Raikoh's Reviews - Hajime no Ippo

I'm going to just spoil this review: I love this show. Like, I can't think of any legitimate complaints about it. So if that's all you wanted... I guess review over? If you want me to explain why Ippo is great, hit the jump.


STORY: 7/10

I'm not quite sure how to judge the plot here. I'm not the biggest fan of sports manga, but I can say that the main focus is not exactly the plot as much as it is the characters. But the story is still fairly solid.

The basic idea is that young Makunouchi Ippo has grown up having to help out with his family fishing business ever since his father passed away, and as a result has little time to socialize. He's awkward, shy, and rather wimpy. One day, when being bullied, he meets Takamura Mamoru, a pro boxer who scares away the bullies and takes him to the Kamogawa Gym to get his wounds mended. There, in an attempt to let him blow off some steam, Takamura has him hit a punching bag, where he discovers that Ippo has immense punching power. Over the course of a few days, Ippo gets interested in boxing and decides to try taking it up, with hopes that he will one day understand what it truly means to be strong.

It's a fairly stock plot for a shonen sports series, but it's presented extremely well. The meat of the story is spent on the characters, so you'll probably get a better idea of the writing quality there.

Premise: 1/2
Pacing: 2/2
Immersion: 2/2
Setting: 1/2
Theme: 1/1
Complexity: 0/1

ART: 7.5/10

Even by modern standards, the art of Ippo is really strong. This was an anime that came out in 2000, and it's still a visual treat. The character designs aren't really ambitious, but that's good considering it's meant to be a plausible and realistic story. Everyone looks like someone you could meet on the streets of Japan (well, the boxers are muscled-up, but that's beside the point). At the same time, the art style is clearly distinct where each character's face and body is different. Sure, it might take you a while to tell the difference between, say, Miyata and Kimura, but once you get to know the characters you will be able to pick them out of the crowd each time. Though if you want a series with pretty boys, you'll be out of luck (for the most part - Volg and Miyata are rather handsome).

The backgrounds and animation are really nice. Simplistic, maybe, but again, the simplicity is what lends to help get one immersed. Kamogawa Gym is a place that you get to see so much of that you feel like if you stepped into it you'd be able to move around it like it was your second home. The backgrounds are just bursting with personality, but in a really subtle way. The clean and neat gym, the Makunouchi household's fishing supplies here and there, and Takamura's pig sty are some examples of just how well the backgrounds are presented. The crowds you see in fights typically also have the viewers be visually distinct, like a Where's Waldo book.

The animation is also spectacular. Even a viewer can feel the impact behind each punch, and it never goes off-model. For a show that's nearly fourteen years old, I'd say that Ippo stuns me with how well it's aged. Rarely does the series dip into stock footage, and when it does it's hardly noticeable (or it's good animation anyway, like the Dempsey Roll). Various times are also portrayed extremely well, with multiple scenes occurring in the morning, afternoon, evening, or night and each one looking natural.

General Presence: 2.5/3
Visual Design: 0.5/2
Backgrounds: 2/2
Animation: 2/2
Attention to Detail: 0.5/1

SOUND: 9/10

This is probably a good time to point out that, unless stated otherwise, I will usually be referring to the original Japanese audio in these reviews. The dub of Ippo is sub-par at best and atrocious at worst, but the original audio is pretty much perfect. Ippo was one of the first anime I watched subbed, and as such it was my first introduction to a wide variety of voice actors, and they perform so well that whenever I hear them in other anime, I think, "Hey, that's Aoki!" or "That's Sendo!" The voice cast was just spot on, and the director really knew how to bring them to life. For example, the character of Jason Ozuma is not a native Japanese, so his speech patterns reflect that, sounding very much like someone speaking a second language that they aren't too accustomed to. When he talks to someone and it's meant to be in English, his speech returns to normal.

The music is not only amazing, but it gives you a wide range. From jazz to rock to electronic to the obligatory Rocky shoutouts. From its amazing opening songs designed to pump you up to the beautiful ending songs crafted to tug at your heart, the soundtrack of Ippo is an absolute masterpiece. If you don't believe me, just go and give it a listen and I can guarantee there's at least one song that seriously makes you want to just get up out of your seat and start boxing. Just as a sign of how great the soundtrack is, even though the second season (New Challenger) didn't reuse it, the third (Rising) has adopted the original series' music.

The sound effects don't often make much of an impression, but that's sort of the point. If you really go back and think about them, they work so well because you don't notice them. Hard punches are punctuated by an explosive crash while soft punches are met with a wimpy pat, and the Dempsey Roll is always performed with the sound of an engine revving up that makes it sound great. The sound effects aren't really noticeable outside of the fights, but in them they sound absolutely fantastic.

Voice Acting: 3/3
Music: 4/4
Sound Effects: 2/3

CHARACTERS: 10/10

To be honest, the characters are the absolute best part of Hajime no Ippo. After I went on praising the animation and sound so much, think about what that means. The best part about the characters is just how human they all are. They all have likes and dislikes, dreams and ambitions, skills and weaknesses. Even Aoki and Kimura who are sometimes referred to as "Aokimura" for being best friends who are pretty much attached at the hip are vastly different in terms of personality and boxing style. Just like how I feel I could walk into the Kamogawa Gym and navigate it like a second home, I feel like if I were there I could chat with the gym members like they were old friends of mine.

Takamura receives special mention as being a guy who the audience would hate in pretty much any other show. He's brash, rude, insanely strong to the point of it being ridiculous, perverted, and has a whole laundry list of flaws. Yet he's still got a heart of gold that pops up once in a blue moon and his determination, as well as the fact that he's so entertaining, make him a fan favorite.

Even the enemy boxers are detailed with so much information that they're incredibly human. In less than five episodes, I feel like I know a character like Oda Yusuke or Saeki Takuma more than some full season series' main characters.

There's really no way to adequately explain how amazing this cast of characters is. I could probably go on for pages describing how well written pretty much every character is. It's something that really must be seen to be believed.

Presence: 2/2
Personality: 2/2
Complexity: 2/2
Memorability: 2/2
Development: 1/1
Pathos: 1/1

In conclusion, Hajime no Ippo is an absolute knockout. It's nice animation, great voice acting and music coupled with a strong, character-driven story are why the manga's been running for 25 years and will likely keep going even longer. Even its weak moments are enjoyable to a certain degree (...Except Woli's fight... And Itagaki's fights...) and when the action is good, it's REALLY good. But once again, I'll point out that it's the amazingly well developed cast that makes it stand out. The reason I'm fine to continue reading Ippo while I rarely, if ever, follow a series that will be continuing for an indefinite period of time is for the same reason you don't abandon the ones you love. As cheesy as it sounds, Kamogawa Gym is sort of a part of my extended family, and I look forward to continuing reading about (and watching) their growth for many years to come.

FINAL JUDGMENT : 10/10