Anime · in order
Hajime no Ippo Watch Order
Five entries: three TV series, one TV film and one OVA, released 2000 to 2014. Release order is story order, and the two 2003 entries are canon fights, not skippable extras. The manga is still running after 145 volumes, so the anime is a beginning, not the whole story.
Hajime no Ippo Watch Order: complete list
Check off what you've finished, it saves automatically · See all your lists → ·
Why this order?
Hajime no Ippo is one of the easiest long anime to watch correctly and one of the easiest to get wrong by accident, for the same reason: everything lines up in release order, but two of the five entries look optional and are not.
The Fighting! from 2000 runs 76 episodes and takes Ippo from his first spar to the national stage. Champion Road, the 2003 TV film, is the direct continuation: Ippo's first title defense, made by the same Madhouse team. The Mashiba vs Kimura OVA from the same year covers exactly the fight its title promises, and it matters because both men stay central for the rest of the series. Skip either 2003 entry and New Challenger opens with results you never saw happen.
New Challenger (2009, 26 episodes) and Rising (2013-2014, 25 episodes) continue in sequence. Rising closes with the Kojima fight and some of the series' best material, and then it simply stops, because the anime caught up to where the production wanted to stop, not to where the story ends.
That is the honest caveat about this franchise: the manga has run in Weekly Shonen Magazine since 1989 and stands at 145 volumes as of early 2026, still ongoing. The anime covers roughly the first 60 volumes. No fourth season has been announced, and the specific December 2025 announcement dates that circulated on social media were invented. If the boxing hooks you, the manga is where the story continues, from around volume 61.
Timeline 2000-2013
Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.
- 2000 The Fighting!
- 2003 Champion RoadMashiba vs. Kimura
- 6-year gap
- 2009 New Challenger
- 4-year gap
- 2013 Rising
Where to play it today
- Netflix carries the 2000 series in several regions, and Crunchyroll has carried New Challenger and Rising
- The 2003 TV film and OVA are the hardest entries to find legally and rotate between services
- Availability rotates; check JustWatch for your region
Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for Hajime no Ippo.
Frequently asked questions
How many Hajime no Ippo series and movies are there?
Five entries: three TV series (The Fighting! with 76 episodes from 2000-2002, New Challenger with 26 from 2009, and Rising with 25 from 2013-2014), plus the Champion Road TV film and the Mashiba vs. Kimura OVA, both from 2003. That is 127 episodes of TV plus about two and a half hours of film.
What order should I watch Hajime no Ippo in?
Release order, which is also story order: The Fighting! (2000), Champion Road (2003), Mashiba vs. Kimura (2003), New Challenger (2009), Rising (2013). There is no timeline trickery anywhere in the franchise.
Do I need to watch Champion Road and the Mashiba vs. Kimura OVA?
Yes. They look like side content and are not. Champion Road is Ippo's first title defense, continuing directly from the 2000 series finale, and the OVA covers a title fight between two fighters who stay central for the rest of the story. New Challenger opens assuming you have seen both results.
Is there a Hajime no Ippo Season 4?
No. As of August 2026 no fourth season has been announced by Kodansha, Madhouse or any broadcaster. Specific announcement dates that circulated on social media, including a claimed December 2025 reveal, were invented. Rising from 2013-2014 remains the most recent anime.
Where does the anime end in the manga, and where do I pick it up?
Rising ends with the Kojima fight, which lands around volume 61 of the manga. The manga has run since 1989 and stands at 145 volumes as of early 2026, still ongoing, so the anime covers well under half the story. Readers who continue usually pick up around volume 61 to get the aftermath in full.
Can I start with New Challenger or Rising?
You can follow the boxing, but you will not know why any of it matters. The series' weight comes from watching relationships and rivalries build across years, and each newer series assumes everything before it. Start at The Fighting! episode 1.
Can I skip any episodes of the 2000 series?
No filler worth planning around. The 76 episodes adapt the manga tightly, and the stretches between fights carry the gym characters that the later series lean on. It is long, but it is all load-bearing.
Where can I watch Hajime no Ippo?
The 2000 series streams on Netflix in several regions, and New Challenger and Rising have been on Crunchyroll. The 2003 TV film and OVA are the awkward ones: they rotate between services and are sometimes absent everywhere legal. This reflects August 2026; check JustWatch for your region.
Is Hajime no Ippo finished?
The anime has been paused since Rising ended in 2014, with nothing announced since. The manga is emphatically not finished: George Morikawa has written it weekly since 1989 and passed 145 volumes in early 2026, making it one of the longest-running sports manga ever.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org
← Browse all anime orders