So for this week instead of looking at Graphic novels, I figured we would look at one of my favorite mangas, Hajime no Ippo. Hajime no Ippo is about Makanuchi Ippo and his foray into boxing with his friends from the Kamogawa gym. The manga has been coming out weekly since the mid 80s and is now up to 1033 chapters. I know that number is large enough to scare people away but that is its biggest strength. We get to see Ippo grow from an unsure high school student amateur boxer into the Japanese champ, and now we get to see him challenge the world ranked boxers in his quest to be World Champion. And as the characters develop and grow and change we can see the stories and the art style progress as well.
I know boxing isn't as crazy as having to fight crime or save the world from alien fighters but that's what makes this manga so good. In those other examples we know that the heroes will triumph some how in the end, in Hajime no Ippo we have no idea how each match will end.
Some of the best and most heart wrenching chapters are the ones where the characters fall just short of their goals and they lose a match. I have been literally brought to tears because I was able to relate to the pain of losing something when you put so much effort in preparing for a match or contest of some sort.
I hope you trust me and look around for this manga and jump into all the chapters, it will take you awhile but you'll be happy on your investment.
Post by: Sam
Twitter: BigSam425
This is a good one.
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