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The First step –
Young Ippo is tormented by bullies on a daily basis. Until one
day, a chance encounter with Takamura, a larger than life
professional boxer. The chance encounter inspires Ippo to be a
boxer. Will he be able to make the first step into his new dream?
Fruits of Labor –
The first obstacle in Ippo dream is getting
past Takamura’s unusual test. Struggling to grasp 10 leaves before
they hit the ground is proving to be more difficult that
originally thought. Will all the hard work and dedication prove
fruitful or will Ippo be unsuccessful in achieving his goals?
Tears of Joy –
After struggling to meet Takamura’s challenge young Ippo forces
his body to limits that were thought impossible to reach. Now,
young Ippo must face a new challenge, in order to be accepted in
to a gym he must prove his determination if he wants to be a
boxer. To prove what he has, he must spar with Miyata, an
extraordinarily talented young boxer. Will he be able to prove his
determination or will his dream be killed in the ring.
Shadow Boxing –
After his first sparing match Ippo is more determine then ever to
become a professional boxer. Being accepted into the gym, Ippo
beings his training session with the gym’s chief, with the
personalized training Ippo is beginning to release his hidden
talent. Having to shadow box for the first time, Ippo analyzes his
opponents’ moves in order to improve his techniques.
3 Months to counter –
Ippo begins his 3 month journey to his rematch
against Miyata, he starts by getting to know him better not only
in the ring but outside of the ring as well. With the chief
punishing Ippo, to increase his mental and physical endurance will
the punishment led to a victory in the ring or will Ippo be
knocked out.
The animation for the series was amazing crisp
clean. Every character seemed to have unique level of detail to
them. In the training and fighting scenes the animation seems to
have a raw, captivating feel to it, which helps to draw the viewer
in. The style of animation reminds me of Great Teacher Onizuka.
The audio just plain amazing, with trilingual Audio featuring
English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 and Spanish 2.0. With two English
subtitle streams dialog and signs or signs only.
What are some of the additional features this
disc has to offer? The extras section for this includes a blooper
and outtakes section where the voice actors have a little fun with
their lines. Next in the section are the previews for upcoming
releases by Geneon, credits for the voice actors in the Spanish
version, staff credits and finally the DVD credits. I would have
to say the DVD extra’s were disappointing, due to the lack of
features from this disc. I was hoping there would be additional
bonus features, such as a photo gallery or character biographies.
Hopefully in the next disc there will be additional features.
What is my impression of fighting spirit so? I would have to say
it’s a series with tons of potential, after watching the first
disk and becoming familiar with Ippo and the characters that
surround him, I’ve become drawn into the story. In the typical
fashion of DVD distribution they end the first disc with a great
episode that compels me to go out and purchase the next disc just
to see how Ippo’s
rematch against Miyata will turn out. For those
that enjoy watching a gritty tough anime series, with a good sense
of humor thrown in, then fight your way into your wallet and buy
this disc. For those looking to watch something new that will sure
to entertain, then this would be a definite good rental.
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Version 2.0
