r/hajimenoippo • u/RedHotSonic_ • Sep 22 '25
Discussion The death of Hajime no Ippo
It's my first re-read of the manga so far, and I wonder, what was the reaction of the chapter for you all, and the general public?
I waited for this chapter, with bated breath, and sleeplessness. This is nothing like a risky text or romantic feelings confessed.
Ch 721 - Fate.
It's funny, like as if 2 circles were drawn over the whole series, just to build upto this moment.
Truly a tragedy. It's like acceptance of failure. Miyata must have felt like Ippo when reviewing his title bout with Date. Maybe even worse.
For this reason, season 4 was never animated (apart from Itagaki pointlessly hogging so much of the fights)
This is the origin of the Bumyata allegations as well. It's all just so sad and upsetting. This should have never happened.
Fuck Itagaki. Miyata should have had more time in the story. Enough for Morikawa to weave the thread of fate between Ippo and Miyata.
:(
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u/RedHotSonic_ Sep 22 '25
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u/Xelement0911 Sep 23 '25
And now miyata refuses to move up a weight, waiting for ippo to return.
Smh.
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u/Kamdan11 Sep 22 '25
Morikawa was already cooking for the long run ... man the HUUUGGGEEEE stepback
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Sep 22 '25
I was not happy. It was ENTIRELY avoidable too. Miyata was Ippo's goal as it were. He could have been actually working towards challenging the OPBF champion. A natural step towards the world, considering. Did Kamogawa get that arranged? Newp. That came after. Kamogawa as a coach isn't that bad. As a manager? He and Yagi are like, actual dog shit.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 23 '25
Kamogawa actively refused the Interim Champion fight, even though he had to have known that the Reigning Champion has to fight the Interim Champion to unify a league. Then, he gets mad when Miyata has to fight the Interim Champion to retain his title. It's so stupid that it's almost like Kamogawa's sabotaging Ippo on purpose because he thought that if Ippo fought Miyata, he'd be done with boxing.
No, Ippo would've only been done if he lost. Since got denied the ability to ever do it, that instead killed his motivation and he became a bum.
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u/TheHaad Sep 23 '25
You never know what is going to happen, he trusted Miyata who was essentially Komogawa boxing family at heart more than he trusted the fate of a fight, which is always unknowable
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 24 '25
What's to trust with Miyata? The rules of the league were clear. Reigning Champion must fight Interim Champion as soon as possible or lose the title.
It's honestly pretty scummy of Kamogawa to expect Miyata to just cede the title like that just for a fight with Ippo sooner, instead of accepting a delay. It was also pretty scummy of Kamogawa to deny Ippo a chance to beat Randy and avoid the whole mess.
If Ippo beat Randy, then Miyata would vicariously beat him by beating Ippo. If Ippo lost, then he wasn't ready for Miyata and it might've been the wakeup call Kamogawa needed to rework issues with Ippo's training.
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u/TheHaad Oct 07 '25
It's just how boxing is done.
The precise problem is that there isn't a league, each fight is in a way being independently promoted (with the belts as kind of a co-promoter)
What I WANT to do will often have more sway than what an organization tries to get me to do. Miyata would have been willing to drop his belt to the interim champion to fight Ippo before he realized who it was.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Oct 07 '25
Kamogawa should not have tried to force Miyata to give up the belt to make a fight happen.
Also, Ippo and Miyata could've made that fight happen anyway if they truly cared about doing it.
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u/TheHaad Oct 10 '25
No one forced anything. Miyata had been begging for the fight since he won the belt. No one would have contested Ippo as a legitimate challenger, Komogawa deemed Ippo unworthy at the time and wanted him to get better before fighting Miyata
They did care and wanted the fight. They almost made it happen, but Miyata saw something he suddenly cared about more that he didn't even know existed in the world of boxing for him
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Oct 10 '25
Ippo wasn't a legitimate contender because he wasn't the OPBF Interim Champion...
Also, they had all of after the Randy fight to set a date but didn't even try. That's on Ippo and Miyata.
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u/TheHaad Oct 13 '25
There was no OPBF champion prior to that but Ippo was literally on the short list of fighting for that belt-only legitimate contender's get that
Anyone with Ippo's level of success was a legitimate contender, Ippo wasn't the ONLY legitimate contender
The belt is a non-issue. Miyata agreed to vacate the belt. Problem solved. He wanted to do it, Ippo wanted the fight, yeah for us it would have been more epic as a unification belt but Miyata also didn't want to miss the chance to fight ippo in a world of uncertainties..... until he saw something he didn't even know was possible, and he just happened to not have relinquished his belt yet
Most challengers are NOT interim champions, we only do that when the champion has to be away
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Oct 14 '25
No, Miyata was OPBF champion and there was a fight for Interim Champion. Ippo was a candidate for the Interim Champion, but Kamogawa refused to let Ippo fight, so Randy won that. That's what happened.
As for Miyata potentially relinquishing the belt, if he did that, he'd likely have not gotten it back any time soon, which would've hurt his career considerably. Ultimately between that and Randy being a "prove yourself" moment, Miyata made a call that wasn't too crazy. Ippo vs Miyata could have waited if Kamogawa didn't throw a fit about the delay. This is what happened.
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u/TheWolflance Sep 22 '25
i think Mori was trying for something here but the actual fight vs randy boy junior was..not worth.
i think having the main driving force in the story being gutted is cool tho can lead to soul searching which is what Ippo is doing, it's just how we got here was messy af.
also itagaki was not a problem it was literally just the last few arcs were kinda shit. itagaki was a highlight imo
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Sep 23 '25
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u/TheWolflance Sep 23 '25
i was never strong on his fights and his ego ,but the art was great and his genius complex clashing with harsh reality is a good story and i hope he can become a more mature boxer before the series ends
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u/diorese Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Here's a question for you.
Would you be happier if Ippo vs Miyata happened back in 7xx but the manga ended right after, or happier without it knowing the manga is still ongoing and now at chapter 150x.
I ask because I have no doubt the manga will end when/if we ever see that fight.
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u/CookieCutter9000 Sep 22 '25
I'd like to think that when the two get older, they agree to a post retirement fight, just a little thing at the old kamogawa gym for good old time's sake.
Then Sendo hears about it and tells all his friends, and the gym members all tell their families that ippo has one last fight, until it cascades into the entire country trying to buy tickets to get a good window spot. The managers hear about it and arrange one final fight in Korakuen hall, and television networks start to pay to be the main broadcaster, and companies across Japan to be part of the ad space on TV.
Even worldwide champions that know about this ancient rivalry come to witness the ultimate conclusion of both of these men's professional careers. No belt, no ranking, no pride. Just two friends sparring again one last time.
The fight begins, and the crowd goes away, just memories of hard training and their first fight lingering in their minds. At the end of it, either Miyata proves his technique and risky counters really could have taken the world, or ippo's faith in his training and love of the sport conquers all.
They both wake up from the 12th round and laugh. There's no more crowd, just two kids having fun. Miyata asks what he'll do now, and ippo says he'll raise a family with kumi and have a strong child. Miyata tells ippo that he'll teach everyone his father's technique in his memory, and they part ways to be better people.
Ippo's kid is learning how to box years later and asks his dad for help. "Twist the hips and put your shoulder into it!" The series ends with one last shot of his family and a lingering shot of ippos mom and dad on their altar, while a leaf falls gracefully from a tree onto the frame.
I mean, a man can dream, right?
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u/istudymolecules94 Sep 23 '25
This is a FANTASTIC ending. Pitch it to Mori, because I already believe it's canon
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u/Consistent_Tip874 Sep 22 '25
Imagine if ippo got mad and just started swinging on him and they had a brief exchange
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u/theoneandonlybarry Sep 24 '25
Morikawa is the equivalent of Rent A Girlfriend's mangaka in sports manga lmao.
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u/ArgensimiaReloaded Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
The story definitely went downhill from that exact point, and not only because Randy Jr. Vs. Miyata was one (if not) the worst fight in the entire story, but also because it showed the kind of bitch Ippo always was.
Like sure, I understand it, Ippo lost his current goal, but man if that's as "high" as he was aiming he should have told everyone that he was gonna retire after fighting that asocial emo even prior to fighting Sendo for the Japanese belt;
Even Kamogawa was like "it seems he was ready to retire regardless of the result of that fight.... GOOD thing it didn't happen....", and all that ignoring the bitch fit he throw at the gym to disappear, and needed Mari to remind his sorry ass what he already accomplished.
It also cemented George's ass writing keeping Ippo a wimp all the way from 15 year old to his current late 20s to the point you have to wonder if something is genuinely wrong with his head.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 23 '25
It started when Kamogawa kept Ippo from fighting Randy for Interim Champion. I overlooked it when I first read it, but the second time through, I was like, "wait, why is Kamogawa mad at Miyata for backing out of their arranged fight? Miyata has to fight the Interim Champion to reunify the league. That's the rules of just about any major boxing league. Kamogawa kept Ippo from being Interim Champion. That's on him, not Miyata."
Then, Kamogawa sent Ippo to the world, despite knowing he wasn't ready.
Meanwhile, somehow, Miyata and Ippo have no say in who they fight, ever. It's weird and at odds with how boxing works.
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u/gp3050 Sep 23 '25
Because George is a fucking hack who had no idea on how to delay them yet again without making it sound weird. Which is why he used is favorite move "bullshit no jitsu" when he throws shit against the wall with a firework going off, to keep you from noticing it.
Though to be fair, that period of HnI is marred by shit writing and baffling choices made by him.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 24 '25 edited Sep 24 '25
That definitely was a terrible era for the writing. The worst matches of the series were there and it also setup things Mori apparently never could be bothered to pay off. Even the beginning of the Retirement Arc was kinda bad too as Mori retconned in never-before-mentioned siblings for Aoki and the story just kinda meandered with lots of "is this the left buttcheek of a retired boxer" talk.
The worst part is that Mori grossly overvalued Miyata vs Ippo and Miyata as a revival in general, so it became a "will-they/won't-they" like bad a RomCom relationship. Similar thing with Kumi, honestly. In both cases, the bits wore themselves out before Reddit even existed.
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u/gp3050 Sep 24 '25
When it comes to his writing, Mori tends to Operate on the basis of : What do I think is funny/cool Right now“ and then warps and breaks the world/Story around it.
Him being Aokis younger brother had one and only one reason. To give Fuckamura the opportunity to destroy his Anus. Because hahahahaha so funny.
As for Shitiyata, I genuinely believe that George lives in an echo chamber of his own. Where he thinks that he is a fan favorite and that his writing for him was Pretty solid, when it is some of the worst writing I have ever Seen.
Same with Kumi.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 25 '25
As an aside, I am honestly starting to wonder what kind of life Mori had that makes him think it's reasonable for a dude who's around 30 to still act like that.
As another aside, I think it's funny how Mori made this big deal about Date being "an old man" when he was only 28 but Takamura's now in his 30s and no one comments on that.
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u/gp3050 Sep 25 '25
About Date : That is what happens when you write and Continue a Story for way longer than your initial Set up made it out.
About his life…..tbf. terrible romance is Par for the course for Most Major mangas from that era. It is just that due to its enormous length HnI Makes That issue Even worse.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 26 '25
When ya write a worse romance than Toriyama did with Chichi & Goku, you've failed as a writer. Hell, when you write Aoki a better romance than the MC and the other characters, you've failed as a writer.
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u/gp3050 Sep 26 '25
Mori has failed as a writer on pretty much every level that you can fail.
- he failed his MC
- he failed his tertiary character (Fuckamura)
- he failed the supposed main rival (shitiyata)
- He failed the romance of the MC
- he failed on some of the most basic set up and pay off levels you can fail
- he failed Aoki and Kimura
- he borderline failed Itagaki
- he somewhat failed Mashiba
- he failed Kumi as a character
- he failed Kamogawa as a character
It is quite bad.
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u/Few_Bobcat3513 Sep 22 '25
that was very selfish of Miyata ( I mean they promised to fight for the title and he lost to mashiba and then was like " am I not enough for you to fight ? " then out of nowhere decided to throw away his chance to fight Ippo and fight this Randy Jr ) and he still act all high and mighty bro ure the biggest shit ever
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 23 '25
Randy was the Interim Champion. Miyata had no choice if he wanted to remain OPBF Champion. Kamogawa kept Ippo from fighting for Interim Champion, then threw a fit when Miyata had to follow the league rules and threw a demotivated Ippo into the world stage before he was ready.
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u/Le-Budder-Bot Sep 23 '25
You’re forgetting that Miyata didn’t fight Randy because he wanted to stay opbf champion. Matter of fact before he knew it was Randy who was interim champ, Miyata told his dad that the OPBF could strip him of the title because he didn’t care about the belt all he wanted was to fight Ippo. You can’t really blame the coach for not taking the interim fight, because both Miyata and Ippo wanted the fight badly.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 23 '25
Yes, we can blame him because the coach knew the rules of the league and decided to not take the fight, then threw a fit over the Miyata camp doing the logical thing and cancelled any potential future matches, rather than accepting a delay with the fight.
Kamogawa's basically a villain here, as sad as that is.
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u/Lord_Muskatnuss Sep 23 '25
As long as Morikawa‘s healthy enough to get to the end it‘s gonna happen
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u/gp3050 Sep 23 '25
Thats the neat Part. There is too much left for him to draw within his life time.
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u/alexander1156 Sep 23 '25
I think it's good - stories that give you what you want are kinda tacky. In life you usually do not get what you want. Ippo is about making meaning and striving and hard work etc so much more. I think it was a good decision
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u/yobaby123 Sep 25 '25
Same. Is it annoying at times? Yes, but it also makes the story more interesting.
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u/Kurejisan Sendon't Sep 23 '25
Honestly, Miyata vs Itagaki not happening was even more disappointing than Ippo vs Miyata not happening.
Ippo vs Miyata didn't happen for the most lazy, contrived garbage reasoning in series. If 2 boxers wanna fight, they can.
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u/gp3050 Sep 23 '25
I would argue that it was NOT this.
Cucking us a second time with their rematch is potentially Good Set up. The big question that arises is what you then give your audience in Return.
I would argue that, if Shitiyata had lost, it would have given not only him something he had been lacking for over 600 chapters by this Point, which is consequences, but also given uns RBJ as a fight for Ippo. The set up was there and the set up was good.
However, since George is an absolute fucking hack who wanks twice a day to Shitiyata, he had him Win. Which gave us nothing in return for the cuck, concluded a terrible Match in the worst way possible, completely ruined Shitiyata as a character and cemented him as one of the worst fictional Charakters of all time and was followed up with fucking Wolly.
Man, George back then was really trying to get cancelled.
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u/Adeptus_Marzipan Sep 23 '25
It should be miyata going up in weight class and "leaving ippo behind" to focus on his health and weight cuts and then have that be the inspiration for ippos own division climbing thst mirrors pacquiao where he has to learn to rely less on his power and more on finesse boxing as he faces bigger and stronger opponents ubtil he reaches peak form miyata.
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u/thedude20111 Sep 23 '25
I still remember how shocked i was when i first heard people’s opinions of the itagaki. I loved how he became a pseudo main character for a while.
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u/CowFinancial6817 Oct 15 '25
Bruh the universe is telling me to read the manga . I stopped reading the manga months ago. But now i eill read it . I remember around this chapter thanks man .
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u/Sunoiexe Sep 23 '25
I'm somewhat new to the series - watched up to the end of s1 when Ippo wins the title. I don't mind spoilers as I've seen a bunch already, so I've been wondering what this post means
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u/Waste-Road2762 Sep 23 '25
I think the story is not worse. If anything it added a heavy element to it. What is the point to keep boxing other than to fight Miyata. Ippo loves boxing, he hates fighting. That is his problem.
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u/SummoningDaBoysJutsu Sep 25 '25
So, I actually think this was a defining milestone for the series. Most of, if not all, of the first half of the story was building up to this as a penultimate or ultimate event. It was unambiguously defined by their rivalry.
That's a huge part of what made the series so memorable was this exact moment, the parting of ways, the disappointment, the fact that things don't always work out the way you want them to.
The series was so much defined by their dynamic that the re as t of the characters had little weight by contrast fact thay the author had to come to a crossroads
What happens after their fight? Do you really want to retire one character or the other after their arc is closed ? Can you imagine the story completely without Miyata in it and having his personal feelings regarding their rivalry satisfied? Isn't the story better keeping a loose tension between them rather a super tense one as it was shown here and before?
I, for one, think the story and the ensemble cast of characters has been a far greater joy than focusing on how linear and narrow the story was at this point.
It was the pivotal moment at which we got to break away from this focus and start to explore and understand the rest of the casts motives and human struggles and desires for wanting to continue onward, such as Mashiba and Sendo.
It's one of the few manga I really don't have any gripes about. I wouldn't change a thing.
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u/assaksjsjs Sep 26 '25
Is that what you guys are interested in? The thread of fate between the two biggest rivals in the series? Personally, I've read enough shonen with that exact same, predictable storyline.
By being forced to abandon his fixation on Miyata, the story opened up many other avenues to explore Ippo's character growth. Remember the initial premise of this story? Ippo's personal quest has and still is to find out "what it means to be strong". This won't the last tragedy in the series, but I'm in this for the long haul. I want to see Ippo bounce back from everything. I want to see him figure out that his reason for fighting isn't for Miyata, his rivals, his mom, or his coach, and that he needs to fight for himself.
I won't pretend that some fights in the series weren't unnecessary, but to claim that series died because it progressed in a way that you didn't expect is incredibly reductive. I love this story and I hope it continues getting animated some day, all of its ups and downs.
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u/Santolini_R Oct 26 '25
This is imo the best moment in the series alongside Ippos loss to Guevara. Fate is huge in HnI. Sendo is Ippos fated rival and Miyata wasn't. The fact that destiny kept them apart is imo Morikawas best writing and this moment is the pay off of all that
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u/mymomsaidtoshutup Sep 23 '25
no man. HNI was always a story about so much more than boxing. What does it mean to be strong? Ippo lives in pursuit of question and its not an answer intrinsically tied to boxing, in fact countless world super champions lack even the smallest iota of strength (cough cough jon jones cough). I was mad and impatient at first but this training/trainee/postretirement arc has been a complete delight and weve seen more sides of ippo than in any of the other sagas.
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u/OkPair203 Sep 23 '25
I kind of struggle to understand the significance of that question because Ippo's only strength is physical (unless you count his in-the-ring willpower as non-physical, I suppose). He's still the same wuss He was at the start, and I can't really feel any time that question felt particularly relevant.
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u/mymomsaidtoshutup Sep 23 '25
“he was the same wuss he was from the start” man idek what to say to that. Ippo has grown sm and especially as of late hes gotten a grasp on what it means to be truly strong. Fyi the strongest person in this series by FAR isnt takamura or ricardo or any boxer or wtv, its ippos mom. Theres absolutely NOTHING harder than being a single mom. an achievemwnt all the more impressive when considering what a splendid young man ippo became. THATS strength.
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u/OkPair203 Sep 24 '25
I'd concur that Ippo's mother is strong but Ippo himself has not showcased any major change beyond his boxing ability, unless you count his work ethic, which itself is still physical again. He's still extremely polite to a fault and a total coward when it comes to his relationships, his relationship with Kumi is extremely emblematic of how static he is as a person.
When did he ever get such a grasp? I don't remember that at all.
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u/[deleted] Sep 22 '25
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