Fighting Spirit Vol-1: The First Step (2000)
Animation Production: Madhouse
Released by: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 115 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Earlier this year I was blown away by a little show called Princess Nine that dealt with the formation of a girl’s baseball team whose goal was to play at Koshien. I was completely blown away by it and to this day I still listen to the soundtrack CD’s for it quite frequently. What I found amusing about it was that in the real world I really could not care less for baseball or sports. It’s just something that unless I’m in a sporting arena or park bores me to tears. However there is something to sports anime that really captures my attention the way a 1970’s super robot show typically does.

Now, Geneon has unleashed the powerhouse that is Fighting Spirit in the U.S. market and I find myself once more amused by the fact that I am completely taken away by an anime that’s based on a sport I could not care less about in the real world. Somehow though this show just overcomes my perception about the sport and makes it one of the most completely engaging stories ever told.

Story

"Ippo Makunouchi's gentle spirit and lack of confidence make him an easy target for the bullies at his high school who regularly beat him up. Then, he's rescued from a beating by Takamura, a-larger-than-life professional boxer who inspires Ippo to learn the art of boxing. After passing one of Takamura's outrageous tests, Ippo attempts to join the Kamogawa Boxing Club, but Chief Kamogawa refuses to believe Ippo has a fighter's spirit and requires Ippo to spar with Miyata, an extraordinarily talented and skilled boxer. Can Ippo even survive the first round?!" Geneon's Fighting Spirit Page

Review

The first volume in Geneon’s release of Fighting Spirit features the first five episodes in the series, which include:

Episode 1: The First Step
Ippo Makunouchi is young student, who although friendly and respectful of others often finds himself the target of bullies and put downs by fellow students due to his lack of social skills, dedication to the family business and generally quite disposition. However on a fateful day after being beaten by a group of bullies he meets Takamura, a popular up-and-coming boxer. Takamura opens a new world for Ippo, the world of professional boxing.

Ippo soon decides that he wants to become strong like Takamura, he wants to be a professional boxer. To be considered though he is presented with a challenge, if he passes Takamura will help Ippo become a boxer, but if he fails Ippo is to stop dreaming of joining the circuit as a professional fighter. Will Ippo accept this challenge?

Episode 2: Fruits of Labor
Ippo now has one week to figure out how to overcome Takamura’s challenge. By training day and night he might just be able to pull it off, but will he figure out the trick to this test and to pass Takamura’s challenge? His new-found passion for boxing depends on it!

Episode 3: Tears of Joy
Ippo managed to pass Takamura’s test, but the obtacles to his dream are no over yet. The manager of Takamura’s gym has decided to give Ippo a try in a sparring match against one of the club’s better fighters, who also happens to be Ippo’s age. Will our young hero be able to show what he’s made of and overcome this opponent!?

Episode 4: Shadow Boxing
As the newest member of the boxing club Ippo now has to make something of himself and prove his worth. To accomplish this he begins undergoing training to get the basics of boxing down. As part of this regimen he begins mastering the art known as shadow boxing. Will this help him in his quest to become Miyata’s equal in a short span of time?

Episode 5: 3 Months to Counter
Ippo needs to defeat Miyata’s counter-punch if he’s to win against him in their next sparring match! To help him do this Coach Kamogawa decides to help Ippo by putting him through an intense three month training regimen that will help Ippo defeat or at least negate Miyata’s most powerful offensive weapon! Will Ippo make it through the 3 months in one piece or will he give up entirely?

Talk about exciting anime series! This show has me more pumped up than anything I’ve seen in recent memory. I was expecting it to be good, but I could have never imagined what a perfect series this would be; from the story’s setup to Ippo himself and the other characters this is just one of those anime releases that you know has that special indefinable “it” factor. I’m shocked that Fighting Spirit is not more popular and talked about than what I’ve seen online. It really is deserving of being up there in the top 10 series being released in the U.S.

This first DVD is mostly and introduction to the world of Fighting Spirit and more importantly its main character, Ippo, an impressionable young man, who seems to lack direction in life when the show starts. He also doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself and what he can do which makes him the awkward kid in his class. When Takamura opens his eyes to the world of boxing you can see Ippo transform as he finds that thing that's been missing from his life all this time. Something that he could go out and grasp as his own, away from the family business that kept him planted to the Earth and unable to dream.

Seeing how he begins and follows this transformation process through all first of the five episodes in the series is the kind of material that makes for legendary series. Shows about coming of age and underdogs overcoming any and all obstacles are the kind of thing that gets us all fired up at the JH anime labs. Sure what’s being done here is not 100% original (*thinks back to one of anime’s greatest moments, boxing anime legend Ashita no Joe), but it is done extremely well and in some cases even manage to surprise with unexpected twists to viewers’ expectations.

Ippo in particular really came as a surprise in terms of characterization and personal growth. The best example that I can think of to exemplify this is how when the show begins he is being constantly bullied by three fellow students and you keep expecting Ippo to give them a huge beating for what they’ve done after he begins his intense training, but surprisingly this moment never materializes. In fact Ippo is so completely dedicated to his training that the thought of getting back as his past bullies doesn’t even come to mind. Boxing really has filled a void in his life and its neat to see how he accepts it and does everything he can to give it his best.

These episodes are all connected and slowly begin the process of building a larger storyline through small episodic advances in Ippo’s training and character development. I don’t think that they could have made the flow any better than what’s done here as it gives ample to time to the development of certain aspects of the program that include not only Ippo, but his relationship with his mom, the other boxers in the gym and even his first opponent, which he finds in Miyata, a young man that he admires greatly for his skills and mastery of the sport at such an early age (same as Ippo’s).

The production for Fighting Spirit, which was handled by Madhouse Production, is fantastic and perfectly captures the spirit of the story through fluid and realistic animation that makes boxing scenes jump out of the 2-D animated world and into something of great beauty and energy. The series is appropriately done with a bright color palette and features a very silky smooth frame rate, especially during boxing scenes. There is also a limited use of effects here and there to give everything a nice glossy finish.

The soundtrack like the visuals is the perfect compliment to what is already a perfect package and manages to add even more kinetic energy to the show. The opening song in particular is very, very catchy and sets the stage for many of the fast moving pieces featured in Fighting Spirit. The voice acting was up there in terms of quality as well with everyone in the cast putting in a nice performance. A special kudos goes out to Geneon for also including a Spanish dubbed track, which was really well done! I grew up in Puerto Rico watching anime in Spanish and their handling of this was better than most Spanish dubbed anime series I’ve seen.

DVD-wise there really aren't too many extras aside from a small blooper reel and a small art insert inside the DVD box. I didn't mind this lack of extras that much since the DVD comes with 5 episodes so there was more than enough fun packed in there for my taste. The video and audio transfers for this release were perfect to the senses so I have no complaints in that area either.

Final Thoughts

After seeing this DVD I really can't say anything else, but to tell you to go out there and spend your anime dollars on Fighting Spirit. This is one hell of a show and should not be missed by anyone!

This one gets our highest recommendations!

Jeffrey Couto