Things really start to move in the third volume of Fighting Spirit. Ippo, having obtained his professional boxing license, has his first match in the ring, and the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship Tournament begins.

As the DVD starts, Ippo steps into the ring for his first pro boxing match. He's fighting a more experienced fighter whose on his way down, but still a tough competitor who has some very strong reasons for wanting to win the match.

After his introductory bout, Ippo has another match before he starts training for the Rookie Tournament. This is the event that the show has been building up to, and it promises to be an interesting tournament. The volume ends with a two part episode that chronicles Ippo's first match in the tournament.

This series has developed very well. They have been able to make Ippo's a good boxer with a lot of potential, but not invincible. They give him realistic faults and manage to make the fights even and exciting. Every opponent that Ippo faces is good and after winning several bouts, Ippo's matches are still gripping. They make the matches exciting and prevent them from being redundant and boring.

Another aspect to the show that I enjoy is they give Ippo's opponents a background story. Each of the men he fights has a strong reason for winning, sometimes even stronger than Ippo's. Most of the fighters have the "fighting spirit" and the fact that both opponents are hungry adds a lot of excitement to the show.

The show also does a good job of mixing things up so that every episode isn't solely concerned with Ippo training. There is an amusing episode where the bullies at school who used to taunt Ippo find out that he's a boxer. They are all boxing fans, and after seeing one of his bouts, decide that they want to be Ippo's buddy.

I'm not a boxing fan, but this show really holds my interest. It does a great job of not only communicating the strategy and techniques of boxing, but also the excitement that fans of the sport feel. A fun show that even non-sports fans should check out.

This volume includes another five episodes on a single sided DVD. I was happily surprised that Geneon continued to pack this DVD with five shows, they often cut it down to four starting with the second disc.

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 didn't have a blooper reel like the previous two volumes had. The only extras that were included are previews to three other series: New Getter Robo, Dokkoida, and eX-Driver (sic.)

Final Thoughts:

This show continues to be very entertaining and enjoyable. The series is paced well, and has just the right amount of humor to lighten the mood. Though I'm not a boxing fan, I find myself impatiently awaiting the release of the next volume. A very high Recommendation.