Hajime No Ippo

Hajime No Ippo Manga Review



Ippo is just this frail boy everyone picks on at school. All the school ruffians beat him up for the money and the fun, until one day he was saved by a pro boxer that scared the ruffians off. Ippo was so impressed by the display of skill that he wanted to become a pro boxer, to know what it feels to be strong. And so Ippo’s journey as a pro boxer starts and since this boy knows no limits, he might just have a future bright enough to fight for. - summary by Dtortot.


Hilarious when most needed, dramatic at the appropriate times, intense in all its fights, every page a worthwhile experience that serves as a window to the characters self. Truly one of the most successful mangas in recent times only because it manages to balance and blend to perfection the comedy with the drama while throwing some great action scenes.

Hajime no Ippo is great in all its aspects, having a wonderful and fully developed cast of interesting characters, no one is left behind. Add the great action scenes, both inside and outside a ring, with the really emotional and dramatical scenes of friends being separated from their friends or facing defeat for the first or the nth time.

Only faults are, yet forgivable when you see all the things you get in exchange, that it seems to slow down at times, specially between each fight. The second fault is that the art is somewhat crude and the female character designs aren’t quite attractive, so it’s quite hard to see the pretty side on a girl that every other male character is drooling about.

I can’t think of a single fault that will make you not read Hajime no Ippo, its length is even more of a challenge and a good thing, the art is just a minor thing when compared to all the good stuff and the pacing even when slow at times justifies by giving more character background, insight or development. Truthfully, a must read.

Story: 10/10
Character: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

The artwork is great and of course a lot better than in the anime series. The Fights are really drawn awesome.

The best aspect of the manga is of course that the story goes on. The anime (series,movie,ova) ends at the 35 Volume and there are now 75 Volumes, so you have a lot of new staff and the story gets even better and better, especially the fights.

The characters are as well as likeable as in the anime series.
All in all a perfect manga (at least in this genre) and one of my favourites.

Read it or else you really miss something amazing.