WATCH HAJIME NO IPPO YOUTUBE EPISODE 1 SERIES

ItвЂ™s from this decade so it doesnвЂ™t вЂњlook oldвЂќ the way many would deride the classic sports anime titles of the 1970s, itвЂ™s got an awesome soundtrack from Tsuneo Imahori-perhaps you may recognize the name if I said he did the music for Trigun while also working with Yoko Kanno on various titles including Cowboy Bebop-and the protagonist, Ippo Makunouchi, isnвЂ™t some cocky, unlikeable jerkface whoвЂ™s less interesting than the supporting cast.

If I had to pick one and only one sports anime title to show someone as a representative of the sports anime genre, this would be it. Clearly, everyone can tell that the characters in those anime suckД«ut there was one great sports anime title that was released in the United States, and its failure to catch on with audiences despite universal critical acclaim and praise from a small yet highly dedicated fanbase is a downright crime of anime fandom in my mind: Hajime no Ippo (literally translated, вЂњThe First StepвЂќ), or Fighting Spirit as it was known for its US DVD release. Dragging on even longer than the worst parts of DBZ, IвЂ™m convinced that the only reason any native English speaker even tolerates Slam Dunk or the soccer-focused Captain Tsubasa is because of how important they were in establishing yaoi fandom.

WATCH HAJIME NO IPPO YOUTUBE EPISODE 1 SERIES

Sorry, but I donвЂ™t consider Slam Dunk a good series at all. I didnвЂ™t exactly shed any tears over the woe begotten fate of the sports anime genre in America when absolutely nobody bought Hoop Days or even sports anime heavyweight Slam Dunk, both of which happen to be about basketball. The majority of sports anime titles released in the US have been shorter series which by and large were awful. Most of the great sports anime titles were simply never released in the US on account that they were too lengthy, too old, or both.

For an introduction to sports anime, read my sidebar on the subject in Issue 11 of Otaku USA Magazine because I donвЂ™t feel like repeating myself! I like to describe certain events as вЂњcrimesвЂќ of fandom developments such as вЂњwe never got a US release of Macross: Do You Remember Love?вЂќ which make me say вЂњthere is no justice in this world!вЂќ So it is that one of the biggest вЂњcrimesвЂќ of US anime fandom is the fact that the вЂњsports animeвЂќ genre habitually fails to catch on here.

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