Today, we are going to talk about the Anime, Hajime no Ippo: Rising. Otherwise known as the 3rd installment to the Hajime no Ippo series. For those who are unfamiliar with the Hajime no Ippo series, it’s about a kid without any purpose in his life and fate decides to make a boxer out of him.
Soundtrack offers a cool element to the Anime as many soundtracks played are geared towards each character’s attributes and abilities. The OST matches well for every move, every match, and every episode with its instrumental score. Sound effects of connecting punches are vigorous and is dynamic with the results. The OP and ED song are also great to listen to and really complement each other.
The art style stands out for its original design of the characters with improved artistic values. Most of the boxers classifies and distinguishing themselves with their styles. The battle scars and wounds serves as a proof of their journey as professional boxers. At the same time, there are characters that identity themselves as icons in the industry. Female characters aren’t a prominent feature but does offer credibility with their innocence, compassionate nature, and sometimes obsessiveness with certain factors. The art style in my opinion is what makes Hajime no Ippo,
Hajime no Ippo.
One that this is apparent when you watch this Anime, is that sometimes it feels like everything has slowed down or have gotten boring. Some episodes almost feel stagnant. staggering and tests the patience of fans who are eagerly wants to watch what’s ahead. However, it didn’t negatively effect the Anime in anyway because sometimes the Anime needed to slow down and change pace from its awesome action scenes.
What I really enjoyed about this Anime was that I thought if focused a lot on the the friendships and relationship each character had with their fellow cast members. In particular, Ippo’s relationship with his crew becomes a prominent motivation for his character; their closeness is what unites each other despite some of their clashing ideologies.