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... |
Victorious Boxers: Revolution Victorious Boxers: Revolution Victorious Boxers: Revolution, known as in Japan and Victorious Boxers: Challenge in PAL Regions, is a Japanese-developed boxing video game developed by AQ Interactive for the Wii. The game is based on the manga and anime series, Fighting Spirit. Players are able to use the Wii controller to mimic... |
はじめの一歩 THE FIGHTING! Revolution | Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting Revolution |
| PSP PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... |
N/A | はじめの一歩 THE FIGHTING! Portable Victorious Spirits | Hajime no Ippo: THE FIGHTING! Portable Victorious Spirits |
Episode List
| Round | Episode Name | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
The Second Series
The continuation of the series - called Hajime No Ippo: New Challenger (はじめの一歩 New Challenger) - started on January 6, 2009, on NIHON TV and ended on June 30, 2009.Episode List
| Round | Episode Name | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
Third Season
Rikiya Koyama, the voice actor of the Mamoru Takamura character in the Hajime no Ippo boxing anime franchise, has revealed in his blog that a sequel to the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger television series is being planned. Koyama was posting about the end of dialogue recording for the series, since the cast just finished work on the 26th and final episode. (The final episode, "New Challenger," aired in Japan on June 30.) At the end of his Friday blog entry, he wrote, "Of course, a sequel is also being planned!!"Anime news network website
OVA
- Kimura Vs. Mashiba
Movie
It was reported at OtakonOtakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...
2009 that the director of the first series is working on a new movie.
Music
The music for the first anime series was composed by Tsuneo ImahoriTsuneo Imahori
Tsuneo Imahori is a Japanese guitarist and composer. He started to play acoustic guitar aged 12, inspired by British folk music from the likes of Bert Jansch, and later the work of Frank Zappa and Andy Partridge. In 1986 he formed the band Tipographica, with saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi and jazz...
, who also did the third opening theme song. Various tracks of guitars, drums, piano, horns, and combinations of the instruments were used to help accentuate the mood and action of the scenes. The soundtrack was released in Japan on two CDs, "First KO" & "Final Round". The music for the second series was composed by Yoshihisa Hirano
Yoshihisa Hirano
is a Japanese composer.- Biography :Yoshihisa Hirano studied composing at Juilliard School in 1992, and later at Eastman School of Music. Some of the awards he has received include first prize in the Axia Tape Competition in Japan during his high school years and New York's New Music for Young...
.
Anime Theme Songs
Opening Theme Songs
- "Under Star" by Shocking Lemon (Episodes 1 - 25)
- "Inner Light" by Shocking Lemon (Episodes 26 - 52)
- "Tumbling Dice" by Tsuneo ImahoriTsuneo ImahoriTsuneo Imahori is a Japanese guitarist and composer. He started to play acoustic guitar aged 12, inspired by British folk music from the likes of Bert Jansch, and later the work of Frank Zappa and Andy Partridge. In 1986 he formed the band Tipographica, with saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi and jazz...
(Episodes 53 - 76) - "Hekireki" by Last Alliance (Second Series, Episode 1 - 26)
Closing Theme Songs
- "Yuuzora no Kamihikouki" by Mori Naoya (Episodes 1 - 25)
- "360°" by Mori Naoya (Episodes 26 - 52, 75)
- "Eternal Loop" by Saber TigerSaber Tiger (band)Saber Tiger is a heavy metal band formed in Sapporo, Japan. It was founded in 1981 by guitarist Akihito Kinoshita, who is responsible for producing, engineering and composing most of the band's work. Saber Tiger has released nine studio albums, four compilation albums, a live album, two EPs and...
(Episodes 53 - 74,76) - "8 AM" by ColdrainColdrainColdrain is a Post-Hardcore, Alternative Metal band from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. They formed in 2007 and have found themselves compared to western rock band My Chemical Romance and Japan's own Pay Money To My Pain. The band mix Melodic singing alongside screams typical of the Post-Hardcore genre...
(Second Series, Episode 1 - 26)
Reception
In 1991, the manga won the Kodansha Manga AwardKodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
for shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
. Anime Academy gave the first anime series a glowing response; all five reviewers rated it above 90%, with one referring to the series as "the cream of the crop" of the sports genre in anime, and another stating that "fighting and character development have never tangoed so well together". Fanboy.com listed the series as one of their "Top Ten Underrated Manga".
| Source | Reviewer | Grade / Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anime News Network | Carl Kimlinger | Overall (dub): B Overall (sub): A- Story: B Animation: B+ Art: B+ Music: B+ |
DVD/Anime Review of Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road, TV Special |
External links
Official- Geneon's Fighting Spirit website
- Hajime no Ippo official manga website
- Hajime no Ippo official anime website
- Hajime no Ippo official Nippon TV website
- Official French publisher of Hajime no Ippo
Music
Other