News
Hajime no Ippo Stage Play Reveals Visuals, Video
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The official website for the first stage play adaptation of George Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo boxing manga revealed the staff, cast, visuals, a commercial, and performance dates on Wednesday. The play is titled Real Fighting Hajime no Ippo The Glorious Stage!!, and it will run at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Stellar Ball in Tokyo from January 31 to February 9.
Kohei Kiyasu, who voiced title character Ippo Makunouchi in the anime, is directing the play and writing the script. Shunsuke Wada (My Hero Academia, Naruto: Song of the Akatsuki stage productions) is composing the music.
Morikawa launched Hajime no Ippo in 1989, and the series is his only manga. Kodansha published the manga's 125th compiled book volume on July 17. Morikawa said in March, "when I think about the [story] material, I've probably only covered about half of it." He jokingly added that he is not planning to take another 30 years to get through the rest of the story, stating that it would be really troublesome.
The manga inspired a television anime adaptation in 2000, followed by the Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger sequel in 2009 and the Hajime no Ippo Rising sequel in 2013. The series also inspired the Hajime no Ippo - Champion Road special and the Hajime no Ippo - Mashiba vs. Kimura original video anime in 2003. Geneon Entertainment released the first television anime season on DVD in North America before the company ceased operations in 2007.
Sources: Real Fighting Hajime no Ippo The Glorious Stage!!'s website, Comic Natalie
