About

Hajime no Ippo (The First Step) is a Japanese boxing manga series written and illustrated by George (Jōji) Morikawa and published by Kodansha. It follows Makunouchi Ippo, a young boy who dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The series has been adapted into an anime television series by Madhouse which went on for three seasons.

History

The first chapter of Hajime no Ippo was published in 1989 in Kodansha's Weekly shonen Magazine. Since then it was published over 1000 chapters and is still ongoing. In 2000 the manga was adapted into a 76 episode anime television series by Madhouse titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!. In 2003 Madhouse produced a TV movie of the series titled Champion Road. In 2009 Madhouse produced a second season titled Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger and in 2013 a third season titled Hajime no Ippo: Rising. On December 11, 2014 a fighting video game titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting was released on the Playstation 3 in celebration of the series 25th anniversary.

Online Presence

The Series has gained a large fan base over the course of it's run. It has it's own wiki and a subreddit that has 2,218 subscriptions. On January 1, 2015, Matt and Pat of the Super Best Friends Youtube group published a video titled Super Best Friends Boxing: THE FIGHTING – Hajime no Ippo – The Fighting in which they played the Hajime no Ippo – The Fighting, video game.

Reception

The series has received good reviews with manga earned an average of 8.7 on MyAnimeList.net, making it 52nd best manga on the site. The first, second, and third season of the anime have ratings of 8.8, 8.8, and 8.7 on MyAnimeList.net respectively.

Search Interest

External References

Wikipedia- George Morikawa

Wikipedia- Hajime no Ippo

Wikipedia- TV Anime

Wikipedia- TV Movie

Wikipedia- Manga

Hajime no Ippo wiki- Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting (video game)