Fighting Spirit: Champion Road (2003): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2003, Fighting Spirit: Champion Road is an action, comedy and animation film directed by Satoshi Nishimura, running about 90 minutes.

What it’s about. 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.

Who’s in it. Fighting Spirit: Champion Road stars Kohei Kiyasu as Ippo Makunouchi (voice), Rikiya Koyama as Mamoru Takamura (voice), Kenji Utsumi as Genji Kamogawa (voice) and Masaya Onosaka as Takeshi Sendo (voice), among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.1/10, Fighting Spirit: Champion Road has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Crunchyroll Amazon Channel. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Fighting Spirit: Champion Road page.

If you liked it. Fans of Fighting Spirit: Champion Road tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.