Fighting Spirit

honru

I never thought I'd be a fan of a sports anime. Even so, the only examples I am familiar with is Slam Dunk and Prince of Tennis.

And then I come to Fighting Spirit, a brilliant, lengthy anime made by Nishimura Satoshi, the creater of Trigun. And while it's nothing like Trigun, it's much much better.

It follows the story of Ippo, a kid who gets bullied at school. After one session of digs after-school he gets saved by a boxer named Takamura. Following his encounter, he decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer... but that's just the beginning.

I'm on the third season now and I can't recommend this enough, even if you hardly have the slightest interest in boxing.

Carbon Blob

Hell yeah, Ippo is a fantastic show! I didn't expect to like it either, but it really is excellent. One big thing it has going for it is that the vast majority of the fights aren't just Ippo vs nameless chump, but rather the opponent is fleshed out well, and by the time the fight comes you end up hoping they both win! The anime ends at just the right point too, leaving you wanting more.

The manga does go further and is good, but I found it getting a bit repetitive after the end of the anime. On the plus side it has one of most badass badasses ever in Ricardo Martinez.

Ep 60+

Poor Vorg, he deserved to win against Sendo. Fighting for his goddamn career and he loses simply cos he's not Japanese. Bloody xenophobic ref!

Hercule

ermm.....

Nishimura Satoshi, the creater of Trigun.

didnt Yushiro Nightow create Trigun? - i thought that dude just directed the trigun TV series?

honru

Carbon Blob wrote:

One big thing it has going for it is that the vast majority of the fights aren't just Ippo vs nameless chump, but rather the opponent is fleshed out well, and by the time the fight comes you end up hoping they both win!

It's fortunate the amount of depth they go with the characters, as they're all quite memorable. You never really know what the outcome will be so the matches are just intense-filled.

I also love how they use real terminology and history from the boxing world; never thought I'd have such an interest.

Hercule wrote:

didnt Yushiro Nightow create Trigun? - i thought that dude just directed the trigun TV series?

Yea, meant the man behind the Trigun TV series.

Lantis

Hajime no Ippo is amazing. (I read the manga, so that's what I call it.)

Still so far behind, only on Ippo gearing up for the Ponchai fight, after Vorg and Sendou. 207 chapters down, 500 more to go!

Makaveli

Just started this.
Really enjoying it although I'm only 12 episodes in. Didn't expect to like a sports anime really although it kind of reminds me some what of Initial D (

underdog, underrated by opponent, works really hard and triumphs

). The character development is good alright. Nice to see that it's not just pointless fight after fight with no story to go with it.
It's also quite funny, there have been quite a few laugh out load occassions, especailly when

he is having his debut match and your man shouts out that he is hung like heavyweight

.

At what stage do the movies tie into the series? Is it 76 episodes straight and then they come after?

honru

Good stuff.

I believe the movies are spin-offs and come in after the series.

marta19

http://lolitas.eclub.lv

Scratch Acid

marta19 wrote:

http://lolitas.eclub.lv

Heh.

Anyway, I started the manga but couldn't really get into it. Not really brutal enough for a fighting manga... I prefer Tough and Shamo.

Carbon Blob

Scratch Acid wrote:

Heh.

Anyway, I started the manga but couldn't really get into it. Not really brutal enough for a fighting manga... I prefer Tough and Shamo.

You really should give it one more go, it can get pretty brutal.

Scratch Acid

Hmm, perhaps I will. It felt like a bit of a waste getting 50 volumes of it anyway...

Also: I Shamo

Carbon Blob

Scratch Acid wrote:

Hmm, perhaps I will. It felt like a bit of a waste getting 50 volumes of it anyway...

It's a good read, definately worth it, and here's another image to replace that broken one :cool:

Scratch Acid

Carbon Blob wrote:

It's a good read, definately worth it, and just saw this picture which caused me to come back to this thread!

Image is not working.

honru

Well since the story begins from Ippo's entrance into the boxing world, it's hardly "brutal" from the get go. Later matches in the series are much more fierce.

If you're looking for lots of blood and gore though... :v:

Scratch Acid

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

If you're looking for lots of blood and gore though... :v:

Yeah yeah, I know, but it's just the artwork is a little too...cartoony, for want of a better word, and doesn't really lend itself well to this genre of manga. Although the art in Grappler Baki is ridiculous and I still enjoy that. I'll give it another go anyway.

honru

Well, I (finally) finished this the other day...

Carbon Blob wrote:

The anime ends at just the right point too, leaving you wanting more.

Hell yeah...

There was closure, but while the second Ippo/Sendo fight was a great battle, the outcome wasn't as fullfilling as you'd expect. I mean, what about Miyata? And Date? Hardly wraps it all up.

I don't know if they're going to make another season but I suppose I'll have to get into the manga now. :v:

And of course, I also have the two movies to watch.

sharingan

The pedigree of sports anime is pretty high, the japanese love the stuff, and there have been many well regarded series.

In addition to Hajime no Ippo/Fighting Spirit, Slam Dunk & Prince of Tennis, you also have some other classics:
* Princess Nine (girls baseball)
* Touch (this is considered very highly - boxing & baseball)
* Hikaru no Go (okay so its not an 'athletic' sport, but all the sports anime characteristics are present'
* Future GPX Cyber Formula (motor sport)

As well as some more recent, but well regarded stuff
* Buzzer Beater
* Major
* Eyeshield 21
* Whistle
* Hungry Heart - Wild Striker

I think we ahve been safe, in that there is no Lacrosse anime (though it features in certain girls anime series). I am not certain, but I don't think there has been any Golf anime (bit surprising that), and I think the lack of Rugby anime is about to be rectified soon. No GAA anime either, the Shinjuku GAA club couldn't attract enough interest.