>>718027947
Hajime no Ippo and Ashita no Joe turned me into a huge boxing fan. I think there needs to be a vague curiosity interest there, like a seed waiting to bloom, then you get the right water/sunshine and your passion grows for it. Go to any boxing gym and most young people are all tuned into ippo and will tell you that's why they started boxing. Seems silly but that doesn't change shows and the like can change people's lives, and we're seeing that happen in a pretty big way with Uma right now. If you like the idea of "rivals", I'd recommend both those shows to anyone even if you don't care much about fighting/sports shows. Ashita no Joe is worth watching for the historical importance as well, because it paved the way for a lot of modern anime essentially. Before it was seen as something only to be enjoyed by children, but a lot of adult fans got invested in the show and when one of the characters died, japan had a real life funeral for him, completely shocking the mangaka and making him realize his silly doodles had more impact than he had ever expected.

What makes Jungle Pocket a cool lead is because she's not a crybaby pushover like Special Week, not an uppity cheerleader type like Teio, nor yet another mild-mannered Uma in Oguri Cap, Suzuka, or McQueen. From the moment you see Pocket she doesn't take shit from anybody. Her personality has more in common with the ORIGINAL rivals show, Ashita no Joe. Deliquent from the countryside gets turned into a champ for one reason or another. Main difference is Jungle Pocket didn't get sent to horse alcatraz for even more character development but that would have been cool as shit wouldn't it.

Anytime you have a character that is a total dickhead at first and then "locks in" and blooms into a champion is always the recipe for max character development.