Episode 1 (Season 3)

The Strongest Challenger
Episode Information
Previous	NEW CHALLENGER
Episode	Season 3 #1
Next	The Dempsey Roll Broken
Japanese Title	最強の挑戦者
Romanized Title	Saikyō no Chōsen-sha
Arc	Submarine Wars Arc Dragon Slayer Arc
Manga	Round 418 (p.7-8) Round 419 (p.11-14) Round 425 (p.5-11) Round 426 (p.3, 10-19) Round 427 (p.1-19) Round 428 (p.1-19) Round 429 (p.1-19) Round 430 (p.1-19) Round 503 (p.16-19) Round 504 (p.2-16)
Air dates
Japanese	October 5, 2013
Music
Opening	Yakan Hikō
Ending	Buchikome!!

The Strongest Challenger is Round 1 of the Hajime no Ippo: Rising anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Characters Introduced: Kazuo Makunouchi, Sakuma, Iwao Shimabukuro, Okinawa Coach, Dynamite Glove Commentator (Season 3)

Summary

That night on the ocean the boat was sinking and Kazuo Makunouchi determined to save everyone sacrifices his life for his comrades. The scene then depicts Kazuo's funeral followed by Ippo not accepting his fathers death, until he finds his father hat floating him in the harbour. This is when Hiroko gets her boat operators license and start the business. Ippo relives some memories of his father, childhood and a promise he and his father made. Ippo and Kamogawa start to train intensely for the upcoming title defends. Iwao Shimabukuro is shown being underwater for 13 minutes, thereafter speaking with his coach about Ippo and how he will drag him to the depth of the sea and destroy the Dempsey Roll. Shortly it shows the Champion Carnival where Shimabukuro and Ippo are about to face off for the title. This is the first time Ippo has had to fight someone shorter than himself and probably stronger in strength. The match start of slow with both fighters being very cautious, Ippo being the first boxer to land a hit. Soon Shimabukuro backs Ippo back into a corner and start a brawl in the corner. Ippo is soon surprised when Shimabukuro uses a Gazelle Punch on Ippo. Ippo is soon overpowered and moves in calling for a full-on in-fight. Both boxers slug it out in the middle of the ring, both equal in power, Ending the first round. The second round starts and Shimabukuro is confident of dragging Ippo to the ocean floor. It skips until the fifth round when both boxers are still equal and Ippo hits Shimabukuro with a clean uppercut and barrage being countered by Shimabukuro. Ippo's face turns blue mid-fight because of cyanosis.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

• The episode adapted chapters out of order. The episode started with Round 503 and Round 504 before going back and adapting Round 418.
• The episode skipped adapting chapters 420, 421, 422, 423, and 424. The chapters are not adapted in future episodes.
• In the manga, Ippo's backstory was shown after his match with Ryūhei Sawamura when Hiroko told Kumi about it.
• Kazuo's conversation with Ippo and Hiroko is shortened in the anime. The anime removed Kazuo telling them about his new ship and hat, that he will be done as a fisherman on his next trip, and him noticing a bad storm coming.
• Shimabukuro's visit to the Makunouchi Fishing Boat was removed in the anime. Consequently, Ippo's training during his visit was cut. As the training was cut, Ippo's "ultimate punch" wasn't shown.
• In the manga, it was Yagi who asked Ippo about his new trunks. In the anime, they added a completely new scene of the other Kamogawa boxers greeting Ippo before his match and asking him about his new trunks.
• In the manga, Ippo was calmly sitting down in the changing room before his match against Shimabukuro. In the anime, he was shadowboxing.

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
Kazuo Makunouchi	Masaki Terasoma	てらそま まさき	Terasoma Masaki
Hiroko Makunouchi	Masako Katsuki	勝生 真沙子	Katsuki Masako
Ippo (Childhood)	Sachi Kokuryu	國立 幸	Kokuryu Sachi
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
Manabu Itagaki	Daisuke Namikawa	浪川 大輔	Namikawa Daisuke
Iwao Shimabukuro	Hisao Egawa	江川 央生	Egawa Hisao
Haruhiko Yagi	Toshihiko Nakajima	中嶋 聡彦	Nakajima Toshihiko
Okinawa Coach	Hisashi Izumi	いずみ 尚	Izumi Hisashi
Sakuma	Kunpei Sakamoto	坂本 くんぺい	Sakamoto Kunpei
Fisherman	Kiyohito Yoshikai Yoshihito Sasaki Kazuhiro Fusegawa Shigeyuki Susaki	吉開 清人 佐々木 義人 布施川 一寛 須嵜 成幸	Yoshikai Kiyohito Sasaki Yoshihito Fusegawa Kazuhiro Susaki Shigeyuki
Live Announcer	Masashi Funakoshi (Nippon Television)	船越 雅史 （日本テレビ）	Funakoshi Masashi (Nihon Terebi)
Coach Kamogawa	Shōzō Īzuka	飯塚 昭三	Īzuka Shōzō

Episode Credits

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Screenplay	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	ふでやす かずゆき	Fudeyasu Kazuyuki
Storyboard	Jun Shishido	宍戸 淳	Shishido Jun
Director	Minoru Yamaoka Shun Kudō	山岡 実 久藤 瞬	Yamaoka Minoru Kudō Shun
Animation Director	Tadashi Jinba Ichirō Hattori Hisashi Abe Chiharu Satō	陣馬 直 服部 一郎 阿部 恒 佐藤 千春	Jinba Tadashi Hattori Ichirō Abe Hisashi Satō Chiharu