Episode 5 (Season 2)

The World's Power
Episode Information
Previous	Moving Towards the World
Episode	Season 2 #5
Next	A Back to Chase After
Japanese Title	世界の力
Romanized Title	Sekai no Chikara
Arc	Revenge Arc
Manga	Round 327 (p.1-19) Round 328 (p.1-14) Round 329 (p.1-19) Round 330 (p.1-15)
Air dates
Japanese	February 3, 2009
Music
Opening	Hekireki
Ending	8AM

The World's Power is Round 5 of the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Techniques Introduced: Motionless Jab
• Real Life People Mentioned: Mike Tyson

Summary

While out on the fishing boat, Umezawa tells Ippo that he should leave the boat to Hiroko and him so that he can focus on his boxing since he is going to face the world champion. The fishing customers are shocked that Ippo will be fighting the world champion, but Ippo claims that it is only a sparring match. Umezawa asks Ippo how strong Ricardo is. Ippo can't even imagine, noting how winning in all his sixty-two matches is unbelievable. Umezawa claims that Ricardo winning sixty-two times means that he has five times as many wins compared to Ippo's thirteen, so it isn't like is twenty or thirty times stronger than him. He adds that it would be easier if Ippo thinks of it as fighting five of himself. Ippo imagines fighting five of himself, and is only able to hit one of his selves. Umezawa thinks that it means that if Ricardo hits him five times, Ippo might be able to hit him once. Ippo doesn't think that it is that simple, but Umezawa points out that human stamina has a limit no matter how hard a person trains himself, and his punches push people over that limit, believing that even the world champion will still fall if he hits him. At the Narita Terminal 1, the reporters gather around as Ricardo and his trainer and manager Bill Stewart, who Fujii notes has trained seven world champions arrives to Japan. At the Kamogawa gym, as Ippo leaves to go to his taxi, Takamura tells him that the world champion hasn't been in the country for too long, so he may be able to land a hit if he is still jet-lagged. While Ippo thought that Takamura was serious, Takamura jokingly tells him to have fun getting destroyed. While riding a taxi, Kamogawa tells Ippo that he understands his desire to test his strength, but he is about to face a famous champion who's already considered legendary before his career has even ended, so there isn't any hope against him. He adds that if he can graze him with even one punch, he may get a reaction out of him, which would be praiseworthy. Ippo thinks that if he throws two hundred punches each round in the three round spar, then one of the six hundred punches should graze him. Kamogawa thinks that in the best case scenario, if Ippo can land a proper punch, even the world champion wouldn't escape unscathed, and may even fall.

Ippo and Kamogawa arrive to the Otowa gym where Ricardo is sparring. Before heading inside, Fujii informs them that he is already sparring against some Japanese rankers. Nakadai, who came to gather intel for Date believes that Ricardo is holding back. As Ippo enters the Otowa gym, he looks in awe at the world champion standing in the ring. Ippo, Kamogawa, Fujii, and Nakadai watch as the second spar begins. Ricardo's second sparring partner politely greets him just like the first sparring partner, and Nakadai notes that Ricardo won't ever get in the mood at this rate. Fujii thinks that it is because Ricardo is more of a famous hero than an enemy to them, making it feel more like an honour to stand in the same ring as him. As Ricardo dodges all of his sparring partner's punches, Nakadai hopes for Ippo to force the champion to take it seriously. Ippo thinks that they are in the same weight class, and while Ricardo is a bit taller than him, his build isn't that different from his own. After the second spar ends, Ippo enters the ring with his boxing trunks. Bill informs Ricardo that the one in the ring now is the JBC champion, who pushed Date hard. He adds that the fact that the JBC champion isn't wearing any headgear means that he must want to feel the full impact of Ricardo's power. Bill tells Ricardo that he can handle it however he wants, and to show him the difference between where he's at and the world champion. Kamogawa is nervous about his boxer fighting in the ring with the world champion. Fujii thinks that one could sell tickets to see a spar between Japan's hope and the world champion. As Ippo and Ricardo touch gloves, Ippo feels as if Ricardo is too big to be in the same weight class and the pressure alone is enough to crush someone.

After the JBC champion and world champion touch gloves, the three round spar begins. Ippo uses his Peek-a-Boo Style and dashes towards Ricardo. At range, Ippo feints a left jab and then moves to Ricardo's right side. Ippo starts throwing a liver blow, but stops himself and backs away because Ricardo turned facing him. Ippo sees that normal feints won't work on the world champion, and Kamogawa wants Ippo to use his speed to keep Ricardo off balance. Bill recognises Ippo's Peek-a-Boo Style, comparing Ippo to Mike Tyson, believing that Ippo should be a thrilling sparring partner for Ricardo. Ippo throws a one-two, however, Ricardo hits Ippo with a jab with no motion before he could finish throwing the second punch. Ippo is confused as to what he was hit by and decides to go forward again and step-in under Ricardo's left. When Ippo dashes forward, Ricardo hits Ippo with another motionless jab, which to Ippo, looks like Ricardo's glove getting suddenly huge. As Fujii thinks Ricardo is using some kind of trick, Kamogawa claims that there is no trick. Kamogawa explains to Fujii that with human reflexes, dodging a punch after seeing it coming is near impossible, as what one gains through experience and training is the ability to predict when the punch comes based on the movement of their opponent's shoulder or elbow. He further explains that Ricardo's punches are flying along the most direct path possible without moving his shoulder or elbow, making it an unpredictable punch without a signalling motion. He adds that the technique is a left rooted in the most basic of fundamentals, something that's only possible by checking one's form in a mirror tens of thousands of times as they practice. The reporters are shocked that Ricardo's lefts are getting to him since Ippo is known for his toughness. Nakadai thinks that those lefts are more effect than one would think, as Mexican punches are thrown in a way where they reach farther than one would think, and since the one trying to dodge them already extended themselves into a position where they expect to dodge it, so they can't brace themselves to absorb the shock.

Ippo continues to try to hit Ricardo with many different type of punches, but is unable to get even one hit in. He is shocked by how big a difference there is between him and the world champion. Ippo steps back after getting hit by another left motionless jab and thinks that the situation pathetic, wanting to get just one hit in to get a reaction out of Ricardo. Kamogawa knows that Ippo has a weapon that the world champion would have to respond to. After getting hit again, Ippo thinks he shouldn't try to evade his attacks anymore, so he instead puts his guard up while slowly closing in on him while blocking the lefts. Ippo gets into his ideal close range and begins motioning the Dempsey Roll. Ricardo effortlessly uses his motionless left to land multiple punches on Ippo's face before he could even throw one punch, shocking the entire gym. After Ippo stops using his Dempsey Roll and is left frozen in shock, Ricardo walks away to Bill and stops the spar. Bill tells the reporters that Ricardo doesn't intend to crush the Japanese champion's pride, as he simply came to the gym to warm up his left, so there is no need for him to continue sparring. Kamogawa gets in the ring to tell Ippo to get ready to go. Ippo unconsciously tries to wobble over to Ricardo before being stopped by Kamogawa. Kamogawa realises that Ricardo noticed Ippo was unconscious and stopped the spar, not wanting to knock down Ippo in front of the huge crowd in an act of mercy. Ippo thanks the world champion before leaving the gym. Walking out from the Otowa gym, Kamogawa tells Ippo that it is fine since he didn't expect him to do well at his current level anyway. Ippo is down because he couldn't do anything against the world champion. Inside the Otowa gym, Bill mentions his surprise to Ricardo of someone being able to use the Dempsey Roll in the Pacific region and how Ippo seemed to have some destructive power. Bill asks him if he was worried for a moment before thinking that it was a stupid question due to Ricardo's silence. Bill believes that no opponent will be able to surprise Ricardo and tells him to remind Date of the fact again how high the world summit is.

That night, when Ippo gets to the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, Hiroko is shocked by the look of Ippo's face, telling him to go look in a mirror. When Ippo looks into a mirror, he is surprised by how swollen his face is and is worried if Date can win as he is unable to imagine the world champion losing. The next day at the Kamogawa gym, Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura teases Ippo for making the news by getting beaten by Ricardo. Takamura kicks Ippo out of the gym and makes him go see Date. Ippo goes to the Nakadai gym and looks in from outside the window. He is shocked to see Date is sparring against Miyata. Ippo thinks that Miyata's lefts fly from his shoulder to its target along the quickest path possible, making them a lot like Ricardo's. Ippo is surprised to see Date dodge Miyata's left and attack as well. Miyata keeps getting hit and is unable to find a chance to counter, so he decides to close in on Date. Miyata and Date enter a close-range exchange where Date dodges Miyata's attack while landing his punches until Miyata starts falling down. Date catches Miyata before he fell and thanks him, as their spar helped him get into the swing of things. As Date leaves the ring, Miyata is shocked that he lost even though he wasn't under his weight control and was at his best condition. Ippo is shocked after watching Miyata lose the spar. Later, sitting outside the Nakadai gym, Ippo believes that Date may be able to beat Ricardo, but thinks that Ricardo is strong too, so he doesn't know who would win still. Miyata leaves the gym and finds Ippo outside. Miyata mentions to Ippo that Date would have knocked him down if the spar continued. Ippo claims that they are the same since he also almost got knocked down by Ricardo, which annoys Miyata. Miyata tells Ippo that they have both been able to distinguish themselves a little bit, but they still have a long way to go. As Ippo believes that they have learned something, Miyata agrees, adding that the world is a big place.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

• Ricardo's staff that appears with him at the Narita Terminal 1 have a different appearance in the anime.
• In the manga, while Kamogawa is in a taxi and thinks about Ippo having potential to beat Ricardo, an intimidating portrayal of Ippo is shown. In the anime, it is a flashback of Ippo vs. Sanada.
• In the manga, during Ricardo's sparring sessions, he wore a light coloured shirt. In the anime, he wears a black coloured shirt.
• In the manga, Fujii claims that the Japanese rankers Ricardo is sparring with are a junior welterweight ranker and then a lightweight ranker.
• In the manga, as Ippo feels pressured and that Ricardo seems bigger to him, a big shadowy figure is illustrated behind Ricardo. In the anime, it is not shown.

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
Coach Kamogawa	Kenji Utsumi	内海 賢二	Utsumi Kenji
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
Eiji Date	Masaki Aizawa	相沢 正輝	Aizawa Masaki
Coach Nakadai	Mitsuru Ogata	小形 満	Ogata Mitsuru
Bill Stewart	Masayuki Omoro	小室 正幸	Omoro Masayuki
Ichirō Miyata	Tomokazu Seki	関 智一	Seki Tomokazu
Minoru Fujii	Ken'ichi Ono	小野 健一	Ono Ken'ichi
Hiroko Makunouchi	Yorie Terauchi	寺内 よりえ	Terauchi Yorie
Masahiko Umezawa	Mitsuaki Madono	真殿 光昭	Madono Mitsuaki
Reporter	Tadashi Miyazawa Masayuki Katō Kiyoshi Katsunuma Tomoharu Suzuki Kunio Ida	宮澤 正 加藤 将之 勝沼 紀義 鈴木 智晴 井田 国男	Miyazawa Tadashi Katō Masayuki Katsunuma Kiyoshi Suzuki Tomoharu Ida Kunio

Episode Credits

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Screenplay	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	ふでやす かずゆき	Fudeyasu Kazuyuki
Storyboard	Tomoya Takahashi	高橋 知也	Takahashi Tomoya
Director	Tomoya Takahashi	高橋 知也	Takahashi Tomoya
Animation Director	Hiroaki Imaki Ichirō Uno Akira Takeuchi	今木 宏明 夘野 一郎 武内 啓	Imaki Hiroaki Uno Ichirō Takeuchi Akira