Wiki Ippo
Register
Advertisement
Wiki Ippo

Hajime no Ippo: Gaiden - The Naniwa Tiger is a one shot spin-off of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series about Takeshi Sendō's entry into boxing.

Details[]

Summary[]

The Day "The Tomcat" Became "The Naniwa Tiger"[]

Sendo - Gaiden - Sendo fighting a lot of people

Sendō getting into a street fight.

Sendō was in a brawl with twelve people where he was able to win it with just twelve punches. He fought with them because they were causing problems for his friends. When Sendō returned home from the fight, he tried to hide the fact that he was in another brawl from his grandmother since she didn't want him getting into fights, and Sendō doesn't want her to worry. However, she already knew about it. Sendō believed that needs to prove that he is strong like his father was, and he told his grandmother that he hasn't lost to anyone yet.

Sendo's Grandma - Gaiden - Surprising Sendo as he is trying to sneak in

Sendō's grandmother catching him sneaking in.

Sendō's grandmother lectured him that hurting others doesn't mean he is strong, and that Sendō's father was saving people as a firefighter. She thought Sendō was a long ways from really knowing what true strength is. Sendō tries to tell his grandmother that he was protecting his friends too, but his middle school teacher, who was visiting with his grandmother to discuss Sendō 's school work, told Sendō that he shouldn't make his grandmother worry like that. His grandmother tries to thank her by giving her candy, but Sendō warned her not to eat any of them since they been here before his grandmother was married. His teacher wants to discuss the fact that Sendō was going to be a third year middle school student in eighth grade this Spring, and a lot of the other kids have already started getting ready for it. Sendō mentions to her that he was going to inherit the candy store, so he doesn't need to worry about his future. She believes that his grandmother wasn't going to force the candy store on him, but if he was planning to inherit it, it is still important to get into high school and to look at other career options. Sendō tells her that he isn't good at studying. As his teacher, she knows how hard it is for him, but adds that he only shows up at school every once in a while. She believes he can manage it if he actually tried, where she had put together a list of schools that she thinks he could make it into.

Sendo's Teacher - Gaiden - Defending Sendo

Sendō's teacher praising him.

She warns that she doesn't think fighting was good, but she thought in Sendō's case, it might be okay. She adds that since he never picks any fights, or he only fights when someone was being picked on or needed his help. She thinks it might make her sound like a bad teacher, but she believes Sendō is a wonderful young man. His grandmother doesn't want her encouraging him like that, so she hits Sendō with a can. The teacher apologises and starts to leave. His grandmother wants Sendō to say good bye to her since she feels that his school would have kicked him out if it wasn't for her, so he should show her some appreciation.

Sendo's Teacher and Sendo on roof- Gaiden - Drawing in notebook

Sendō's notebook.

Sendō starts going to school every day for a week, but he still got into fights. One day, his teacher notices Sendō didn't attend the class, but she found him later on the school's roof drawing in a notebook. She is mad that he was late to class, but happy that his over all attendance has improved. She thinks what Sendō is drawing is a manga, Sendō tells her that he is working on a new killer punch, the Smash.

The Naniwa Tiger's Righteous Mark of Prey[]

Lately, Sendō notices that he lost his edge toward the end of his brawls against a lot people, getting tired. So he wants to make a punch that can take opponents out with just one punch. He starts to demonstrate the punch to his teacher when he accidentally throws his notebook off the roof. His teacher starts to worry when she heard Sendō been fighting a lot of people at once since it was dangerous, and believes his grandmother will also worry about it too. Sendō tells her that it is fine if it is dangerous since he got to be strong, and he wants to be stronger. His teacher thinks that he is childish, and believes that even if Sendō is good at fighting, it isn't going to matter when he is an adult. She tells him that adults fight everyday in their own way too, where they work hard to make their salary. They pile into packed trains to go to work, or open up their business very early in the morning. She adds that he can't be a little boy forever, and he needs to be ready to grow up someday.

Since it seems like she knows everything, Sendō decides to ask her what it means to be strong. She pauses and thinks about it. Sendō tells her that knocking guys around and getting knocked around too, he hasn't met anyone that he would call strong, and that no one has show him what true strength is. The teacher comments that was the first time that Sendō's looked into her eyes where she is happy about it, and she thinks he has honest eyes. Somewhat embarrassed, Sendō starts to leave, when his teacher mentions that she can't answer that for him. Different people out there have different ideas about what it means to be strong because there is a lot of different perspective on it. But she believes if Sendō keeps on looking, he will be able to find his answer somewhere out there, some day. Sendō tells her that he had been thinking about going to high school but he thought that he probably won't get in. His teacher hugs him while telling him, he can do it, since not running from a difficult task was part of being strong too. She will cheer him on. Sendō mentions it will make his grandmother happy. He starts thinking maybe it will make her happy too, while she was leaving.

Sendo - Gaiden - Sendo fighting on a bridge

Sendō fighting on a bridge.

Sometime later, Sendō is seen fighting on a bridge with a lot of people, knocking some of them into the water. Police arrive and stops the fight. He ends up getting arrested. His teacher comes with his grandmother to the police station to talk to Sendō. She starts yelling at Sendō wondering why he was doing that when he mentioned that he wanted to get into high school and make his grandmother happy. If he keeps that up, he won't be able to get into high school at all. Sendō explains to her that he went to get someone's wallet back, but she told him that was not his job and that he should think a little before he acted. He could have told the school or even called up the police to do it. Instead he got arrested and made more trouble for his grandmother. Sendō tells her that it wasn't his fault that he's not going to turn a blind eye to someone who needed his help, and he isn't going to ignore them if they asked for it either.

Sendo - Gaiden - Sendo help anyone

His teacher somewhat agrees but adds that Sendō doesn't need to be so violent about it. Sendō tells her stop applying her adult logic to it, and if she can't stand looking after kids then she should leave. His teacher then explains to Sendō that in three days she is leaving because she is getting married. Her fiancé's father is very ill, so the wedding has to be before his failing health got any worse. It's not something that came out of the blue since she already told the rest of the class about it. Sendō only showed up to school every now and then, where he probably didn't know about it. Sendō's grandmother realised this was why his teacher is so worried about Sendō. His teacher mentions that Sendō is the only one in class with grades that were questionable, and she wants to make sure that she wasn't going to leave behind any regrets when she left. Sendō yells to mind her own business and just take off to wherever already while walking away. His teacher apologises to his grandmother that she wasn't able to help him at all.

A bunch of thugs discuss about Sendō beating up eight guys from Nanba by himself, and before that he clobbered a bunch of guys from Minami. They think Sendō is starting to get out of hand. Some feel they should leave Sendō alone since the punks started a beef with him. However, their Banchō (boss) doesn't since he found out that Sendō is going to be enrolling in high school soon. The only school in Osaka was stupid enough that going to let Sendō in was their school. If they don't want Sendō to look down on them for rest of their high school life, they need to take care of him while they still can. So they start rounding up everyone that they can in order to beat up Sendō. It is the teacher's last day at school, and Sendō's grandmother wants to be sure that Sendō will say goodbye to her. So he starts heading to school, but he gets distracted by playing with cats along the way. Later on, he finds out that his friends have been beaten up in order to get to him. Sendō is angry when he heard this and asks where they are. His friends tells him not to go since they feel it will be too much for him. There were at least thirty high school kids there, and Sendō has no reason to go there. However, Sendō is still going since he can't turn a blind eye or deaf ear to it. At school, the teacher says good bye and notices Sendō's seat is empty.

Sendo - Gaiden - Sendo warning his knuckles hurt

Sendō getting ready.

Sendō stands in front of a group of thugs alone and starts counting them, which makes them angry. He mentions that there was thirty-five guys, at one punch each, he will need thirty-five shots in all. As Sendō is about to fight, he warns them that his knuckles of his really hurt. The thugs begins fighting him. Sendō knocks a few out before they tackled him and pinned him down, but he manages to escape and continues to knock people out. Sendō starts take more punches, while fighting he thinks about what true strength is.

Sendo - Gaiden - Sendo over bodies like a Tiger

Sendō after fighting over thirty people.

His friends that were beaten up are trying to find Sendō in order to save him. They can't find him, but they hear something in the distance. The leader wonders who would call Sendō a tom cat, when there were not cats out there that was this wild. He sees Sendō standing over the thirty-five guys like a tiger. Sendō's friends arrive shocked that he was able to defeat all those guys by himself. The leader congratulates Sendō for what he did as a real man, but he warns him he isn't backing down. He mentions to Sendō that there is a clear difference in size between them, and he adds that Sendō is now tired from fighting and he doesn't have much left. So he doesn't think it will be much of a fight between them, but since he wants to enjoy his high school days in peace he will destroy Sendō now.

Sendo Smash Gaiden

Sendō's Smash.

While he is tired and shaky, Sendō asks the leader what it means to be strong. The leader doesn't know while charging at Sendō to finish him off. He throws a punch but Sendō ducks and throws the Smash at him instead. The leader gets flipped into the air and knocked out. Sendō yells out a loud roar like a tiger. His friends are happy that Sendō is okay and he won. Even though he won, Sendō still doesn't know what it means to be strong.

Sendo Tiger Roar

Sendō's roar.

Instead of going home, he heads to school even though it is late at night. It happens that his teacher hasn't left yet. She doesn't ask what he was doing since she is no longer his teacher, and won't scold him. Sendō doesn't know how to say good bye, but she just tells him it is okay and to just be himself. His teacher starts thinking about Sendō's eyes being nice, and realises that she been avoiding Sendō, not wanting to look into his eyes. She tells Sendō that she was sure Sendō will find what he was looking for some day. She ends up kissing Sendō on the cheek. Sendō goes home, and his grandmother notices he got in another brawl. Sendō looks pretty rough, so she asks if he finally got taken down. Sendō says he did, he got hit with a doozy in the end (referring to the kiss.) His grandmother thought that he doesn't look like he lost. Sendō clenches his fist thinking about "some day" in the future.

Gallery[]

Author's Note[]

Volume 84 - Gaiden - Author's Note

The author's note.

"If I remember correctly, this will be the first time in 23 years that I have drawn a one-shot. I was puzzled and went to my desk, but it had been a long time since I had worked on a project like this, and there was no way I would be able to finish it within the deadline if I had to create the characters and the story from scratch. Wouldn't it be easier to draw a main character who I know well other than Ippo Makunouchi? Then who? I immediately thought of Takeshi Sendō."

"It was a good thing we chose a man with a lot of energy, because from that point on, the project almost never got stuck. I was just following Sendō as he ran forward without worrying as I made the story, and then it was all over. He is one of my favourite characters to begin with, but I have definitely become more attached to him than before. Now, it has come to me that if Sendō were to fight against Ippo, Sendō would probably win. Contrary to the anxiety of starting the first one-shot in 23 years, I was able to finish drawing it with pleasure. I hope you all enjoy reading it."

Trivia[]

  • It is referred to as Round 806.5 since it appears at the end of volume 84.
  • Sendō's nickname as a middle school student was "The Naniwa Tomcat" and he is known for having a lot of cats and quick reflexes.
  • Sendō is listed in the 8th grade during this time, which makes his age about 14 or 15. So this Gaiden story takes place in 1986 or 1987.
  • Sendō's notebook has a bunch of cat doodles in it along with drawings of the Smash. The same cat doodles can be seen in Sendō's beat down list in Round 807.
Advertisement