Mou Ippon!

The happy-go-lucky Michi Sonoda announces to her teammate, Sanae Takigawa, that she will quit judo for good after her final middle school tournament. This leaves Sanae in disbelief; after all, it was Michi's passion toward the sport that reeled Sanae into judo in the first place. Michi claims that a well-spent youth should be associated with things such as getting a boyfriend rather than sweaty tatami mats.

However, Michi's plan to end her fledgling judo career with a bang is spoiled after experiencing an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the talented Towa Hiura. Later, her plan is further derailed when she finds out that Towa has enrolled in the same high school as herself and Sanae. With the sudden appearance of her past foe, Michi may soon realize that she still has lingering feelings for the sport of judo.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sonoda, Michi Main

Itou, Ayasa Japanese

Nagumo, Anna Main

Hieda, Nene Japanese

Hiura, Towa Main

Miura, Chiyuki Japanese

Himeno, Tsumugi Main

Nagase, Anna Japanese

Takigawa, Sanae Main

Anzai, Yukari Japanese

Amane, Erika Supporting

Koga, Aoi Japanese

Sano, Chigusa Supporting

Tachibana, Hina Japanese

Minato, Sachi Supporting

Yomichi, Yuki Japanese

Majima, Hikaru Supporting

Ishigami, Shizuka Japanese

Ayase, Suzu Supporting

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Saitou, Yuzuru Producer

Ueda, Tomoki Producer

Oomatsu, Yutaka Producer

Kashimura, Emi Producer

Reviews

Feb 17, 2025

johnbradshaw

Recommended

Mou Ippon! at its core is a coming-of-age story. Through the foolishness, stubbornness and love of adolescence, 4 friends embark on the journey of discovering themselves through the sport of Judo.

After a disappointing end in their last Judo tournament in their middle school lives, Sonoda Michi and her friend Sanae Takigawa planned to stop pursuing Judo and would just enjoy their highschool life to the fullest. But fate won't just have it, in their new school, they once again meet Towa Hiura, the last girl who beats Michi and a very passionate Judo practitioner. With a new burning passion in her heart, Michi along ... with Sanae and Towa will spend their youth with Judo again.

I'm a fan of MMA, Judo is a great martial art, it's used by the top MMA fighters like Khabib, Islam, etc... So I just love anime exploring about stuffs like this. But as I said before, the true strength of this anime lie in the characters. The actions and the sport are great, very addicting to watch but it's actually nothing new. This is not a complaning, I'm not looking for some ground-breaking work in some all-girls anime, I just wanna have a good time and Mou Ippon definitely delivered. But I just love the passion the characters show for the sport of Judo, how their friendship tighten and become stronger through focusing on the same goal. That's the youth that I sorely miss and I think on this aspect, Mou Ippon! deserves a perfect 10!

The animation is above average, the action during the fights are actually great, fluid and detailed. It has a catchy OP and ED to boost!

Overall, to me Mou Ippon! is a case of being judged by its cover. It's overlooked and underrated. And I'd love if more people give this a chance! One of the best anime of Winter 2023.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 12, 2024

Teramol

Recommended

I consider myself somewhat of a sports anime enjoyer however I don't have a particular interest in the martial art of judo. Yet I found myself binging all of Mou Ippon! in a single day, so that should be a testament in and of itself.

Don't get me wrong. The sport, judo, was definitely portrayed well and some matches could definitely be put up there next to some more well respected sports anime battles. But in my opinion where the show really shines the best is not that. It's the characters. And more specifically, the interactions between the characters.

I wouldn't say a single girl of our ... main cast from Aoba West high school stand out on their own but together, it makes all the difference. I had a very fun time just watching them get to know each other better, coming from different background and levels of age, judo and friendships. And most importantly, it felt organic. The show is believable and that's why I really enjoyed it.

You don't need a masterclass in writing or a plot that is deep if the story you are telling feels good to experience. Even the matches felt real and they weren't throwing around deus ex machina for the sake of making stakes higher. The show is mostly comfy and a feel good experience but it's not afraid to get serious too and it manages to handle the tones for both well.

The animation also pleasantly surprised me. It was mostly very fluid with great uses of camera angles to add that extra oomph. But while I enjoyed the judo matches after getting used to it more, I still wish they would have expanded more on the actual workings of it. Lots of terms such as points and technique names are dropped constantly but never do we actually get proper explanations for anything.

Drama in the series was pretty elementary and some of it felt a little forced but it wasn't bothering me too much overall. And the ending of the show feels almost like only a prologue finishing so I definitely was left wanting more. Hopefully it gets another season some day but as is, it's still a fairly self-contained fun show that just works.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 31, 2023

PixelB

Not Recommended

Mou Ippon! is a pretty generic sports anime. It doesn't try reinventing the wheel, but nothing is necessarily wrong. It's just that not a single aspect of the show stands out, and thus becomes highly mediocre. By playing it safe, the show suffers.

The problem is that this show has not a single thing that draws the viewer in. Let's first talk about the sport itself, Judo. Usually, when a show regarding a sport shows up, it should at least give a tutorial on the sport; the rules, how to play Judo, and stuff like that. This show doesn't do that. Okay, fine, but will the ... focus of the show be Judo? Well, Yes, and no. Compared to pure sports shows, it clearly has much less focus. There are no training regiments, and no real strategies other than observing the opponent's previous matches. The animation of the judo is a bit stiff and there are freeze frames, but overall, the animation is alright. It's just that there's not too much monologuing, but the matches themselves are long enough. It's not just someone "throwing" them down and that's the match. However, it's also not enough to carry the show. After all, there's no real "training" being done. A lot of the daily life of the schoolgirls is focused on training, but on what? Again, not too much strategy, not much of any focus on the actual sport of Judo. This gets reflected in the opponents themselves. You can see the lack of focus on the characters when you notice that opponents don't get an introduction. The show tries to characterize them mid-match, and it kind of works successfully, too, but again, just not enough to carry the show. Flashback no jutsu isn't going to magically develop a new opponent.

What about the main characters themselves? Again, they're all not bad. You have the shy captain that wants to improve themself while also taking care of the team, the bombastic protagonist, a reclusive expert Judoka that eventually learns to express their feelings, the best friend character that switches from an all-star kendo player to Judo in order to be with the protagonist, the senior that wants to make their last year count and a reliable coach that helps them along the way. There's nothing wrong with them, but when you don't actually see them train, their monologues, they can't carry the show.

Bamboo Blade, a similar show about Kendo instead of Judo, suffers the same flaws. There's a clear focus on Kendo, but it does feel a bit weak still, but there is also an equal amount of focus on slice-of-life interactions and comedy. This slice of life aspect makes up for the sort of whimsical focus on Kendo. So unlike Bamboo Blade, Mou Ippon lacks this slice-of-life interaction that Bamboo Blade does, which made it stand out more.

It's okay for this show to focus entirely on Judo, which it does, but it needs to be perfected. If Ookiku Furikabutte, a similar show that focuses entirely on baseball with a grassroots high school level team that wants to go to nationals shows so much more detail in character development, the training, and the matches themself despite having a 9-player roster, a manager, and a coach, then there's a problem.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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