I feel numb… I don’t even know what to say…
Even when Kenshin died of AIDS, I didn’t feel this shittiy for a fictional character.
Ippo has dreams! He was supposed to challenge the World! He was supposed to show Coach what they had been training! He was supposed to be a God!
What the fuuuuuuuuck. I’ve been reading this series for a long time, and every time you think Ippo is on the brink, he pulls through. I seriously did not expect this to happen, precisely because its fiction and the Demsey roll saves the day in these kind of things. I mean the way it was “supposed” to go is Ippo wins this match to regain his mojo, somehow fights Miyata in the ring for a dope ass rematch, and then he fights Martinez for the world title. I’m not mad at Morikawa, especially with him being sick a lot recently, but I just cant believe it has to end this way especially with all the buildup. Makes you wonder if Morikawa’s illness had anything to do with the direction he took and if things would be different if he was healthy. My feelings are summed up just like the last panel: "wishes unfulfilled…"
Either way, if this is how its gonna end, I just wanna give a big thanks to the author for making such an awesome manga.
Morikawa runs a boxing gym/promotion and probably sees a bunch of young guys have their dreams cut short. CTE is super real and Ippo was catching a lot of hits with his head every fight he was in.
This seriously gutted me. Not only because it was Ippo who just got dream cancel’d, but everyone who was behind him (readers like us included) now have to deal with seeing a boxer’s dream die.
Ippo said he was done if he caught a 3rd loss, and he just did. This manga would seriously turn dark if Ippo continues after this. He himself acknowledged his head trauma just before he lost. I don’t want to see him in a ring ever again.
I fucking hate Ippo, fuck man.
All this build up ain’t amount to shit and this goob still hasn’t banged that chick. Smfh
OH WHAT THE FUCK…MY FEELINGS
What the fuck did I just read?
OK although my mind is still reeling from the last few chapters I can now coherently lay my thoughts out…
Although I’m very disappointed in the direction Morikawa has taken, my dismay pales in comparison to the fans who have been reading this manga since 1989, and 28 years later having to see their titular character go down this bleak path. Morikawa couldn’t even allow him a bittersweet victory before his inevitable retirement. I don’t think this was a part of the original script, something has happened to Morikawa along the way to compel him to make such an uncharacteristically dismal end to Ippo’s career. I can at least give him credit that he seems to be following through with all the hints he’s given, but all the plot threads that were literally decades in the making are now destroyed. Ricardo “The God” Martinez is firmly out of reach forever, Miyata will never face him barring a Rocky 3~esque spar. Also Ippo lacks any higher education or vision beyond boxing, and unlike Eiji Date who came out of retirement and fought an epic match with no regrets left on the table, Makunouchi doesn’t even get a swan song to carry with him for the rest of his life. All he has is Kumi-san, who was merely an afterthought to him half the time, and working on his mom’s fishing boat. So what’s left now? For the series to pass the torch to Takamura (who still has some ways to go to get all the belts) Itagaki, Miyata or Sendo? All while Ippo is depressingly rooting from the sidelines with his manga title appearing each chapter? It doesn’t add up. It’s not the fact that Ippo is punch drunk, a traumatic condition with no known cure, but that the timing and the hundreds of chapters of training buildup into a scenario that just feels dissatisfying for the readers.
Either Morikawa continues the series for a little while longer with a timeskip into a somber epilogue, or have the manga - Hajime no Ippo showcase plot armor intact-retina Takamura and/or other secondary characters achieving the dream of Ippo, while he’s masochistically cheering them on from the stands completely emasculated. Either way, for those long, long, longtime fans of the series, I can only imagine the pain they’re going through with the level of investment they put into the series and the protagonist.
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Still thinking about these latest chapters, man. Where do we go from here?
Damn, get the story moving already!
Just wish Morikawa-san would get some input from a decent writer to wrap up the plot nicely.
Heck, I hope DB Super doesn’t finish ahead of this series.
One Piece will finish before this does. Maybe even HxH.
Ippo = Morikawa
Goddamn it didn’t have to be this way
When i was so happy to be surprised that their were 4 chapters online. Got promptly reminded that hope is but a fledgling dream.
It goes even deeper when you realize:
Spoiler
The coach = the readers. Always behind him, always supporting him, always believing in him. Ippo wanted to show him more, but he just couldn’t.
Having had a night to think about it, it’s kind weird that Morikawa basically Bleach’d himself. It’s been so long…has Ippo ever definitively said, “I want to be World Champion”? Like, we have Ricardo, we have Gonzalez, we have Miyata and Sendo and we have this entire path literally laid out for Ippo, and yet it seems like he was only ever content boxing because he loved it. Maybe that’s why we are where we are. Naruto wanted to be Hokage. Luffy wants to be King of the Pirates. Gon wants to find his dad. Ippo wants…what?
It also brings Takamura’s conversation with Ippo into stark focus. He drew a line in the sand and said, “If you cross this line you have to become a monster.” A lot of the imagery seemed to suggest that Ippo needed to find his Secret Rage Art, like Metzli Mode or Ultra Instinct Takamura. But what if Takamura was being metaphorical as well? “If you cross this line, you can’t just be a boxer for fun. You have to want to be the best, want it so bad that it consumes you completely. Want it so bad that you’re willing to tear yourself to shreds, to be beaten and broken again and again, because the top is so painfully close. Want it so bad that you look across and you don’t see opponents; you see stepping stones. You see VICTIMS.” Takamura lives like a hobo because the only thing he cares about is boxing (and also porn probably). Imai literally spent hours training for a specific scenario that he could get Itagaki into. Even Miyata is willing to sap his strength and endanger his body because he wants to fight Ippo so badly.
EDIT: Yeah after thinking about it more, I think it’s the underlying issue that Ippo’s always had: lack of mental toughness. He can do any physical task asked of him, he’s willing to run and jump and hit the bags forever and ever, but he’s never had that DRIVE, you know what I mean? They spelled it out in the Gonzalez fight: he wants to fight Ricardo Martinez, he wants to be the one to dethrone him. Takamura wants to conquer all those weight classes. Everyone around Ippo has something to work towards, but there’s a mental/emotional gap in Ippo’s development, and I think that’s why he loses now. He probably does have lingering physical/mental damage (and possibly the beginnings of CTE), but in his two last losses, he wasn’t thinking like his opponents. He wasn’t focused on winning at all costs; he was dwelling on his impending losses.
Good manga. Would read again. Ippo gonna retire, takamura gonna get those belts. Ricardo gonna rape every one till he retires. ippo will finally bang Kimi after 28 years.
Except Ippo went into overdrive with that champion spirit shit a bunch of times.
So other than that… Sure.
Game of thrones.
Mr Satan:
“It’s a trick! It’s all done with smoke and mirrors and special effects! There’s no way that just happened!”
Yeah but that’s still in the context of, “I can’t let Coach/Takamura/my friends/all these people down.” There’s a a sort of consistent thing with Ippo where his desire to win is inextricably linked with, or sometimes overtaken by, his desire to NOT lose. And we’re all FGC; we know the difference between playing to not lose and Playing to Win.™®©