Amazing. Just amazing. At first, I really didn't think I was going to like Hajime no Ippo at all. An anime about boxing? No way! Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks (or Takamura's fist).

This is not just a boxing anime. This isn't just an action anime either. Hajime no Ippo is THE action anime, there is no doubt about it. Spanning a total of 76 episodes (though the last episode is debatable about whether or not it should be included), Hajime no Ippo will please just about anybody but fans of shoujo anime. It has a flawless mix of comedy that never fails to make me laugh and action sequences that are so good you'll get goosebumps.

Although there are a lot of reused frames in each fight (a single scene may repeat a few times), the fights are very well animated and never seem to drag on. Even though some of them were up to four or five episodes in length, I still thought that they were just too short. There is also almost no filler material at all in between the fights. Each episode furthers the story about Ippo's rising in the boxing world. Though it may not be the most original or complicated plot, it'll please just about anybody.

The characters were just fantastic in Hajime no Ippo. From Aoki to Umezawa, each and every character was totally unique and some of the situations they got in were flat-out hilarious. So funny your sides will hurt, though some people may be offended by the amount of nudity-related jokes in the series. Unfortunately, some of the characters totally disappear off the radar after their matches. Characters like Miyata and Eiji just disappeared after fighting Ippo despite getting an immense amount of development prior to the matches. Their futures are only hinted at a couple of times, and other than a couple of rare cameo appearances, they don't appear ever again. I really would have liked to have seen what became of so many interesting characters, because Ippo's story wouldn't have been the same without them.

What I found to be most interesting in the series was Ippo's development. Not just his physical growth, but his mental growth as well. We watch as he slowly transforms from a timid, frightened high schooler into a brave, frightening adult. Not only do we get to watch his growth, but we see his growth effect the people around him. Slowly but surely, Ippo's world is changing and we get to watch all of it unfold.

Not a boxing fan? It doesn't matter. I still don't care for boxing, but I'd watch this series again and again. It has a rare formula that never gets old, and I think that anybody, regardless of their sport interests (even if they don't like them at all) would probably find this anime to be as enjoyable as I did.