Hajime no Ippo/YMMV

Arc Fatigue - The match between Ippo and Woli is 30 chapters long, not counting Woli's introduction, and a good half of it is Ippo getting one-sidedly demolished by his opponent. Now try to read it one chapter a week (the publication rythm in the Shonen Magazine). And suffer.
Ass Pull - There's a few fights that end like this, but the absolute worst offender is Miyata during his fight against Randy Boy Jr. Miyata comes up with not only a brand new counter on the spot, but it was after his ribs were broken, his stamina entirely spent, and spent a few rounds of getting pounded on. It's a unique counter he came up with on his own, and surpasses what his Father could do in his prime.
- Ass Pull comes from Miyata's victory over ridiculous circumstances. The perfect counter had been a part of his storyline for ages, and really didn't come from nowhere.
Complete Monster: Bryan Hawk is as close to one as you can get in a realistic boxing series.
- To elaborate, he's the only person without a Freudian Excuse in the series, is a racist Psycho for Hire asshole who takes joy in his killings and finds sexual pleasure in violence. He even got into boxing just to kill people!
Crowning Moment of Funny: The karaoke outing. It has to be seen to be believed.
- In his first episode, Sendoh is taking a shower. Takamura pops in and mistakes him for Aoki. Hilarity Ensues.
Nightmare Fuel: Hawk's red eyes...just...his red eyes
- In all seriousness, Bryan himself is perhaps one of the scariest characters, due to his animalistic insanity.
- Mashiba is scary enough out of the ring, but when he really snaps… you don't want to be in the ring with him.
- And another one in chapter 912 is a bit more disturbing, coming from Itagaki of all people…
The Problem with Licensed Games: Two video games were released for PlayStation 2 in 2003 and 2005, the seconde being for the 15th anniversary of the series. Saying they were mediocre is speaking highly of them. The character designs are all but unrecognisable. The Wii adaptation that came out in 2008 does little better.
Progressively Prettier - A mild example: at the begining Tomiko is made deliberately ugly to underline Aoki's odd taste in women. But as the series goes on, she actually cleans up a bit. Maybe not exactly into Big Beautiful Woman territory but let's say she went from outright ugly to simply homely.
Rooting for the Empire - Usually inverted when Japan cheers for Takamura as Takamura's portrayed as the villain in fights. However, it's played straight in his fight against Peter Rabbitson. After 10 long rounds of Takamura swinging and missing and Peter Rabbitson dodging and avoiding without even trying to attack, the crowd gets fed up and starts to cheer for Rabbitson instead of Takamura, despite the fact that Takamura's loss means there will be no longer be an international champion from Japan. Of course, in the end Rabbitson ends up losing by an Ass Pull by Takamura.
Signature Scene : The scene where Ippo defeats Sendou with the Dempsey Roll has become so iconic that any work that has a Shout Out to Ippo will include an attack just like his Dempsey Roll. Street Fighter IV's Dudley uses a Dempsey Roll shot for shot like Ippo's, as well as Tekken's Steve Fox. Both based entirely on that scene.
Squick - Everyone's reaction to Takamura groping Aoki's girlfriend Tomiko while she and Aoki were making out on the beach. Takamura does apologize, but his apology is, well...
Tear Jerker - Many moments.
- One that's absolutely heartbreaking is Kimura's championship fight against Mashiba. With his career and the title on the line, to come within an outstretched arm from winning the championship, and seeing the way he and Aoki begin crying really gets to you. Of course, he does retire, as Tatsuya Kimura; however, with his name spelled in Katakana, he returns to the ring.
- Another heart wrenching moment is After Sendo has defeated Volg for the championship, Volg's contract with his gym had been severed, and could have been severed any time he lost too many matches. Volg's farewell to Ippo at the airport, knowing that they might never be able to meet again, is incredibly heart breaking. Specially when Ippo can hold back the tears when in front of Volg... but he breaks down crying once he's gone.
- Watching Takamura of all people bawl his eyes out when he finds out the bear he spared (because she had cubs) got shot and turned into his stew is pretty hard to watch. Mostly because Takamura can apparently be quite motivational when he's feeling strongly about something.
- Eiji Date's rematch against Ricardo Martinez. A Game-Breaking Injury is what lead Date to not only lose against Ricardo but also retire from boxing permanently.
Unfortunate Implications: The first American was an insane racist that took joy in killings and sex. Think about what this is probably saying about Americans for a second...
- Kind of subverted later when the second one comes around and turns out to be the direct opposite.