YS Super Fighting Talk

Translated by: Robby Stine

Celebrating the Original Animated Video production of One Pound Gospel

*BIG Discussion*

DECLARING VICTORY!

Fighting in the World J. Bantamweight title on September 4th!
The No. 1 WBA World J. Bantamweight Fighter
Kiyoshi Hatanaka

VS.

The No. 1 Comic Fighter
Rumiko Takahashi


One Pound Gospel is doing well in syndication, and the animated video version has just been announced. Japan’s boxing hope Kiyoshi Hatanaka, and undeniably the model for protagonist Kosaku Hatanaka, is about to fight in the long-awaited world championship. Get ready for the sizzling conversations he and Takahashi had in the sizzling Nagoya summer heat!

This is the first time for Rumiko Takahashi, champion of the world of comics, to speak with a boxer. On September 4th, Kiyoshi Hatanaka, much like a manga protagonist himself, claims he will defeat reigning Champion Gilberto Román and nab the title for himself. ^[1] Before the World Championship, these two meet in Nagoya for a BIG discussion. Presiding over these two is a manga writer passionate about boxing to the point it’s annoying, Seiichi Tanaka.

The winning strategy for the championship game? Treat it like a fist fight.

Tanaka: Rumiko, did you choose to create One Pound Gospel out of a longtime love of boxing?

Takahashi: I guess you could say I’ve enjoyed watching it on TV since the Takeshi Fuji days. I was never a super fan, but fights with Masao Ohba and the like left quite the impression on me. ^[2]

Hatanaka: I loved reading Ganbare Genki. Is boxing an easy sport to turn into a manga? ^[3]

Takahashi: In boxing, there are always these loud kind of “POW!” moments, right? That kind of stuff is perfect for manga. The “Swoosh!” moments in basketball, on the other other hand, aren’t as impactful.

Tanaka: Kiyoshi, the championship game will be here before you know it. Have you got your strategy figured out?

Hatanaka: I’m gonna win, no matter what it takes! That’s the plan (laugh).

Takahashi: I’d heard you were quite the idealistic athlete…

Hatanaka: I keep it simple. Just pull them in and knock them out. More like a fist fight than a boxing match.

Takahashi: But to become the world champion, you have to fight and win against the strongest man in the world. I don’t know what it’s like to be a boxer, but it must be pretty scary getting in the ring to fight someone like that.

Hatanaka: Up until the moment I step into the ring, it is scary.

Takahashi: And what happens to those feelings once you’re in the ring?

Hatanaka: Once I’m there, I’m thrilled. The reaction from the crowd and the spotlight on me makes me feel like a star. And with these world championship games, that crowd is like 10,000 people. I bet it’d feel great to just burst out in song right there (laughs). I’d feel just like Seiko Matsuda (laugh). ^[4]

Tanaka: I imagine getting on the scale is scarier than the getting in the ring.

Hatanaka: It’s terrifying! (laugh).

Takahashi: How much weight do you usually have to lose in preparation for a fight?

Hatanaka: The most I’ve ever had to lose was fourteen kilograms. But these days I have more self-restraint, so I usually only need to lose about eight.

Takahashi: That’s amazing. But the training is really hard, isn’t it? And you can’t eat or drink either. Don’t you ever feel like giving up?

Hatanaka: Of course. But then I remind myself I’m doing it to become World Champion, and that gets me through.

Losing weight is tough, but drives the fighting spirit.

Tanaka: For a boxer, it’s easy to understand why the weight loss has to happen, and the hunger that comes from it really drives their fighting spirit. And in Kiyoshi’s case it even changes his personality.

Takahashi: It does?

Hatanaka: I’m like a beast. Really. My parents won’t even come near me. My little brother won’t let them (laughs).

Takahashi: What do you do to keep your mind off things when you’re trying to lose weight?

Hatanaka: When I start dieting, I like looking at delicious food in recipe books.

Takahashi: So you’re saying just looking at food makes you feel like you’ve eaten it?

Hatanaka: I think about what I want to eat once the match is over and end up buying multiple, often quite similar recipe books.

Tanaka: Even more, once he starts dieting he takes walks down the local shopping arcade and starts impulse buying food.

Hatanaka: Yep. I’ll be like, “I’m gonna eat this after the match!” and before I know it I’ve spent 10,000 yen.

Takahashi: And what, do you just stare longingly at all that food you bought until the match is over?

Hatanaka: Yeah. I put it in the fridge and stare at it occasionally thinking how I’ll eat it after the match, only I never do. My brother’s always the one to eat it (laughs).

Takahashi: Because you don’t want it anymore?

Hatanaka: Once the match is over, I always end up eating something better (laughs).

Takahashi: Do you go so far as fasting when you need to lose weight?

Hatanaka: I fast for about two days before a match, just chewing gum and and spitting.

Takahashi: As the day of a match gets closer and closer, are you able to sleep?

Hatanaka: No, but not so much because of the match as because of the weight loss.

Takahashi: Because you’re hungry, or because you’ve gotten yourself so worked up you can’t sleep?

Hatanaka: More than hunger, I can’t sleep because I’m so thirsty. It’s really tough not being able to hydrate after a grueling workout.

Tanaka: Not being able to drink is what all boxers say is the hardest thing about losing weight. Previous World Champion Tsuyoshi Hamada is so fixated on water he’s said to know every one of Japan’s top 100 natural spring waters. ^[5]

Boxing is all about pushing humans past their limit. Amazing!!

Takahashi: Just hearing you talk about all this has made me realize how amazing a sport boxing really is. I’ve always thought anything that pushes you past your limit is unsustainable, yet boxing absolutely does that and people are still able to persevere.

Tanaka: Boxing is all about people at their absolute limit fighting with all they’ve got.

Takahashi: Definitely. Boxing is the most stoic of all sports, isn’t it? Like, you’re always living at the edge of your personal limits while going about your everyday life, and you’re definitely not living like some hermit. Despite all the things limiting you, you’re able to keep pushing yourself and succeed. It’s amazing.

Takahashi: You must hate your opponents when in the middle of a match.

Hatanaka: I don’t actually hate them, but before the match I set aside five minutes in the pre-match waiting room and make myself feel that way. I get myself fired up, I guess, and then head to the ring.

Takahashi: Have you ever thought about who you really box for?

Hatanaka: For myself, of course. I’m all by myself up there in the ring, so all I can think about is winning for my own sake.

Whether it be manga or boxing, loneliness is a mental battle!

Tanaka: A lot of manga artists are boxing fans. Is there anything that manga artists and boxers have in common?

Takahashi: We work alone, and it is lonely. There’s a big difference between those with a strong mental constitution and those without.

Tanaka: And you’re both lacking a basic need. Boxers can’t eat, and manga artists can’t sleep.

Hatanaka: Do you really not sleep?

Takahashi: No, I just... don’t really properly catch up on my sleep. Working through the night is a pretty common occurrence for me.

Tanaka: But between the bouts of rest and concentration, I bet you’ve got this innate sense of how to progress in order to finish your manuscript just in time to meet your deadline.

Takahashi: I don’t really think you can make it as a pro if you haven’t got that kind of internal clock. But with manga, being boxed into a corner by an incoming deadline can actually be good.

Hatanaka: Being a manga artist is pretty different from being manga writer, huh?

Tanaka: There’s more than one way to go about creating manga. You have manga created by people like Takahashi here, who do everything themselves. Then, you have manga created by a team of two. One writes the story, the other draws it. I’m the guy who writes stories. ^[6]

Hatanaka: I wish we could do that with boxing.

Takahashi: What do you mean?

Hatanaka: One person diets and trains, the other fights the matches. I’d be the guy who fights.

(Takahashi falls over, laughing uncontrollably)

Takahashi: I’ll definitely be there cheering you on for the World Title match. Live your dream and become the world champion! I know you can do it!

Hatanaka: And I can’t wait to see One Pound Gospel!

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Footnotes

• [1] Kiyoshi Hatanaka fought Gilberto Román September 4, 1988 at Nagoya Rainbow Hall. Though Hatanaka scored a knock down in the first round against Román he landed two low blows over the course of the fight and ultimately lost in a unanimous decision.
• [2] Takeshi Fuji (藤猛) was a famous fighter during the 1960s and 1970s before retiring. He was the lineal WBA and WBC super lightweight champion. Masao Ohba (大場政夫) was the WBA flyweight champion. He died in a car accident in 1973 roughly three weeks after his most recent fight. He was still an active fighter when he died and died while still holding the championship. Though Takahashi says she is a modest fan she has attended a number of fights in person. Including Tsuyoshi Hamada versus Rene Arredondo on July 22, 1987 and Kiyoshi Hatanaka versus Gilberto Román on September 4, 1988. She also expressed a desire to have met Masao Ohba.
• [3] Ganbare Genki (がんばれ元気) is Yuu Koyama's 1976-1981 manga about a single father who is a boxer and his young son Genki who hopes to follow in his footsteps. It was serialized in Shonen Sunday alongside Urusei Yatsura.
• [4] Seiko Matsuda (松田聖子) is one of the most popular pop artists of the 1980s.
• [5] Takahashi likely found these comments about the desire to drink something more than eating as interesting because she would focus on this in One Pound Gospel chapter 21: Lamb for the Slaughter, Part Two.
• [6] Seiichi Tanaka (田中誠一) is a writer of manga (known as a "gensakusha" (原作者)). His manga include the baseball manga Goukyuu Shojo (剛球少女) and the boxing manga Mad Dog Ken (マッドドッグ拳).

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