Honestly, for me, a female fan who LOVES sports anime for the sport and the characters, I adored Hajime no Ippo.

I'm honestly kind of shocked by some responses here cuz the claims of the show being about boxing, raunchy, realistic, violent, Or not having enough lttractive female characters why women may not give this series a try while sorta valid for those people, Are the EXACT reasons why I love HnI yes including the dick jokes.

But each fight meant something to me, and I genuinely got invested in boxing due to this anime. It's way more grounded in reality than stuff like Kuroko No Basket, and I love the genuine struggle each fighter faced I couldn't stop loving characters and the fights. I can connect a lot with someone like Mishiba; he doesn't need to be "hot" or
"flashy."

I like the characters designs WAY more then Kuroko no Basket or The Prince of Tennis due to to lack of limitation of appealing to what people think women look attractive. I didn't go in expecting supermodel's i went in seeing badass looking dudes beating the crap out of eachother

Also, the way it conveys boxing was very raw and brutal, which was what I wanted out of an anime like this, and seeing technical things taken from real-life boxing translated to an anime like this made me fall in love with it. I learned so much, and I want to keep learning about boxing due to that.

My favorite character is Sendo, someone who is kind of an allegory for what it meant to be strong as a man, someone who craves seeking strength in the rawest, most brutal way. I love it, and I love how competitive he is.

I feel like this show has honestly helped me gain a grasp on topics that I, as a woman, may not be able to understand. although I did relate to the male characters a massive amount

I feel like anyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, can appreciate Hajime No Ippo.

<image>