Episode 17 (Season 2)

Wild Child
Episode Information
Previous	The Two Hawks
Episode	Season 2 #17
Next	Extreme Weight Loss
Japanese Title	野生児
Romanized Title	Yasei-ji
Arc	Battle of Hawk Arc
Manga	Round 368 (p.11-19) Round 369 (p.1-19) Round 370 (p.1-19)
Air dates
Japanese	April 28, 2009
Music
Opening	Hekireki
Ending	8AM

Wild Child is Round 17 of the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Characters Introduced: Wataru Takamura, Kyōka Takamura, Suguru Takamura
• Locations Introduced: Takamura Enterprises

Summary

Hawk holds out his hand for a handshake with Takamura as everyone is frozen in shock and disgust by Hawk referring to Asian women as "famous delicacies." An enraged Takamura jolts towards Hawk, intending to punch him. Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura tries to hold him back, but Takamura breaks through them and his fist lands in Hawk's open hand as he catches it. As Takamura's fist is being gripped by Hawk, Ippo tells Hawk to let him go, but Hawk states to not sweat it, as they are merely shaking hands. As Hawk releases his hand from Takamura's fist, he leaves the room with two women waiting for him. Takamura is angered about Hawk treating him grabbing his knuckles as just a handshake. Aoki and Kimura then corrects themselves by saying that they haven't seen Takamura when he really snaps.

The next day, at the Kamogawa gym, Aoki and Ippo read the magazine article about Takamura's last match, where it has Takamura's meeting with Hawk on the front page instead of the actual match. Ippo, Kimura, and Aoki get excited at the possibility of Takamura winning a world champion belt. Fujii arrives to the gym and states how he wants Takamura to win as well, especially after his comment about Japanese women. Ippo can't imagine Takamura losing after seeing his recent victory by ring out. Fujii shows them three match recordings of Hawk's matches where he wins by ring out twice, while in the third recording, the referee caught his opponent before he fell out of the ring, making almost the third ring out victory for Hawk. Fujii mentions that while Takamura is too talented to stay at the national level, Hawk is a true rarity, even among the talent at the world level. Remembering sparring against another world champion in Ricardo, Ippo notes how Ricardo's boxing was intelligent and artistic, while it is like Hawk is standing on top of a different world. Fujii agrees, explaining how Hawk uses a fighting style that defies scientific, modern boxing. He adds that Hawk's animalistic instincts, an intuitive sense of defense, and aggressive lust for the limelight completely obliterates his competition. He further explains how Hawk's style of boxing without form can only be referred to as "wild," and he is able to throw a KO punch whenever he's shown an opening with a left or right that is outrageously strong, making Hawk himself like a secret weapon. Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura realise that Hawk is a lot like Takamura, with Ippo thinking that if Takamura is the wildest in Japan, then Hawk is the wildest person in the world.

That night, while walking away from the gym, Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura discuss how similar Takamura and Hawk are. Aoki and Kimura argue about who is stronger until Ippo reminds them that Takamura is the reason they started boxing and that they should believe in him. Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura then decide to go to Takamura's place to find out why he started boxing. When they arrive, they are shocked when they find Takamura's siblings at his house. The siblings: Takamura's older sister Kyōka, and Takamura's younger brother Wataru introduces themselves to the three boxers. The boxers are shocked that Takamura's family runs the Takamura Enterprises that develops hotels and resorts. Wataru explains that Takamura's family are usually forbidden from seeing him, but they wanted to come and wish him well before his world title match. Kyōka is thankful to them for looking out for Takamura, and the three boxers mentions how Takamura is the one who looks out for them and is like a leader to them. Wataru asks the boxers if one of them is named "Aoki" since Takamura warned him to stay away from him because he is always playing with himself, smells bad, and is a pervert. Kimura states his name, however, Aoki states that he is Makunouchi, who Wataru recognises as the Japanese champion. With no option left, Ippo states that he is Itagaki. "Itagaki" and "Makunouchi" wonder why Takamura would not mention his family. Kyōka notes that he doesn't consider himself part of the family. Wataru mentions that it is more like the family thinks that of Takamura, and he never felt comfortable about it as he never felt like he had a place with them. Kyōka then reveals that Takamura is the middle son of the family, and the oldest son is named Suguru.

Elsewhere, Takamura and his older brother Suguru discuss the former having an upcoming world title match. Suguru feels as if he should congratulate him, as he doesn't remember the last time their father said anything good about him and that their father said that Takamura can come back home if he becomes the world champion. He adds that after all the trouble he caused their father, it's the least he could do to make up for it. Takamura claims that he has never caused him trouble and doesn't intend on making up for anything as his struggle isn't for anyone's sake. Suguru doesn't agree that him getting a little famous for his "fist fighting" is a struggle and wonders if Takamura realises how much how much embarrassment he causes his family and if he knows that his existence has been nothing but trouble. At Takamura's place, the Kamogawa gym boxers are shocked when they learn that Takamura has been living by himself since middle school. "Makunouchi" believes that Takamura must have been a troublemaker, but Wataru claims that he wasn't trying to cause trouble as he thinks that it is normal for young men to get into fights sometimes. Kyōka mentions how because of Takamura's strength, even the smallest incident would turn into a huge mess. As Kyōka mentions one incident that happened during a rugby game, "Makunouchi" and Kimura remember the incident and that Suguru was involved. Kyōka mentions that after Suguru graduated college, he retired to take a management job at the company. Wataru then explains that when Suguru was in high school and his team lost in a big tournament, some of the audience was jeering about the stand off. Wataru remembers that Takamura attacked the audience, injuring about twenty people, resulting in Takamura being kicked out of the family.

Elsewhere, Suguru mentions to Takamura how his constant assaults he kept getting mixed up in were damaging to his family's image and that he should be grateful since if it wasn't for their father's intervention, he would be locked up. Takamura mentions that he doesn't remember asking for help and that since he got kicked out during middle school, he has been on his own, so he doesn't want to hear anyone else's complaints. At Takamura's place, the three boxers disagree with Takamura's family's decision on kicking him out over the rugby incident. Wataru mentions how he looks up to Takamura because he doesn't rely on other people and lives freely using his own strength. Wataru asks "Makunouchi" what the best part of being a boxer is. "Itagaki" remembers Takamura telling him that after he won his debut match, it was the greatest feeling when the applause came down like rain as it was the first time anyone had praised him for anything. When "Itagaki" asks Aoki if he can understand that feeling, Aoki now knowing his cover was blown, has a fight with Ippo and Kimura. Elsewhere, Suguru begins leaving as he tells Takamura to win the world title, and he will put him in charge of a few businesses. He claims that he will also be able to finally tell others that he has another younger brother named Mamoru, which will shock the others when they find out that there are four siblings in the Takamura family. He adds that he should feel satisfied once he gets the world title and can then stop playing the "punching games" and come back home. As Suguru drives away, Takamura believes that his family isn't where his home is. Kyōka realises that Takamura is finally getting acknowledged in the one place where he can truly express himself and have great friends, finally finding where he belongs. Takamura believes the ring is the only place he can live and boxing is his natural habitat, and is fighting to protect where he lives.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

• In the manga, while Aoki read the magazine article about Takamura and Hawk's "handshake" at the Kōrakuen Hall, Aoki pointed out how the coverage of Kimura's match against Arman Alegria is very small compared to it. In the anime, this is removed.
• In the manga, while Aoki was reading the same magazine, Ippo wanted to check on Itagaki since he never came back to the gym, but Kimura insisted that he will come back. In the anime, this is removed.
• In the manga, Fujii showed Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura three match recordings of Hawk's matches: two ring out victories and one where the referee caught Hawk's opponent before he fell out of the ring, making it almost a third ring out victory. In the anime, the third match where the referee caught Hawk's opponent was not shown despite Fujii holding three VHS tapes.
• In the manga, when Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura first sees Kyōka and Wataru, the scene switches to the beginning of Takamura and Suguru's conversation. In the anime, the beginning of Takamura and Suguru's conversation is moved to after Kyōka reveals to the Kamogawa gym boxers about Suguru being the oldest son.
• In the manga, the rest of Takamura and Suguru's conversation happened after Kyōka reveals to the Kamogawa gym boxers about Suguru being the oldest son. In the anime, the rest of the conversation is separated into multiple scenes while Kyōka and Wataru talks to Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura.

Credits

Characters are named as they appear in the credits.

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Ippo Makunouchi	Kōhei Kiyasu	喜安 浩平	Kiyasu Kōhei
Mamoru Takamura	Rikiya Koyama	小山 力也	Koyama Rikiya
Masaru Aoki	Wataru Takagi	高木 渉	Takagi Wataru
Tatsuya Kimura	Keiji Fujiwara	藤原 啓治	Fujiwara Keiji
Suguru Takamura	Ken'yū Horiuchi	堀内 賢雄	Horiuchi Ken'yū
Kyōka Takamura	Kikuko Inoue	井上 喜久子	Inoue Kikuko
Wataru Takamura	Megumi Matsumoto	松元 恵	Matsumoto Megumi
Coach Kamogawa	Kenji Utsumi	内海 賢二	Utsumi Kenji
Bryan Hawk	Akio Ōtsuka	大塚 明夫	Ōtsuka Akio
Minoru Fujii	Ken'ichi Ono	小野 健一	Ono Ken'ichi
Referee	Hisashi Izumi	いずみ 尚	Izumi Hisashi
Unknown	Kazumi Makabe Naoko Sugiura Akimitsu Takase	真壁 かずみ 杉浦 奈保子 高瀬 右光	Makabe Kazumi Sugiura Naoko Takase Akimitsu

Episode Credits

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Screenplay	Eri Hisano	久野 恵里	Hisano Eri
Storyboard	Shigeyuki Miya	宮 繁之	Miya Shigeyuki
Director	Mana Uchiyama	内山 まな	Uchiyama Mana
Animation Director	Yutaka Kawasuji Manabu Yasumoto Ken'ichi Shimizu (Action) Ichirō Uno (Chief Animation Director)	川筋 豊 安本 学 清水 健一 夘野 一郎	Kawasuji Yutaka Yasumoto Manabu Shimizu Ken'ichi Uno Ichirō