Fighting Spirit: Rising

I first got into the original manga during my homestay in Hiroshima back in 2001, and my host brother had the entirety of the manga at that time (which is still in serialization to this day in 2026!). Upon, finishing where the manga was at the time, it was the Ippo Vs Sawamura fight. It would still be a while before I would get to see the anime, and it was the fight I wanted to see the most in anime form! Considering how impressive it was without the movement of animation, you could only imagination how it would look if it were animated. It took me more than ten years to see the fight animated, and it did not disappoint. Madhouse does a great job of demonstrating the stakes in this by showing the dichotomy of Sawamura's twisted aggressiveness (who isn't afraid to throw the occasional headbutt or kick), with Ippo's determination. The animation, voice acting, music, and coloring does a perfect job of magnifying these qualities than even if you had read this fight through the original manga, it would still feel like your're watching it your first time. My main gripe is that this episode at the end inexcusably removes the scene in the hospital of when Sendo reveals why Sawamura's teacher cares about him so much. The anime still has Sawaba-sensei, his math teacher from junior high still having a presence in his life despite now being 22. However, there is a good reason revealed in the manga why Sawabe-sensei still cares about Sawamura and it was heartbreaking that it was cut out. In case you wanted to know and don't want to read the manga, it's because Sawabe-sensei grew up in foster care like he did. But if you just want to watch it for a great fight, then this is it. It knows hows to pace the fight well and how Ippo comes up with a new variation of the Dempsey Roll.

This episode slows the pace after an intense match and focuses heavily on character psychology. Instead of action, we get reflection and it works surprisingly well.