Qualifications for Succession is Round 9 of the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.
Details[]
- Characters Introduced: Manabu Itagaki
Summary[]
Ippo tells Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura about what happened when he saw Date at the hospital. While Ippo and the three boxers don't think he is ready yet to take Date's place, they begin talking about Ippo's upcoming second JBC featherweight title defence. Ippo mentions that his opponent's name is known by his ring name, "Hammer Nao," who Aoki notes is the man who got ranked seventh in the featherweights practically overnight. At the Kamogawa gym, Ippo does mitt practice with Kamogawa. Kamogawa has Ippo take a break and tells him that he is relying too much on power and has to choose his shots more carefully, but praises him putting some spirit into it. Ippo thinks that it is because he saw Date try so hard, and Kamogawa notes that Date showed incredible fighting spirit and that the ones who succeed him have a lot to live up to. As Ippo continues his mitt practice, a young man enters the gym and is impressed by the sounds of Ippo's fists hitting the mitts. Aoki and Kimura approaches the young man and tells him to close the door and take a seat if he came to watch. He informs Aoki and Kimura that he intends to join the gym, but doesn't know who the duo are, making Aoki and Kimura irritated. Yagi enters the gym and introduces him to Aoki and Kimura, revealing that he is Manabu Itagaki, the last year's inter-high national runner-up and a rookie that the gym has high hopes for. Yagi adds that Itagaki already entered college and joined the boxing club there, and Itagaki mentions that hitting people through their headgear didn't suit him and Yagi contacted him when he was thinking about becoming a professional. When Itagaki claims that the Kamogawa gym has a boxer he idolises, Takamura thinks it is him, but Itagaki reveals that it is Ippo. Kimura suggests for the Kamogawa gym members to do the traditional roadwork welcoming for newcomers to show how tough being a pro is.
As Ippo, Takamura, Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki do roadwork, Itagaki is unable to keep up with Ippo. Aoki and Kimura laughs as it seems like Itagaki is giving up, but Takamura points out to them that they are far behind Ippo and Itagaki. Takamura mentions that inter-high national runner-up isn't a name just for show, as it means he has his basic conditioning down and thinks that Itagaki probably could hold his ground pretty well if he became a pro now. Since Aoki and Kimura mentioned that they thought Itagaki would be puking, Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura remembers Naomichi Yamada from two years ago. They wonder how Yamada is doing now and if he is still boxing. They notice that Ippo's boxing has the ability to attract people, and he might draw in more young people like Itagaki in the future. Aoki and Kimura think that Ippo might really be able to fill in for Date, however, Takamura doubts it.
When the boxers return to the Kamogawa gym, Kamogawa and Yagi has them go to the office to watch a video of one of Hammer Nao's matches. As Yagi puts a VHS tape in the player, he reveals that Hammer Nao is from the Hachinohe Boxing Club, has a match record of eight matches, eight wins, with five of them being by KO, and his specialty is body hooks. Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura are shocked when they see Hammer Nao deliver a powerful hit to the body. Yagi notes that Hammer Nao debuted as a junior welterweight, fighting twice in that weight class before moving down to the lightweight class for three matches, and then fought for three more matches as a junior lightweight. Yagi adds that he went down to the featherweight class in order to face Ippo. Ippo is then shocked when he realises that Hammer Nao is actually Naomichi Yamada, who has shaved his eyebrows, hair, and his face is a bit swollen. Kamogawa notes that Yamada's ribs are visible due to losing too much weight and he barely resembles his former self. Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura are in disbelief, but Ippo points out that his nose and mouth matches Yamada's. Itagaki is confused as to what a "Gero-michi" as Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura keeps calling Yamada that. Takamura explains that when they first saw Yamada and when he left the gym, he puked, and that he led a life covered in puke. Itagaki notices that Yamada gets hit a lot in his matches, and if he does that against Ippo, he won't just get KO'd, he will end up in a hospital. Ippo takes the tape to borrow it before leaving the gym.
Aoki wonders if Yamada thinks that he caught up to Ippo and that is why he is challenging him. Kimura doesn't think so, since Ippo has gotten stronger in the past two years and doesn't believe Yamada has made up that difference. Takamura mentions that before Ippo can take Date's place, he has to correct something he is lacking in like a weakness. Aoki argues that Ippo has the power to end things in a single punch and stamina to last into the later rounds. Takamura claims that Ippo lacks stability, as he is never able to fully capitalise on his strengths unless he is in trouble, and that mental naiveté keeps him from fighting ruthlessly from the start. Takamura adds that in a kill or be killed world, it shouldn't matter who the opponent is, as he has to beat him once he sets his foot in the ring, and that if he can't throw a punch in cold blood, he'll never get the respect that it takes to be seen as the leader. Kamogawa mentions this match will answer a lot of things such as how will the champion win after succeeding in his first title defence, and how will he deal with this fight that he will obviously win. Aoki realises something terrible: that he will be the opening act for two of his kōhai.
At the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, Ippo watches the tape recording of one of Yamada's matches, cheering for him and being proud of him for getting stronger. Ippo knows that a flat-footed fighter like Yamada isn't good at chasing someone down, which is why he lets people punch him, to lure them in so he can attack, thinking that a strategy like that takes courage. Ippo notices that Yamada always ducks to the left when dodging a right to aim for his body blow, planning to use that knowledge to his advantage, however, he questions if he would even be able to attack Yamada due to him being his former kōhai. Remembering the moments they had together, he wonders why Yamada is challenging him. After training, Yamada leaves the Hachinohe Boxing Club and notices the gym's sign. The Hachinohe coach thinks that it is time to get a new sign, and Yamada mentions that if he wins the title, he will make sure to bring money into the gym. The coach doesn't want Yamada fighting the title match thinking like that, as he already has done well in a small town gym where he had trouble finding him sparring partners. He adds that he wanted Yamada to go at an easier pace, build his experience, carefully be raised up, and then challenge for the title. The coach asks Yamada why he wants to go challenge Ippo, who defeated his former boxer Jason Ozuma. Yamada claims that he knows how strong Ippo is better than anyone else, and since he knows him, he is able to overcome him. The coach reminds Yamada that he said that he was boxing because he looked up to Ippo, so he asks if he will be able to beat up the same person he looked up to using his hands. Yamada answers that he can and will.
At the Kamogawa gym, while doing mitt practice with Kamogawa, Ippo pulls back a punch to the mitt when he visions Yamada's face on it. Noticing this, Kamogawa stops the practice as he sees no point in holding up the mitts when Ippo is out of it. Knowing that Ippo was thinking of Yamada, Kimura mentions to Aoki and Takamura that Yamada probably won't be able to fight properly as well. Mari opens a sliding windows and tells the group that Yamada seemed to be in the swing of things when she talked to him. She informs the group that Yamada is in Tokyo to train at the Nerima Boxing Club. When Ippo leaves the Kamogawa gym, Mari tells him that she has been gathering information on Yamada, which Ippo wishes to know. Meanwhile, Aoki and Kimura go to the Nerima Boxing Club to see Yamada. When they look through the gym's window, they are shocked to see Yamada has made three sparring partners throw up after hitting them with a body blow. When Yamada leaves the gym, Aoki and Kimura greet him. Yamada accuses the duo of spying on him and questions them if they really came just to see him since he didn't ask them to. Aoki and Kimura tells him that while they can't really cheer for him, they still want to say good luck. Yamada tells Aoki to not cool off the audience too much when he opens for him and Ippo, making Aoki angry. Yamada states that he doesn't want them to act like his senpai anymore since he isn't a member of the Kamogawa gym anymore. Kimura mentions to Yamada that he understands what he is going through since he fought the monster, Mashiba, so he knows that he has to psyche himself up because he is scared since Ippo is like a monster to Yamada. Yamada comments that it is no wonder Kimura lost since he was scared, causing Kimura to get angry. Yamada requests for them to tell Ippo that he is coming for his belt.
Anime-Manga Differences[]
See also: Anime-Manga Differences
- In the manga, while talking about Hammer Nao being Ippo's second title defence opponent, Aoki wondered if Hammer Nao was a foreign boxer. Ippo thought it was possible since he was from the Hachinohe Boxing Club where Jason Ozuma was from. In the anime, this part of the conversation is removed.
- In the manga, during roadwork Takamura told Aoki and Kimura about Ippo having a weakness of being too kind of a boxer and allows the pace to be set by his opponents in most fights. In the anime, this conversation is moved to after watching Yamada's match tape.
- The anime removed a scene where the Kamogawa gym members talk about the "PROOF OF POWER" match poster outside the Kamogawa gym.
- In the manga, when Aoki got mad at Yamada, he grabs his shirt collar and then Yamada knocks his hand away. In the anime, Yamada knocks Aoki's hand away before Aoki was able to grab his shirt.
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 |
| Manabu Itagaki | Daisuke Namikawa | 浪川 大輔 | Namikawa Daisuke |
| Hammer Nao | Daisuke Sakaguchi | 阪口 大助 | Sakaguchi Daisuke |
| Coach Kamogawa | Kenji Utsumi | 内海 賢二 | Utsumi Kenji |
| Hachinohe Coach | Issei Futamata | 二又 一成 | Futamata Issei |
| Yagi | Toshihiko Nakajima | 中嶋 聡彦 | Nakajima Toshihiko |
| Mari Īmura | Emi Shinohara | 篠原 恵美 | Shinohara Emi |
| Eiji Date | Masaki Aizawa | 相沢 正輝 | Aizawa Masaki |
| Hachinohe Boxing Club Trainee | Chikara Ōsaka Takuya Satō |
逢坂 力 佐藤 拓也 |
Ōsaka Chikara Satō Takuya |
Episode Credits[]
| Role | English Name | Japanese | Rōmaji |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screenplay | Kazuyuki Fudeyasu | ふでやす かずゆき | Fudeyasu Kazuyuki |
| Storyboard | Ken'ichi Kawamura | 川村 賢一 | Kawamura Ken'ichi |
| Director | Hisato Shimoda | 下田 久人 | Shimoda Hisato |
| Animation Director | Lee Boo-hee Joo Hyun-woo Ken'ichi Shimizu (Action) |
清水 健一 |
Shimizu Ken'ichi |
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| Proof of Power Arc | |||||||||||||||||||
| Manga Volumes | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 38 | 39 | 40 | |||||||||||||||||
| Manga Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||
| 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 | 346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | ||||||||||
| 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | ||||||||||||||||
| Anime Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||