Hajime no Ippo

STORY

The main character, Ippo Makunouchi, grows as modest and shy in a single mother home.
When he was in high school, he got in trouble that he was tangled with hoodlum.
There he was helped by a professional boxer, Mamoru Takamura, from them while Takamura was on his roadwork.
Ippo got attracted by Takamura’s strength and visited to Kamogawa gym which the one Takamura belongs.
This is how Ippo starts his way of boxer.
He has been trained by his work, fishing boat rental shop that his mother owns, regardless of his intention to be strong.
Besides, he always practices very diligently; as a result, he quickly improved.
Although he gets beat by Miyata, who is the same age of Ippo and has been boxing since he was kid during sparing, later he successfully revenges Miyata with his coach’s accurate advices and because of luck.
Ippo and Miyata become the lifetime rivals each other from then.
Ippo grows up stepping with those dead heats with the strong rivals in freshman tournament and the title match with Date who is the clever Japan champion and has lots of experience.
After the match with Date, Ippo obtained ‘Dempsey Roll’ that Ippo can offend and defend simultaneously, and he moves forward aiming higher.
In this cartoon, various boxers’ roads are written that are of Ippo who is aiming to be the world champion, and of his colleagues and rivals.

(Joji Morikawa/1989-/95 books as of 2011/Kodansha)

COMMENT by Shun

This is the front cartoon of Shonen Magazine, one of the three biggest weekly cartoon magazines in Japan, and this boxing cartoon has been published for more than 20 years.
Written not only the main character (though centering on Ippo of course) but including his colleagues and rivals in detail, those colleagues and rivals appear as much as Ippo just like spin-off cartoons.
Their stories go on simultaneously, so you don’t get bored when you read this long lasting cartoon.
I, Doctor Ito, remember the famous words that come up in the Final Fantasy Six, the famous role playing game, when writing this comment; that is, ‘There is no main character in FF6. There are only some attractive sub characters.’
The comics are now more than 100 books published, and I don’t think there is no need to write about how cool this cartoon is.
So, let me write about another aspect of this cartoon.
Please forgive me but what written below are all about my biased opinions;
Perhaps, most of people who are recommended to read this cartoon will give up on reading when they see the quantity of this cartoon.
The most saleable book in comics is the first one, of course.
Usually people read a cartoon from the beginning not the middle.
With that aspect, then the second saleable would be the second one, and third as well.
In order to avoid that, an effective technique is to reset.
To reset is to divide the comics into some different titles with that first part of the cartoon finishes at a designated point and new chapter begins.
By this way, those people who have not read the first chapter will likely to buy the new chapter.
Concerning this method, however, this cartoon never reset before although this has the strong story aspect.
Let’s not think to read ‘too many comics,’ rather think as ‘how happy to read this cartoon 100 times!’

Shun's Score 9