Ippo is a show about a kid who has nothing but guts and keeps running into fighters who are smarter, faster, or just built different. Every title defense is a different kind of impossible. The real hit is watching him figure out how to win when his only advantage is refusing to quit, while his gym mates chase their own walls and sometimes crash into them.

Makunouchi Ippo has proven himself as Japan's featherweight champion, but holding the belt means facing an unrelenting gauntlet of fighters hungry to dethrone him. His signature Dempsey Roll has crushed opponent after opponent, yet the new wave of challengers insists they have found a way to beat it. Meanwhile, his Kamogawa Gym mates pursue their own goals: Takamura aims for a second world title in the middleweight division, while Aoki chases the Japanese lightweight crown with his Frog Punch. Coach Kamogawa and Nekota also look back on their own days as prizefighters after World War II. Mixing comedy and drama, this sports season keeps Ippo's quest to grow stronger in the harsh world of professional boxing at its center.