Legend of the Otakufiend

Ever experience a series that you liked so much, you were sad to see it end? Fighting Spirit was kind of like that for me. That in itself is amazing since I assumed I wouldn’t like it as I put the disc in my player.

I was never much into boxing (other than playing Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out back in the day), so Ippo and company had two strikes (1. sports anime, 2. boxing) against them before they even started. Much like Ippo’s perseverance to overcome, the series came through in true underdog “Eye of the Tiger” fashion. But that was 70+ episodes ago. Where are Ippo and the gang these days? Kamogawa Gym, of course!

This episode starts with a brief recap of the ending to Champion Road, the Fighting Spirit TV Special, showing Ippo successfully defend his featherweight title for the first time.

After that, it’s business as usual for Ippo. His championship still hasn’t settled in and he’s still helping his mom run the family fishing boat business. Although, Wanpo’s gotten bigger.

And it takes all of five minutes before the guys at the gym bust in on Ippo in the shower room to tease him about his “elephantine” member. Yup, it’s like the show never ended.

The rest of the episode moves along at a decent pace, taking it’s time to remind you who all the characters are and what they’ve been up to. Kimura mentions he’s going to spar with Miyata, and Ippo turns into a love-struck girl. (Ippo’s overly gushing respect for Miyata has been the source of many jokes.) However, Kimura discovers that Miyata isn’t the fighter he once was. Struggling to maintain his weight class is taking its toll, and Miyata’s victory in his upcoming match against Arnie “Crocodile” Gregory, the OPBF Champion, becomes uncertain. That uncertainty will have to hold over ’til the next episode because this one ends with Miyata entering the ring.

I can forgive this episode for being heavy on the flashbacks because it’s necessary to set things up for any new viewers. The art looks as good as it ever has, with slight variations to the character models due to stylistic alterations. The one thing I do find lacking is the sound. There’s something missing. The Dempsey roll sound effect has changed, no longer sounding like a jet turbine, and it’s a little difficult for me to adjust to the Japanese seiyuu. When you’ve grown accustomed to the dubbed voices over 70+ episodes it’s difficult to hear different voices coming from the same mouths.

Early series prediction: Miyata gets seriously injured against Arnie, and Ippo steps up to take the “bad guy” down.