Beats that awe and inspire.
Every now and then, I’ll do a mini follow-up to my I Really Like This Thing articles. This is usually when I feel like there’s something about it that I really want to talk about, but that didn’t fit – due to length or consistency concerns – in the original piece.
For this first one, I’ll be talking about the music of Hajime no Ippo, and its importance to the storytelling of the anime.
What makes for a good soundtrack?
The obvious first answer is that the songs themselves must be pretty awesome. Can’t make a delicious stew with rotten ingredients, right?
But what transforms a playlist of nice songs into a great soundtrack is how they simply make sense – to each other, to the subject matter, and even down to specific moments in the show or game.
It’s a matter of value adding and enhancing.
With that in mind, as a follow up to its original I Really Like This Thing post, I’d like to put the spotlight on the Hajime no Ippo soundtrack.
Openings
Of course, we’ve got to start with the first thing you see and hear.
Opening 1: Under Star
We actually… do not begin with one that checks all the above criteria! What you’ll come to realize is that the series soundtrack suffers heavily from Engrish – there’s a fair amount of misused English words that don’t seem to make sense.
That said, I still feel that this song does well as the very first intro song to the series. Putting the lyrics aside, the emotion that the vocals convey is one of desperation. It’s the same desperation Ippo has to become strong. He’s been weak all his life, and after being rescued by Takamura, he sees a chance to finally leave that behind, and he’ll do whatever he can to not let that opportunity slip.
Opening 2: Inner Light
MUCH better! Although the lyrics still don’t really fit all that well, this intro begins STRONG.
Ippo is clearly much stronger and much more confident now. This opening started being used just as the anime was gearing up to follow Ippo’s road to the Japan Featherweight Title.
He’s no newbie trying to shake off the loser tag anymore – he’s an up and coming contender.
The visuals are strong too – it shows the many opponents he faces along the journey, and that he might get knocked down, but he’s never giving up.
Without spoiling too much, the title of the song and the way Ippo’s eyes light up in green at the end hint towards (awesome) events to come.
Opening 3: Tumbling Dice
Short but sweet, and without vocals. In my opinion, this works as a little bit of kick to add to the main course that was Opening 2.
Visuals-wise, we’re well into the action now. Opening 2 showed him getting ready to start on the path to national glory; here, he’s right in the thick of things.
A lot of emphasis is placed on his biggest rival, Sendo Takeshi, too.
(Sendo is amazing and is strongly-written enough to be a protagonist in his own right, but that’s a story for another day.)
Opening 4: 霹靂 (“Hekireki” / “Thunder”)
The intro of the second season, Hekireki works well as a re-introduction to the world. The song paces a whirlwind refresher course of a video, eager to bring us right back to the action.
The visuals take us back to the basics of training – we see Ippo doing his roadwork and in the gym – before reminding us that he’s well and truly a professional now. We even get the privilege of being “knocked out” by him at the end, of all things.
We also get glimpses into the secondary storylines featuring other boxers, highlighted by the Takamura v. Hawk fight I mentioned in the first article.
Opening 5: 夜間飛行 (“Yakan Hikou” / “Night Flight”)
My personal close-second favourite behind Inner Light, Yakan Hikou is the opening for the third (and thus far final) season of the anime.
Spoiler alert: Ippo is the Japan Featherweight champion now*. The challenge now lies in defending his title against opponents who have dissected and figured out his techniques and tactics.
(*Remember: knowing that he’s the champ isn’t the real spoiler. How he became the champ is more important, and something I won’t talk about.)
I love this song, as the chorus screams of a deep desire to soar and succeed, despite all the obstacles and difficulties to overcome:
飛んでいくんだ 飛んでいくんだ
I’m flying, I’m flying
ほら
See
一等星が 一等星が見えた
The first star, I saw the first star
泣いているんだ 泣いているんだ ほら
I’m crying
一緒なんだ 一緒なんだ僕も
Together, together with me
夢のようなこの世界が
This dream-like world
僕らを待つんだ 僕らを待つんだ
Will wait for us
It speaks to Ippo’s neverending goal to get better, and his willingness to put every bit of him into doing so.
My personal favourite detail of the visuals: when Coach Kamogawa slams his fists on the ring mat, I get chills every time. One can only dream of having someone so dedicated to your growth and well-being, who will make the hard decisions with you (and not just for you).
The best closers
夕空の紙飛行機 (“Yuuzora No Kami Hikouki” / “Evening Sky’s Paper Airplane”)
A song of hope and heart, and one that points to a better tomorrow to come.
ぶちこめ (“Buchikome” / “Beating”)
I like the energy of this one, and it’s fun seeing more characters “joining” Ippo on his run as the song goes on.
(Note: I might be making a mistake with this translation – it might actually be 打ち込め, which means “driving”. I think both meanings still work though.)
Special mention theme song
Black and Blue
I mentioned Sendo Takeshi earlier. I won’t be able to do him justice in such a short blurb, but he is definitely one of the best characters in the whole series.
Unerringly one-minded in his quest to be the best, he is a ferocious competitor in the ring (hence his nickname, The Tiger of Naniwa) and a breath of honest fresh air outside of it.
His theme song encapsulates his approach: menacing to begin, before a complete eruption of almost-unhinged force and power that aims to kill.
The tone-setters
Most of the songs in this last video are used in “in-between” parts of the anime – pre-fight entrances, non-crucial moments within matches, and so on.
They might not be highlight pieces, but they play as strong a role as any in the storytelling of Hajime no Ippo. They convey the weight of the moment, build up to grander events, or set the tone.
Music and sound design play an absolutely crucial role in the overall experience of a show or video game, or anything else that incorporates them.
And that’s the key word: experience. Each part of a piece of content matters – visuals, gameplay, writing, music.
The truly special ones are those that mesh all these together in a way that makes sense, in a way that is complementary. It’s not just a television show or a video game anymore – it’s a whole-ass experience.
Hajime no Ippo is one of those special ones.
Give it a shot, you won’t regret it.