Chapter 453

The Dreams of a Man Who Can't Fly
Chapter Info
Next	Chapter 454
Chapter	453
Previous	Chapter 452
Volume	51
Japanese Title	飛べない男の夢
Romanized Title	Tobenai Otoko no Yume
Pages	20
Arc	Comic Show Arc
Episode	Round 4 (Season 3) (p.16-17), Round 5 (Season 3) (p.1-9, 13-15, 17-19)
Issue	Weekly Shōnen Magazine #42, 1999 (cover date): September 29, 1999
Release (JP)	September 15, 1999

The Dreams of a Man Who Can't Fly is Round 453 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.

Details

• Title Page Character(s): Masaru Aoki, Katsutaka Imae

Summary

Imae is flustered, as Aoki isn't trying to do close combat, but taking a distance and rushing in when he can. Imae misses his attacks while Aoki lands punches of his own and retreats at a safe distance. Imae's coach is surprised that Aoki is acting like a high level out-boxer before remembering that he is from the Kamogawa gym so he knows the basics, meaning that his side was careless in preparing to go against Aoki since Imae has fallen for his tricks. Takamura explains to Tomiko that Aoki was most likely playing dead, which made Imae think he could finish early and pushed himself too hard, causing a mental and physical blow after realising he was tricked. After Aoki lands a clean left to Imae's face, Yagi wants Aoki to finish him, but Shinoda mentions that it is not time yet, as Aoki is also tired due to the energy it took to withstand Imae's attacks and is fighting at a distance to recover while acting like he is just taking a rhythmic approach, something Kamogawa deems "pretending to revive". Imae lands a right hook that makes Aoki's knees buckle. As Imae tries to move in, thinking he is affecting him, Aoki glares at him, making Imae question if he was faking his damage again. Kimura observes that Aoki was hurt from the hook, but Imae couldn't think clearly as a result from Aoki's playing dead tactic. While Ippo thought that this is Aoki's "new weapon", Kimura states that he always had it, and remembers the time when he and Aoki both lost one day and Aoki wondered what to do against an opponent's jaw since he has a weak jaw himself. Kimura would later see Aoki's eyes of confidence while he was training, and, in the next match, he used the Frog Punch for the first time. Kimura remembers that Aoki had the same eyes before fighting Imae, wondering what Aoki is hiding this time. Imae gets irritated since when he tries to rest, Aoki attacks him, and when he tries to attack Aoki, he retreats. Aoki remembers the time when he had a frog in his hand while thinking of a punch to use on jaws, which gave him the idea of the Frog Punch after comparing himself to the frog, thinking that they both wish they could fly. Remembering that it gave him confidence, Aoki hits Imae's face, causing him to buckle over as the fifth round ends. Realising that Imae is having trouble moving his legs, Aoki decides to use his secret weapon in the next round.