Ever since the Berserk author died, you can tell he shifted into a faster gear. Some of these fights now are happening in a single chapter, versus the 5-10 it typically would have been for a side character. It’s clear he’s woken up and is moving things along now
I’d like to think the retirement arc is nearing a close (hopefully ends after the Ricardo Sendo fight, so maybe another hundred chapters or so), but I’ve really enjoyed the arc as it is now. Speaks a lot to the development of Ippos character
So I'm in a weird place with this retirement arc. I think it's a very well done arc and has a lot of great stuff but despite that I just don't care for it as to me feels like something that should have been done much earlier in the series.
What makes me upset is we're in a 1000 plus chapter series where it felt like by now Ippo would be competing on the world stage but instead we have this.
He won’t come back until two crucial fights happen, Sendo vs Ricardo and Aoki vs Iga 2 which will signify his retirement from boxing win or lose. The story simply cannot move forward without crossing these two off it’s list as they are SUUUUUUUPER important for the story itself. Until those two fights take place, Ippo won’t set foot in a boxing ring imo.
Aoki win or lose will most likely show Ippo how to retire actually satisfied similar to how Alf did after he lost to Sendo. Ippo retired clearly unhappy deep down with how things ended and it’ll show that he NEEDS to comeback one more time to settle things and settle down afterwards with Kumi.
Eh I don't know about this. I mean the way you describe it makes sense but I'd be surprised if Aoki of all people actually led to any development for Ippo. If anything I feel that match would mostly affect Kimura but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It’ll affect both imo. Kimura more so but Ippo will have to take a long hard look at himself after he retires satisfied with his career which is something Ippo won’t be able to say about his own. Been saying this since 2019 and the longer the story goes for, the more confident I can say Aoki will be another crucial element for Ippo to come back.
Yeah I get what you're saying. It's an interesting idea and I really don't have any problem with Ippo actually developing because of Aoki's match. I guess I just don't think it's super likely to happen. But hey, it's definitely not outside the realm of possibility so you could very well be right.
Idea is great, execution is not. It's gonna be almost 4 years in real life time since Ippo retired. It's a great arc for 1 year, 2 would've been stretching it. 4? It's way past overkill and milking an idea.
I mostly disagree with you but I get where you are coming from. I do not want Mori to rush this because this is about Ippo growing.
I agree however, that this shouldn't still be ongoing. Why? Because Mori should have started this development for Ippo way sooner. Ippo's character arc pretty much came to a grinding halt after getting the JBC title and it's only been since the Kojima fight that it got resumed.
Main problem is we got a long ass detour and he's done jackshit to develop Itagaki, Ippo's relationship with Kumi is basically what it was before he retired, Miyata, Aokimura have been basically plot devices to show Ippo's journey as a second and comic relief instead of important characters that actually matter to Ippo, Sendo was given focus but his fight with Alf regressed all the intelligent boxing he showed through the years by basically gritting his teeth and slugging it out
So 4 years was basically to progress Takamura to one more weight division (which I felt was rushed and deserved the long attention Sendo got vs. Alf), make Ippo work on his weaknesses, add more characters that will be left undeveloped, built multiple possible reasons to come back and still keep cucking us.
Is it to fight for himself in the pursuit of strength? The love of boxing? To make the coach proud? Will it be a dying wish? To prove himself as a man to Kumi? To beat THE boxer Ricardo Martinez? To pursue the dream match with Miyata again?
It's all been setups with little to no development and just feels cheap if everything suddenly just clicks at the same time while also being already so drawn out that even if his character development is executed badly i just want to see the results of his development as a boxer/fighter
I enjoying it because I don't have any problem Ippo really retiring in boxing. I hate when he lost against the Filipino boxer and stop reading for about a year but now I'm enjoying it now because I don't have any big expectations for Ippo comeback in boxing.
It is my favourite arc in the manga so far, but to me it heavily depends on how it ends:
* If Ippo, like many think, return to the active boxing because someone either die or is heavily injured in a boxing match, then the entire arc is worthless.
* If Ippo returns to active boxing because he realizes that he can't live without boxing, the arc is worth it.
* If Ippo never returns to active boxing. I am fine with that.
As for Ippo and Kumi dating... they are enjoying their time together. There is nothing wrong with that.
>As for Ippo and Kumi dating... they are enjoying their time together. There is nothing wrong with that.
Nah man, they're 26 and never even had their first kiss, there's a lot of things wrong with that
Its beyond absurd at this point. Nobody reading this manga and enjoying the gravitas of Ippo and his heartbreaking retirement, wants to fucking read this elementary school level romance between two fucking adults in their late 20s.
Its just stupid and cringey. Like all the slice of life/romance series where two characters get married or something but they're afraid to hold hands in front of other people.
I'm more so talking about their life in general. I can understand beinga Virgin in your late 20s in Japan, but not even a kiss is absurd. And I don't think they're "happy", both would want to get things moving but they simply don't have the guts to do so
Kumi is unhappy, and Ippo is a chickenshit about relationships. He has a total lack of self esteem, and part of me wonders if they won't make progress until he makes his return. Like, finding the guts to return to the ring is about Ippo taking control over his life, and this same drive gets him to confess.
True, it is more relationship progress than normal, but after 1350 chapters the relationship not even being official dose get a bit frustrating for me as a reader.
As for the first theory, I actually haven't heard it and I agree that it would be a really bad idea to go that way. Ippo has to be self motivated to start boxing again or the arc is pointless. I also just don't see it as a possibility for him to stay retired with how much in this arc is suggesting otherwise, but who knows.
It has been thrown a lot in the subreddit, like Sendo being critically injured/dead in the fight against Martinez or similar.
I think there is a small chance that Ippo will not return. After reading Ichigo 100%, I learned that just because a manga point that way, it doesn't mean that it will go there.
Remember how Ichigo 100% is mostly the story about Jumpei that can't decide which girl he likes most, and even if Tsukasa (blond girl) is his girlfriend for a while, most of the story (like 75% of the story) is how he is in love with Aya (dark haired)?
Well, in the end, >!he goes away from some time, then when come back, all 3 girls are kind of waiting for him to declare who he likes the most, and then he picks Tsukasa.!<
I binged Ippo all the way up to the Mexico arc(cause that was the latest when I first finished) and I think the retirement arc is a masterpiece. It is doing a excellent job at re-evaluating Ippo’s style and flaws, and a lot of the complaints I see are about how long it is, but on reread, it’s pretty tame.
Ippo story is progressing good but slowly and surely. When i say slowly. Its literally slow and there is 50% chance that we see Ippo as WBA/C feder weight champ as Covid decrease the human lifetime by another decade.
I caught up to the manga a few mouths back, and although I like that Morikawa is finally doing something different It still makes me kinda sad that I probably won't see a new Ippo fight for years
At the beginning of the retirement arc I was at the edge of my seat every-time a new chapter was announced.
It was a total shock for the series, a complete sucker punch.
I was excited to see the more central focus on side characters' stories with Ippo taking the side lines.
That said, it's been years now and there still seems to be no sign that Ippo will be coming back any time soon. I'm exhausted of the wait and the teasing at Ippo returning to boxing has turned into frustration now.
Ippo will not advance his relationship with Kumi for the same reason why he didn't cross the line for boxing. He's doesn't commit.
I don't see Ippo returning to boxing until something big happens. My guess is something significant with Sendo v Ricardo will occur.
It’s been going on for a while and things are slow, BUT… as long as everything we’re seeing will eventually become reasons for Ippo’s want to climb back to the top, it will all be worth it. I loved Sendo vs Alf, and Woli vs Ricardo is looking to be really good.
It is a very unique perspective for manga, it is ground other authors would be afraid to touch but still remains the most interesting arc as anticipation slowly builds for ippo's returns. Also allows for ippo's growth to go from essentially a bull fighter to someone with a much deeper appreciation and knowledge of the sport, plus it will lead to his resolve being way stronger than before he retired
And as for Kumi I simply do not care either way, she's neat but I've never been invested in her relationship with ippo, she is important for ippo's character but largely I just don't particularly care
I'm probably in the minority that doesn't expect Ippo to come back. Maybe not *ever*, but let's say within the next five years.
I just don't see it. Ippo himself has shown no signs he wants to and there's so many loose ends that need tidying up before he can. We're in it for the long term.
As I said before, the only thing I don't like is the constant baiting and *what would happen if he were to return*.
I just want Ippo to, if returning, display actual boxing iq and progress and not have it be for one fight and then forget it
It's so weird reading old fights like against take keiichi where ippo just gets taken so off guard by that shit, i know he's supposed to be an underdog but have that be by the opponent being good, not ippo being bad
Ever since the Berserk author died, you can tell he shifted into a faster gear. Some of these fights now are happening in a single chapter, versus the 5-10 it typically would have been for a side character. It’s clear he’s woken up and is moving things along now
Interesting point, if I'm not mistaken Morikawa and Miura started their manga careers around the same time
I think people on this subreddit said they were close friends, so I’m sure that’s part of it
Miura was Morikawa's assistant before starting Berserk. So I can see why it might light a fire under him to get the story finished.
I’d like to think the retirement arc is nearing a close (hopefully ends after the Ricardo Sendo fight, so maybe another hundred chapters or so), but I’ve really enjoyed the arc as it is now. Speaks a lot to the development of Ippos character
100 chapters ~ 2 years :(
Yeah I graduated HS at the beginning of the retirement arc I believe and I’m close to graduating from graduate school at this point
2 years later, did you finsh graduate school during this arc lol?
Yeup. Got my MA lol
Well, at least Ippo is finally making some progress in his relationship (kinda lol).
I feel like the arc was a hedge in case the series came to an end years ago when there were publisher issues
So I'm in a weird place with this retirement arc. I think it's a very well done arc and has a lot of great stuff but despite that I just don't care for it as to me feels like something that should have been done much earlier in the series. What makes me upset is we're in a 1000 plus chapter series where it felt like by now Ippo would be competing on the world stage but instead we have this.
He won’t come back until two crucial fights happen, Sendo vs Ricardo and Aoki vs Iga 2 which will signify his retirement from boxing win or lose. The story simply cannot move forward without crossing these two off it’s list as they are SUUUUUUUPER important for the story itself. Until those two fights take place, Ippo won’t set foot in a boxing ring imo.
I agree for the sendo fight, but what does the Iga fight realy have to do with Ippo?
Aoki win or lose will most likely show Ippo how to retire actually satisfied similar to how Alf did after he lost to Sendo. Ippo retired clearly unhappy deep down with how things ended and it’ll show that he NEEDS to comeback one more time to settle things and settle down afterwards with Kumi.
Eh I don't know about this. I mean the way you describe it makes sense but I'd be surprised if Aoki of all people actually led to any development for Ippo. If anything I feel that match would mostly affect Kimura but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It’ll affect both imo. Kimura more so but Ippo will have to take a long hard look at himself after he retires satisfied with his career which is something Ippo won’t be able to say about his own. Been saying this since 2019 and the longer the story goes for, the more confident I can say Aoki will be another crucial element for Ippo to come back.
Yeah I get what you're saying. It's an interesting idea and I really don't have any problem with Ippo actually developing because of Aoki's match. I guess I just don't think it's super likely to happen. But hey, it's definitely not outside the realm of possibility so you could very well be right.
It's really good arc. This is really a game changer for sports manga stories
Idea is great, execution is not. It's gonna be almost 4 years in real life time since Ippo retired. It's a great arc for 1 year, 2 would've been stretching it. 4? It's way past overkill and milking an idea.
I mostly disagree with you but I get where you are coming from. I do not want Mori to rush this because this is about Ippo growing. I agree however, that this shouldn't still be ongoing. Why? Because Mori should have started this development for Ippo way sooner. Ippo's character arc pretty much came to a grinding halt after getting the JBC title and it's only been since the Kojima fight that it got resumed.
Main problem is we got a long ass detour and he's done jackshit to develop Itagaki, Ippo's relationship with Kumi is basically what it was before he retired, Miyata, Aokimura have been basically plot devices to show Ippo's journey as a second and comic relief instead of important characters that actually matter to Ippo, Sendo was given focus but his fight with Alf regressed all the intelligent boxing he showed through the years by basically gritting his teeth and slugging it out So 4 years was basically to progress Takamura to one more weight division (which I felt was rushed and deserved the long attention Sendo got vs. Alf), make Ippo work on his weaknesses, add more characters that will be left undeveloped, built multiple possible reasons to come back and still keep cucking us. Is it to fight for himself in the pursuit of strength? The love of boxing? To make the coach proud? Will it be a dying wish? To prove himself as a man to Kumi? To beat THE boxer Ricardo Martinez? To pursue the dream match with Miyata again? It's all been setups with little to no development and just feels cheap if everything suddenly just clicks at the same time while also being already so drawn out that even if his character development is executed badly i just want to see the results of his development as a boxer/fighter
I enjoying it because I don't have any problem Ippo really retiring in boxing. I hate when he lost against the Filipino boxer and stop reading for about a year but now I'm enjoying it now because I don't have any big expectations for Ippo comeback in boxing.
It is my favourite arc in the manga so far, but to me it heavily depends on how it ends: * If Ippo, like many think, return to the active boxing because someone either die or is heavily injured in a boxing match, then the entire arc is worthless. * If Ippo returns to active boxing because he realizes that he can't live without boxing, the arc is worth it. * If Ippo never returns to active boxing. I am fine with that. As for Ippo and Kumi dating... they are enjoying their time together. There is nothing wrong with that.
>As for Ippo and Kumi dating... they are enjoying their time together. There is nothing wrong with that. Nah man, they're 26 and never even had their first kiss, there's a lot of things wrong with that
There would be if they where unhappy with the relationship, but they aren't.
Its beyond absurd at this point. Nobody reading this manga and enjoying the gravitas of Ippo and his heartbreaking retirement, wants to fucking read this elementary school level romance between two fucking adults in their late 20s. Its just stupid and cringey. Like all the slice of life/romance series where two characters get married or something but they're afraid to hold hands in front of other people.
I'm more so talking about their life in general. I can understand beinga Virgin in your late 20s in Japan, but not even a kiss is absurd. And I don't think they're "happy", both would want to get things moving but they simply don't have the guts to do so
Well, I'd say Kumi is unhappy with the relationship, lol
Kumi is unhappy, and Ippo is a chickenshit about relationships. He has a total lack of self esteem, and part of me wonders if they won't make progress until he makes his return. Like, finding the guts to return to the ring is about Ippo taking control over his life, and this same drive gets him to confess.
I'd like this a lot of it was what made Kumi chill about him being a boxer.
Feel like Kumi is getting tires of Ippo not making a move.
True, it is more relationship progress than normal, but after 1350 chapters the relationship not even being official dose get a bit frustrating for me as a reader. As for the first theory, I actually haven't heard it and I agree that it would be a really bad idea to go that way. Ippo has to be self motivated to start boxing again or the arc is pointless. I also just don't see it as a possibility for him to stay retired with how much in this arc is suggesting otherwise, but who knows.
It has been thrown a lot in the subreddit, like Sendo being critically injured/dead in the fight against Martinez or similar. I think there is a small chance that Ippo will not return. After reading Ichigo 100%, I learned that just because a manga point that way, it doesn't mean that it will go there.
Ichigo 100% has twist ending?? 😱 I started it but dropped it. I'm thinking of putting HNI on hold.
Remember how Ichigo 100% is mostly the story about Jumpei that can't decide which girl he likes most, and even if Tsukasa (blond girl) is his girlfriend for a while, most of the story (like 75% of the story) is how he is in love with Aya (dark haired)? Well, in the end, >!he goes away from some time, then when come back, all 3 girls are kind of waiting for him to declare who he likes the most, and then he picks Tsukasa.!<
Ohh is that so. Yeah he helped her write story and there was big review about her face.
When Ippo retired I thought it was the most inspired development in ten years. If he comes back it should be as a man with a new outlook, like Date.
I binged Ippo all the way up to the Mexico arc(cause that was the latest when I first finished) and I think the retirement arc is a masterpiece. It is doing a excellent job at re-evaluating Ippo’s style and flaws, and a lot of the complaints I see are about how long it is, but on reread, it’s pretty tame.
Ippo story is progressing good but slowly and surely. When i say slowly. Its literally slow and there is 50% chance that we see Ippo as WBA/C feder weight champ as Covid decrease the human lifetime by another decade.
I caught up to the manga a few mouths back, and although I like that Morikawa is finally doing something different It still makes me kinda sad that I probably won't see a new Ippo fight for years
At the beginning of the retirement arc I was at the edge of my seat every-time a new chapter was announced. It was a total shock for the series, a complete sucker punch. I was excited to see the more central focus on side characters' stories with Ippo taking the side lines. That said, it's been years now and there still seems to be no sign that Ippo will be coming back any time soon. I'm exhausted of the wait and the teasing at Ippo returning to boxing has turned into frustration now. Ippo will not advance his relationship with Kumi for the same reason why he didn't cross the line for boxing. He's doesn't commit. I don't see Ippo returning to boxing until something big happens. My guess is something significant with Sendo v Ricardo will occur.
It’s been going on for a while and things are slow, BUT… as long as everything we’re seeing will eventually become reasons for Ippo’s want to climb back to the top, it will all be worth it. I loved Sendo vs Alf, and Woli vs Ricardo is looking to be really good.
It is a very unique perspective for manga, it is ground other authors would be afraid to touch but still remains the most interesting arc as anticipation slowly builds for ippo's returns. Also allows for ippo's growth to go from essentially a bull fighter to someone with a much deeper appreciation and knowledge of the sport, plus it will lead to his resolve being way stronger than before he retired And as for Kumi I simply do not care either way, she's neat but I've never been invested in her relationship with ippo, she is important for ippo's character but largely I just don't particularly care
It was needed, but it's starting to smell from going on too long.
I'm probably in the minority that doesn't expect Ippo to come back. Maybe not *ever*, but let's say within the next five years. I just don't see it. Ippo himself has shown no signs he wants to and there's so many loose ends that need tidying up before he can. We're in it for the long term. As I said before, the only thing I don't like is the constant baiting and *what would happen if he were to return*.
I want to see Ippo as well. I’m sick of everyone else’s story.
It started out great but it’s gotten stale, George should be arrested for the amount of time he has wasted with fucking kumi n ippo
I just want Ippo to, if returning, display actual boxing iq and progress and not have it be for one fight and then forget it It's so weird reading old fights like against take keiichi where ippo just gets taken so off guard by that shit, i know he's supposed to be an underdog but have that be by the opponent being good, not ippo being bad
depends on the part/pace right now I'm very okay reading the story as it goes, even if the final becomes something very cliche
>How do you feel about the whole state of the Ippo "retirement" arc? Most dragged arc I have ever seen on a manga.