はじめの一歩 -Champion Road-

Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Champion Road

As the new Champion, Ippo must protect his title against some of the best boxers available. Makunouchi Ippo is the new Featherweight champion of Japan and is now ready for his first title defense. His opponent, the former Jr. Featherweight champion and a medical student, Sanada Kazuki. In addition to this feud, Sanada is being coached by Kamogawa's former rival, Hama Dankichi. What makes things worse is that Sanada works at the same hospital where Kumi is a nurse at and everybody at the hospital wants Sanada to win. Not only does Ippo have to defend his title, he has to reclaim his love. (Source: Anime News Network)

Names

Original	はじめの一歩 -Champion Road- (japanese)
Romaji	Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road
English	Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Champion Road
Also known as	The First Step - Champion Road

Facts

Format	Special · 1 ep · 90 min · 2h total
Aired	2003-04-18 (Spring 2003)
Status	FINISHED
Studio	MADHOUSE
Source	Manga
Origin	Japan (Anime)
Demographic	Shounen
Genres	Comedy Sports
Themes	Boxing Martial Arts Shounen Male Protagonist
Streaming	Crunchyroll

Reception

Community score	8.12 / 10
Bayesian score	8.08 / 10
Composite	66.0
On lists	33,939
Favourited	408 (1.2%)
Completion	96.5%
Drop rate	0.4%
In backlog	17.5%
Score spread σ	1.27

Score distribution

1422173434995321674572,81986,07593,997102,114

Where it places

Cohort	Value	Tier	Rank
Broadcast season	Spring 2003	S	2 of 43
Year	2003	A	5 of 148
Format	Special	S	11 of 872
Length	OVA / Special	S	22 of 1,260
Era	Early 2000s	A	25 of 687
Studio	MADHOUSE	B	40 of 229
Genre	Sports	A	45 of 447
Season (all years)	Spring	A	116 of 1,868
Demographic	Shounen	B	165 of 1,219
Genre	Comedy	A	185 of 3,488
Source material	Manga	A	294 of 3,025
Origin	Japan	A	451 of 7,157

Key staff

Director	Satoshi Nishimura, Kenichi Kawamura, Hidetoshi Kaneko, Takahiro Miyata
Series composition	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Character design	Kouji Sugiura
Original creator	George Morikawa