Execution Arc

Execution Arc
Information
Volumes	31-33 (3 Volumes)
Manga Rounds	270-289 (20 Chapters)
Anime Rounds	Execution: Mashiba vs. Kimura (OVA)
Chronology
Previous	Lallapallooza Arc (manga) First Step Arc (anime)
Next	First Step Arc (manga) Bloody Cross Arc (anime)

The Execution Arc, also known as Execution: Mashiba vs. Kimura in the anime, is the fifteenth story arc in the series and the first in the New Challenger Saga in the manga. In the anime, it is the fourteenth in the series and the first in the New Challenger Saga.

The annual Champion Carnival begins. The first match that goes into the spotlight is the Japanese junior lightweight title match between Kimura Tatsuya and Mashiba Ryō. Due to the first and second ranker backing out of the Champion Carnival to avoid Mashiba, Kimura, the third ranker chose to fight Mashiba. Kimura turned to Miyata Ichirō for help against Mashiba and began training for a new technique.

Summary

The Champion Carnival Begins

Kumi tells Ippo that she can not see him anymore.

After Ippo did roadwork with his puppy (which he quickly realises can not keep up with him), Ippo returns to the Makunouchi Fishing Boat where he gets a call from Kumi asking to meet up with him. When Ippo meets Kumi, he receives a jogging suit as a late birthday gift due to her not knowing it was his birthday when she came to his celebration party. Ippo then gives her his signature as a champion as he promised earlier. Though happy that he remembered, Kumi claims that she believes she can not see him again. Ippo becomes heartbroken and confused as Kumi runs away without saying why. Ippo then decides to go to the gym where he finds out that there are many newcomers who joined after seeing his title match against Sendō. Ippo then enters Kamogawa's office where he learns that the Champion Carnival is starting, with two boxers from the gym fighting. Kamogawa reveals that before Ippo's first JBC featherweight title defence, Kimura has a JBC junior lightweight title match against the champion Mashiba Ryō. Ippo then assumes that this is the reason Kumi made her earlier statement, leaving mixed feelings about the match. While Aoki is ready to spar Kimura, Kimura claims that his sparring partner can not be just anyone, and leaves the gym to go meet with a man who knows how to help him. When Ippo wonders who he is talking about, Takamura gives Ippo a hint by telling him that it may be someone who sealed Mashiba's Flicker Jab.

Kimura meets with Miyata for a request.

Kimura waited for Miyata to ask him for assistance for his title match since he had fought against Mashiba before. Miyata declined as he is not someone who helps others without reason. Kimura exclaims that he does not want to run away. and when they encounter a group of delinquents who were the type Kimura used to be, Kimura explains how much he loves boxing, and the reasons why he wants the belt. Miyata then agrees to help, if Kimura helps him with training for the OPBF champion, who is an out-boxer like Kimura. At Takamura's home, Ippo and Takamura discuss Kimura's chances of winning, with Ippo believing Kimura to have bad luck. Takamura mocks Ippo by claiming he is the one with bad luck due to Kumi's brother fighting Kimura. Takamura then tricks Ippo into telling him what happen with him and Kumi earlier. Takamura made him call the Mashiba family's home to make up, however Ryō answered instead and gave a malicious comment about holding a grudge against the Kamogawa gym and using Kimura as a way for payback. The next day, since Takamura told Aoki and Kimura about their conversation, Ippo gets teased by Aoki and Takamura while Kimura is angry that Mashiba is looking down on him.

Kimura's Journey To Defeat The Reaper

Kimura and Miyata sparring.

When Kimura left for the Kawahara Boxing Gym in order to spar with Miyata, Takamura tells Ippo how Aoki is nervous about the situation, as his rival is going for his first title match and wishes to help Kimura, but he does not have the strength to. Upon arrival to the Kawahara gym, Kimura got into the ring to spar Miyata, wishing to create a Flicker counter plan, with Miyata using the Flicker. Before starting, Miyata notes that even if Kimura seals Mashiba's Flicker Jab, he can not win as Kimura has a major weakness. Kimura then spars with Miyata, who goes in his Detroit style of boxing. At first Kimura seemed to have a good chance, however, he Immediately gets overwhelmed by Miyata's in-fight barrage and gets knocked out. After waking up, Kimura claims to not be able to handle Miyata's pushing in strategy. Miyata reveals that Kimura is a good boxer with no weaknesses or holes in his technique, but he also has no strengths and no weapons, so his opponents don't fear him. Kimura drives away and realises that he already knew of his weakness and that he also has trouble with in-fighters. Ippo and Kumi meet up again at a restaurant. Kumi apologises for what she said to Ippo, as boxing is just a sport and did not want to end their relationship over it. After Kimura and then Mashiba spot Ippo and Kumi together and made a scene, Kumi runs away again and tells Ippo they should not see each other for a while.

Aoki doing a Dogeza, wanting Miyata to help Kimura to give him a match he won't regret.

After getting defeated by Miyata in a spar everyday for a week, Kimura thinks how he can not do anything with Miyata always fighting him close range. He then goes to the Chūka Soba to eat and meet Aoki. At the Kamogawa gym, Mari gives Ippo tapes of Mashiba's spars before his last title defence. Ippo then gives them to Aoki, as he wants to deliver them himself. Aoki meets up with Miyata to have him deliver the videos. Aoki then asks if Kimura can win, however Miyata could not answer. Aoki mentions how he saw when Kimura came by at his shop that Kimura is thinking about retirement as Kimura and him are twenty-three years old, ageing fast in their profession, and lost many chances for a title. Aoki then does a Dogeza, pleading for Miyata to help Kimura have a match he will not regret. Later, Kimura and Miyata watches the tapes of Mashiba's spars. Kimura then thinks how he can manage to defeat Mashiba, wondering what out-boxers hate the most. He then realises that Miyata told him the answer without saying anything, as Kimura hated Miyata's in-fighting style of always pushing forward, telling Miyata that the next time they spar, he will be the one pushing forward.

Later, Kimura spars with Miyata again, with Kimura using the Crouching Style and stepping in like an in-fighter. After watching the spar through the Kawahara gym's windows, Ippo, Takamura, and Aoki discuss how impressive picking up a new fighting style in a short span of time is, however, Takamura thinks that Kimura will soon realise something and have a desperate shock while trying to go through with his plan. At the Tōhō Boxing Gym while recalling how Tanaka and other employees wants tickets for them to cheer for him, Mashiba gets informed by his coach that the world title is looming closer as the WBC fifth ranker is open for matches, telling Mashiba to have a good win against Kimura as everything is betting on the title defence. In a spar, Kimura accomplishes his goal by reaching to Miyata's chest with his step-in. However, Kimura comes to a realisation that once he reaches to Mashiba's chest, he won't know what to do. Later, in his room, after Kimura ponders on what to once he gets to Mashiba's chest, he goes to feed Reiko. When the fish jumps to eat a cricket, Kimura becomes amazed at her jumping ability and gets an idea.

Kimura training for his Dragonfish Blow.

At Takamura's home, Takamura tells Ippo and Aoki that Kimura has nothing and even if he comes up with an in-fighter strategy, it won't work as Mashiba is experienced in fighting in-fighters. Ippo and Aoki decide to tell Kimura this, however, they could not bring themselves to interrupt Kimura as they witness Kimura in a park practising by punching on a tire, with Ippo predicting that Kimura is training for a body blow when he gets into Mashiba's left side. After three hours of practising, Kimura leaves and then a group of people see the tire he was punching and began to mess with it until they were confronted by Aoki. The group became angry at the two for Aoki's threat if they don't stop messing with Kimura's tire and begins attacking Aoki and Ippo, who tells Aoki not to fight back as they are pro boxers. After they get beat up, Ippo embarrasses Aoki by noting how close he is to Kimura by stepping in to stop them. Aoki then expresses how thankful he is to Kimura as when they joined the gym, Kimura chose to take the harder path himself and be a junior lightweight, letting Aoki take the easy path of being on his own weight class in order to not get in each other's way. Aoki knows that when they train the same amount, Kimura suffers the most and that when he loses the pain is also worse, but Ippo and Aoki agree that winning must be better, especially a title match.

Kimura using the Dragonfish Blow on Aoki in a spar.

After Takamura claims that Kimura ran away from the match since he has not shown up at the Kawahara gym for a week and has not come back to the Kamogawa gym, Ippo and Aoki goes to the park where Kimura trained to see for themselves. There, they notice that the tire is on the ground with marks on two different spots with one that was not there when they last checked. Kimura returns to the Kawahara gym, requesting to spar with Miyata as he has something to show him. Curious as to why Kimura is so confident, Miyata spars with Kimura. When Kimura stepped into Miyata's chest, Miyata becomes shocked, but still manages to hit Kimura, knocking him down. While Kimura is down about taking a counter, Miyata claims he threw a random punch that happened to land, telling Kimura that if his technique was polished to completion, he nor Mashiba would be the one standing. At the Kamogawa gym, Takamura laughs when he sees the poster for Kimura's title match. Kimura then returns to the Kamogawa gym and is confident about the match despite the poster's imaging and title. When Kimura reveals that he has a new technique called the "Dragon Fish Blow", he spars with Aoki to show everyone at the gym. When Aoki missed an attack, Kimura steps in and land a left body blow on Aoki's block. Aoki is then knocked down by an unsuspecting right overhand while his attention was on Kimura's left. Ippo believes that Kimura's overhand could even reach Mashiba's jaw. Leaving the Mashiba house, Ryō knows that Kumi goes through hard times and that he causes her trouble, but he wishes to become a brother she can be proud of, winning and becoming the best brother in the world.

EXECUTION - Champion Carnival - Junior Lightweight Title Match - Mashiba Ryō VS. Kimura Tatsuya

When the day of the title match arrives, before leaving for the Kōrakuen Hall, he confused his parents when he claims he may one day take over the business. At the Kōrakuen Hall, Mari and Fujii note how Mashiba and Ippo are the only champions that can bring such a large amount of people, with Ippo's fans being pure blooded boxing fans and Mashiba's fans come to see Mashiba's madness. In his waiting room, Kimura had asked for everyone to come in after being alone for five minutes. After five minutes, they go in to encourage him, with Kimura claiming to win. However, Kimura informs them that if he were to lose, he would retire. Ippo tried to say something, but Aoki stops him, Kamogawa, Shinoda, and Yagi gives their thoughts about his retirement statement and encourages him to give it his best in the title match. When Kimura arrives to the ring, Ippo and Takamura meet Miyata in the seating area who believes that the match will be interesting if Kimura shows what he is capable of. When Mashiba enters the ring, Aoki, as Kimura's corner man, is frightened by Mashiba staring at them, however Kimura can only keep his eyes on Mashiba's belt that he has been chasing after for five years. The match then begins.

Kimura being hit by Flicker Jabs.

In the first round, Kimura charges toward Mashiba, who instantly enters his Hitman Style, throwing Flicker Jabs that hit Kimura until he steps back out of range. Out of options, Kimura went for in-fighting, but was unsuccessful. He is then cornered by the Flicker Jabs, and Mashiba initiates his usual knockout pattern. Kimura manages to escape, but the damage from the jabs becomes visible. Kimura continues pushing towards Mashiba, getting hit in the process until round one ended. Mashiba "congratulated" Kimura for hanging on for three minutes. Kimura calmly replied that three minutes is nothing compared to the five years he had been waiting. In his corner, Kimura claimed that everything is part of the plan, as he never expected to take down Mashiba in the first round, and he will keep in-fighting for as long as he needs to. Mashiba thinks about what Kimura told him as interesting, looking forward to make Kimura his seventh victim of boxers he forced into retirement which earned him the title of the "Reaper."

Kimura then continued the same tactic while getting hit by Flicker Jabs and not landing a single hit until round six. In round six, Kimura's appearance changes as the damage shows on his body. Kimura is then finally knocked down for the first time by Mashiba. Before the count reached ten, Kimura gets back up and resists the beating until the round ended. Meanwhile, Kimura's parents leave the seating area as they could not watch their son getting beaten. Fujii confronts them, wanting them to come and watch their son's match. The father tells Fujii how Kimura became a delinquent because when Kimura was in elementary school, he came home with bruises one day due to an older kid bullying him. Kimura's view on his father changed when his father apologised to the bully's father and he then relied on violence by middle school and quit school without telling his parents. The violence one day stopped, which got his father curious. When Kimura's father peeked into Kimura's room, he was happily polishing his boxing gloves. In the present, Kimura's father decides to go back to watch Kimura fight until the very end.

When round seven begins and when Mashiba used his Flicker Jabs, Kimura manages to get into range by charging into Mashiba with a right to left body blow as Mashiba's Flickers begin to slow down after seven rounds of him using them. Kimura keeps pushing forward with Mashiba unable to shake him off or stop the body blows until Kimura puts him against the ropes. Full of determination, Kimura began to glare at Mashiba with courage. This causes Mashiba's brain to tell his body that his eyes are dangerous, as it is the same look as Ippo's courageous eyes. Kimura continues using body blows as a distraction to set up his Dragonfish Blow until the seventh round ended.

Kimura landing the Dragon Fish Blow.

The eighth round begins with Mashiba deciding to attack first with Flicker Jabs. Eventually Kimura takes a chance to get close to Mashiba and throws a body blow that gets blocked. However, this time Kimura lands an overhand, completing his Dragon Fish Blow on an unsuspecting Mashiba, causing him to go down. When Mashiba managed to get back up, Kimura proceeds to go for body blows until Mashiba guards low. With Mashiba focused on the body blows, Kimura lands another Dragon Fish Blow. However, Mashiba swayed his head back to nullify the damage. Mashiba then clinches Kimura until it is broken by the referee. Mashiba launches Flicker Jabs that keeps Kimura away. However, with only speed and no power behind the jabs, Kimura is able to push through and land a third Dragon Fish Blow. Mashiba clinches again in order to stay standing until the eighth round ends. In the corner, Kimura expresses how amazing the champion is, being able to punch with such determination despite him being beaten badly.

Kimura and Mashiba final exchange.

In the ninth round, knowing that a fourth Dragon Fish Blow will end the fight, Kimura dashes in. Mashiba throws a straight that stops Kimura's dash. Mashiba then enters Kimura's range and the two begin a hitting match. When Mashiba lands a clean right, it makes Kimura's knees buckle. Instead of letting him fall, Mashiba delivers a blow that sent Kimura to the ropes. After receiving a barrage of attacks, Kimura lands a punch that breaks him free. With Mashiba at the ropes, Mashiba attempts to clinch, but foreseeing this, Kimura throws a series of body blows that leaves Mashiba's jaw open. Seeing this, Kimura proceeds to finish with a Dragon Fish Blow as he sees a vision of him grabbing the champion's belt. Despite hitting Mashiba, Mashiba landed a cleaner hit before Kimura did.

As his consciousness fades away, Kimura falls to the ground unresponsive. Shinoda attempts to throw the towel due to the dangerous down, however, he is stopped by Aoki, who pleads to let Kimura end the match rather than a towel. Shinoda believes it to be a second's job to protect their boxer and begins to throw the towel. He then stops when he witnesses Kimura, who, despite everyone predicting the opposite, is able to stand up again. With the match resuming, Mashiba charged in as Kimura raises his fist. As Mashiba was about to attack, the referee gets in the way and stops him. When the referee gets a closer look at Kimura, he realises that Kimura is unconscious, despite standing and holding his fist out. The referee then signals the end to the match, with Mashiba winning his fourth JBC title defence and Kimura losing the title match.

With the match over, Mashiba wonders what would happen if Kimura's fist actually reached him before the referee stopped the match and leaves the ring, believing only shame would be brought to him if he stood in the ring as a winner. Aoki cries as he looks at Kimura and realise that he is still fighting in his head. Ippo and a reluctant Takamura goes to the ring in order to check on Kimura's condition. Kimura, who is still standing with a fighting pose and unconscious in the ring, wakes up and begins to realise that the match is over. Realising he has lost, Kimura becomes upset as his team walks him out of the ring. In his waiting room, Kimura was ambushed by many reporters. Kamogawa wanted them out, however, Kimura requests them to come in. When they asked for his opinion on a rematch, Kimura reveals to them that he will never fight again. After getting dressed, Kimura bids the Kōrakuen Hall farewell.

A New Start

Kimura thinking back on his loss.

Two days after the match, Kimura is still reflecting on the events, unable to sleep due to seeing the champion's belt he could not get. Ippo brings his puppy to the Kamogawa gym, where the gym members become depressed about Kimura's absence. Outside the gym, Kimura, who is standing outside of the gym hears how Ippo's mother named his dog "Wanpo" in katakana before leaving, as he does not feel like facing them at the moment. Kimura begins wondering what he will do after living a life that was focused solely on boxing for five years. He then begins thinking of what would have happened if he had reached three more centimetres. After having second thoughts about retiring, he returned to the gym. Listening outside the gym, Kimura overhears Takamura claiming that there is no way he could take it back after publicly announcing it the way he did. Knowing that Takamura is right, Kimura once again planned to let go of boxing, but when he saw Wanpo, he gets an idea. Hearing Wanpo, the group goes outside and finds Kimura. He informs them that the boxer called Kimura Tatsuya (木村達也) retired. However, he would be changing his name to katakana and start over again as Kimura Tatsuya (木村タツヤ).