Baki the GrapplerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grappler Baki
Cover of the English release of Baki the Grapplervolume 2.
グラップラー刃牙 (Gurappurā Baki)
Genre	Action, Martial arts
Manga
Written by	Keisuke Itagaki
Published by	Akita Shoten
English publisher	Gutsoon! Entertainment (North America)
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Champion
English magazine	Raijin Comics
Original run	1991 – 1999
Volumes	42
Original video animation
Directed by	Yuji Asada
Produced by	Chiaki Yasuda Tsuneo Seto
Written by	Yoshihisa Araki
Music by	Takahiro Saito
Studio	Sung San
Licensed by	Manga Entertainment (Australia & United Kingdom) Central Park Media (North America)
Released	August 21, 1994
Runtime	45 minutes
Manga
Baki²
Written by	Keisuke Itagaki
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Champion
Original run	1999 – November 24, 2005
Volumes	31
Anime television series
Directed by	Hitoshi Nanba
Produced by	Dynamite Tommy
Written by	Yasunori Yamada
Music by	Dynamite Tommy
Studio	Group TAC
Licensed by	Funimation Entertainment (North America)
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	Funimation Channel, Colours TV(United States)
Original run	January 8, 2001 – June 25, 2001
Episodes	24
Anime television series
Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament
Directed by	Katsuyoshi Yatabe
Produced by	Dynamite Tommy
Written by	Yasunori Yamada
Music by	Dynamite Tommy
Studio	Group TAC
Licensed by	Funimation Entertainment (North America)
Original run	July 23, 2001 –December 24, 2001
Episodes	24
Manga
Baki Hanma
Written by	Keisuke Itagaki
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Champion
Original run	December 1, 2005 –August 16, 2012
Volumes	37
Anime and Manga portal

Grappler Baki (グラップラー刃牙 Gurappurā Baki^?), or Baki the Grappler, is a mangaseries written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1991 to 1999, and later collected into 42 tankōbon volumes. It was followed by two sequel series; Baki² (バキ² Baki Baki^?), which was serialized from 1999 to 2005 and later collected into 31 volumes, and Baki Hanma (範馬刃牙 Hanma Baki^?), which was serialized from 2005 to 2012 and later collected into 37 volumes.^[1][2]A 45-minute original video animation (OVA) was released in 1994. A 24-episode animeaired on TV Tokyo between January 8 and June 25, 2001. This was quickly followed by a second 24-episode series, from July 22 to December 24, 2001. The 2012 comedy filmGraffreeter Toki (lit. "Toki the Freelancing Grappler") is based on the March 2011 play of the same name, which in turn was inspired by Grappler Baki.^[3] The OVA was the first to be licensed and released in North America, in 1998 by Central Park Media, followed by the original manga series, in 2002 by Gutsoon! Entertainment (incomplete), and finally both anime series, in 2005 by Funimation Entertainment.
Contents

• 1 Plot

• 2 Manga

• 3 OVA

• 4 Anime

• 4.1 International broadcast

• 5 References

• 6 External links

Main article:
Main article: List of Baki the Grappler characters
Baki is raised by his wealthy and obsessive mother, Emi Akezawa, who also funds his training in the hopes that he can be a powerful warrior like his father. Around the start of the series, Baki outgrows traditional training and heads out to follows the path of his ruthless father's training and meets many powerful fighters along the way. Eventually, Baki fights his father and is beaten without a challenge.
After being beaten, Baki travels around the world continuing his training. Years down the road he finds an underground fighting arena where he fights some of the most powerful fighters of all styles of martial arts. It is here he truly begins to hone his martial arts skills.

• Grappler Baki

• Grappler Baki (or Baki the Grappler) - Original series, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1991 to 1999. Collected into 42 volumes, that encompasses The Champion, the Kid, and the Maximum Tournament sagas. From 2007-2008 it was collected into 24 deluxe edition volumes.^[4][5]

This series was licensed for a North American release by Gutsoon! Entertainment, who retitled it Baki the Grappler. They published the first 46 chapters in their English-language manga anthology magazine Raijin Comics.^[6] The magazine's first issue was released on December 18, 2002, but in July 2004 it was discontinued. 4 collected volumes were planned but it is unknown if they were released.

• Baki² (Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero or New Grappler Baki) - Second series, also serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1999 to November 24, 2005.^[1]Collected into 31 volumes, and encompasses The Prisoners, the Chinese Challenge, and the Ali. Jr sagas.

• Baki Hanma (or Baki: Son of Ogre) - Third series, again serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion, began on December 1, 2005 and ended on August 16, 2012.^[1][2] Collected into 37 volumes, and encompasses the Oliva's Fortress, The Prehistoric Menace, Retsu Kaiou's Boxing, and the final confrontation of Yujiro and Baki.

Gaiden

• "Grappler Baki Gaiden: Igari vs Mount Toba" - Immediately after the Maximum Tournament.

• "Baki saga - (The Romantic Contact chapter)" - Side story that develops at the same time as volume 15.

• Baki Gaiden: Scarface (バキ外伝 -スカーフェイス-^?) (or Scarface, The Legend of the Invincible Fist) - Spinoff series, written and illustrated by Yukinao Yamauchi, depicting Kaoru Hanayama's yakuza adventures. Ran from March 2005 to December 2007 inChampion Red, then in July 2009 in Weekly Shōnen Champion, currently 5 volumes.

• Baki Gaiden: Scarface 2nd series (バキ外伝 創面^?) - Spinoff series, written and illustrated by Yukinao Yamauchi, based on Hanayama Kaoru adventures in High school. Began in Bessatsu Shōnen Champion in July 2012.^[2]

• Baki Gaiden: Kenjin (バキ外伝 拳刃^?) - Spinoff series, written and illustrated by Kenko Miyatani, representing and describing Doppo's adventures. Began in Champion Red in June 2013.^[7]

Supplements

• Grappler Baki: Red Dragon side, Grappler side - Compendium of the characters and events in the world of Grappler Baki, covers until volume 23 of the second saga.

• Grappler Baki: Blue Tiger side, Fighting side - Compendium of every battle fought and its results in the world of Grappler Baki, also covers until volume 23 of the second 

 

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Manga[edit source | editbeta]

Fighting Spirit (manga)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hajime no Ippo
Cover of Hajime no Ippo volume 1 as published byKodansha
はじめの一歩
Genre	Sports (Boxing)
Manga
Written by	Jōji Morikawa
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	October 1989 – ongoing
Volumes	104 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!
Directed by	Satoshi Nishimura
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Tsuneo Imahori
Studio	Madhouse
Licensed by	NA Geneon
Network	NTV
Original run	3 October 2000 –27 March 2002
Episodes	76 (List of episodes)
Anime television film
Champion Road
Directed by	Satoshi Nishimura
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Tsuneo Imahori
Studio	Madhouse
Licensed by	NA Geneon
Network	NTV
Released	18 April 2003
Runtime	90 minutes
Original video animation
Mashiba vs. Kimura
Directed by	Hitoshi Nanba
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Tsuneo Imahori
Studio	Madhouse
Licensed by	NA Geneon
Released	5 September 2003
Runtime	60 minutes
Anime television series
Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger
Directed by	Jun Shishido
Written by	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Music by	Yoshihisa Hirano Hideki Taniuchi
Studio	Madhouse
Network	NTV
Original run	6 January 2009 – 30 June 2009
Episodes	26[1] (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Hajime no Ippo: Rising
Directed by	Jun Shishido
Written by	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Studio	Madhouse, MAPPA
Network	NTV
Original run	October 2013 – scheduled
Episodes	25
Anime and Manga portal

Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩^?) is a Japanese boxing manga series written and illustrated by Jōji Morikawa. It has been serialized by Kodansha in Weekly Shōnen Magazine since 1989, and collected in over 100 tankōbon to date. The plot follows the story of high school student Makunouchi Ippo, as he begins his career in boxing and over time obtains many titles and defeats various opponents.
A 76-episode anime adaption titled Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! was produced byMadhouse, Nippon Television and VAP, directed by Satoshi Nishimura and ran on the Nippon Television Network from October 2000 to March 2002. One OVA and a movie were also produced. On September 15, 2008 it was announced in Weekly Shōnen Magazinethat a second season of Hajime no Ippo would begin airing on January 6, 2009. The second season is called Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger and concluded on June 30, 2009. At the end of 2003, the anime was licensed in North America by Geneon,^[2] who released under the name Fighting Spirit.
Contents

• 1 Story

• 2 Media

• 2.1 Manga

• 2.2 DVD

• 2.3 Video games

• 2.4 Anime

• 2.4.1 Episode list

• 2.5 The Second Series

• 2.5.1 Episode list

• 2.6 Third Season

• 2.7 OVA

• 2.8 Movie

• 2.9 Music

• 2.9.1 Anime Theme Songs

• 3 Reception

• 4 References

• 5 External links

Main article:
Main article: List of Fighting Spirit characters
Makunouchi Ippo was an extremely shy high school student who never had the time to make friends because he was always busy helping his mother run their family fishing charter businessving nightly hours, Ippo manages the technique in the nick of time. He waits for the jogging Takamura to come by his usual path, and manages to surprise Takamura by not just catching all 10 of the falling leaves, but only doing it with his left hand. This impresses Takamura greatly, and he informs that the action required to catch all 10 leaves was called a boxing jab, and Takamura invites Ippo back to the boxing gym for introductions.
When they got back to the gym, the coach, Genji Kamogawa, was not at all impressed by Makunouchi's lack of fighting spirit, and therefore, was challenged by Takamura to have a practice spar against a member of the gym. However, Kamogawa decides to give Ippo a severe challenge and tells him to spar with Miyata, a man that's also 16, the same age as Ippo. However, Miyata is known as a boxing prodigy and is one of Kamogawa gym's future hopes. Takamura gets extremely worried with this prospect, as Miyata skill is way above the 4-rounder pro boxer. As expected, Ippo loses by KO, but not until Miyata struggles dodging his punches and finally ends the match with his trump card: "The Counter" The coach Kamogawa decides that he has great fighting sense and spirit and decides to train him to eventually become the Japanese Champion with a world ranking while Miyata became the OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation) Champion. Both are expected to hit high in the world rankings and eventually, fight each other for the World Champion's belt.
The story focuses heavily on character development, even during the matches something is learned about the fighters. Ippo and his friendly rivalry with Miyata is the main draw in the early part of the series. That later changes to Ippo's path towards the Japanese Featherweight Championship and eventually the world championship. Along the way we are given glimpses into the other side character's pasts, motivations, relationships to others and current boxing trials. A colorful cast of support characters and opponents as well as side stories concerning their path in the boxing world rounds out the series

 

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PikachuFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Picacho (disambiguation) or Pika.

Pikachu
Pokémon series character
National Pokédex Arbok - Pikachu (#025) - Raichu
First game	Pokémon Red and Blue(1996)
Designed by	Ken Sugimori
Voiced by (English)	Ikue Ōtani Rachael Lillis (some Indigo League episodes) Chika Sakamoto (Puka; episode 67) Satomi Kōrogi (Sparky; episode 78) Craig Blair (PMD special)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Ikue Ōtani Chika Sakamoto Satomi Kōrogi Tomoe Hanba (PMD special)
Portrayed by	Jennifer Risser (Pokémon Live!)

Pikachu (Japanese: ピカチュウ Hepburn: Pikachū^?) /ˈpiːkəˌtʃuː/ is one of the species ofPokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise — a collection of video games,anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series.^[1]Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is acentral character in the Pokémon anime series.^[2] Pikachu (along with Charizard) is regarded as the official mascot of the Pokémon franchise, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years.
Pikachu evolves from a Pichu when it levels up with high happiness, and evolves into aRaichu with a "Thunderstone". Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu are often found in houses, forests,^[3] plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants), on most continents throughout the fictional world. As an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu can store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks.^[4] Its Pokedex entry states that it is a Mouse Pokémon.
Contents

• 1 Concept and design

• 2 Appearances

• 2.1 In the video games

• 2.2 In the anime

• 2.3 In other Pokémon media

• 3 Promotion and legacy

• 4 Notes

• 5 References

• 6 External links

Concept and design
Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Pokémon series began in Japan in 1996, and features several species of creatures called "Pokémon" that players, called "trainers", are encouraged to capture, train, and use to battle other players' Pokémon or interact with the game's world.^[5][6]Pikachu was one of several different Pokémon designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by artistKen Sugimori.^[7][8] According to series producer Satoshi Tajiri, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese sounds: pika, a sound an electric spark makes, and chu, a sound a mouse makes.^[9] Developer Junichi Masuda noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences.^[10]
Standing 1.04 ft (0.4m) tall, Pikachu are mouse-like creatures, and were the first "Electric-type" Pokémon created, their design intended to revolve around the concept of electricity.^[11] They appear as mouse-like creatures that have short, yellow fur with brown markings covering their backs and parts of their lightning bolt shaped tails. They have black-tipped, pointed ears and red circular pouches on their cheeks, which can spark with electricity.^[3] In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, gender differences were introduced; a female Pikachu now has an indent at the end of its tail, giving it a heart-shaped appearance. They attack primarily by projecting electricity from their bodies at their targets. Within the context of the franchise, a Pikachu can transform, or "evolve" into a Raichu when exposed to a "Thunderstone". In later titles an evolutionary predecessor was introduced named "Pichu", which evolves into a Pikachu after establishing a close friendship with its trainer.
Initially both Pikachu and the Pokémon Clefairy were chosen to be lead characters for the franchise merchandising, with the latter as the primary mascot to make the early comic book series more "engaging". However with the production of the animated series, Pikachu was chosen as the primary mascot, in an attempt to appeal to female viewers and their mothers, and under the belief that the creature presented the image of a recognizable intimate pet for children. Its color was also a deciding factor, as yellow is a primary color and easier for children to recognize from a distance, and with consideration to the fact the only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh.^[12] Though Tajiri acknowledged that the character was relatively popular with both boys and girls, the idea of Pikachu as the mascot was not his own, and stated he felt the human aspect of the series was overlooked by Japanese children who embraced Pikachu by itself more readily.^[13]

 

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