I finished Hajime No Ippo.
Nice!
What were your favorite bits about the show? Only the most positive feelings you had about it. * GUNINANRUNIN requires positivity. u_u
I guess it would be those fights where you are so on edge for the whole thing you end up watching episode after episode in quick succession. It keeps the pace up and maintains the pace from the previous episode pretty well without too much of a repeat. Blows exist and if something looks like it hurts, it actually hurts. Heck even though injuries always heal correctly (because otherwise the show would be quite... dark), if someone is injured they still have to recover. Thanks to the stretched timescale where periods between fights can be months, Ippo has spent months recovering from his injuries before. Though while I say this there are exactly two instances where the implication was permanent career ending injuries. In total there were two instances maybe three where I couldn't stop watching until the end of the arc.
That and the show is also rather informative, which is something I consider to be a plus (it is rare in Western TV outside educational shows.) where it will even reference the fighters known for certain styles and moves. I like it when I feel like I know MORE about a subject just by watching the show. It achieved this by making Ippo a genius newbie to Boxing, so he could learn things quickly while at the same time needing to learn. After Ippo became too knowledgeable they got other characters for this role.
As well it has a strong focus between both the opponents and minor characters. Later on lightening the focus on Ippo and giving everyone else a bit more time to shine including ALMOST giving characters who normally would be sent FAR into the background some serious spotlight, heck even Ippo's mother gets somewhat of her own highlight episode, albeit indirectly. Of the four main gym boxers (until they introduced a new permanent member), only one has remained static but Aiko (dang I forgot his name) has managed quite a bit of character development. I have the sense that the other guy was MEANT to have some development but that it was dropped for time.
I like Ippo as a character mostly because he is a bright cheery guy who wants to do the right thing most of the time and unlike a LOT of characters in these kinds of setting even after learning martial arts he doesn't believe in violence as a solution, in fact he remains incredibly non-violent. What I liked is that after you learn how much talent he actually had for boxing, you realize was something Ippo let others bully him because he felt bad and was somewhat of a coward. Ippo's ultimate goal is to learn what strength is, but you get the idea that he isn't looking for physical strength but cannot see his own strength. His journey isn't really of getting strong but that he was strong the entire time and didn't realize it but had to go through these trials to get there. Another bonus is the anime never downplays the advantages that Ippo has and never negates them, his punches are absolutely devastating the first time you see him, and they remain devastating the very last episode.
The show's pacing is probably its best trait. If it takes time off it generally is using it for great effect. If it is deep in the action every episode of that fight is important. As well it doesn't intentionally try to drag you along with constant cliff hangers, it will end fights before the halfway point.
The show has few villains, but that makes sense it isn't a show ABOUT villains it is a show about people and the vast majority of them in the show are people who just went a bit down the wrong path, even the "Evil American General" is just a victim of the war and learns to be a better person through boxing. The exception to this is Bryan Hawk who is an unapologetic villain with no redeeming qualities and frankly the stark contrast between him and the rest of the series was delicious! He was like a Captain Planet Villain in an episode of Law and Order. He also backed it up by a truly memorable fighting style that is SO GREAT that Eagle, the boxer who came after him, is completely overshadowed. Bryan Hawk is an amalgamation of everything wrong with Americans told at the Japanese viewpoint so his sheer contempt towards Japan is delicious. He has style, he has flare, and he is a big deal. If he didn't wimp out near the end to show how great Takamura was, I'd probably say Bryan Hawk was the perfect villain for the series.
There a completely positive "what I liked about Hajime no Ippo"
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Topic: I like anime, do you like anime? (Read 3121311 times)