Fighting Spirit, known in Japan as Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩) is an anime television series based on the manga series written and illustrated by George Morikawa. The series was directed by Satoshi Nishimura and produced by Madhouse, Nippon Television and VAP. The series originally aired in Japan between October 2000 and March 27, 2002, consisting of 75 episodes. The series was released in North America on DVD by Geneon Entertainment Inc. between July 6, 2004 and December 19, 2006.
English Voice Cast
Main Cast
- Eddie Frierson - Mamoru Takamura
- Steve Cannon - Ippo Makunouchi
Secondary Cast
- George Z. Cole - Haruhiko Yagi
- Grant George - Tatsuya Kimura
- Jim Taggert - Masaru Aoki
- Richard Epcar - Genji Kamogawa
- Ron Allen - Masahiko Umezawa
Minor Cast
- Alfred Thor - Suzuki's Cornerman (ep45)
- Barbara Goodson - Volg (Childhood)
- Bob Papenbrook - Mikami
- Brandon Jones - Takuma Saeki
- D.C. Douglas - Aiko's Brother (ep53)
- Dave Mallow - Yanaoka
- David Lelyveld - Suzuki (ep45), Volg
- David Lodge - Shinoda
- Doug Erholtz - Takeshi Sendo
- Doug Stone - Referee
- Edward Zilla - Kenta Kobashi, Payao, Referee, Takemura
- George Z. Cole - Miyata's Father
- Hall Hollis - Ozma
- Hamilton Fox - Minoru Fujii, Yusuke Oda
- Helen Storm - Kimura's Mother (ep63), Tomiko
- Jason Palmer - Ichiro Miyata
- Jennifer Sekiguchi - Kumi Mashiba, Kumiko Morita (ep41), Megumi (ep51)
- Jim Taggert - Mr. Otowa (ep22)
- Joan Carol O'Connell - Hachinohe's Wife (ep13), Hiroko Makunouchi
- Marvin Lee - Okita
- Michael Sorich - Nakadai, Ramuda, Volg's Coach (ep45)
- Michelle Ruff - Mari Iimura, Reiko Mikami
- Midge Mayes - Aiko Date (ep53), Reiko (ep51)
- Mona Marshall - Chana, Dr. Yamaguchi, Manabu, Miyuki (ep63), Sendo's Grandmother, Volg's Mother (ep47)
- Nathan Smythe - Ryuichi Hayami
- Rafael Antonio - Eiji Date, Naomichi Yamada
- Richard George - Chairman Toho
- Robert Axelrod - Hachinohe
- Ron Allen - Chairman Kawahara (ep24), TV Announcer
- Steve Areno - Jimmy, Referee
- Steve Kramer - Mr. Yasuda, Suzuki (ep52)
- Terry Roberts - Matsuda, Ryo Mashiba
- Tony Tang - Ginpachi Nekota
Additional Voices (Uncredited)
- Beau Billingslea - Yoshio Fujiwara (ep12)
- Sam Riegel - Akira Shigeta