Hajime No Ippo is probably the best fighting anime I have ever seen. I'm surprised I haven't already made a thread about it. Seriously, the fight scenes are fucking epic, the show itself is enjoyable, and even the characters are interesting which is rare for a sports/fighting anime.
Makunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to the Kamogawa boxing gym to recover. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo’s classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo’s journey to the top of the boxing world begins.
When i started this series, I was drawn in by the end of the first episode... Just the spirit of it made me excited to watch the next one. Every fight kept me on the edge of my seat/floor/bed/couch or wherever I was at the time. This truly is a great show.
Give it a shot, its around 75 or 76 episodes long, 2 OVAs, Champion Road & Mashiba Vs. Kimura, that are canon and follow immediately after the first season, and a second season entitled New Challenger that picks up where the OVAs left off that runs for about 26 episodes.
If you want to see the best fights, this is the show for you.
This is one of the best martial arts anime of all time IMO, that may just be because I'm a boxer too. However the only thing this show accurately portrays during a boxing fight, is the amount of stamina you use up. The way they train, the way they describe the punches, granted its all build up, but it actually does teach you alot about boxing too... Also this is one of those shows where the protagonist goes from 'zero to hero'... like a fucking boss.
First I'd like to say, that this what I've seen so far was bad-to-the ass.
And thanks again for something great to watch. I'm only up to episode five now and I'm loving it so far. Believe me, if time permitted me to just watch this instead of homework, housework and all other kinds of time consuming things, I would watch the entire series in a day.
Oh and I still haven't checked out Hunter x Hunter. For now It's title will be safely remembered by the notes section of my Ipod.
