01x01 - The Strongest Challenger

[bunniefuu]

All right!

After winning the championship and defending the belt three times,

I'm beginning to realize what it means to be strong, Dad.

Dad!

Hiroko! Ippo!

I'm heading out.

See you later!

Be careful out there.

Sure thing!

Hey, Ippo!

Dad, wait!

Here, you forgot this!

Oh, thanks a lot!

Just you wait, I'll be bringing in a big haul!

Dad, I'll help you out when you get back.

Is that right?

You'd better pinkie swear.

Yeah, pinkie swear!

When's Dad coming back?

Maybe in a week.

He'll be back soon enough, but only if you're good.

Sakuma! Where are you?

Makunouchi! Get out of there!

Hurry!

Hell no! Sakuma's still in there!

Sakuma! Where are you?

Answer me!

Sakuma!

Makunouchi?

You all right?

Forget about me. I'm done for.

Shut up!

My leg's trapped! I'm done for!

Don't give up just yet!

Forget about it, Makunouchi.

Just save yourself!

Never give up!

All of us are going home!

Pull him in!

Get in here!

Hurry!

Makunouchi!

I will get home!

Hiroko! Ippo!

Ippo!

He was the greatest.

He was the pride of all of us fishermen.

Thank you very much.

Kazuo-san would have been very happy to hear that.

I should be the one giving my thanks!

Well, if it ain't Ippo!

Mister Sakuma!

So, um... there's something I want you to teach me.

Sure thing. Whatever you need, just ask.

Can you teach me how to tie a rope?

A rope?

You mean for mooring boats?

I want to learn how before my dad comes back.

I promised him I'd help out.

Come back? Do you really...

Teach me how!

Never mind that. How about we go to an amusement park?

I'll take you anywhere you want!

We'll have a blast!

Thanks, but a promise is a promise.

Look, Ippo...

You might still be too young to understand,

but your father... he's...

He said he'll come back.

Dad will keep his promise.

I'm sure he's trying his hardest to come back.

I know he'll come back!

A-Anyway, you'll only make your mom worry!

It's time to go home!

No!

Dad's coming back! I have to wait for him!

Ippo.

Let me wait some more.

Let's go home.

Mom, take a look!

I learned how to tie a knot!

I'm sure Dad's—

That's enough! Come home, Ippo!

There's no point in waiting for him!

Your dad's never...

Dad will keep his promise.

He will come back!

I'm heading out—

Ippo!

Ippo!

Oh no! I have to get Ippo!

What happened to you? You're soaking wet!

He kept his promise.

Dad's...

Dad's back.

Don't worry, we still have each other.

You call yourself a carpenter?! It's all crooked!

You wanted it done quick!

Are you stupid? You'll just make us fishermen angry if you do piss-poor work!

Mister Sakuma!

Hey, Ippo!

Look!

Mom got her license!

Oh, so she can now pilot a boat?

Way to go, Hiroko-san!

Thanks, though it took me three tries.

We'll show you all the good fishing spots.

You'll have the best fishing boat in no time!

Thank you very much!

Let's go, Ippo!

You two are going out to sea alone?

Of course!

I know he's watching over us.

Uh, right. True enough.

Let's go, Mom!

Wait for me!

Come on, hurry up!

Dammit, I'm too worried!

I'm going with them!

Me too!

Port: check.

Deck: check.

Are you done? Hurry!

Yay, it's working!

Let's set sail, Ippo!

Yeah!

Makunouchi Fishing Boat...

is heading out!

Ippo?

Mom!

Let's both become stronger, Ippo!

Yeah, we will!

I'll become even stronger.

Just as strong as my dad.

That starts with my next match.

So there he is.

The challenger who says he'll beat the Dempsey Roll.

Ippo-kun's fourth challenger for his belt,

the Ryuukyuu Warrior, Shimabukuro Iwao.

Put your back into it! I'm hardly feeling them!

Those punches aren't going to make Shimabukuro blink!

Keep moving your fists! Drill them in!

Wow, they're really going for broke.

Thanks to this.

He'll smash the Dempsey?

Ippo has poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into perfecting that Dempsey Roll.

If that gets taken away from him...

That'll break his spirit.

So that's why he's gone berserker.

I became the champion because of my Dempsey Roll.

I need to train even harder.

I need to get stronger to beat...

any opponent!

He's been down there for 13 minutes. I think it's about time.

Shimabukuro, we're about to ship out.

Are you ready for this?

Yes, Coach.

I can't wait to see if there's a man out there

who's actually stronger than me.

I heard Makunouchi-kun's family runs a fishing boat.

Yeah, I heard too.

So that guy is a fellow fisherman.

This will also tell us who is the stronger fisherman.

I will take him down to the dark and briny depths.

There, I will face the hard-hitting champion, Makunouchi Ippo,

and trade punches with him man to man.

Then I'll crush him!

I will do that by smashing his pride and joy, the Dempsey Roll!

Good!

Iwao!

You better come back with that belt!

We'll have a big party on the island!

Come back as the champion!

You got it! I'll bring back the ultimate souvenir!

I swear it on my honor as a fisherman!

Thanks for waiting!

The Champion Carnival, the Japanese Featherweight Title Match will be starting shortly!

Senpai!

How're you holding up?

Guys!

Are those new trunks?

Yes.

My mom and Umezawa-kun made them for me.

You look sharp, Ippo!

Thank you very much, Kimura-san!

Ippo-kun, kick butt out there!

Kamogawa Gym has your fourth title defense,

Aoki's first title match...

Yeah!

Itagaki's Rookie-Of-The-Year match,

and Takamura's first world title defense on the line.

Kid! Start us off good!

You got it!

Senpai, good luck.

Thanks.

We got your back.

You better k*ll him, Ippo!

I need that momentum for my title match!

Yes, I'll give it my all!

Who gives a rat's a*s about
Aoki's mickey-mouse match?

What the—

Don't screw up before my match.

I won't!

All right! Let's go, kid!

Coming!

We now have the challenger heading for the blue corner.

All the way from Okinawa, we have the Mightiest Fisherman.

With a 12-1 record, all wins by KO,

he's ranked #1 in Japan's featherweight division.

His name is Shimabukuro Iwao!

What the hey?

He's got muscles upon muscles!

He can't even get his arms all the way down!

How'd he get so built?!

And for the red corner, we have our other competitor.

With a 15-1 record, all wins by KO, here's the champion, Makunouchi Ippo!

We're counting on you, Makunouchi!

Get us another KO!

Take him down!

Both players face each other in the ring.

Every victory racked up by these heavy hitters are all KOs!

I'm starting to see a major height difference.

Ippo's never faced an opponent who's shorter than him.

Still, look at that Shimabukuro dude!

He has a neck like a pitbull!

That man's not going to go down easy.

Will the champion defend his belt for the fourth time?

Or will it go to Okinawa?

He'll be going up against the mightiest challenger.

The Champion Carnival is about to...

kick off!

Both players take up defensive stances!

However, the challenger is practically crouching on the mat!

Shimabukuro-san is gunning for my Dempsey Roll.

I can't use it now.

I need to watch and wait.

Things are starting off strangely quiet.

Both the belt and the bragging rights as the top infighter are on the line.

The challenger made a bold promise
to crush the Dempsey Roll.

He also said in an interview that he will take the champion to the briny deep.

What exactly does he mean by that?

He's very overpowering.

I can feel the pressure coming from the bottom up!

That guy's not moving.

If he's not coming, then I will!

Shimabukuro takes off!

Here I come, Makunouchi-kun!

The champion throws a left!

That felt like a rock hit me! That's his left?

And there's another left!

They're coming fast and heavy!

Those jabs pack the punch of a bunch of straights!

Those are nice lefts, but they won't make Shimabukuro back down!

The champion throws more lefts, but now he's fanning air!

He's up against expert weaving!

Now that pile of muscle is moving closer!

Uh oh! He's at a dead end!

The pressure has driven him to a corner!

That impromptu outfighting isn't how you box.

You're going down!

There's a left body blow!

Nope, he guarded it!

He returns that punch with his patented liver blow!

The challenger's immobile, will the champion go on the attack?

Whoa, he's too low! None of the punches are landing!

He comes with a right!

But he misses him!

Holy cow!

Don't let that hit you!

That'll knock you down!

I can't let him get any closer!

The champion's raining pinpoint punches in order to free himself!

Get away! Get away!

Get away from me!

Where is he?

Down!

The challenger goes even lower!

And he's got his arm back!

Don't let him hit you!

He's throwing...

a Gazelle Punch!

He breaks through the cross-arm block!

What a punch!

He can do a Gazelle Punch?

This is no time to be shocked, kid!

The challenger continues to deliver punch after punch!

The champion's completely on the defensive with his back to the corner!

A body blow! And a clean one as well!

What now?

It's only going to get worse if I don't do something!

Darn it... I shouldn't even think about guarding!

The champion charges with his body!

He's going all the way in!

That's right, Ippo, get in there!

There are hardly any boxers who can take on a power fighter that closely.

Shimabukuro is not used to that distance.

You're now on even keel with him!

Go get him, kid!

Whoa! Sparks are flying in this close-range fight!

Both players' heads are taking blows!

Nobody can make a full swing from that distance.

How can they still punch that hard?

They're shifting their weight and using their hips to give power to their punches.

If you're able to move your hips, you can still pack a punch.

They are perfectly even.

This has now turned into a test of wills.

Must... keep... punching!

Must keep pushing and hitting!

That's the bell, and the first round is over!

You did great trading punches with him.

Keep that up!

Right!

Don't let him overpower you!
You have to maintain your will to win!

Don't lose heart! Do that, and you're finished!

I won't!

He's certainly got the speed.

But you still got the power.

You gotta smack him down, got it?

Yeah!

Makunouchi-kun is strong!

But he went ahead and traded punches with me.

Just as I planned.

It's now the second round!

Both players come rushing from their corners!

They're going head to head!

The champion lands a body blow!

He then overpowers his opponent with his punches!

Just as I planned, Makunouchi-kun!

Your feet are deep into the seawater.

An uppercut from the challenger!

That stops the champion's barrage of punches!

Neither party gives up the center of the ring!

This slugfest is getting intense!

Nobody is giving an inch!

Neither boxer lets up on the attack!

The cheers don't stop amidst this exciting development!

The champion has the punch-count advantage.

But the challenger punches back to end his barrage!

Any pause will be met with a rain of blows!

The whole place is nervous about the outcome.

Both players are battling it out to see who is the better infighter!

It's now the fifth round! Both fighters keep punching it out!

Which fighter will come out on top?

The champion lands an upper!

He almost knocks his head off!

That got him!

Get him again!

The champion goes in with heavy blows!

He's staking everything on these punches!

Stay up, Shimabukuro!

You almost got him! Grit your teeth and punch him more!

He's open!

Whoa! The champion eats a full right!

Impossible! How did he go for a full swing?

The champion goes backward in a daze!

If he had only kept his punches small and crisp...

C-Coach! Look at Ippo-kun!

He's...

not getting enough oxygen. It's cyanosis!

I... can't breathe!

I can't move!

Welcome to the briny deep.