The A-Class Tournament gets underway in the ninth volume of Fighting Spirit.  Ippo is entered, of course, but some problems at home may more difficult to overcome than his toughest opponents in the ring.  This is another exciting volume with some good drama and just the right amount of humor.  One of the unsung series of 2005, it's able to maintain an interesting story so far and shows no signs of slowing down.

Series Synopsis:

Ippo Makunouchi is a high school student who is constantly harassed by a group of bullies.  When a professional boxer, Takamura, saves him from a beating Ippo decides that he wants to be a boxer too.  Spending just about all of his time doing manual labor at his families boat rental company Ippo is already quite strong but untrained and awkward.  He's taken under Takamura's wing though, and it is soon discovered that Ippo has a good amount of natural talent and the stamina that is needed to become a great boxer.

Over the course of the last few volumes, Ippo has trained, honed his natural talent and turned pro.  Entering the rookie tournament, Ippo doesn't seem like a contender, but he ends up winning not only the tournament but also wins the MVP award.  He's now ranked 10th in the country, but his career has only started.

This volume:

A lot of exciting things are happening at the gym.  Ippo's student, nick-named Barf-michi, takes the exam to get his boxing license and does well.  The A-class tournament is coming up, and Ippo's been entered.  If he wins, he'll be in the running to take on the champ.  Unfortunately, Ippo has more to worry about than just training.  His mother has fallen ill due to overwork, and Ippo has to skip training camp before the tournament in order to keep the family business going.

With professional boxing paying so little, Ippo isn't sure what to do.  He loves boxing, but his mother's health is much more important.  Even if she gets better, her work load will just land her in the hospital again.  That leaves Ippo with no choice but to quit boxing.

After Ippo gets some help from an unexpected corner, he gets ready for the A-class tournament.  He only has two win two rounds the take the tournament, but Ippo's fighting with a higher class of boxer this time.  His first opponent is, Saeki, a fighter who is very fast in the ring and is able to dodge all of the punches that Ippo throws.  He's got a powerful right, but it doesn't matter if he can't land a blow.  Once again Makunouchi has to rely on his inner strength, his fighting spirit, to get through the match.

This is one of the shows that I really look forward to.  The boxing matches in this series are very exciting, but they also do a great job of breaking things up so they don't get monotonous.  The short story arc about Ippo having to take over the family business was a nice change and also set up plot elements for the rest of the series.  Even after nine volumes, the momentum of this series is still going strong.  A very fun series.

This volume includes an ample five episodes on a single sided DVD.

Audio:

I viewed this DVD while listening to both the English stereo dub and the original stereo Japanese soundtrack. I preferred the original track, but only slightly. The dub was very good, with the voice actors not overplaying their rolls as they often do when dubbing anime. Both audio tracks sounded a little thin, but otherwise very nice. There was limited use made of the soundstage, but when there were directional effects they were very effective. Hiss and distortion were nonexistent, making this a pleasure to listen to.   There was also a Spanish dub in stereo.

Video:

The full frame image was very clean and clear. The colors were bright and varied. The picture has a good amount of detail with the lines being tight and clean. Digital defects were minimal, though there was some light aliasing.  A very good-looking DVD.

Extras:

Unfortunately, this disc doesn't have any extras on it aside from a few previews.  I really wish they had included a blooper reel like the first two volumes had.

Final Thoughts:

This is another good volume in a fun series.  Ippo's problems at home are a good counter-point to the problems he has in the ring.  Of course, the boxing matches are a lot of fun too.  This is a show that has a lot of heart and comes Highly Recommended.