MiyaIppo

MiyaIppo is the slash ship between Ichirou Miyata and Ippo Ippo from the Hajime no Ippo fandom.

Canon
Ippo first met Miyata at Kamogawa boxing gym, where they sparred to evaluate the former's ability. The match ended with Miyata being the victor, who deemed boxing just become more interesting because of this newcomer. They had a second rematch spar, where Ippo demonstrated his incredible growth with enhanced techniques, and a strategy to neutralize Miyata's signature counter on top of that. Ippo won this rematch. Now motivated to face Ippo in a professional ring, Miyata left Kamogawa gym since boxers of the same gyms cannot fight each other professionally. Miyata made a promise to face off in the East Japan Rookie King Tournament with his new rival to break the tie and to settle who's the strongest.

Both boxers did their best at the East Japan Rookie King Tournament, until Miyata's semi-final fight with Ryou Mashiba, who cheated by stepping on his foot, preventing the former from throwing counters. Mashiba then knocked Miyata down, disqualifying him from the tournament. When Ippo visited Miyata after the match, he was greeted by the scene of the unconscious fighter, with an apology passed on to Ippo by the defeated's father. Ippo was devastated by not having been able to fight Miyata, in the Kamogawa gym he remains absorbed in helplessness, hitting his bags, hurting his knuckles, having to be stopped by Takamura.

After their high school graduation, Miyata visited Ippo and told him that he would travel overseas to Thailand and Korea to fight strong boxers there, as he wanted to fill up the gap between him and the East Japan Rookie King Tournament's Champion. The two worked hard to try to become the best they could for the other. Miyata returned and his gym continued to request a match between the two, but the Kamogawa gym declined all offers without letting Ippo know. Miyata eventually had a face to face conversation about this to Ippo, asking why he was running away from him. Ippo had no idea this was happening and immediately ran to the Kamogawa gym asking for answers. Ippo was distraught and yelling, which he does not commonly do, asking why they declined Miyata's requests. Ippo shouted that since the beginning Miyata has been his goal. Kamogawa told Ippo that the gap between the two has gotten even larger since Miyata left, and that Ippo needs to train more if he wanted to finally fight Miyata. Ippo started to train harder than before, he was determined to fight the man who started his whole boxing career, Miyata.

Moments

 * Being super anxious about his rematch spar with Miyata, Ippo tried to follow his mom's advice of imagining his opponent as a fish as his dad used to do this back in the days, and failed miserably since "there's no fish as handsome as that". (Manga vol. 2 Chapter 9)
 * Ippo is excited to see Miyata at the Kamogawa gym, Takamura is talking about how all the women left the show when Aoki's fight started and then talks about Hayami's popularity with the women. Ippo gets into the conversation saying that women should improve their tastes because if he were a girl he would choose Miyata. (Round 55)
 * When asked about Miyata by his junior Itagaki, Ippo then rambled on about Miyata's charms, how "this and that happened", then blushed when he realized he spoke too much. Itagaki thought how it's like hearing "a story about his lover", and other women who are interested in Ippo would have to wait a little longer in his opinion.
 * After watching Randy Boy Junior shadowbox, Mari noted Ippo's serious expression, saying he "looked like someone who's had their boyfriend stolen away from them" as Randy was the one who got in the way of Ippo and Miyata's promised match. Instead of denying the comment, Ippo blushed. (Round 796)
 * In Round 1412, Taihei and Kintaro notice Wanpo and Sarate playing. Kintaro says that Wanpo "really loves him, but the cat just thinks he's annoying." Taihei then says "I wonder why he keeps coming back?" Wanpo and Sarate are intentional personifications of their owners, showing Ippo and Miyata's relationship.
 * Ippo often gets so excited watching Miyata's matches that he forgets to breathe or his mouth is left agape.
 * Miyata asks Ippo to look at his face, referring to the lack of marks from sparring, but Ippo blushes instead.
 * Perhaps the most outward statement of Ippo's romantic feelings towards Miyata yet, in Round 1428 Taihei and Kintaro mention how Ippo's face gets red "the same way" around Kumi and Miyata. Taihei asks who Kintaro thinks Ippo's number one is, which Kintaro replies "dunno."

Fanon
It is hard to evaluate the fandom's opinion on MiyaIppo since there's not a big and active fandom for the series. However, from what have been observed from the little fancontent available on various social media, people ship this pair because of both characters' passion to fight each other. Both were each others drive to take boxing seriously and to get as far as they've gotten now. Ippo's crush on Miyata has also been a long running "joke" since the manga began, but with recent chapters many wonder if it's a joke or if Ippo really does have romantic feelings for Miyata, and it's beginning to seem like the latter. Their rivalry mirrors some other shonen manga lead pair with the yin and yang dynamic.

Ippo and Miyata have many parallels to each other. Both of them have "1" and "first" names. Ichiro meaning first son, and Ippo meaning one step, as well as both having the initials I.M. for Miyata and Makunouchi. Their tracksuits are also opposites, Ippo's is white and blue while Miyata's is black and red. From their personalities, to their appearance, to their own family history, Miyata and Ippo are both similar and complete opposites. These characteristics are part of the appeal in their relationship.

MiyaIppo the most popular ship in Hajime no Ippo, as it is the most written ship on AO3 for both characters. There are currently 21 works on AO3.

Fandom

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