BigDumbOhFace

I first got into the series because of a bunch of Let's Players I subbed on Youtube liked talking about it.  That channel is called "TheSw1tcher".  They, especially Matt, talked about how hype it was so I went and checked it out.

Story

Kind and gentle Ippo Makunochi is usually left out at school because he's helping his mom with the family business since his father passed.  Because he's always singled out, he is often bullied.  On one fateful day, he is saved by a man named Takamura Mamorou, who is also a professional boxer.  After being saved, Ippo decided to completely change his life and become a pro boxer as well even though he knows nothing of the sport.  It's a really good underdog story.  It's something you can't just not dislike.  A really nice guy who has sacraficed his life for his loved ones really deserves something that makes him happy.

Art

Basic shounen stile.  Big thick heavy lines.  I"ve definitely grown acustomed too.  Kind of want something new but it's fine because it works for me.  There's this one thing about sports mangas to me.  It's hard to display multiple actions with just pictures.  It's a lot better seeing the action fully performed instead of picture by picture.  Boxing is somewhat different though.  Pictures somehow work for it.  It's probably because boxing is a spectator's sport, though.  I'm not entire sure.

Characters

What can I say?  Ippo is just so likeable.  Maybe he's a bit too likeable.  He's a true nice guy and has done nothing bad, really.  One moment was when he first started fighting and after he won, he bowed to the crowd and said, "thank you."  The crowd couldn't help but appreciate how much ofa good guy he is.  Elsewhere everyone pretty good.  Kamogawa as the surrogate father of Ippo and all those who attend his gym is areally nice.  Takamura as the big man on campus is really funny but he's really douchey at time.

Overall

Really good manga.  The story telling is really done right.  Although it's almost 1100 chapters it doesn't really seem much as there's a bunch of 10page chapters.  That does get really annoying since it doesn't come out on a regular basis.  That's all I want more from this manga: consistent releases and no kimping out those rleases.