Even though it has been going twice as long as most anime series, the eleventh volume of Fighting Spirit finds the show still going strong.  Ippo has been climbing the boxing ladder for the whole series, and now has his first chance at a title belt.  Fighting the champ isn't going to be easy though, and defeating him will be even more difficult.  There's some great boxing and a fair share of comic relief in this volume of Fighting Spirit.

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:

The disc starts out with a light episode.  Ippo won his last bout, but he ended up in the hospital anyway.  While he was convalescing, his boxing buddies have shown up at the hospital everyday.  Not to visit Ippo so much as to ogle the nurses.  When he gets out the fighters and the nurses all go on a group date, but who will end up taking the ugly nurse home?

After a clip show that covers the past couple of dozen shows, the show gets new opening and closing songs and the focus changes, for one episode, to Ippo's next big opponent, Eiji Date.  Date (pronounced Dah-tay) was a great fighter, until he flew to Mexico for a world title bout that he lost.  When he got back to Japan, he discovered that his wife had a fall and lost the child she was pregnant with.  He quit the ring after that and became a salaryman.  But he was never happy with that.  An interesting story that really develops Eiji's character.

Getting back to Ippo, he starts getting nervous about his title match that's coming up.  Do champions have something that other boxers don't?  Does he have that magic something? Is he going to psyche himself out before the match even begins?

The volume wraps up with match that the series has been building up to:  Makunouchi fighting the strongest boxer in Japan for the title, Eiji Date.  Ippo is still young and has time to bounce back from a defeat, so there is a chance that he'll loose.  The battle isn't finished on this volume, and the next installment promises to be a great one.

This is one of those series that just whizzes by.  Even with five episodes per disc, the time just flies by.  One of the things that I really enjoy about this show are the secondary characters.  They've spent time developing them and they add a lot of charm to the show.  The Chief, Ippo's coach, is my favorite character, a grouchy old man with a heart of gold who is really knowledgeable and a gifted trainer.  The other boxers are used for comic relief and often lighten the mood.  This is a long series, but the use of well developed supporting characters really makes it enjoyable.

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 (which are in Japanese with no subtitles.  What's the point in that?)  I really wish they had included a blooper reel like the first two volumes had.

Final Thoughts:

This volume is a great example of why Fighting Spirit is such a fun series.  There's a good mixture of shows, some comic in tone and others more serious.  There's a light touch of romance, and a good dose of action.  This is one of those shows that I always pop into the player as soon as it arrives.  Highly Recommended.