Not only does it cover the physical, but the mental and most importantly, the emotional demand that boxing requires. Like Hajime no Ippo, it heavily emphasizes on realism and some of the technical aspects of boxing. Unfortunately, fate has other plans and Rikitaro finds himself aiming for a pro-boxing career at the age of 27 at the insistence of his trainer, who happens to be a former world champion. Around the same time, his sister loses her life in an accident and accepts custody of her son, Aomori.
The bad news, he needs to lose his beer gut so he takes up boxing to lose the weight. The good news is he has a record deal ready for him to sign. RRR, or short for Rock ‘n’ Roll Ricky, is the unlikely story of an aspiring musician, Rikitaro Iwamaki. So if you want to read something by Takahashi that has her usual comedic and romantic tropes but has more senses of realism, this might be the manga for you! Plus, the romantic tensions between Sister Angela and Kousaku are very similar to that of Ippo’s and Kumi’s but for different reasons. They are excellently grounded and not as gimmicky as Takahashi-sensei’s other action titles such as Ranma and Inuyasha. The fights take a more Ashita no Joe like approach by being more brawling oriented as opposed to being technical. The art style is very consistent with Rumiko Takahashi’s so fans of her other works can immediately recognize it. While their situations are handled more maturely, One Pound Gospel’s portrayal has a more comedic punch (no pun intended) to it. Hajime no Ippo does feature two characters that go through severe weight control, Miyata and Takamura.
Coming in to help Kousaku is Sister Angela, a young nun who befriends him but their blossoming feelings for each other put themselves at odds with their professions. But if in the case he does make weight, he pigs out after a weigh-in and it ends up negatively affecting his performance (to the point he vomits in the ring!). Unfortunately, his occasional mishaps of not making weight have disqualified him from matches and he jumps between weight classes. He won the high school championships and his road to becoming a champion in the pros should be paved in gold. Kousaku Hatanaka has the potential to be the best boxer in the world. So let’s get into six manga that fans of Hajime no Ippo are likely to enjoy! Some are about oppressed victims finding the strength to fight back, some are about the spirit of competition, and others are purely about the combat.
HAJIME NO IPPO MANGA READ SERIES
Though Hajime no Ippo may be one of the most popular boxing/fighting/martial arts series of all time, there are plenty of other quality manga out there that may be for fans to check out. After showing he has the heart and can put in the hard work, his coach decides to make him a champion.
After being inspired by Mike Tyson’s story of how he was bullied in his childhood to becoming the baddest man on the planet, Ippo decides to embark on his own boxing career and adopts his fighting style. who goes from bully victim to Japan’s hardest hitter. Hajime no Ippo tells the story of Ippo Makunouchi. However, the original manga debuted back in the fall of 1989 in the pages of Shounen Magazine, is still in publication upon uploading of this list, and presently stands at over 110 volumes! A good number of you are familiar with the anime installments of Hajime no Ippo that span over 100 episodes which debuted back in 2000.