Japan Synopsis
はじめの一歩 -Champion Road-
Makunouchi Ippo is the new Featherweight champion of Japan and is now ready for his first title defense. His opponent, the former Jr. Featherweight champion and a medical student, Sanada Kazuki. In addition to this feud, Sanada is being coached by Kamogawa's former rival, Hama Dankichi. What makes things worse is that Sanada works at the same hospital where Kumi is a nurse at and everybody at the hospital wants Sanada to win. Not only does Ippo have to defend his title, he has to reclaim his love.
Other Titles From Madhouse
Animation + Action in Japan
1178 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Animation and Action genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Fighting Spirit: Champion Road itself).
The 2002–2004 Japan Window
Fighting Spirit: Champion Road holds position #149 of 263 Japan films in the 2002–2004 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 2000s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in Japan, 1020 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Fighting Spirit: Champion Road premiered alongside 84 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 84 other Japan films in 2003.
The 1517th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
54 audience reviews — more than 65% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 76th percentile among Japan films.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #2,751 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (40th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.2 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Animation productions specifically: #1,798 of 2,532 (top 71%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Madhouse, Discotek Media, Geneon Entertainment |
| Runtime | 1h 30m |
| Release Date | June 25, 2003 |
| IMDb | tt0805540 |