I just found out today haven't been keeping up

I know this post isn’t related to Ippo but still thought it’s worth posting.

The legend of sports manga and its rise. I’m sure he inspired many many people out there, Morikawa included.

May he be at peace.

Translated from Japanese from Morikawa's account on Twitter @WANPOWANWAN

By the time I was 22, my serialization had already been canceled three times.

My editor encouraged me, saying, “This is your last chance,” and with that resolve, I kept drawing up storyboards and submitting them to serialization meetings for about a year.

That day, while waiting for the meeting's results on the other side of the frosted glass facing the hallway, I heard the editors shuffling out as the meeting ended.

“Just seeing the name George Morikawa makes me lose the will to read it,” came a voice, clear as day.

Without exchanging a word with my editor, who handed back the storyboard with a look of regret, I headed straight to the Kodansha annex and rewrote all 60 pages from scratch.

That voice wouldn’t leave my ears.

I thought, if I’ve failed three times, that kind of evaluation is only natural.

Though I’d rallied myself with the idea of a last chance, I keenly felt that it had already run out.

The sadness outweighed the frustration.

What hurt was being forced to choose between leaving the magazine where that person I admired worked.

I wanted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him, but I simply didn’t have the strength.

My memory’s fuzzy now, but I think I was crying then.

No matter how much I drew, it wasn’t accepted, and eventually, even in meetings, my storyboards were ignored.

I wanted to keep serializing.

I wanted to get better at manga.

But I just didn’t have the strength.

I didn’t know what to do.

In my head, I kept asking that person over and over.

“What does it feel like to be good at manga?”

“What does it feel like to be… good at manga?”

No one would answer, but I kept asking.

By then, I wasn’t thinking about the storyboard anymore—just that.

I couldn’t think of anything else, so I wrote it just as it was.

“What does it feel like to be strong?”

Nothing else came to me.

If this didn’t work, I’d quit being a mangaka.

With that resolve, I resubmitted the storyboard.

And the serialization was approved.

*Hajime no Ippo* began as a question to that person, and even now, I continue it while still asking.

I always wanted to ask him in person someday, but we got a little close, and it felt too embarrassing to say it out loud.

There were plenty of chances.

*Hajime no Ippo* was my first step as a mangaka, and the start of an eternal conversation with him.

No one will answer anymore, but from here on, I’ll keep asking.

“Chiba-san, what does it feel like to be good at manga?”

Thank you very much.

I want this Mashiba when we see him again

I was kind of surprised how the place is located at such an ordinary neighborhood. Got some great memories and souvenirs!

Tomorrow is the official Hajime no ippo event at Korakuen hall in tokyo!

Ill be going, wondering if many else from here will be there - i can speak a little bit of japanese but mostly english ofcourse

Will be taking many pics / vids to post here for everyone who cant make it!

First of all, I don’t want her to die. But I was rereading the manga while I wait for a new chapter and…

In chapters 1250 and 1251, when Miyata visits Ippo by the river, he asks him about his retirement and comes to understand that Ippo stepped away from boxing because of his mom. She is the most precious person in his life, and protecting her seems to mean more to him than continuing his boxing career.

This idea is also reinforced by Itagaki when he explains the situation to the monks.

What do you think about this?

I need to be able to watch the live stream of the Hajime no Ippo event. It's on the Boxingraise website, and they basically only accept credit cards, not debit cards. Would anyone be kind enough to pay for a subscription to that site and stream it to other fans who are interested? Thanks!

i think people didn’t appreciate this enough, aura

Jokes aside the colours are amazing!

Is it intentional, Wally, that Wally has his own peak yet Sendo most takes it from Martinez? Wally, without needing to have fought Martinez beforehand, was already considered to be at his own peak.

Sendo had climbed Martinez’s peak, after pushing his limits having endured the climb, to face Ricardo at equal terms after having turned the tides, as he hangs at the edge of the cliff.

He is accustomed to scaling to the level of his opponent’s level, ramping throughout the fight. Tanking a lot of punishment like Makanouchi, who differs since he figures a way to beat his opponent, rather than doing the same and amping up his output. Other question might be if he could remain at the top, long term against diverse world class challengers for the championship belt if he were a world champion.

Sendo has suppressed Ricardo’s counters with his wild instincts and the risk of the destructive punching power. Also having limited his right hand with his constant pressure, which made him have limited use of his options and picks his shots to avoid getting his arm injured as a disadvantage.

Yet, think that Sendo having hit the max of being fully amped in adrenaline, while going on a downslide without a second wind and going all out before he hits a threshold, the upcoming rounds he might be going to fight under different conditions from this point forth.

Such as:

-Has Sendo left throwing at a guard surface, has he suffered any recoil? Considering he throws at full output at every shot? One of his biggest strengths being his conditioning.

Yet the durability of the hands, most have a limit of many can land at a tough surface. Especially since it can be affected with a single shot, most opponents either attempt to directly avoid it, or get put down. His smash had been blocked twice, and he threw his left in aiming to land in dual exchanges.

There are examples such as during the “incident” of the spar between Sendo and Martinez, Sendo had thrown with an open fist having knocked down Ricardo, fracturing a finger, against Makanouchi, Nargo, and Gonzalez. Through a span of the fight, he has fractured one of his hands, such as the knuckle drop with his right on Nargo’s temple after finally having success at landing in the eighth, Gonzalez’s forehead in the third-fourth round, and Sendo heavily fractured/broke his right hand and strained his left from continuously trading high-impact blows and smashes with Ippo over the course of the grueling five out of seven rounds. Sendo is currently numb to the pain, not invulnerable to damage. So question if he can keep suppressing Ricardo’s right without consequence.

-After having fully adapted to the motionless jab, it won’t be enough for Ricardo to keep using his left alone, or he will be overwhelmed again, whether Sendo lands on the guard or not, that will still be dangerous either way, it will be worse if it is stretched out for his guard. He will have to change his pattern and take risks to push the momentum as well.

This gives Sendo more opportunities within his preferred range, doubling his odds, to land one out of fifty shots to land it.

But it also accelerates the damage Sendo will be receiving as he slows down, through the accumulation of punch combinations and counters. There is also the fact that the Anti-Ricardo strategy after Sendo intentionally let Ricardo learn the pattern like Gonzalez did Ippo, to break it by using a strategy to react between punches, even if he used a variation Martinez is aware of it, which either Ricardo will avoid countering or it might backfire on Sendo.

So next round is after they reset in the corner break. Which direction will the fight likely go? since it won’t be like the second, third, and the fourth.

Every sports anime I grew up on runs on the same rule: never give up and you win. Ippo is the only one I've watched that actually asks what happens when that rule is wrong.

I made a short video essay (about 5 minutes) on this, do let me know what you think of it

Hey everyone!

I'm wondering if anyone here is planning to watch the Dynamite Glove 2026 event for Hajime no Ippo live in Boxing Raise.

As far as I know, the event is paid and requires a credit card to purchase access. Unfortunately, not everyone has a credit card or can get one, which makes it difficult for some fans to watch the event.

So, if you're planning to watch it and would be willing to share your screen on Discord, that would be amazing! It would give other fans who can't purchase access a chance to enjoy the event too.

It doesn't matter if you speak English or Spanish. I'm Spanish myself, but I'm happy to join either an English-speaking or Spanish-speaking group.

I'd love to watch the event together with other Ippo fans and experience everything live!

If you're interested in sharing your screen or joining a watch party, feel free to comment below or send me a DM.

Thanks, and let's enjoy some Ippo together! 🥊

Good news for Hajime no Ippo fans overseas!

It looks like the official merch from the October 28 event at Korakuen Hall will also be available through an online store after the event!

International shipping is also planned, so fans outside Japan should be able to get their hands on the merch too!

More details will be announced later on the official social media accounts!

Kind of freaky how mashiba is just stuck in a coma limbo

That time when Ippo fell in love.