So once upon a time a friend of mine on tumblr made a post wishing more people would watch this show, and I decided to give it a try.

It only took one or two episodes for me to NOT regret that decision. A shounen boxing anime is about as far from Magical Girl as you can get, but it's definitely one of the best anime I've watched in a long time outside that genre.

The highest point in the show is the main character, Ippo. He's not one of those idiot protagonists that can get on one's nerves like Luffy or Naruto, and he's not a delinquent jerk like Yusuke or Ichigo. He's a very nice, considerate and modest guy, and not a psychological case like Shinji.

And this isn't one of those world shattering super powers shows. The main guy's physical strength comes from a spending most of his time helping his mom with her job of loading fishing boats. Aside from that it's all normal. 

Best of all, the fighting is actually well animated. It's not one of those shows that uses stock footage or streaks of lines to show that the characters are moving faster than people can see.

I'm only about six episodes in but I'm definitely gonna keep watching.

That is one of the best sports anime I have ever seen, bar none. Also one of the best protagonists. One point of caution though; if you want to read the manga it has 1056 chapters. That was a long haul to get though...

I don't really read manga anyway, so that's fine.

For an anime like this, with an emphasis on sports, I would definitely prefer seeing it as an anime. If it's something like a slice of life schoolgirl affair, manga is the way to go.

I actually got around to watching things last night! And this was one of them. After finishing the first season proper months ago, I finally got around to watching "Episode 76" the special bonus episode revolving around Takamura's past and how he became a boxer.

Lots of laughs as expected. Takamura was such a prick even back then, and that makes it all the more satisfying when he doesn't get his way. I have to say though it's surprising how easy things go for him, he just has a natural talent and he's already incredibly strong. He wins constantly with so little effort that if he were a woman, you KNOW he'd get labeled a Mary Sue.

Next is the Champion Road movie and as soon as I stir up the motivation, I'll be watching that.