© George Morikawa, Kodansha
This year's 20th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine revealed on Wednesday that George Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo boxing manga will be on hiatus this week in preparation for the magazine's 21st compilation and second double issue. 22.
K MANGA publishes the series in English and describes the series:
What does it feel like to be strong? That's the question on the mind of Ippo Makunouchi, a clumsy and often bullied high school student. But when he comes across professional boxer Mamoru Takamura, it's not long before the explosives in his fist are released! Dreaming of matching Takamura at the professional level, Ippo joins him at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym—and there his quest for true strength begins, in and out of the ring!
The series celebrated reaching over 100 million copies in circulation in July.
Morikawa launched Hajime no Ippo in 1989, and the series is his only manga.
The manga was adapted into a television anime in 2000, followed by Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger sequel in 2009 and Hajime no Ippo Rising sequel in 2013. The series also draws inspiration from the series special movie Hajime no Ippo-Champion Road and original anime video Hajime no Ippo-Mashiba vs. Kimura in 2003. Geneon Entertainment released the first anime television season on DVD in North America before the company ceased operations in 2007.
Discotek licensed the first anime and is releasing the series on Blu-ray Disc. Crunchyroll is streaming the original anime adaptation and Hajime no Ippo Rising.
The manga inspired the first stage play adaptation in 2020.
Kodansha began publishing the manga digitally in 2021. The manga's 140th compiled book volume was released on February 16. The first 110 volumes of the manga are available on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket website.
Source: Weekly Shōnen Magazine issue 20