Episode 6 (Season 2)

A Back to Chase After
Episode Information
Previous	The World's Power
Episode	Season 2 #6
Next	The Devil's Advent
Japanese Title	追い続ける背中
Romanized Title	Oi Tsudzukeru Senaka
Arc	Revenge Arc
Manga	Round 330 (p.16-19) Round 331 (p.1-19) Round 332 (p.1-6, 8-19) Round 333 (p.1-19) Round 334 (p.1-2)
Air dates
Japanese	February 10, 2009
Music
Opening	Hekireki
Ending	8AM

A Back to Chase After is Round 6 of the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Locations Introduced: Roigal Hotel, Midorigaoka Park, Ryōgoku Kokugikan

Summary

Date and Ricardo have arrived to their press conference and, as it ends, they are given a chance to say their closing statements. Date says he is thankful to Ricardo for bringing his champion belt all the way from Mexico just for him. Ricardo tells everyone that they shouldn't expect too much from Date. As the two boxers are asked to shake hands, they do so after staring each other down for a moment. At the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, Ippo was nervous watching the press conference. He gets a call from Takamura telling him to go and do roadwork with him the next morning. The next morning, Ippo goes to the Midorigaoka Park with Takamura. Ippo asks Takamura why they are so far away from the usual roadwork course, but his question is answered when Date appears, revealing that they are in his usual roadwork path. They join Date in his routine, and the former champion reveals that even though he was in part acting to make it more exciting, he really is grateful to Ricardo for staying undefeated for seven years. He tells them that everything he has done, has been with Ricardo as his goal and without him in mind, he would have never made it so far. When Ippo asks if he can win, Date says he would not be doing it if he did not think he could win, but admits Ricardo has no weakness. Takamura then explains that at the world level, boxing's common knowledge becomes useless, so the only way to beat the strongest is to simply be stronger. Date agrees with that statement and leaves the pair after saying that even though Ricardo has evolved as a boxer, he is not the same he was back then either.

The night before the match, Date tells his wife Aiko to bring their son Yūji into the ring once he becomes the champion. She tells him to return safe, and he recalls how seven years prior she told him the same thing before his life crumbled. He explains how after losing the match, his son, his job and even his life, Ricardo is like a devil who had caused all his misery, but at the same time he is the god who helped him find the soul he needed to start boxing again. Date notices that the scar on his nose that would always throb before a match doesn't ache now, believing it to be proof that he has finally made it. He claims that a little further and he will have his life back, and the final step is to beat Ricardo. Date tells his wife that he will win so that he can be who he really is.

Arriving at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time, Ippo is mystified by the venue, and furthermore by the fact that, after looking at the match poster, the one fighting his world title match is Date. As he takes a seat in the box seats along with Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura, a video showing memorable moments of the fighters involved in the main event's past begins playing. Takamura states that the odds are in the champion's favour, but adds that it is a fight between someone who wants to get to the top, and someone who does not want to leave, wondering which one is stronger. Ippo suddenly gets up and runs to Date's waiting room. Ippo gets to the waiting room, and sees Aiko and Yūji greeting him. Yūji tells Ippo that his father will become the world champion, and Ippo replies by confirming it. When Ippo goes in, Date is already being called for the match, but tells Ippo that he will be waiting for him at the top. As the former champion walks away, Ippo thinks that no matter how far away Date gets, he will continue chasing him, so he wishes for his victory so that he can stay as his goal.

Ippo returns and takes a seat just before the fighter entrances are announced. First it is Date coming out of the blue corner, followed by the champion Ricardo from the red corner. After the fighters are introduced, each of them returns to their respective corner. In the champion corner, Bill doesn't intend to give Ricardo a plan, and simply tells him to use his experience and technique to beat the challenger. While in the challenger's corner, Date is told by Nakadai to watch how Ricardo starts out and to not rush in until he gets a grasp on his timing and rhythm,. Date replies that he understands, but must greet Ricardo after all the time that has passed. After the gong sounds to begin the match and both boxers touch gloves, they move back and circle around the ring. Date moves first, throwing a left jab that knocks away Ricardo's guard, and then immediately lands a left straight that lands cleanly on Ricardo's face.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

• In the manga, when Date was talking to Ippo and Takamura during his roadwork, he was wearing a Wilson Sporting Goods brand jacket and pants, as well as Nike brand shoes. In the anime, he wears a plain navy blue jacket and black pants.
• Keigo Okita's match that happened before Date and Ricardo's match is removed in the anime.

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
Eiji Date	Masaki Aizawa	相沢 正輝	Aizawa Masaki
Ricardo Martínez	Masashi Sugawara	菅原 正志	Sugawara Masashi
Coach Nakadai	Mitsuru Ogata	小形 満	Ogata Mitsuru
Bill Stewart	Masayuki Omoro	小室 正幸	Omoro Masayuki
Aiko Date	Sakiko Tamagawa	玉川 紗己子	Tamagawa Sakiko
Yūji Date	Naomi Wakabayashi	若林 直美	Wakabayashi Naomi
Live Announcer	Jin Horikawa	堀川 仁	Horikawa Jin
World Match Ring Announcer	Kenji Nomura	乃村 健次	Nomura Kenji
Reporter/Audience	Tadashi Miyazawa Kiyoshi Katsunuma Tomoharu Suzuki Kunio Ida	宮澤 正 勝沼 紀義 鈴木 智晴 井田 国男	Miyazawa Tadashi 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 Ken'ichi Kawamura	高橋 知也 川村 賢一	Takahashi Tomoya Kawamura Ken'ichi
Director	Takahiro Natori	名取 孝浩	Natori Takahiro
Animation Director	Kim Dae-hoon Kim Bo-kyeong Ichirō Uno (Assistant Chief Animation Director)	夘野 一郎	Uno Ichirō