The final round of the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship tournament takes place at last in the sixth volume of Fighting Spirit. Ippo's dream for most of the series has been to win this tournament, but he's facing a tough opponent; Mashiba and his "flicker jabs". With the show only half way through, this final round could go either way, which makes for an exciting volume.

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 family's 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.

In the course of his training, Ippo gets a rival, the up and coming star Ichiro Miyata. They are both strong fighters, and promise each other that they'll meet in the final round of the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship Tournament to determine who is really the best. When Ichiro loses in the semi-final round to an outstanding opponent though, Ippo realizes that the final bout will be much tougher than he expected.

This volume:

Ippo has worked hard and has made it to the final round of the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship tournament. Though Ichiro isn't there to battle him, someone even stronger is: the tall and lanky Mashiba. Mashiba's speciality are his "flicker jabs", fast and deadly punches that seem to come from out of nowhere. They've served him well in the past and they should be especially effective on Ippo who is a close-in fighter. How will he be able to close with Mashiba's long reach and quick reflexes?

This fight takes up the first three tension-filled episodes, and after that things lighten up a bit. A new character is introduced, Sendo. This "Rocky of Naniwa" is an interesting person who wants to really push himself to a higher level of boxing. To that end he spars with Takamura, but the simple sparring session soon turns into a full fledged fight.

This was a great disc. The final battle between Ippo and Mashiba was really thrilling because the advantage seemed to flow from one side to the other with each round. The fact that Mashiba beat Miyata in the previous volume only adds to the excitement. There isn't any guarantee that Ippo will win the championship either. This series is only halfway done, and Ippo is ripe for a defeat. Plotting wise it would make sense, and there are many Japanese sports series where the main character or team doesn't win. So this is really anyone's fight.

This show really is a great anime series, and I'm sorry more people aren't talking about it. It has drama, action, and comedy and mixes them well. They are able to make the show exciting and keep the tension high even when a bout lasts through multiple episodes. If you've been following the show this far, you'll really enjoy this volume.

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. (Yes, I'm going to complain about this until it returns.)

Final Thoughts:

This is probably the best anime show that is currently being released that you aren't watching. There's a lot of suspense and tension, a good amount of humor and some surprises thrown in too. A very enjoyable show that deserves to seen more widely. Highly Recommended.