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IMDbPro

Fighting Spirit

Original title: Hajime no Ippo
  • TV Series
  • 2000–2002
  • TV-PG
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
15K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,456
37
Fighting Spirit (2000)
AnimeBoxingHand-Drawn AnimationShōnenActionAnimationComedySport

Ippo, a teenage boy with a pure heart and unrelenting determination, discovers a passion for boxing after veteran fighter Takamura saves him from bullies.Ippo, a teenage boy with a pure heart and unrelenting determination, discovers a passion for boxing after veteran fighter Takamura saves him from bullies.Ippo, a teenage boy with a pure heart and unrelenting determination, discovers a passion for boxing after veteran fighter Takamura saves him from bullies.

  • Stars
    • Rikiya Koyama
    • Kôhei Kiyasu
    • Steve Staley
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.8/10
    15K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,456
    37
    • Stars
      • Rikiya Koyama
      • Kôhei Kiyasu
      • Steve Staley
    • 36User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Top rated TV #140
      • See the top 250 TV shows as rated by IMDb users

    Episodes76

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated1 season

    Photos106

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    Top cast44

    Edit
    Rikiya Koyama
    Rikiya Koyama
    • Mamoru Takamura
    • 2000–2002
    Kôhei Kiyasu
    Kôhei Kiyasu
    • Ippo Makunouchi
    • 2000–2002
    Steve Staley
    Steve Staley
    • Ippo Makunouchi
    • 2000–2002
    Richard Epcar
    Richard Epcar
    • Genji Kamogawa
    • 2000–2002
    Wataru Takagi
    Wataru Takagi
    • Masaru Aoki
    • 2000–2002
    Tomokazu Seki
    Tomokazu Seki
    • Ichirou Miyata…
    • 2000–2002
    Kenji Utsumi
    Kenji Utsumi
    • Genji Kamogawa
    • 2000–2002
    Grant George
    Grant George
    • Referee…
    • 2000–2002
    D.C. Douglas
    D.C. Douglas
    • Genji Kamogawa…
    • 2000–2001
    Ichirô Nagai
    Ichirô Nagai
    • Nekota Ginpachi…
    • 2002
    Toshiyuki Morikawa
    Toshiyuki Morikawa
    • Alexander Volk Zangiev
    • 2001
    Mitsuaki Madono
    • Masahiko Umezawa
    • 2000
    Paul St. Peter
    Paul St. Peter
    • Mr. Yagi…
    • 2000–2002
    Hitomi
    • Child
    • 2001
    Yorie Terauchi
    • Ippo's Mother
    • 2000
    Toshihiko Nakajima
    • Haruhiko Yagi
    • 2000
    Koichi Hasebe
    • Takemura
    • 2000
    Shinichi Namiki
    • Matsuda
    • 2000
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews36

    8.815.3K
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    Summary

    Reviewers say 'Hajime no Ippo' is acclaimed for its character development, realistic boxing portrayal, and emotional depth. Ippo's transformation from a novice to a determined boxer is particularly celebrated. The series excels in themes of perseverance and discipline, with detailed fight scenes and humorous supporting characters. Its inspirational message motivates viewers, though some find repetitive fight patterns and certain arcs less engaging. The animation, though generally praised, is occasionally criticized for being outdated. Overall, it stands out as a top sports anime.
    AI-generated from the text of user reviews

    Featured reviews

    10jimniexperience

    Greatest Sports Anime Period

    Will forever be my favorite anime

    Or as Ali would say: "The Greatest of ALL TIME!!!"

    Must-see for any boxing fan, sports fan, love the art of fighting, the strategies that go behind competitive boxing (or fighting in general) --------

    A humble kid who helps his mom at her shop and gets picked on after-school ; after seeing him in action, the kid idolizes the neighborhood boxing champ and the big guy recruits him to join the gym ... His first real taste of life and glory takes off from there

    100000/100 ,, Inspirational Masterpiece
    10Vilzey

    If you don't like this: your brain damaged !

    At first, i didn't like ANIME at all, i thought it's just for child's, but when i saw 3 first episodes of this "hajime no ippo" i knew this is the right ANIME *serie?* for me. I just simply loved it, how he trained himself + the hilarious humor the funny faces and beating up his opponents, effects were world class and when i for first time saw the famous "dempsey roll", no kidding: my hair was all electronic & stuff, we talked about this on school, with friends & stuff, if you like boxing: you will love this one! it's the best Anime i've ever seen, no kidding, beating up enemies + humor = PERFECT

    10 out of 10 !
    superpogimax

    The Sports Animé to End all Sports Animés

    Hajime No Ippo (Knockout in Philippines and Fighting Spirit here in the US)is a must for all sports fans. Heck, I recommend this series to anyone. If you like sports (especially boxing), you will love the authenticity in which the animators present the boxing concepts and realism, not to mention the gradual development of the protagonist, Ippo Makunouchi. In addition,all the other characters are well-developed, so well-developed that you might even cheer for the guy Ippo is fighting. If you just like animé in general, this series has superior animation. You could feel the punches grinding on the boxer's bodies. If you are a newcomer, fear not. This series is one of the funniest animés ever. This is an overall superior animé. If you never watched animé in your life, or just looking for a good series to watch, this is it.
    JWick23

    To be strong...

    What does it mean to be strong? How do you know when you are strong? Hajime No Ippo is a wonderful sports shonen anime comparable to Slam Dunk. It has the vibes, development, and technicality that seperates it from most sport/shonen animes.

    The story is pretty good though not perfect. It has light immature comedy, and a tiny bit of romance. The directing knew how to main proper atmosphere and tone in different backgrounds such as in the boxing ring. There is seriously nothing that is flawed or something particularly bad about this anime, it a well rounded anime. The pacing is great though a tad bit inconsistent especially during matches. When you are feeling down this anime is a definite go to to bring your mood up. Most of the matches were really good, full of action and dialogue but was predictable at times. And what happpens outside the ring is just as great. Mostly focues on Ippo but some on Miyata and the group as a whole and the opponents. And themes about family and commitment, the whole story felt like a motivational video.

    Ippo is the main character in this anime. Ippo's perserveance and strength are two of Ippo's most unique traits. No matter how many times you hit him he will get back right up. He is considered wimpy/weird by many of his peers and gets bullied occasionally. But one day he found his destiny(boxing) with the help of a certain person. He simply asks himself"What does it mean to be strong?". He is truly a kind hearted person and is humble and doesn't take things too personally and his development is great. Even though Takamura might seem like a bad person from the outside deep down he a good person. The enemies have their own origins and story. The supporting characters are pretty good some such as Aoki and Kimura serving as comic reliefs while others as detailed characters such as Kamogawa and Sendo and Miyata that have their own story. Overall a wide variety of characters that are solid for the most part.

    Even though Ippo is like 20 years the animation is smooth with pretty good shading and the character designs are great, the only problem with the visuals is the clarity and sharpenss of the world. Ex. If they do a long shot for the camera everything seems a bit undetailed and you can't tell how the character's face looks like and etc. The close ups for the camera were great. You could tell when the boxer was in pain and what his emotion was like and you could see how poweful the punches were up close. And lastly it had hilarious icongraphy when the characters would be in awkward/funny dialogues.

    The music is great and was really enchanting. Especially the electric guitar symphony which is great. The use of the violin, guitar, drums, trumpet, and paino it made such a difference in the tone and atmosphere of the story. The songs they used were pretty good also. Though there are no intro and outros. Very diverse set of instruments but mostly consisted of electronic music.

    Overall a very enjoyable anime. The second anime I watched after AOT and ranks as one of my top 3 favorite animes of all time. After watching this show I can't stop myself doing jabs every once in a while. Though in my opnion it's not bingey worthy and requires some patience from the viewer every once in a while cuz it might be a bit dull or repetetive at times though near the end it does get better.

    Memorable: YES Rewatchable: Yes.
    10floss313

    Absolutely Fantastic Anime from Start to Finish! Guys, you REALLY don't wanna miss this!

    Well what can I say? I watch a lot of Japanese anime like Bleach, One Piece, Naruto Shippudden and pretty much everything that involves fighting. Came across this, just recently and couldn't keep my eyes off it. From start to finish, it's just a trip of great training, great fights, great comedy, really great great fun. The characters are just perfect. We have Makunouchi Ippo the main character who is a shy type of lad, but on the ring... The supporting characters are awesome, all of them, Takamura, Miyata, Coach, Aoki, Kimura and all of the opponents fit in very nicely with the main crew. The interaction between Ippo and his opponents is also great! If you are not an anime fan then I assure you after watching this you will be converted. This is really great stuff and mainly for adults. Cartoons are for kids people, but this is way beyond that!!!

    IMDb's Top 50 Anime Series

    IMDb's Top 50 Anime Series

    See which anime series our fans recommend the most. Titles with more than 10,000 votes are featured in our ultimate anime watchlist.
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    Related interests

    Steve Blum and Kôichi Yamadera in Cowboy Bebop (1998)
    Anime
    Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers in Rocky (1976)
    Boxing
    Jodi Benson, Jason Marin, and Samuel E. Wright in The Little Mermaid (1989)
    Hand-Drawn Animation
    One Piece (1999)
    Shōnen
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)
    Animation
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)
    Sport

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ippo was styled on Mike Tyson in his early years. The original comic was started in 1989 when Tyson was still on top of the world heavyweight divisions.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Know's Top 10s: Top 10 Anime Tropes (2016)

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 4, 2000 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Hajime no ippo
    • Production company
      • Madhouse
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 30m
    • Color
      • Color

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