Episode 29 (Season 1)

Rocky of Naniwa
Episode Information
Previous	Victory or Defeat
Episode	Season 1 #29 (Watch Online)
Next	To Enemy Ground
Japanese Title	浪速のロッキー
Romanized Title	Naniwa no Rokkī
Arc	All Japan Rookie King Tournament: Rocky of Naniwa Arc
Manga	Round 88 (p.7-10, 15-19) Round 89 (p.2-19) Round 90 (p.1-16) Round 91 (p.1-19)
Air dates
Japanese	April 24, 2001
English	June 21, 2005
Music
Opening	Inner Light
Ending	360°

Rocky of Naniwa is Round 29 of the Hajime no Ippo anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Characters Introduced: Kazuhiro Yanaoka
• Techniques Introduced: Smash

Summary

The West Japan Rookie King, Takeshi Sendō from Osaka comes to Tokyo after finding out that his match with Ippo is going to be cancelled. He goes to the Kamogawa gym to look for Ippo. Aoki and Kimura notices him as Kansai's number 1 rookie and is known as "Rocky of Naniwa". The reason Sendō came all the way to Tokyo was he could convince Ippo not to forfeit the match even if his right fist is injured. He seemed to be really looking forward to their match because he's always looking for a strong opponent but the west japan featherweight competition was a let down. He's looking for a opponent that he can test his strength with. That was when he saw Ippo's match against Mashiba, thinking that this is the guy who he could have an exciting match with. He even came up with a new finishing blow just for Ippo, the Smash. As their conversation continues, Sendō tries really hard to persuade Ippo to not forfeit the All Japan Rookie King Tournament. Ippo explains to Sendō that he can't use his right fist so won't be doing any boxing for a while. Sendō says it would take two months to recover and he would just make in time. Kimura steps in and says Ippo is in no condition to fight. Having that said it put an end to their conversation, Ippo goes out for his roadwork, and Sendō decides to join him as he skipped his to come to Tokyo. As they sat alongside the river bank Ippo asked Sendō why he started boxing. Sendō accuses Ippo of thinking that he was a ruffian who just likes fighting and he just started naturally. Ippo denies this but with Sendō glaring at him, he fesses up and says maybe a little, Sendō pounces up and claims that he hates being misunderstood. Trying to explain why he started boxing without sounding like a ruffian he states that if there's a strong guy in the ring, he would want to fight him, as he feels that if he hits and get hit by a strong man, and win, only then, can he truly believe that he's strong. He decides to got back to Osaka. While taking a shower Takamura sneaks up behind him thinking he is Aoki and fondles him. As they say their farewells Sendō says he is done with Ippo and leaves only to come back a few seconds later saying he only bought a one way ticket and is completely broke. The next day, when Kamogawa returns he finds Sendō hitting the sandbag without knowing that he's the enemy he gives him a couple of tips on his form. Takamura stops him and explains the situation. Understanding whats going on Kamogawa tells Sendō that there no way Ippo will take part in the tournament. and that he should give up. He gave Sendō money to get home and then left to find an opponent in Thailand for Takamura. Excited about finding an opponent, Takamura tries to force Aoki to spar with him. Aoki who's too scared of getting beat up by Takamura tries to convince Takamura to spar with Kimura. Aoki and Kimura argue about who is going to do it when Sendō steps in and volunteers to be Takamura's sparing partner. As the spar starts, Sendō goes full force at Takamura, while Takamura is just playing around with him. He uses various high level skills to teach Sendō a lesson. During the fight Sendō elbows Takamura and tells him its was intentional he also says something else which makes Takamura angry, who then gets serious and hits Sendō. With Sendō still in the fight he gets to try out him new finishing blow, the Smash. Having no effect on Takamura, Takamura throws a heavy straight, which knocks out Sendō. As Sendō is just about to get a the train back to Osaka he thanks Kimura and Ippo for the stay. As he was just about to leave, he turns around and says to Ippo that he will be waiting in Osaka before getting in the train. Watching Sendō's train leave, Ippo thinks that he doesn't want to lose and is determined that he really wants to fight Sendō.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

Credits

Characters are named as they appear in the credits.

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji	English Voice Actor
Ippo Makunouchi	Kōhei Kiyasu	喜安 浩平	Kiyasu Kōhei	Steve Cannon
Mamoru Takamura	Rikiya Koyama	小山 力也	Koyama Rikiya	Eddie Frierson
Coach Kamogawa	Kenji Utsumi	内海 賢二	Utsumi Kenji	Richard George
Masaru Aoki	Wataru Takagi	高木 渉	Takagi Wataru	Jim Taggert
Tatsuya Kimura	Keiji Fujiwara	藤原 啓治	Fujiwara Keiji	Grant George
Manager Yagi	Toshihiko Nakajima	中嶋 聡彦	Nakajima Toshihiko	George Z. Cole
Takeshi Sendō	Masaya Onosaka	小野坂 昌也	Onosaka Masaya	Doug Erholtz
Trainer Yanaoka	Naoki Tatsuta	龍田 直樹	Tatsuta Naoki
Naniwa Boxing Club Trainee	Takashi Kubota	久保田 隆	Kubota Takashi

Episode Credits

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Screenplay	Daisuke Aranishi	荒西 大介	Aranishi Daisuke
Storyboard	Sakeo Koganei	小金井 鮭雄	Koganei Sakeo
Director	Shin'ichi Masaki	政木 伸一	Masaki Shin'ichi
Animation Director	Hiroshi Kōjina	神志那 弘志	Kōjina Hiroshi