Every American boxer that Takamura has fought has an animal motif.
Some characters even get full Animal Motifs for themselves, Volg Zanghief(his name is Russian for wolf), Sendou the Naniwa Tiger (who has a very predatory and playful personality, often grins with very prominent canines, has fairly feline eyes and a love of cats) and recently Woli the Indonesian champion who spends his days playing with monkeys, is able to outdo them in acrobatics and imitate their body language enough to lead the troupe. Takamura even notices this and attempts to find one for himself. Animal Motifs: Many characters have animal-themed attacks such as Ippo's gazelle punch, Aoki's frog punch and Kimura's dragon fish punch.All of the Other Reindeer: At the beginning, Ippo is regularly bullied at school.While yes, Malcolm Gedo from the manga does have a habit of throwing matches for money, after the fight, his scenes are more light-hearted than how he was shown before it.
Affably Evil: This actually applies to most of the antagonists in the Ippo world, having a Freudian Excuse for their transgressions.In their rematches, Eleka strengthened his lower body to be much more durable, while Papaya increased the strength of his power punch so heavily that his poor endurance didn't come into play. Both inadvertently reveal their weaknesses: Eleki has terrible lower-body strength and Papaya has poor stamina, but Aoki and Kimura are unable to exploit them. Lampshaded in Aoki and Kimura's fights against Papaya and Eleka Battery.Several characters are known for their glass jaws, including Hama Dankichi, Miyata and his father.Makunouchi continually evolves the technique to cover its weaknesses. Strategies then focused on countering its predictable rhythm, notably Ricardo Martinez surgically jabbing Makunouchi out of it and Sawamura (and other boxers) stepping back to remove blind spots. Initially, the Dempsey Roll only worked if the opponent was forced back, with both Sendou and Sanada stepping in to stop it. Opponent strategies centred on his signature Dempsey Roll. As the protagonist, Makunouchi's weaknesses are targeted throughout his title defenses.Achilles' Heel: Not surprising for a boxing-oriented manga, many characters have weaknesses that need to be exploited.Ippo ends up working to achieve the feat the same way Takamura did. He expected Ippo to use both hands, where he had only used his left, but did not mention this to Ippo. Achievements in Ignorance: At the very beginning, Takamura sets Ippo the task of catching leaves falling from a tree.Achey Scars: The one Date has on his nose bridge, which comes from his disastrous fight against Ricardo Martínez.The Ace: Eiji Date is a somewhat more down to Earth version.Accidental Athlete: Ippo, though he still trains very hard instead of relying on natural ability.Ippo, Takamura and friends appear in the Massive Multiplayer Crossover game, Sunday VS Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen. A third season, titled Hajime no Ippo: Rising premiered in Fall 2013, and contained 25 episodes.
On January 6 2009, the second season, titled Hajime no Ippo: The New Challenger, started airing on the Nippon TV Network and ran for 26 episodes. One TV movie, Champion Road, and an OVA, Kimura v. From October 2000 to March 2002, a 76-episode anime adaptation, titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting Spirit ran on the Nippon TV Network. The series has reached its 1,000th chapter as of 2012, an extremely impressive feat in the manga industry. The manga Hajime no Ippo (English title: "The First Step/Fighting Spirit" and Filipino title: "Knockout"), written by Jyoji Morikawa, has been running since 1989, spans more than 100 volumes and is currently one of the longest manga series ever. Ippo joins the Kamogawa Boxing Gym and begins his journey towards the Japanese featherweight title and the real meaning of strength.
His introverted nature and his lack of any real friends attracts a group of bullies, who regularly beat him up.ĭuring one of these beating-up sessions, Ippo meets Mamoru Takamura, a professional boxer, who rescues him and discovers his powerful punch.
Having lost his father at an early age, he spends all his free time helping his mother run their fishing boat business. Ippo Makunouchi is a shy high school boy.