Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura

Tatsuya Kimura is beginning to feel left behind. With his friends Ippo Makunouchi and Mamoru Takamura holding the championship belt in their respective weight classes, Kimura's inability to become Japan's Junior Lightweight boxing champion eats away at him. Scheduled to fight with the current champion Ryo Mashiba, Kimura begins to train with Ippo's rival Ichirou Miyata, who previously suffered a crushing defeat from Mashiba's signature "Hitman" style of boxing.

But Mashiba has his own desire to hold onto the belt, hoping to soon shoot for the World title and secure financial stability for his sister Kumi. Will Kimura's overwhelming drive to prove his strength as a boxer overcome Mashiba's desperate wish to provide a better life for Kumi?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Miyata, Ichirou Main

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Aoki, Masaru Main

Takagi, Wataru Japanese

Kamogawa, Genji Main

Utsumi, Kenji Japanese

Kimura, Tatsuya Main

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Mashiba, Ryo Main

Tanaka, Masahiko Japanese

Makunouchi, Ippo Supporting

Kiyasu, Kouhei Japanese

Takamura, Mamoru Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Mashiba, Kumi Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Commentator Supporting

Horikawa, Jin Japanese

Coach Shinoda Supporting

Sasaki, Seiji Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Kobayashi, Mikiko Assistant Producer

Nanba, Hitoshi Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Oct 12, 2008

jmoriarty84

Recommended

Remember how I say that when you get to the end of the first anime series, it’s truly the beginning? This oav is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It finally further gives the other characters deeper opportunities to develop and to be taken seriously. Especially in the case of Kimura who’s primary function has always been comic relief. It’s nice that the oav of course centers around on Kimura and you only view Ippo from a 3rd hand perspective which I thought was an interesting twist since he’s the main character. You really get to see how much boxing really means to ... Kimura and you really see him work hard for this opportunity to defy the odds. Aoki who is also primarily used for comic relief is also taken seriously and you truly start to care for these two crazy guys. You really feel how Aoki treasures his friendship with Kimura, and that he’s with him all the way. Also as a Miyata fan boy, I also appreciated how this anime makes great use for him in this oav and I thought it was really cool he could use the hitman style like Mashiba as well.

Well, what I can say about the quality of the resolution and character design of this anime I already said in my review of Championship Road, which you can watch so I’ll leave this portion to the review to the execution of the fights. The sparring sessions Miyata and Kimura have are intense and it creates a sense of anticipation of how Kimura will do come the time the bell rings. The Detroit Hitman Style may come across as unrealistic to those who may not be familiar with boxing, when in fact it’s based on a style used by Thomas Hearns, who has fought in many of boxing’s greatest bouts in the 1980s against Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Marvin Hagler. If you look up his fights, then you’ll see how freakish his speed and reach really is. The fights are still intense and you can truly feel the passion these fighters have as they come closer to either victory or defeat. The overall quality of this fight is probably on the level of the Rocky Balboa and Mason Dixon fight.

Fujiwara Keiji, the voice of Shingo from Initial D, Eledore from Gundam 08th MS team, and Reno from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children who voices Kimura brings a whole new stand out quality to his character thanks to the opportunities that this oav centers around him. Fujiwara always tends to play smart-ass characters but he plays Kimura in a way where you can finally take him seriously as if he were real. Same with Takagi Wataru, the voice of Garoad from Gundam X, Onizuka from GTO, and Tobi from Naruto Shippuden as Aoki is given these kinds of opportunities as well as a main supporting character. So you’re getting a truly dedicated kind of acting that is required for this particular story arc.

The music specifically Inner Light, the 2nd opening theme song, is once again in use as well as the soundtrack from the TV series. No new additions is made which may be a bad point for some people, but I felt the current soundtrack was sufficient enough.

This oav is a true representation of what Hajime no Ippo is all about. An excellent story, a wonderful cast of characters you can feel for and relate to, and an intense soundtrack. All I can say is I’m glad there’s going to be a season 2 and I can’t wait for it and I’m sure if you watch this, then this will pump you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 20, 2011

Danno

Recommended

What can I say? I loved it. This is what Hajime no Ippo's all about. Boxing isn't just some uncivil sport; it's physically and mentally challenging, everyone has their own reasons for doing it, and it takes some serious dedication and guts. When I saw Mashiba's name in the title, I thought it would just be some hilarious spin-off with Kimura getting beaten up by that crazy SOB, but the story was quite intense and touching.

The animation was smooth and stuff. There were maybe a few recycled fighting sequences, but this series always does it in a tasteful way, unlike DBZ. I love that about ... Hajime no Ippo; you can actually see their attacks and the intensity behind them, it's not some cheap battle anime where half of the fight is explosions, smoke, and mountains crumbling whilst the other half is characters warping around, shooting energy blasts at each other, and having casual conversations mid-battle. THIS is good battle anime. The fight isn't dragged on, pointless, or dull to watch; every bit of it is meaningful and exciting. There was some small amount of 3D during the fight where the ring was kinda circling, Mashiba and Kimura were still 2D; I thought it was well done and looked really cool, and that's coming from someone who normally hates 3D in anime.

The music was fitting and knew how to make the battle even more intense.

The character development was great. Mashiba's the same fearless, anti-social psychopath as usual, but we get a look at his desires, he almost seems like he's warmed up a little at his workplace, and we see that even he can lose his confidence at times. Kimura's always been serious about boxing and has loved it, but in this OVA his attitude becomes a little more like Ippo's. He's always had his dreams, but now he's got a chance to go for it, so he becomes more determined and pushes himself to his limits.
The OVA looks back on Kimura's past a little bit, though most of it is sorta a refresher of what we learned from the series. It didn't feel like filler or anything like that to me, though, and I think it helps this OVA stand alone better so that even people who haven't watched Hajime no Ippo before can enjoy this. We also learn a little bit more about Kimura than we knew before, making you that much more attached to his character.

Whether you've seen Hajime no Ippo before or not, I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy this as long as you like intense fighting action and are not obsessed with garbage like fan service. Overall, I found this amazing and at some parts it had me almost feeling some tears coming. I was absorbed in it the entire time. It's just an hour long, so I thought there wasn't even enough time for me to dislike something. It also leaves nothing to be desired since the conclusion is satisfying and wrapped up well.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 29, 2024

CarsonWentz14

Mixed Feelings

While the idea to have this specific OVA focused on another character was full of potential, I feel like it was not done as well as it could've been. Getting to experience the story through Kimura's perspective was interesting but the changes made on the typical fight preparation on top of that made the episode fall a little bit flatter than it could've been, especially in exploring Kimura's side of the relationship with the rest of the gang (the relationship with Aoki being a bit of an exception), which made the first half of the episode feel a bit disjointed.

Furthermore, what really brings this OVA's ... rating down for me was the ending, that basically invalidated a good chunk of the emotional weight of the episode, that could've been used to add an interesting twist in the Kamogawa's Gym dynamics.

On the positive side, the fight in itself was one of the best so far in the anime series, and the animation felt more on par with the original Hajime no Ippo series, which I personally prefer.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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