Hajime no Ippo (Season 1 Anime)

Hajime no Ippo Season 1 Promo — Hajime no Ippo's promotional art.

Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩, Hajime no Ippo) is the first anime adaption of the Hajime no Ippo manga. It was produced by studio Madhouse, directed by Satoshi Nishimura, and aired from October 3, 2000 to March 26, 2002. A sequel called "Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger" was released.

Overview[]

This season covers from the beginning of the series, up to Ippo Makunouchi's first title defence against Kazuki Sanada (Volume 35 of the manga). Unlike the manga, Tatsuya Kimura's fight against Ryō Mashiba takes place after the Ippo vs. Sanada match instead of before it.

Development[]

Near the beginning of the Hajime no Ippo series, the author, Jōji Morikawa, was approached by several companies wanting to create an anime adaption of the series, however, Morikawa had no interest in an anime adaption of his series, so he turned them down. About ten years later, he was approached by a company with a great number of people and he gave them a nod of approval. He asked them not to disappoint the readers who had bought 40 volumes of the manga. The anime was then made by studio Madhouse. When the second episode released, Morikawa was disappointed, thinking that it wasn't what they agreed to, wanting them to stop the anime. After a meeting, Morikawa was told that they would improve the production quality, so he kept quiet. Morikawa was pleased with the production afterwards, and a relationship of trust was created between him and the company, so he stopped checking their script before an episode's release and left it all up to the producer.^[1]

Dubbed[]

At the end of 2003, the anime was licensed in North America by Geneon. Geneon released the English dub under the title Fighting Spirit In the Philippines it was called Knock Out!.

On September 14, 2020, Discotek Media announced that in 2021, they would release this first season of Hajime no Ippo anime on Blu-ray in three sets. It will contain episodes 1-76, Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road, and Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura - Execution. It will have Japanese with English subtitles and English and Spanish dub from Geneon (except for episode 76, Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road, and the Kimura vs. Mashiba OVA) with a new upscale.^[2] The first set, containing episodes 1-24 was released on January 26, 2021. The second set, containing episodes 25-48 was released on March 30, 2021. The third set, containing episodes 49-76, the OVA, and the Champion Road special was released on October 26, 2021. All three sets have extras. The three sets include creditless openings and endings, the first set has dub outtakes, the second set has a trailer, and the third set has the promo for the OVA, and the home video version of episode 61.

Episodes[]

Full list of the episodes from all seasons - Anime Guide


# (Season)	# (Series)	Episode Title	Japanese Airdate	English Airdate
1	1	"The First Step"	October 3, 2000	July 6, 2004
2	2	"Fruits of Labor"	October 10, 2000	July 6, 2004
3	3	"Tears of Joy"	October 17, 2000	July 6, 2004
4	4	"Shadow Boxing"	October 24, 2000	July 6, 2004
5	5	"3 Months to Counter"	October 31, 2000	July 6, 2004
6	6	"The Opening Bell of the Rematch"	November 7, 2000	October 12, 2004
7	7	"The Destructive Force of 1 cm"	November 14, 2000	October 12, 2004
8	8	"Promise to Meet Again"	November 21, 2000	October 12, 2004
9	9	"C Class License"	November 28, 2000	October 12, 2004
10	10	"Debut Match!"	December 5, 2000	October 12, 2004
11	11	"Obsession for Victory"	December 12, 2000	December 14, 2004
12	12	"Becoming a Bully's Buddy"	December 19, 2000	December 14, 2004
13	13	"The Eastern Japan Rookie Championship Tournament Begins"	December 26, 2000	December 14, 2004
14	14	"Powerful Arms! Hook vs. Uppercut!"	January 9, 2001	December 14, 2004
15	15	"Test of Endurance"	January 16, 2001	December 14, 2004
16	16	"Anticipating a Fierce Fight"	January 23, 2001	February 15, 2005
17	17	"Ippo on the Beach"	January 30, 2001	February 15, 2005
18	18	"Clinch"	February 6, 2001	February 15, 2005
19	19	"Dream of a KO"	February 13, 2001	February 15, 2005
20	20	"The Threat of Shotgun"	February 20, 2001	February 15, 2005
21	21	"The Way to Capture a Prodigy"	February 27, 2001	April 19, 2005
22	22	"Forward! Forward!!"	March 6, 2001	April 19, 2005
23	23	"The Other Semi-Final"	March 13, 2001	April 19, 2005
24	24	"To the Promised Place..."	March 20, 2001	April 19, 2005
25	25	"Every Emotion"	March 27, 2001	April 19, 2005
26	26	"The Battle for Distance"	April 3, 2001	June 21, 2005
27	27	"Death Match"	April 10, 2001	June 21, 2005
28	28	"Victory or Defeat"	April 17, 2001	June 21, 2005
29	29	"Rocky of Naniwa"	April 24, 2001	June 21, 2005
30	30	"To Enemy Ground"	May 1, 2001	June 21, 2005
31	31	"Traces of Intense Battles"	May 8, 2001	August 23, 2005
32	32	"Throw Your Right!"	May 15, 2001	August 23, 2005
33	33	"Smash Force"	May 22, 2001	August 23, 2005
34	34	"The Rookie King"	May 29, 2001	August 23, 2005
35	35	"The Continuing Journey"	June 5, 2001	August 23, 2005
36	36	"The Champ and I"	June 12, 2001	October 25, 2005
37	37	"A Thing to Strive For"	June 19, 2001	October 25, 2005
38	38	"Two Rookies of the Year"	June 26, 2001	October 25, 2005
39	39	"Challenge in a Foreign Land"	July 3, 2001	October 25, 2005
40	40	"A Counter to Surpass All Counters"	July 10, 2001	October 25, 2005
41	41	"Barf-michi's Big Fight"	July 17, 2001	December 20, 2005
42	42	"Sympathy for a Dream"	July 24, 2001	December 20, 2005
43	43	"The Speed Star"	July 31, 2001	December 20, 2005
44	44	"Blind Spot in the Ring"	August 7, 2001	December 20, 2005
45	45	"The White Fangs of the Wolf"	August 14, 2001	December 20, 2005
46	46	"Be the Gazelle"	August 21, 2001	February 21, 2006
47	47	"The Fighting Spirit Within"	August 28, 2001	February 21, 2006
48	48	"The Red Wolf"	September 4, 2001	February 21, 2006
49	49	"The Courage to Believe"	September 18, 2001	February 21, 2006
50	50	"Something to Convey"	September 25, 2001	February 21, 2006
51	51	"The Group Date"	October 2, 2001	April 25, 2006
52	52	"The Challenger"	October 9, 2001	April 25, 2006
53	53	"So That I Can Be Myself"	October 16, 2001	April 25, 2006
54	54	"Fists of the Champ"	October 23, 2001	April 25, 2006
55	55	"The Japan Featherweight Title Match"	October 30, 2001	April 25, 2006
56	56	"The Power that Stands in the Way"	November 6, 2001	June 27, 2006
57	57	"Conclusion"	November 13, 2001	June 27, 2006
58	58	"Heartbroken"	November 20, 2001	June 27, 2006
59	59	"A Determined Gaze"	November 27, 2001	June 27, 2006
60	60	"Rival"	December 4, 2001	June 27, 2006
61	61	"Comeback Anxiety"	December 11, 2001	August 29, 2006
62	62	"Revival"	December 18, 2001	August 29, 2006
63	63	"Burning Youth"	December 25, 2001	August 29, 2006
64	64	"Enthusiastic Era"	January 8, 2002	August 29, 2006
65	65	"Kamogawa Corps' Summer"	January 15, 2002	August 29, 2006
66	66	"Takamura-san's Tears"	January 22, 2002	October 31, 2006
67	67	"The Kamogawa Gym Swings into Action"	January 29, 2002	October 31, 2006
68	68	"The Coach's Crisis"	February 5, 2002	October 31, 2006
69	69	"The Trap of the Southpaw"	February 12, 2002	October 31, 2006
70	70	"The Young Punk"	February 19, 2002	October 31, 2006
71	71	"Time for the Showdown"	February 26, 2002	December 19, 2006
72	72	"Lallapallooza"	March 5, 2002	December 19, 2006
73	73	"Surpass That Moment"	March 12, 2002	December 19, 2006
74	74	"Mix-Up"	March 19, 2002	December 19, 2006
75	75	"One Step Further"	March 26, 2002	December 19, 2006
76	76	"Boxer's Fist"	March 21, 2003