animaechan - [Hajime no Ippo] Episode 48 & 49 LAST REACTION?? (maybe not, after all...)

I AM SORRY. In the video I end up feeling "I JUST CAN'T keep watching this". If you choose to watch it still, you will see at the start of this video I was excited and really thought I was "adjusted" to what kind of show it is now, but I am just NOT

Watch my reaction on Google Drive or Rumble

1:19:39 in the video and onwards should be avoided by those who are not caught up with the manga, after deciding to drop it I looked up some things and turns out my negative feelings/concerns were honestly fine to have and actually "validated" by the show I'd say

TL;DR (AI, mostly spoiler free summary) is posted in the image above. If you want to hear my full rambling 4 a.m. internal struggle, see below (only half of it happened during the video, then I sat for 30 min thinking about it, then I sat for an hour trying to write it all out.

[spoilers past this point, don't keep reading if you are not caught up with the manga]

Despite the fact that things turned out the way I "hoped" for the interest of the story/character development (Ippo does face the harsh reality of losing) and Ippo's career even ends exactly the way I thought it would if this was reality (I read that the average retiring age of a boxer is like 37, so Ippo had to retire early due to how hard he pushed his body)... despite now knowing those things, I don't think I could have sat through 50+ or however many more episodes to reach that point... it was too hard to watch while not knowing the story would EVENTUALLY get back to being as real as it felt to me in those first 20 or so eps

I still had so much fun with Takamura and Ichiro (and many othres) and I would really love to see more of them and I would "love" to see Ippo's losses to be honest and how he handles them. So a little part of me wants to continue and eventually read the manga too

To give an example... Even when having the worst kind of arguments with Yaegerists while watching AOT, I could eventually shrug them off and keep watching, because I trusted the author to write an ending that acknowledges the reality of certain decisions made by the main character, and to be blunt, to validate my opinions that yaegerists kept shitting on I didn't just trust the mangaka based on nothing though, I felt like the story conveyed it well and the ending was like a natural conclusion to what had been built up before.

I can't say the same for Hajime no Ippo. The way that the anime has framed Coach Kamogawa and Ippo's approach for the last while, I honestly didn't believe in it and I didn't trust the story to be as "real" as I felt those first 20 episodes were (sorry to keep hammering on about that).

After a certain point (and I acknowledged this in my reviews) some characters briefly mentioned the ethics and concerns I had been struggling with, but it was brushed aside along with major injuries that seemed to heal quickly with little to no repercussions. And episode 49 was the last straw for me... however, knowing how things eventually turn out (after spoiling myself) I'm almost intrigued enough to keep watching to see when/how it shifts gears.

And lets be honest, the only time I ever felt like dropping it is during some of Ippo's big fights. The training, the side characters, the visuals and music - I enjoy it so much and I still think my reactions could be worth it!

Ippo believes in Kamogawa, that much I don't have a problem with. What I struggle with is that the anime itself props it all up on a pedestal, like this is the way!! DATTEBAYOO! I think it would have been honestly amazing if Ippo had lost here and realized that believing in yourself and pushing harder and harder is not viable long term...

In real life though, people often "learn the lesson" too late. The rules of boxing has changed over time ONLY because the mistakes were already made. How many people had to die before they changed the maximum amount of rounds from 15 to 12?

The point is - I don't mind if a story shows a character doing things I don't agree with (pushing a young boxer with his whole futured ahead of him this far). It's just tough to sit through while doing reactions if I am utterly unconvinced by the narrative. It's not like I like posting negative reactions after all :((

Anyway. It's 4h30 in the morning, so that's all I can muster up to say, but actually I am thinking to keep watching after all. I might not have trusted the story for a while, but after spoiling myself I'm very curious where/when it started to shift and if they ever addressed the potential mistakes that were made here?

but it's too late. I am so tired. I will decide tomorrow.