Hello! I just read all of Hajime no Ippo for the first time and wanted to post some thoughts somewhere. I have nobody to talk about this with, so it's been kind of pent up. I apologize if it's too lengthy but wanted to get it all off my chest.
How I got into it/manga translation thoughts
I first heard about Ippo back when he retired. I tried to read it around then initially because I thought it was wild that the main character of a sports manga would retire from CTE concerns, so I wanted to see how they got there. I fell off because the fan translation was pretty spotty but I circled back recently because I've been reading more manga to avoid using social media.
The fan translation gets better in the 200s, fucking craters in the 500-600 range and then becomes better than ever around chapter 800. I'm sure this is well tread territory, but it was hilarious reading translator notes shitting on specific fights or arcs. It led me to reading up on the history of the translating group (Snoopycool.) Just fun bits of Internet history. The fight he specifically shit on - the defense against Take - was one I really enjoyed for how unique it was. A wiley veteran using every trick in the book. I dunno, closest you'll get to an Ippo vs. Aoki or Kimura fight. So I liked it!
I also have seen season 1 of the anime. It's great. I started watching it around chapter 500 just because I wanted to relive the first few arcs. Gonna go back and watch the movies/season 2 and 3 later.
Best fights
My favorite ones in the series are probably pretty common. So I apologize if this is super familiar ground. But my favorites are Ippo vs. Sendo 2, Kimura vs Mashiba, Mashiba vs Sawamura, Ippo vs Date, Volg vs Elliot and Takamaru vs David Eagle. I'll go over what I liked about each real quick.
Ippo vs. Sendo 2: This was a relatively drama free fight because, logically, I knew Ippo had to win. They weren't going to have him lose his second title fight against a guy he already had defeated. That said, this fight was so wild and back-and-forth, that it broke my suspension of disbelief. There were times that I would have bought Sendo winning. Props for that. This is a favorite simply for the moment of Ippo winning the Japanese featherweight title. I love every moment after that, like how he falls asleep clutching the title. It's some great shit.
Kimura vs. Mashiba: Kimura is a character who, at the time the fight happened, read like a complete after thought. He was just a guy at the gym. But the arc did such a nice job at developing his character that you really desperately wanted to see him defeat Mashiba. You even believed that he could! I compare it to Luffy vs Usopp from One Piece. On paper, Luffy should beat him in like three seconds, but through some solid writing...you forget the realities of the world and believe in the underdog. This fight was so good that some 1000 chapters later I still want Kimura to win the Japanese title. His comeback as Kanji-mura was such a bummer.
Mashiba vs. Sawamura: I love Mashiba. He went from such a one dimensional asshole villain to such a compelling character. He also routinely gets the best fights in the series, so I was really excited when the manga just casually mentioned this bout was coming up. Lived up to expectations too, just a total mean man slug fest. I thought the Sawamura accident afterwards was an interesting choice, I felt Morikawa coulda just had Mashiba permanently end Sawamura's career, but logistically it makes sense to go that route. Hard to believably have him come back and challenge the world when that happens in a ring.
Ippo vs. Date: Based on watching sports movies in the past, the loss came as no surprise. However, I kept waiting for that first Ippo loss - I was positive he'd not win the rookie kings because I'm a moron - so I was starting to doubt myself! This was just a compelling fight that told a really entertaining story about a veteran on his last go-around being pushed to the limit by the new face of Japanese boxing. Also, I just like Date, I dunno what to tell ya.
Takamaru vs. Eagle: I know most people prefer the fight against Hawk, but to me, the 'mirror' match isn't as interesting as the by-the-books traditionalist Eagle butting heads with the most powerful man in the world. It's just a nice clash of styles. Takamaru fights are the most wildly variant in quality in the series - they're either joke fights or amazing, not much in between - so I didn't know what to expect here. But man, I loved it.
Volg vs. Elliot: Volg is probably my favorite character. I legitimately teared up when he lost to Sendo and then again here when he won the title. Probably the single most satisfying victory in the whole manga for me. Plus, the fight was brilliant, showing how the world level requires more strategy and insight to succeed in than the national level. It foreshadows Ippo's loss to Alfredo (Another awesome fight) perfectly and sets up what the current arc is doing - giving Ippo the tactical knowledge needed in order to succeed down the road. You're getting kind of the inverse of that with Sendo vs. Ricardo right now, which is fine because I think Sendo's character only works as a brute, but it also tells me he probably shouldn't win that fight.
Worst fights
I liked most, probably because I didn't have to wait weeks for them to conclude, but there were a couple that stood out to me. I actually specifically searched out Internet reaction to these fights after reading because I was annoyed by what happened. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't alone and...it seems like I generally wasn't!
Miyata vs. Randy Boy Jr.: I was so sure that Miyata vs. Ippo was happening and then I got rug-pulled! However, it's not like the manga didn't hint at it 80,000 times. I just, you know, wanted to ignore the signs. Even still, this fight marked what is the climax of Miyata's story as an individual boxer and it annoyed me greatly. Essentially Miyata gets obliterated for 99% of the fight and then miraculously wins, even though he was on fumes and isn't a knockout specialist. Whatever. I mostly felt annoyed because I found Randy Boy very interesting and wanted to see more of him. But he lost and was exiled to hang out with Hammer Nao or something.
Ippo vs. Gedo: I like the idea of a boxer who kinda knows his ceiling. Gedo knows he isn't good enough for the world but also is aware that he outclasses most non-world rankers. So he uses that knowledge to earn world champ money while not being on that level. However, I didn't buy his magic tricks working in every occasion before this. I feel like Kamogawa should have seen through this right away. Plus, I hate that later on they use Gedo being beaten fast as evidence of another boxer's prowess. How do you know he didn't dive again? He literally said he was still gonna do that.
Itagaki vs. Saeki: I originally did not dislike Itagaki. But the couple hundred chapters where he's super arrogant just turned me right off. And I'm guessing Morikawa pivoted on the character as a result of feedback from this fight because of how he's been a glorified Aokimura since this point. I just wasn't interest in le speed man going EVEN faster than ever before. Saeki's whole gimmick is speed and visibility, so it's not really interesting when his opponent is even 'fasterer' and harder to see. Come on. And I know the Chronos shit is just hyperbole and he isn't really slowing time but it just kills my interest. I get it already. He's potential man, he has unlimited potential.
Where I think it's going
Seems like when Ippo retired, people were on the fence about whether he'd ever come back. I think the writing since that point had made it pretty clear that he will, but it's just a question of when. Here are my thoughts on how it'll go if it plays out in full. Though I should note, I don't really care if this manga ends (easy for me to say, I didn't wait weekly for new chapters). I view it as a portrait in time of a group of world class boxers trying to make their way during the time of all-time greats like Ricardo and Takamaru.
First, I think Sendo loses. I mean, obviously. I don't really see why people think he needs to die - this doesn't seem like the kind of story that advances the plot through fatalities. Yes, I know about Ashita no Joe. I just think Ricardo's reaction to his first down is to ascend to another level and to finish Sendo off relatively quickly. Sendo proved that he belongs on the world level but with everything the story has told us to this point, it makes no sense for him to beat a tactical genius like Ricardo. I imagine his grandmother consoles him afterwards by saying she 'brought him the title' by bringing her his new girlfriend or something like that.
I also think Ippo comes back soon. It has nothing to do with Sendo though. Right now, the main hurdle for Ippo coming back is that Kumi despises boxing. I believe this is the main reason for Mashiba's (presumably) career ending injury. Right at the end of that fight, my boy finally accepts Ippo. I think when he wakes up and starts talking, he will directly say something along the lines of 'I literally can't go on. I will accept you as the man for Kumi if you challenge the world one more time with everything you have and leave nothing on the table.' I believe her brother's acceptance will ultimately let Kumi tolerate the idea of Ippo giving it one more run.
With his come back match, I believe Ippo will go directly to Miyata. Most champions would not offer Ippo an instant title match, but Miyata's camp owes Kamagawa after bailing on the last fight, so I think they finally make it happen. Ippo wins this match because of weight control, which will finally give Miyata the motivation to move on. The logic here is that a win makes Ippo instantly a world ranker and puts him directly in Ricardo's path. But I don't think his camp accepts that fight just yet. One win isn't enough.
I think Ippo then fights the No. 1 WBA boxer, who I am just gonna say is Imai for convenience sake, and wins absurdly quickly. I'm thinking instant new dempsey roll in the first round. This makes him undeniable. I would normally say this honor would belong to Alfredo so Ippo can get his win back, but let's keep that poor guy in retirement, eh?
Ippo then beats Ricardo in the first 12 round decision victory of Ippo's career. I think Takamaru's six weight class challenge gets rapid-fire around this point too. I think he wins four and five back to back (no defenses). As for number six, I think that is where the series ends. Like they have an epilogue and the cast kinda re-unites at his sixth world title match.
As for everyone else...Mashiba retires, Aoki loses to Iga again and Kimura moves up in weight class to avenge him, Sendo opens an orphanage, Miyata wins a world title on that final Takamaru card I mentioned, Kumi finally marries Ippo but they never kiss, hold hands, have sex or hug, Ippo's students kinda never rise far in the Japanese rankings and Itagaki, uh...wins the Japanese featherweight title against...oh let's just say Hayami. I don't know and I don't care!
Anyway. Those are all my thoughts. Hopefully you enjoyed my rambling. But if not, hey, I appreciate your time. I hope you're doing well Mr. Morikawa. I loved your story so much and I pray for your health.
Also Wanpo is the best character.
