Hajime no Ippo

So I was planning on getting back into Ippo after I catch up to a few more series first, but I have a problem: I didn't track my progress on AniList so I have no clue on where I stopped last time.

I do have a rough idea on what was happening, though: does the Sawamura vs Mashiba fight happens before or after Itagaki wins the rookie tournament? Also a baseball game.

Mashiba vs Sawamura ends at chapter 700, and the baseball game happens right after.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Nov 20th 2022 at 11:04:08 AM

1401-1403: Wally is dominating and the ref gives a warning about him using the ropes. But then Ricardo figures Wally out and starts completely demolishing him with lefts and a 1-2.

I still feel bad for Wally. The fandom gives him so much shit, but i can't hate this little guy. He's so cute.

Miguel does say that he has one final trump card to play if Wally can survive the round. I wonder what it is.

1404-1406: Ricardo keeps beating on Wally, including the body blow that broke Date's ribs, but Wally endures it because of his body training after Ippo beat him. The final trump card is to just have fun, go nuts. Sounds like coded language to me, since Wally then starts stomping his foot to challenge for a punch-out. Wally has a message for Sendo, though, which Ippo is about to tell him.

Remember that time blackface was employed to try to help Ippo train for his first match with a black boxer?

Because I can’t and will never forget that.

Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhh. Glad the anime cut that.

Chapter 1407: Ricardo and Wally get into a close-range brawl and they actually trade, drawing blood from each other. And then... my reaction was just a stunned "whoa". We get a flashback to Ricardo Martinez as a small child asking his current trainer, Bill, what it means to be strong. The exact same question Ippo asked Takamura and asks himself all the time.

Chapter 1408-1410: Wally's message was that it's all up to Sendo now. Miguel revels in the glory of his sun/son fighting his heart out. Wally then starts using the Smash, to show Sendo how Ricardo will deal with it, and Ricardo counters it. Wally goes down to a counter, just as Ippo did, and the fight is over.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Feb 7th 2023 at 2:53:30 AM

1411-1414: Ippo returns home, Wanpo plays with Miyata's cat a bit, and Ippo gives everyone mask souvenirs that had me laughing out loud.

So, are the mask references like last time, and I just didn't get them, or are they just for fun? (I remember from last time Sunraku from Shangri-la Frontier, and Plue from the Mashima-verse [Rave Master, Fairy Tail, Eden Zero, take your pick]).

Apparently, they're references to Made In Abyss.

All of them? I'll assume that at least the Takamura & co. are, since they have the same design, but I also will wait to see if more masks appear next chapter, considering the lads are keeping them on for their little training. Anyway, thank you.

Edited by Shadow-Whisperer on Mar 9th 2023 at 7:59:49 AM

Actually, I think it's the other masks, the ones on Itagaki and Ippo's students.

1415-1416: Kimura and Aoki make blind fools of themselves, but Takamura gets his comeuppance, so it's all good. The most interesting bit to me is Taihei and Kintaro wanting to take the pro test, I really want to see how they fare. Meanwhile, Sendo and Mashiba are preparing for their title fights with confidence.

1417: Shop talk. Takamura's readying for his Super Middleweight Title Match (this soon?! Be still my heart!), with Kimura and Itagaki on the undercard. Aoki's in negotiation to fight one of the Japanese upper rankers so that he can challenge Iga again. Ippo's feeling weird about everyone else moving forward, then we learn some about Mashiba's opponent.

Apparently, the Lightweight World Champion, Marcus Rosario, is a goddamn monster. He's an in-fighter like Juan Garcia and bulldozed him over to steal the belt. But more worryingly, he's evil, he'll commit fouls mid-combo and has committed every crime short of murder outside the ring, with rumors that he might have even done that. The only reason Mashiba isn't already arranged to fight him is that Marcus is in goddamn prison right now. So yeah, basically the perfect final boss for Mashiba.

New theory: When Ippo comes out of retirement, he will fight and defeat Miyata. Satisfied, Miyata will finally move out of Featherweight into Junior Lightweight, then his final battle will be defeating Volg and becoming Junior Lightweight World Champion.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Apr 5th 2023 at 7:14:11 AM

You know what, the Mashiba faces were on point this chapter, and were worth waiting a month for this chapter. Now, please a little bit of progress, I beg you George, this is the ideal turning point. Please.

Some absolutely STELLER faces in this chapter, all around from every character. That one panel of Ippo doing the cat face, Kumi with a rage-face, and Mashiba on the floor is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I love that this is the first time Ippo is ever seeing this side of Kumi, and it's when she's angry enough to literally flip the table.

1427: Gay gay homosexual gay.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Jul 13th 2023 at 12:28:19 PM

New interview

Morikawa talks about how Hajime No Ippo has surpassed 100 million in sales, and mentions how he's still about halfway through the manga.

So, George probably does intend for Takamura to win each and everyone of those belts, since he is more or less halfway there, huh? Crazy stuff.

do you think the anime will ever get a season 3?

It did get a season 3. The question is whether it will get a season 4.

sorry my bad, but either way I feel is weird how a manga with so many chapters got so little anime episodes made out of it relative to the length of it's original manga, especially since it's not like it's lacking in popularity.

I think it breaks down pretty cleanly into 8 seasons, too, with a 9th in progress.