Fighting Spirit, known in Japan as Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩) is a sports anime and manga series created by Jyoji "George" Morikawa (森川ジョージ) which was serialized by Kodansha in Shonen Weekly (週刊少年マガジン).

A 76-episode anime version was produced by Madhouse Production and ran on the Nippon TV Network from October 2000 to March 2002. The anime is licensed in North America by Geneon as Fighting Spirit. The manga currently has 72 volumes and is still running in Japan.

Ippo Makunouchi (幕之内一歩 Makunouchi Ippo) is a very shy high school student who never had the time to make friends because he was always busy helping his mother with the family fishing boat business. Because he kept to himself a group of bullies got into the habit of picking on him. On one particular day these bullies decided to give him a rather serious beating. A middle-weight professional boxer who was passing by stopped the bullies and took Ippo to the Kamogawa Gym (鴨川ボクシングジム) owned by a retired boxer Genji Kamogawa (鴨川源二 Kamogawa Genji) to treat his injuries. After Ippo awoke to the sounds of boxers training, the boxer who saved him, Mamoru Takamura, tried to cheer Ippo up by letting him vent his frustrations on a sandbag. It was then that they had their first glimpse into Ippo's talent for boxing.

After that incident, Ippo started his regular training and began on the path of Japan's professional boxing.

The series has two spin-off movies - Kimura Vs. Mashiba, which pits one of Ippo's senpai (upper classmen) against the Japanese lightweight champion (who happens to be Ippo's girlfriend's brother) and Champion Road which provides further development for the characters as Ippo reaches ever higher.

A list of boxers

Kamogawa Gym (鴨川ボクシングジム)

• Genji Kamogawa (鴨川源二) - Head coach
• Ippo Makunouchi (幕之内一歩)
• Mamoru Takamura (鷹村守)
• Masaru Aoki (青木勝)
• Tatsuya Kimura (木村達也)
• Haruhiko Yagi
• Naomichi Yamada
• 板垣学

Kawahara Gym (川原ボクシングジム)

• Ichiro Miyata (宮田一郎)

なにわ拳闘会

• Takeshi Sendo (千堂武士)

Toho Gym (東邦ボクシングジム)

• Ryo Mashiba (間柴了)

大滝ボクシングジム

• Kenta Kobashi (小橋健太)

木下ボクシングジム

• Ikki Sanada (真田一機)
• 唐沢拓三

八戸拳闘会

• ハンマ－・ナオ

めんそ～れ沖縄SEASIDEGIM

• 島袋岩男

鬼槍留ボクシングジム

• Sawamura (沢村竜平)

Other gyms

• Eiji Date (伊達英二)
• Jason Ozuma (ジェイソン尾妻, United States Army)
• Yoshio Fujiwara (藤原義男)

Other characters

• Kumi Mashiba (間柴久美)

External links

• Geneon's Fighting Spirit Website (English)
• Official Hajime no Ippo Website (Japanese)
• Les épisodes d'Hajime no Ippo (French)
• Japimpact | Hajime no Ippo : Anime (French)
• Hajime no Ippo (French)
• Hajime no Ippo (Italian)
• はじめの一歩年表 (Japanese)