Ho Yay implications of the suggestive dialog and situation aside... Wataru Takagi also voices both Aoki and Onizuka!
Anime & Manga
- In Chapter 32 of the manga Shonan Jun'ai Gumi, Eikichi Onizuka is seen wearing a bath towel with Ippo's face on it in a few panels.
- In the first chapter of Garouden
drawn by Keisuke Itagaki (author of Baki the Grappler), Ippo's name is seen crossed out in the protagonist's challenge list alongside other famous fighting figures. - In the Teppu manga, the main character uses the "Detroit Style" and throws "Flicker Jabs".
- The Korean Manhwa Outboxer is known to copy whole scenes and panels from Hajime no Ippo.
- Jouji "George" Morikawa (the author of Hajime no Ippo) and several Hajime no Ippo characters appear in Mou, Shimasen Kara manga, which is made by a former assistant to Morikawa, Hideo Nishimoto.
- File 1: Morikawa appears in it with scenes from the manga, and Takamura also cameos.
- Volume 1: Keīchi Take appears in an aftermath page.
- File 109: Morikawa appears and plays the Hajime no Ippo: Revolution videogame. Various Ippo characters appear as well.
- File 110: Morikawa is shown drawing the volume 4 cover.
- Volume 5: Ichirō Miyata appears in an aftermath page.
- In Chapter 103 of the manga Tenjho Tenge, a character is shown training while catching leaves like Ippo, and later they're practicing other boxing skills. Also in the manga, a character is shown throwing "Flicker Jabs" as well.
- In Chapter 362 of the manga One Piece, a character named Jerry is also shown throwing "Flicker Jabs" (but he calls them "Aurora Flicker Jabs" instead).
- In the manga Hakaiou Noritaka!, there is a scene where the protagonist has Ippo's face drawn on his knees in order to train and protect his weak knees against the opponent. In the background, Kamogawa appears to cheer him on.
- In the manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, there is a panel where it shows a character with Ippo's face hitting a sandbag while wearing Sendo's trunks.
- In Chapter 9 of Hero's by Hiro Mashima in Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Issue 2-3 2020), Jouji Morikawa's English nickname, "George" (ジョージ), makes an appearance as the name of a character sporting a boxing glove and glasses. The other characters in the panel are other mangaka that appear in WSM too. They are as follows:
- The Supreme God, Lord George: This is a reference to Jouji Morikawa (Hajime no Ippo)
- God of Diamond Yuji: This is a reference to Yūji Terajima (Ace of the Diamond)
- God of Wind Seo: This is a reference to Kōji Seo (Suzuka and Fuuka)
- God of Eros Kei: This is a reference to Kei Sasuga (Domestic Girlfriend)
- A special one-shot collaboration between various mangaka from Weekly Shonen Magazine is featured through Magazine Ohanami!! (マガジンOHANAMI!!). That's where Ippo makes an appearance along with many other various characters from WSM.
- In Chapter 151 of Keijo!!!!!!!! by Daichi Sorayomi, a character is shown using the "Dempsey Roll" motion (the "Figure Eight" upper body weave) as she attacks from behind.
- In Chapter 144 of Undead Unluck, the main character Fūko Izumo uses the "Dempsey Roll" against Void Volks.
- In Episode 163 of Gintama, they have a Cutaway Gag that serves as a parodic reference to boxing shows like Hajime no Ippo and Ashita no Joe.
- In Volume 4 (Chapter 27.5) of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Ippo gets mentioned by the protagonist while throwing some jabs. Later in the chapter, she is seen throwing "Flicker Jabs" as well. At the end of the volume, the mangaka included an image of a character showing the "Dempsey Roll" motion.
- In Episode 9 of the anime, they showcase an animated version of the Shadow Boxing scene, complete with references to the series itself, the Flicker Jab, the Heartbreak Shot, and the Dempsey Roll.
- In Episode 9 of the anime, they showcase an animated version
- Chapter 121 of Aho Girl by Hiroyuki features the protagonist fighting a bear that is similar to Takamura's fight against the Mama Bear.
- Like with Takamura's most famous fight, the main character of Aho Girl also landed a counter punch on the bear's forehead while getting hit by the beast's claws across his chest.
- The protagonist also has a dog as a pet that is similar to Wanpo/Hachi.
- The same scene is referenced on the Volume 11 cover, where the protagonist with the dog is shown fighting the bear.
- In Episode 19 of Gundam Build Fighters Try, the character Junya Ichinose pulls off a couple of attacks from various fighting styles. This includes a demonstration of boxing, which includes Ippo's finishing combination of the "Liver Blow", the "Gazelle Punch", and the "Dempsey Roll".
- In Episode 4 of Hinamatsuri, you can see a magazine with Makunouchi Ippo on the cover.
- In Episode 19 of Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru, Makunouchi's silhouette is shown in the background alongside other famous sport anime characters.
- In Episode 8 of ViVid Strike!, during the fight between Rinne and Vivio, they use various skills like "Flicker Jabs", "Gazelle Punch", "Smash (Accel Smash)", "Dempsey Roll", and the technique where they move their head forward to diffuse a counter's power.
- In Episode 5 of Hoozuki no Reitetsu, it shows the protagonist using the "Dempsey Roll" in it.
- In Episode 7 of KonoSuba, Aqua is seen using the Peek-a-Boo guard leading into the "Dempsey Roll" motion.
- In Episode 2 of The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil, they reference the Dempsey Roll through a weird boxing metaphor for flirtingnote . The Dempsey Roll itself represents Lily "accidentally" falling into Akutsu's arms.
- In Episode 5, they again showcase the Dempsey Roll as a metaphor for deliberately invoking a Rescue Hug (and how to counter it by flirting back) as well as a mandatory Cross Counter reference to Ashita no Joe.note
Boxing
- George Morikawa himself was commissioned to draw the Ring Magazine cover art featuring Naoya "Monster" Inoue using the Hajime no Ippo art style.
- Here's Naoya Inoue himself paying homage to Hajime no Ippo in turn by landing Volg's White Fang on a sparring partner.
- Anime Herald didn't only write an article about the impact of Hajime no Ippo on the boxing world; they also contacted Éder Jofrenote in 2022 to learn how he felt about being part of the manga's lorenote . He replied:"I feel highly honored to be mentioned in the manga, I see that I have admirers in Japan and that I can still be a reference to young people to this day."
- Two-time heavyweight champion "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon posted on the Hajime no Ippo subreddit about how a fan of his noticed the similarities between his signature overhand right and Tatsuya Kimura's "Dragonfish Blow".
- Here's Olympic Light-Heavyweight Silver Medalist Boxer Ben Whittaker sporting Hajime No Ippo tattoos.
Fight Simulation
- A "What If?" fight simulation between Ippo and Joe serves as a shout-out to both boxers. Ippo won the match in the 5th round by "Liver Blow" knockout. The dream match got screened before the authors of each respective manga and a small audience. It was then referenced at the end of Hajime no Ippo's Chapter 818 as trivia.
Movies & Television
- In the Begin Japanology Series on Japanophiles with Pro-Wrestler Kenny Omega (Season 6 - Episode 27), Kenny mentioned that he learned Japanese in order to be able to read the Hajime no Ippo manga.
- In the Sports x Manga documentary series, there was an episode on boxing where it discussed various boxing series (like Hajime no Ippo and Ashita no Joe) and interviewed various real-life boxers that were inspired by them. It also featured:
- Tetsuya Chiba: The famous mangaka of Ashita no Joe.
- Naoya Inoue: Super flyweight WBO Champion.
- Ryōta Murata: Middleweight WBA Champion.
- Takashi Uchiyama: Former super featherweight WBA Champion.
- Yoko Gushiken: Veteran WBA Champ.
- In the Korean film, Make It Big (일단 뛰어, Ildan Dwieo), a character is shown reading the Korean version of Hajime no Ippo in it.
- Michael B. Jordan admits to being inspired by and paying homage to Hajime no Ippo.
- In Creed, at Rocky's advice, Adonis "Donnie" Creed knocks out Leo Sporino with what Rocky alleges is a "shovel hook" and overhand "right on his (Leo's) chin" combo that Apollo once did to him. However, it looks more like the Signature Move of Volg Zangiev known as the "White Fang".
- In Creed II, when Donnie drops Victor Drago with a left uppercut into overhand right combo, he was again emulating Volg's "White Fang" combo.
- In Creed III, Donnie is seen doing his version of the "Teiken" or "Tekken" (Iron Fist) training that the young Genji Kamogawa was most famous for. Dame and Donnie also do the Cross Counter anime trope also seen in Hajime no Ippo.
Video Games
- Ryuji Yamazaki from Fatal Fury 3 and beyond as well as The King of Fighters has whipping Extendable Arms that serve as shout-outs to Mashiba's "Flicker Jabs".
- The gentlemanly English boxer Dudley from Street Fighter III uses several signature moves from Hajime no Ippo.
- His "Rolling Thunder" looks a lot like Makunoichi Ippo's version of the "Dempsey Roll".
- His "Corkscrew Blow" appears like Eiji Date's "Corkscrew Punch" (though it also references many other users of the same move) save for the Razor Wind at the end (and no "Heartbreak Shot" version, either).
- His "Machine Gun Blow" combo has a sequence reminiscent of Ryo Mashiba's rapid-fire version of the "Flicker Jab". The move itself also uses the same concept as Ryuichi Hayami's "Shotgun".
- In the Tekken series, various characters have been known to use various techniques found in Hajime no Ippo. In particular, Steve Fox's "Endless Roll" is a variation of the "Dempsey Roll". Steve can also do his version of the "Flicker Jab".
- In Yakuza 5, you can read the first chapter of Hajime no Ippo in-game, along with other manga titles in it. Ippo also appears on the cover of the Weekly Shōnen Magazine available in the game.
- On a much less "product placement" and much more "reference to event" side of things, this isn't the first time that a character voiced by Rikiya Koyama playing The Big Guy floored a bear with his bare handsnote .
- On a much less "product placement" and much more "reference to event" side of things, this isn't the first time
- In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, a Hajime no Ippo reference occurs where a prompt entitled "Hajime no Saeko" appears and features Saeko cheering you on, saying, "I'll back you up if you're ever in a tight spot! The old 1, 2!"
- The gameplay trailer for Ed in Street Fighter VI shows him doing "Flicker Jabs" as portrayed by Ryo Mashiba in Hajime no Ippo.
