Hajime No Ippo Creator Celebrates Major Milestone With Shocking Announcement
Hajime no Ippo first began in 1998, following the story of a young boxer whose love of the sport has made him one of Japan's greatest boxers. The anime franchise is considered one of the biggest sports anime of all time, recently having a major influence on Hollywood with Michael B. Jordan's Creed 3. With the anime franchise having hit a major milestone recently, the creator of the series, George Morikawa celebrated the news with a surprising announcement of his own.
Hajime no Ippo has sold over one hundred million copies since it first premiered in the 1980s. Netting around 138 volumes for its manga, it should come as no surprise that Ippo's journey has also garnered quite a few anime projects in the past. The first anime series dropped in 2000 from Studio Madhouse, the production house responsible for the likes of Hunter x Hunter and Trigun to name a few. Hajime no Ippo's latest anime series debuted around ten years ago thanks to Hajime no Ippo: Rising, which netted 25 episodes. Unfortunately, the sports anime franchise hasn't confirmed if we'll be seeing Ippo making a comeback on the small screen, though Morikawa might just be giving plenty more material for a television series to cover.
Hajime no Ippo's Big Announcement
Mangaka George Morikawa celebrated the series major milestone not just with a new piece of art but also confirming that Ippo's story was far from over. While the manga artist had recently taken the opportunity to state that he already knew the ending to his series, it seems that will be quite a while away as Morikawa confirmed that the series is only halfway done.
Morikawa's official statement reads as such, "100 million copies, thank you very much. Thanks to all of you, I was able to come this far, thank you. The manga is still halfway through, so please continue to watch over Makunouchi Ippo and his friends."
Creed 3 wore its anime influence on its sleeve, with Michael B Jordan's directorial production having some major references to Hajime no Ippo. In Japan, the movie was accompanied by an anime short, as Amazon is currently working on new projects to expand on the universe of Adonis Creed.
Are you shocked that Hajime no Ippo is only halfway finished? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Ippo.
