It is that deep; people just pretend it's not because they want their perspective fulfilled rather than denied. Even back when Ippo was an active boxer, there were tons of chapters between fights that had nothing to do with the fights. Now, after he retired, it's other people's fights that he takes part in from outside of the ring instead. That's the natural progression of the world, as those he once sparred with and fought move on with their lives, and the next generation of boxers moves up in the world, too. But they want the high-octane Dempsey Roll, they want Ippo being the one in the ring, not someone else. And so they, like you are here, say that Ippo's no longer the focus of the story, because all the high-impact "fun" things are happening around him, rather than to him... and that's part of the point of retirement, while still being an active part of the boxing world; things happen around him and that's the experience he has to take, now. And he accepts it, unlike people like you. That's why you can say that this arc can be skipped without losing substance, because you refuse to see the substance that is right in front of you, all because it denies what you want to read.It's not that deep. I love this series as much as everyone else that's still reading up to this point, but let's not pretend this is not a manga about boxing that got famous because the characters are funny and the fights are well written. "Its not a story, its a world" makes this seem much more than it actually is.
Yeah, the story is centralized on Ippo and has been this whole time. Has it now? For some ~300 chapters Ippo did absolutely nothing but hint at progress while other characters get center stage. And while I love Takamura, Mashiba, Sendo and the rest of the gang, they're side charactes and the progress of side characters should have connection or impact of some sort to the main story (And by consequence, to Ippo, as he's the main character) otherwise that's just filler... I mean, in some years when this manga is finished, almost all of these chapters of the retirement arc could be skipped be a new reader without losing any substance to the understanding of the story as a whole.
Yeah I am wrong from expecting the main character of a shonen boxing manga to fight. Boy I sure do love reading 400 chapters of Ippo doing nothing and once cool characters fighting no names nobodies from around the world. Can't forget the chapters where we hint at some kind of progress in Ippo's relationship with boxing and his girlfriend but ultimately end going nowhere.It is that deep; people just pretend it's not because they want their perspective fulfilled rather than denied. Even back when Ippo was an active boxer, there were tons of chapters between fights that had nothing to do with the fights. Now, after he retired, it's other people's fights that he takes part in from outside of the ring instead. That's the natural progression of the world, as those he once sparred with and fought move on with their lives, and the next generation of boxers moves up in the world, too. But they want the high-octane Dempsey Roll, they want Ippo being the one in the ring, not someone else. And so they, like you are here, say that Ippo's no longer the focus of the story, because all the high-impact "fun" things are happening around him, rather than to him... and that's part of the point of retirement, while still being an active part of the boxing world; things happen around him and that's the experience he has to take, now. And he accepts it, unlike people like you. That's why you can say that this arc can be skipped without losing substance, because you refuse to see the substance that is right in front of you, all because it denies what you want to read.
I don't see the point of not changing the format to make spin-offs either... maybe it's an editor's thing? The author's employers might have something to do with this, I say we need more information to get the whole picture.Yeah I am wrong from expecting the main character of a shonen boxing manga to fight. Boy I sure do love reading 400 chapters of Ippo doing nothing and once cool characters fighting no names nobodies from around the world. Can't forget the chapters where we hint at some kind of progress in Ippo's relationship with boxing and his girlfriend but ultimately end going nowhere.
Oooh yeah I'm feeling the copium now. If going forward we only have more of this, just end the manga already and create a spin-off telling what happened to the side characters, Ippo is not center stage anymore no matter how much Ricardo blabbers that.
I missed your comment until now, but wanted to return and say: Thank you. You got it.Starting to grow a little more appreciative of the post retirement part of the manga. All the exciting stuff is happening to everyone except ippo because thats how it should feel. Its meant to feel a little rrustrating because thats tge experience both ippo and his fans are going through.
And while it feels like its been too many chapters, i think if he just retired and came back after one round of seeing all the other character's matches, it wouldnt be that different from the cycle the manga had when ippo was still active. The world has to move before he can truly feel like hes been left behind.
Also a reminder that ippo didnt retire for kumi, he retired for his mom. I think the deciding factor on his return will be related to his mom rather than whatever the other boxers are doing ... Save for maybe takamura losing a match