Story:

The story is about a young high schooler named Makunouchi Ippo that has problems with life as he gets bullied in high school by class mates, incidentally one day a professional boxer (Takamura Mamoru) notices a fight going on under the bridge where ippo is. Ippo is saved by the boxer, this leads the way for ippo to find the meaning of what it means to be strong as he becomes a boxer himself in the Kamogawa gym where he trains hard to accomplish greats feats such as obtaining the japanese featherweight championship. On his long road he meets and fights with many strong boxers such as Sendo, Vorg, Mashiba and others.

The story is mostly on character development of ippo as he learns how to fight and learn boxing, ippo is a very talented hard fighter as the manager comes to learn therefore techniques are used to bring out the power of his arm strength and the strength of his whole body. Techniques such as the Dempsey Roll (Designed originally by Jack Dempsey) and the Gazelle Punch (a variant of an uppercut) are taught to Ippo so he can use it to win his matches.

Dialogue:

While the dialogue of the series is focussed on emotions felt by the boxers as well as lessons learned, there also times when the author of the series decides to make a few gags here and there to keep the readers entertained. The gags are usually shown as a prank or words spoken by Aoki Masaru, Kimura Tatsuya or Takamura Mamoru (Note: These are ippo's fellow boxers at the Kamogawa gym). However we may sometimes see Ippo's Junior boxer (or Kouhai as is said in the manga and anime basically meaning the junior that works under someone and in this case it is a fellow boxer that learns from Ippo) may say a few lines that may be humorous.

Animation:

At the beginning of the series the animation quality is not very good, it appears to be animation that was made with technology from many years ago. However the quality of the anime is immediately seen to be improved with 1080p HD quality for not only the characters but the environment as well as the effects used. No need to be said that, one could enjoy the series even more with such quality.

Entertainment:

The series altogether is very entertaining as it shows that even a sports manga can bring out many kinds of emotions such as fear (from opponents or problems that may arise), excitement (for matches to begin and be won or in Sendo's case to fight someone as strong as or even stronger than himself), pity (boxers may pity each other at times), Empathy (fellow boxers understand each other very well in certain conditions, that includes enemy boxers too) and much more.

The animation bring the manga alive and it really can bring the reader and make them feel like they are with the boxers once the fists start flying and the crowd roars for more, the animation is more entertaining when it shows high levelled skills being shown or hard fighters brawling it out inside the ring. That does not mean outfighters are shown to be weaker in the animation as it is always a delight to see the footwork with each fighter and they fight it out but its just that hard fighters are shown to be more entertaining matches to see.

There is the problem of the series being dragged out however as the series shows in the manga that Ippo has already obtained but is shown to remain in the japan league still. It shows to put the development of Ippo as a world class boxer even further in the future which therefore makes the long wait seem to be exhaustive at times.

Conclusion:

Although the series can appear to be dragged out at times, i am sure as well as many others would be that the series will continue to entertain you with the comedy, emotions, animation and character development.

Thank you for taking your time to read this review. (show less)

This show is about boxing, which would lead anyone to believe that only sports fans can watch it. I've seen other sports shows like prince of tennis which were for sports fans, but Hajime no Ippo is something so much more than just sports. It's about growing up and becoming a man. It has some touchy lessons, but they're never too sentimental, especially when every episode has a few hilarious parts. The fights themselves are exaggerated from real-life fights, but not to ridiculous levels. Usually only the gore is exaggerated, but also how each punch seems to lift the boxers off their feet. But it's not a show where the main characters always win either. And even when you expect them to win, the ride there is filled with enough suspense that you'll second guess yourself. Usually you're striving for the main characters to win, but sometimes the opponents are so well developed and likeable that it leaves you torn as to who you want to win. The women in it aren't overly beautiful either. They look realistic, cute, but not like porn models. And the romance is never mushy or the focus of the story. (show less)

Hajime no Ippo is an awesome anime for anyone. I'm not a big sports fan myself but I was talked into watching it and fell in love at the first episode. The main character Ippo is one of those kids that just touches the harts of everyone. The secondary characters are in-depth and lacking in nothing. The film didn't have much money at first and it kind of shows in the animation but as it moved along the artwork got better and better (think Dragonball). The action is awe inspiring and the locker-room humor had me rolling.
This is a must see anime for everybody. I'm not even a boxing fan but I still found myself standing up from my chair and shouting "GO IPPO!!!" (show less)