Ippo Makunouchi is a very shy high school student who never had the time to make friends because he was always busy helping his mother with the family charter boat fishing business. Because he kept to himself, a group of bullies led by Umezawa got into the habit of picking on him. On one particular day these bullies decided to give him a rather serious beating, but a middle-weight professional boxer who was passing by stopped the bullies and took the injured Ippo to the Kamogawa Gym, owned by retired boxer Genji Kamogawa, to treat his wounds. After Ippo awoke to the sounds of boxers training, the boxer who saved him, Mamoru Takamura, tried to cheer Ippo up by letting him vent his frustrations on a sandbag. It was then that they had their first glimpse into Ippo's talent for boxing. After that incident, Ippo started his regular training and began his path in Japan's professional boxing. The story focuses heavily on character development, even during the matches something is learned about the fighters. Ippo and his friendly rivalry with Miyata is the main draw in the early part of the series. That later changes to Ippo's path towards the Japanese Featherweight Championship and eventually the world championship. Along the way we are given glimpses into the other side character's pasts, motivations, relationships to others and current boxing trials. The anime series has two spin-off movies that were actually part of the manga. Champion Road, which takes place after Ippo becomes the Japanese Featherweight Champion and showcases his first defense of the title, and Kimura Vs. Mashiba, which pits one of Ippo's upper classmen (Kimura) against the Japanese Junior Lightweight Champion Mashiba (the brother of Ippo's love interest).

	Makunouchi Ippo: The kind and easily intimidated titular hero of the series, Ippo wishes to become stronger, both physically and mentally. As fate would have it, he meets Mamoru Takamura who introduces him to the world of boxing. From that moment on Ippo tirelessly trains to become a pro boxer and overcome his fears. As a boxer, Ippo's greatest strength lies in his undying willpower and his natural physical strengths, which include monstrous stamina through training, and raw physical power. Whenever he can, he helps his mother (Hiroko) at home with the family charter boat fishing business.	STATS: Eastern Japan Rookie King (Awarded MVP) All Japan Rookie King (Awarded MVP) Japan Featherweight Champion 22 matches 21-1-0 (W-L-D) 21 KOs RANK: C (JBC), 8/9 (WBC), 1 (OPBF)
	Mamoru Takamura: A veteran boxer who introduces Ippo to the sport after rescuing him from bullies. Gifted with incredible physical ability, he is one of the few Japanese boxers that made it to the world stage. As a result of his incredible skill, Takamura has an equally large ego and is not above bad-mouthing his enemies, teammates, and even Coach Kamogawa. He is the estranged son of a family that runs a large line of successful hotels and resorts, and was quite a troublemaker until Coach Kamogawa managed to get him out of a life of street violence. Currently, Takamura is the reigning WBC Middleweight Champion, and former WBC Light Middleweight Champion. He takes pride in helping his friends and fellow boxers, especially Ippo, whom he has personally taken under his wing. His current aspiration is to conquer the next four classes up through heavyweight.	STATS: Eastern Japan Rookie King All Japan Rookie King Japan Middleweight Champion WBC Junior Middleweight Champion WBC Middleweight Champion 22 matches 22-0-0 (W-L-D) 22 KOs RANK: C (WBC)
	Miyata Ichiro: Ippo's greatest rival. Not only is the taciturn Miyata a boxing prodigy, but he is also blessed with good looks, amazing reflexes, and nearly unmatched speed. He began at the Kamogawa Gym, but later transferred to Kawahara Gym in hopes of one day facing Ippo in an official match. Miyata trained all across the Pacific and eventually returned to the mainstream boxing scene as the OPBF (Orient Pacific Boxing Federation) featherweight champion. Miyata himself looked down on Ippo a little at first, but after he helped Ippo to buy new boots for their first match, he started to respect him more, developing a friendly rivalry.	STATS: OPBF Featherweight Champion 25 matches 23-1-1 (W-L-D) 21 KOs RANK: 7 (WBC), C (OPBF)
	Genji Kamogawa: Head coach and founder of the Kamogawa gym. He fought as a prizefighter in Japan shortly after the end of World War II. Along with his friends, Ginpachi Nekota and Dankichi Hama, Kamogawa developed a style of fighting that both presumably became the forerunner of boxing in Japan and emphasized scientific theory in its techniques. As a coach, Kamogawa's wealth of knowledge and experience has been tapped into on multiple occasions during training as well as in matches. Although he rarely admits it aloud, he is extremely proud of his two best boxers, Takamura and Ippo.	STATS: Kamogawa Gym Coach/Owner 8 matches 5-2-1 (W-L-D) 5 KOs RANK: Retired
	Tatsuya Kimura: Ippo's senpai and Aoki's best friend. He is the smooth, collected type and a romantic at heart, but trains as hard as anyone. His style incorporates a fast left and faster footwork. In the past, he and Aoki were the toughest high-school thugs around, but now Tatsuya's real job is at his family's flower shop. After losing to Ryo Mashiba, he announced his retirement from boxing. Shortly after, unable to stay away from boxing, he returned saying he would spell his name in katakana instead of kanji.	STATS: Out Boxer Fought Mashiba for Jr. Lightweight Championship 21 matches 14-4-3 (W-L-D) 9 KOs RANK: 7 (JBC)
	Masaru Aoki: Ippo's senpai and Kimura's best friend. Aoki provides much of the gym's comic relief and exercises one of the world's most unusual fighting styles. In the past, he and Kimura were the toughest high-school thugs around, but now Aoki's real job is at a ramen restaurant. He shares an apartment with his girlfriend, Tomiko, a friend of Kumi Mashiba whose nice personality and good body more than compensate for her less-than-stellar face.	STATS: Infighter Fought Imae Katsutaka fot Lightweight Championship 20 matches 11-6-3 (W-L-D) 7 KOs RANK: 7 (JBC)

REVIEW

Anime: This is my review for the Hajime no Ippo Anime. The problem with a lot of anime adaptations of manga is that they never seem to live up to their predecessors. However this is one of those times when all your hopes are not misplaced. The anime adaptation is amazing. I actually watched to anime before reading the manga, which could be construed as backward thinking but I don't regret it. The anime got me hooked from episode one. I'm not a big fan of sports. I've got a slight interest in boxing but to tell you the truth the thought of an anime about boxing never appealed to me. However after many months of watching anime after anime that didn't really do anything for me, I finally decided to give Hajime no Ippo a try after reading so many good reviews about it. How surprised was I to not only like it, but for it to become one of, if not the best anime I had ever watched. I honestly cannot get enough of this anime. From the first episode you're introduced to Ippo, a shy, bullied boy who wants to know what it means to be strong. We then start the journey to him finding his answer. Every character in this anime is there for a reason. Takamura as the pinnacle of strength for everyone to look up to (as well as for humour), Kimura and Aoki as the veterans who never seem to be able to climbed over their hurdles to reach the top, Coach Kamogawa as the driving force behind Ippo's evolution. Even down to all the different opponents which they each face and the love interests and side characters. Every character is there for a reason and they are each perfectly developed over time. Some people when watching Hajime no Ippo for the first time complain about the 'old styling' of the anime. However in my opinion there is no other way it should be done. This style gives the anime what it needs in the detailing and provides a helping hand towards the physical humour throughout. The original anime consisted of 76 episodes which covered the story from Ippo's humble beginnings all the way to him winning the Japanese Featherweight Champion belt. There were a movie and OVA released in the following year. The movie Champions Road carried on from the anime with the story of Ippo's first title defence. The animation quality was upgraded slightly but still remaining with its original style and brilliantly showed the arc within a constricting time limit. The OVA showed the fight between Kimura and Mashiba for the Japanese Junior Lightweight Champion title which was actually before the Champion Road story line in the manga but after in the OVA. There has recently been a new anime starting in January 2009 called Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger, which carries on where the previous story lines left off. It is unknown how long this anime will last however it is plausible to think it will go until it catches up with the manga. With this in mind there could be up to 100 possible episodes or more in development. I for one am looking forward to it. This new anime uses a slightly more updated style but keeping the original in mind, however there is a worry I have that they may rush through the story too quickly and leave some points of the story line out. As a whole the anime is amazing and even if you're like me and don't like sports that much and think sports anime are not the best in the world then please watch this. It will turn your life the right way up.

Manga: This is my review for the Hajime no Ippo Manga. Ok then. The first thing I have to say about Hajime no Ippo is that it is the best Manga I have ever read in my entire life. To be quite frank I believe it will never be outdone by any other manga that I am currently reading.

Hajime no Ippo: Struggles to Victory	Comedy Moment: Arm Wrestling
Ippo taking the Champion Belt	Takamura vs Hawk: Manga AMV
Hajime no Ippo: Pretender	Ippo vs Sawamura: Manga AMV

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