Hajime no Ippo is one of our childhood shonen anime with sports Boxing spirit, and the series made a name for it at that when top animes like Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball were streaming. The series was directed by Satoshi Nishimura and produced by Madhouse Studios, which was one of the early studios in the time of 1970s.
The anime series is adapted from its manga Hajime no Ippo, which is still more popular today without losing its fan base. The series is written by Tatsuhiko Urahata, with a boxing and sports background.
The series takes a huge turn from season one, where the main protagonist Ippo Makunouchi is always passionate about becoming stronger, and it’s not enough to get strong. He joins a gym where he takes all his training with effort and dedication. He learns new skills and techniques from coach Genji Kamogawa, a former boxer.
The series has 3 Seasons With a total of 127 episodes also, one Movie, and OVA, which is released after season 1, which means it is the continuation of season 1. Season 4 will be released in 2023, declared by the official franchise. Let us see where and how to watch in order with dubbed and subbed versions of the series.
How to avoid fillers:
The series may have fillers, and If you want to watch only the main episodes, which are not including of fillers and ova’s, you can sit and relax and watch all the episodes because, in a total of 127 episodes, there are no that many fillers in the series. The series has only two fillers in Season 1 only, but it doesn’t have any fillers in Season 2 and Season 3.
To overcome the issues of recaps or not related scenes in the interesting episodes of the series, you can skip the episodes which are not necessary and the characters which are added or with nonrelated content from the original series, which is called fillers or OVA (original video animation).
These episodes were mostly made from the Manga series because manga and anime can relate to the original story. So I will guide you through the series to avoid the fillers and chronological order of each season.
Where to watch Hajime no Ippo:
This anime got some popularity in the boxing and sports genres, and there are a lot of official websites and original tv platforms where the series is available in dubbed and subbed versions. Originally it was released on Nippon tv platforms in Japan.
The series is available on Crunchyroll with the dubbed version Season 1 released the subbed version on October 3, 2000, and the dubbed version was released on July 6, 2004, on Crunchyroll.
You can watch Season 1 on Netflix also, but Seasons 2 and 3 were not available in dubbed versions because when Season 1 was released in DVD form in northern America, the sales were not that good, but the series episodes increased their craze. It often happens in anime series because the content in anime or manga is somehow related, but most prefer one.
The Geneon in northern America previously and Discotek Media (current) were licensed for the series, and Crunchyroll was licensed for the dubbed version and also subbed version of the series. Also, in other countries like Spain, the series was licensed by Selecta Vision and Viz Media in Canada & the United States.
Some regions may not have access to official websites like Crunchyroll, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or VRV because most are licensed by Japan sever, so it’s hard to watch the series in your region. Don’t worry. You can use VPN and watch the entire series.
- “SEASON 1: Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!” It is available on Crunchyroll, Nippon tv, Amazon, VRV, Hulu Japan, and Netflix.
- “SEASON 2: Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger” Is available on Crunchyroll, Hulu Japan, and Amazon.
- “SEASON 3: Hajime No Ippo: Rising” Is available on Crunchyroll, VRV, Hulu Japan, and Amazon.
- “Movie 1: Hajime no Ippo – Champion Road” Is available on Crunchyroll, Nippon tv, VRV, and Hulu.
- “OVA 1: Hajime no Ippo – Mashiba vs. Kimura” Is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu Japan.
Make sure you know the entire series may doesn’t have dubbed version because season 1 and the Movie: Hajime no Ippo – Champion Road are only available in the dubbed version.
How to watch Hajime no Ippo:
Season 1 has a total number of 76 episodes with different arcs. If you are starting the series, start with subbed version because, after season 1, you will miss the dubbed version, so it will not be comfortable with the continuation of the series with a different language, but the choice is yours. Ensure you don’t miss any episodes, and don’t skip the episodes during watching.
The Movie and OVA are related and continuations of season 1, so it will be watched as one of the arcs in season 1. Let’s dive into the chronological order of the series by which we can easily complete the series one by one without getting lost in the story. The plot is as follows.
- Hajime no Ippo: Fighting – Season 1
- Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road – TV Special Movie –Season 1
- Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura – Execution – Season 1 – OVA
- Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger – Season 2
- Hajime no Ippo: Rising – Season 3
Fillers:
Season 1:
- Episode- 31: Traces of Intense Battles
- Episode- 52: The Challenges
Season 2: NA
Season 3: NA
Season 1: Hajime no Ippo: Fighting
The series starts with the stats zero because the main protagonist was bullied in his school. Due to that, he joins the boxing club, where the coach helps him during the fighting between bullies. He is determined to take boxing as his passion and trains as much as he can.
There are several tricks and skills which are learned from boxing. After that, he participates in the tournament, which is his first tournament. The series aired from October 3, 2000, to March 21, 2003. The arcs in season 1 can be shown as follows.
Rookie King saga
- Early Days & Debut: Episodes 1 to 12
- First Rounder: Episodes 13 to 19
- Finals: Episodes 20 to 28
Class A saga
- Rocky of Naniwa: Episodes 29 to 34
- Two Rookie Kings: Episodes 35 to 40
- Speed Star: Episodes 41 to 44
- White Fang: Episodes 45 to 50
- The Challenge for the Throne: Episodes 51 to 57
- Road Back: Episodes 58 to 64
- Mountain Training: Episodes 65 to 70
- Lollapalooza or Strongarm shadow arc: Episodes 71 to 76
Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road: (Season 1 – Special Movie)
The Movie is released as a special for season 1, Ippo, who is a champion, must protect his title from the most talented boxers in the world who are trying to become world boxers. The Movie was released on April 18, 2003, and it consists of around 96 minutes of watching time.
Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura: (Season 1 – Special OVA)
This special OVA(Original video animation)is one with non, including Ippo, who is the main protagonist that much because the entire episode consists of a battle between Mashiba and Kimura. The obstacles to becoming a champion made the champion belt to themselves. It was released on September 5, 2003.
Season 2: Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger:
There are only four arcs in this season, consisting of 26 Episodes with 23 minutes of watching time for each episode. The new tournaments and championships ls were waiting in season 2, with duels fighting each other to get to the top of the world and seeing to become a top world boxer.
The season is a sequel to Season 1, so it will be easy to watch, but the main thing is the language version is not available in so many languages, so you have to keep in mind whether to choose one language to watch the entire series or watch in different languages. The series was aired from January 6, 2009, to June 30, 2009. Here are the arcs which cover in season 2.
- Bloody Cross: Episodes 77 to 80
- Revenge: Episodes 81 to 84
- Proof of Power: Episodes 85 to 89
- Battle of Hawk Post-War: Episodes 90 to 102
Season 3: Hajime no Ippo: Rising:
The series was made by Madhouse and Mappa studios, one of the most popular animation studios. The season is also the sequence of the new challenger. World tournaments and fights between rivals can be seen. The season consists of 25 Episodes, and the season is aired from October 5, 2013, to March 29, 2014.
- Submarine Wars: Episodes 103 to 105
- Comic Show: Episodes 106 to 108
- Dragon Slayer: Episodes 109 to 115
- A Passing Point: Episodes 116 to 123
- Post-war: Episodes 124 to 127
You can also avoid the OVA episode, which consists of 60 minutes of running time. The Movie has around 90 minutes of running time. The seasons may be varied in languages and the subtitles from one streaming platform to the other.
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