Hajime No Ippo: Too long, got boring?

[aka Cthulhu]

It's been a little over 1,000 chapters now, and is it just me or has the story kinda fizzled out? Like it feels stagnant at this point.

Like it keeps going on and on, and at this point it's just spinning its wheels with no signs of it ending anytime soon. Ippo fighting Miyata or Ricardo Martinez still seems so far away from actually happening, or if it will happen at all.

Furthermore, there's just a lack of interesting opponents. My opinion, Ippo's last interesting opponent was Sawamura, and that was like maybe 600 chapters in. Everyone else he has faced after that has been rather meh. Same can be said for the opponents of the other characters. They're just... there. Plus, a lot of the fights take up multiple chapters, making the series feel longer than it has been.

Anyone else still reading, or ready to throw in the towel?

[Fundertaker]

Kinda like Bleach or Berserk or any other long standing manga I've been reading, I'll keep on tracking. It helps that I absolutely love the original anime series (still my no. 2 favorite, only behind NGE).

But yeah, most characters have been spinning in circles. However, I can see some semblance of finality creeping in. Takamura is pissed and wants to move up ranks, Ippo's promise that this is his last run + the revamped Dempsey Roll, Miyata seeing that his time is running out on fighting Ippo, Itagaki having his biggest hurdle to surpass, Sendo getting over fighting Ippo one last time, etc. I don't know if it would be any good, but I would love for a time skip to happen (like a year or two) where all the boring stuff is done and Ippo is preparing for his no. 1 contender match.

I do wonder if there's a death coming up. It's something the series has stayed clear from, but pulling an Ashita no Joe/Touch at this point could drive almost everyone plot wise. Especially if we get a crooked manager who's like a mafia boss behind it all (all the deaths would occur in ring, though) and Ippo and the gang beat his goons in the ring for revenge and exposing him and it all leads to Ippo challenging Ricardo/Miyata.

[chrom]

So basically like One Piece

[Fundertaker]

Jul 11, 2017 15:18:20 GMT -5 chrom said:

So basically like One Piece

With quite a few differences. One Piece being the Shounen Jump manga to end all Shounen Jump manga has to have almost all the tropes of the long running Shounen Jump mangas (hence, treading water after this may years). Hajime no Ippo is in the "Weekly Shounen Mag Sports Cycle" (see: Star Of The Giants, Ashita no Joe, Tiger Mask, etc. Pretty sure Diamond no Ace and Knight In The Area will get to it eventually) if you will, only much longer (like One Piece to SJ) due to being almost 30 years old!

[The Sam]

I've never read the manga but from watching the anime I assume 200 of those chapters are about making fun of Ippo's giant penis?

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

I gave up on that a long time ago. I like stories that last a while but I also want to see a conclusion in sight or at least have high hopes for the end game like Naruto/Sasuke being teased forever or Ichigo/Aizen

[aka Cthulhu]

Jul 11, 2017 14:23:39 GMT -5 Fundertaker said:

Kinda like Bleach or Berserk or any other long standing manga I've been reading, I'll keep on tracking. It helps that I absolutely love the original anime series (still my no. 2 favorite, only behind NGE).

But yeah, most characters have been spinning in circles. However, I can see some semblance of finality creeping in. Takamura is pissed and wants to move up ranks, Ippo's promise that this is his last run + the revamped Dempsey Roll, Miyata seeing that his time is running out on fighting Ippo, Itagaki having his biggest hurdle to surpass, Sendo getting over fighting Ippo one last time, etc. I don't know if it would be any good, but I would love for a time skip to happen (like a year or two) where all the boring stuff is done and Ippo is preparing for his no. 1 contender match.

I do wonder if there's a death coming up. It's something the series has stayed clear from, but pulling an Ashita no Joe/Touch at this point could drive almost everyone plot wise. Especially if we get a crooked manager who's like a mafia boss behind it all (all the deaths would occur in ring, though) and Ippo and the gang beat his goons in the ring for revenge and exposing him and it all leads to Ippo challenging Ricardo/Miyata.

Yeah. First anime was great. Second and third one was kinda lacking... like kinda feels rushed. Doesn't help that the second and third season has less episodes than the third, making the story feel rushed and the fights took up a lot of episodes it felt. Like, third season there was like only five fights in that season?

A time skip could work, help push past the tedium right now, though since a skip never happened before in this series I doubt that it would happen. As for a death angle like that... doubt that'll ever happen. Accidental death in the ring, maybe. A semi-minor character in the manga had that happen, kinda... more like death a few weeks later caused by the fight, but I doubt that some mafia/yakuza shenanigans would ever happen.

Also, Ippo vs. Kojima... that one punch fight thing was butts. Complete and utter butts. I remember after every chapter during that fight I was pretty much "GET ON WITH IT!" and when it finally happened... that was the butts.

Also also, Alexander Volg Zangief still manliest name in Ippoverse.

And yeah, at this point it's kinda like Bleach to me. I started reading it way back, and even if I'm bored through my skull recently about it I'll just autopilot through and read the latest chapter just to see through it until the end.