A Vow
How the hell... did you get... so beat up?
Nekota-san!
That's right. It's for them...
Why am I fighting?
Because I don't want to lose.
Nekota and Yuki-san have been fighting all this time...
With the terror of never knowing what might happen to their bodies!
What was my training for? I was too optimistic.
I don't want to lose to two amazing people like them.
I'll fight to the bitter end!
You look... pathetic...
You're...
I'll give you... some spirit... you betcha.
Grit your teeth!
Damn it.
That's the best I can do.
Those lightning speed punches are...
But...
That did the trick, Nekota.
I've never felt such a painful punch!
Now I'm pumped!
Watch out!
Spirit's not enough to win.
Huh? What should I do?
Take his right...
Don't close your eyes, you chicken!
Take his right?
He's knocked me down a dozen times with his left.
If I take one of his rights...
A chicken, am I?
I'll take it! Just you watch!
Gather up my bones for me!
No matter how much spirit you give him, there's nothing he can do now.
I can't stand here and watch him die.
I have to stop this fight.
Just try it.
Kamogawa will kill you for it.
Iron.
His determination is as solid as iron.
As long as he's conscious, he'll keep getting up.
The only way to save him is to use
our strongest attack to sever his consciousness!
Still struggling?
Still?
I'm still going!
There's no speed, but the Sergeant's wincing with every hit.
Those fists have a power only their target can understand.
Fists possessed by that iron will!
Iron fists!
I'm not finished yet!
He's pushing him back with intimidation!
You've fought Kamogawa, too.
You know what it's like.
This is Kamogawa's weapon.
That iron will to achieve what he's set out to do!
Yeah.
Until he sees his intentions through, he fears nothing, even death.
In a word: courage!
That's his weapon!
He's hanging by a thread.
No more dragging this out.
No more mistakes.
This ends now!
Good judgment, Sergeant!
Kamogawa-san...
I'm no chicken!
Kamogawa.
Damn it...
I won't pass out.
I'm gonna dive in and punch his guts out!
The opponent is short.
When you see an opening, hit him with a right.
Now!
Crap... Here comes the heavy artillery!
I'm gonna get nailed!
Don't close your eyes!
A man with your courage
can do it!
You son of a bitch!
His body's completely open!
Kamogawa!
Holy...
He endured it.
I don't believe it...
If Nekota hadn't hit me earlier, I couldn't have endured that.
But, compared to the pain of his punch,
that was nothing, American!
You don't know when to quit.
I see the only way to end this fight
is to end your life!
That bastard Nekota knew.
He leaves his body open when he throws a right.
I'll crush you to your death with my right!
Bring it on! I can see it now!
He caught him!
Stop, Sergeant!
You're so open, I can see your organs!
He took the hit first! Is it over?!
Kamogawa!
If you fall, you won't get back up again!
Stay up, you jackass!
Anderson got spooked and pulled his punch.
A punch like that can't take Kamogawa down.
But...
Nekota-san!
Fight...
That's a tall order.
It's all I can do to stay conscious.
Frankly, his punches are nothing to sneeze at.
Real boxing is incredible...
Kamogawa-san!
Nekota-san is fighting, too. You have to hang in there!
Win!
He dragged his battered self here...
Yeah.
To pass on what he learned when he risked his own life fighting this guy...
Now he's risking his life to ask me to win.
If I can't respond,
I'm not a man!
I got chills when he went for that body blow,
but the Sergeant should be fine.
Yeah.
If things get really bad,
he can throw that one punch to the back of his head.
A rabbit punch.
He won't!
The Sergeant won't break the rules again.
He trained hard for this bout.
Right now, the blood of a boxer flows through his veins, pure as can be.
A proud boxer would never willfully commit a foul.
That's why I'm his second!
This is the critical moment, Sergeant. Focus!
I'll admit it:
this Japanese is strong.
Because I recognize his strength, I won't hide behind a judgment win!
On my pride and resolve as a genuine American boxer,
I will defeat him with all I've got!
Good. He's coming to me.
Kamogawa-san...
This is it.
He stopped him with a left! Here comes the follow-up!
Don't pass out!
Open your eyes!
Here it comes! Here comes the right!
His body's gonna open up!
Attack!
I know what your aim is!
If you want a shot at my side, take it!
I trained my abs hard.
If pain is the price for defeating this boxer, I'll take it!
My glove slipped on his blood. It didn't knock him out?!
His eyes are alive!
Endure!
Blood... His fist!
My left fist is dead...
But you know what?
I still have one more!
I'm doubled over.
My jaw's open to him!
No... No... No!
Sergeant! Guard!
No punch. Why? Why's there no punch?!
B-Below?!
Another body blow?!
Down from two body blows?!
No... Stand up!
My right hand's shattered, too.
I'm all out of ammo.
If he gets up, I'm finished.
Don't move him!
His ribs have shattered and pierced his organs!
Sergeant!
He's critical! Get a stretcher!
We cannot continue fighting.
Stand tall and proud.
You...
are the winner.
He won!
Is this for real?! We beat America!
Japan wins!
He broke both his hands?
But all of this blood
couldn't have come from just those two punches...
Your fists were severely injured even before the fight, weren't they?
Now I see. That's why he didn't target the Sergeant's strong chin.
I never would've predicted that he'd be so stupid as to
wreck his hands training for a fight.
Boxing is still an underdeveloped sport in Japan,
but in the future, the greatest threat to genuine boxers
might just be one who carries this man's blood.
The blood of a samurai...
Kamogawa! You all right?!
Damn, you're amazing!
You hear that, Kamogawa?!
You won! You really won!
I'm not...
I'm not so sure.
What'd you say?
I can't be. Because...
It doesn't feel...
like I won on my own.
You're leaving?
Yeah.
You beat the American for me. There's nothing left here for me to do.
I'll get myself a dog and live the good life.
I see.
Don't push yourself with those broken hands.
Right.
You're sure, Yuki-san?
As you can see, I can barely even button my shirt.
I want you to come with me,
but not out of pity.
Whether you come or not is up to you.
What is it? The train's departing soon.
I want...
to say something.
Kamogawa-san, I—
I still need a lot of training,
but I learned something through all this.
It's the satisfaction of achieving a goal you worked hard for,
and the gratitude you feel when you've won,
that make boxing such a great sport!
I don't think I'll ever be able to leave it.
I will dedicate my life to fighting!
There is nothing in this world I love more!
That's very like you, Kamogawa-san.
I knew you'd say something like that to set me free.
I'm going to go with Nekota-san,
and spend whatever life I have left with him.
Bye.
You said...
You said one time
that even when sunflowers wither and die, they leave lots of seeds behind.
Real boxing is incredible.
Honestly, I'm completely enamored.
I want to spend my entire life learning about it.
But even today's modern medicine can't fully fix my hands.
As a fighter, it's time for me to wither and die.
But...
I'll sow the seeds!
I'll teach the things Nekota and I did to everyone I can.
And someday, if a student of my fist conquers the world,
I promise I'll come tell you!
Until then, take care!
Y-Yuki-san!
Look, your buttons are all messed up.
But... Why...
I was too worried to leave you alone.
Kamogawa!
The score's still not settled between us!
When we both get better, let's fight again!
Yeah!
Personally, I feel like my promise to conquer the world is only half-kept.
What? But you've got Takamura-san!
I don't like to admit it, but he's a prodigy.
He would've won the world title with or without me.
Strictly speaking,
I'm not a coach who trained a world champion.
As I see it, I'm just a coach
who happens to run the gym where a world champion trains.
Sounds complicated.
It's a "successor" thing.
Takamura was born with fists of his own.
If you asked whether he inherited Gen-chan's fists or not...
Dedicate his life to fighting, huh?
Your story moved me.
I don't know if I can live life as strictly as the coach did,
but I respect him,
and I'll stay with him forever.
Yuki-san, remember this one.
The hands praying to you right now
are the ones he promised you.
His name is Makunouchi Ippo.
The result of many long years of sowing the seeds.
It's too soon to tell how he'll blossom,
but this is the man who's inherited Gen-chan's fists, you betcha.
Let me have a turn.
Sure.
I was moved too, Yuki-san.
The coach and Nekota-san will probably be coming to see you real soon.
Take good care of them.
And that man is Aoki Masaru,
but...
You can forget that one.
Did you say something?
Not a thing.
When I keep the other half of my promise, I'll be back to tell her.
Yup.
I hope you can do it!
Ow!
Don't say that so casually!
Huh?
Until then, take care!
Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Rising is dedicated to Utsumi Kenji-san, Nagai Ichirou-san, and everyone else who loved this series.