Aoki Masaru (青木 勝, lit aoki masaru) is a major supporting character in Hajime no Ippo.
He is an unorthodox lightweight boxer and one of the core members of the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. He, along with Kimura Tatsuya, are known to have been scouted into boxing by Takamura Mamoru, an individual they swore to defeat but eventually came to admire.
His surname is Aoki. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names.
Background
Aoki and Kimura
Aoki has a delinquent past with long-time friend and schoolmate Kimura Tatsuya. Together they would pick fights and wreak havoc frequently until they met and attacked Takamura Mamoru in an arcade. Takamura was given a concussion by Aoki by kicking his head into an arcade screen, but Takamura retaliates with a German suplex and defeats Aoki, leading him and Kimura on a path of revenge- their goal being Takamura in the end. After several failed attempts Aoki and Kimura found their way to Kamogawa Boxing Gym where they find Takamura. There, they were introduced to boxing, and trained with a single goal of defeating Takamura in mind. Upon their winning of their individual debut matches the two realized that Takamura was no longer just their 'goal' but their inspiration and idol as well.
History
Early Days
In the anime, Aoki and Kimura watch Makunouchi Ippo and Miyata Ichirou sparring. After the end of the spar, he introduces himself to Ippo. On Ippo's first day at the gym, Aoki and Kimura attempts to train him, however they are stopped by the coach. While Ippo is training, Aoki serves Ippo and the others ramen at his restaurant. Aoki is seen watching Ippo's and Miyata's sparring match.
When Yagi reveals Ippo's pro debut match is Oda Yusuke, Aoki suggests it will be an easy fight. At Chuuka Soba, Aoki serves Ippo, Takamura, and Kimura ramen, he then does fortune telling with cards, he pulled a card that shows Ippo will win. Aoki, along with the others, watch Ippo's fight with Oda, then celebrated after Ippo's first win.
Rookie King Tournament
Aoki winning against an unknown opponent.
Ippo celebrates his first year at the gym with Aoki, Takamura, and Kimura at the Chuuka Soba. Aoki explains how his Rookie King Tournament went. As Ippo isn't used to fighting black boxers, Aoki paints himself black, it successfully eases Ippo as they get ready to spar. Aoki watches the match between Ippo and Jason Ozuma. Aoki attends the training camp and attends Ippo's match against Kobashi Kenta. Aoki attends Takamura's Japanese middleweight title match against Yajima Yoshiaki. After Takamura wins the champions belt, Aoki celebrated along with everyone else. After Hayami Ryuuichi's match against Yasukawa Kazu, Aoki has a match against an unnamed opponent and wins. Aoki helps Ippo learn how to use counters for his match against Hayami. Aoki attends Ippo's match against Hayami. Aoki attends Ippo's match against Mashiba Ryou.
For the most part Aoki's fights in the series are not as major or impactive on the general storyline. However, in his most recent fight against Iga Shinobu (and his coach Kurita Baron, a former member of the Kamogawa Gym), Aoki was beaten badly and landed himself in the hospital. Given the option to retire with Kimura after their considerably lengthy careers Aoki refuses, and is determined then to stay in the lightweight class until he defeats Iga, whom he now considers his goal and rival. Takamura is then seen commenting on how stubborn both Aoki and Kimura are.
Match History
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIN | 14-8-3 | Unknown | TKO | 8(8) | 1998 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| WIN | 13-8-3 | Unknown | TKO | 8(8) | 1998 | Tokyo, Japan | Comeback Match |
| LOSS | 12-8-3 |  Iga Shinobu
|
KO | 7(10) | 1997-11 | Tokyo, Japan | Class-A Tournament Final |
| WIN | 12-7-3 | Jackal Itou
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1997-08 | Yokohama, Japan | Class-A Tournament (Round 1) |
| LOSS | 11-7-3 | Honsa Kreku
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1997-04-15 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| WIN | 11-6-3 | Padawan Yoda
|
KO | 9(10) | 1996-09-12 | Tokyo, Japan | "Operation- World Domination" Semi-Final Matches |
| DRAW | 10-6-3 |  Papaya Dachiu
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1996-03 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| DRAW | 10-6-2 | Papaya Dachiu
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1995-08 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| DRAW | 10-6-1 | Imae Katsutaka
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1995-04 | Tokyo, Japan | Lightweight Title Match |
| WIN | 10-6-0 |  Paddy Magramo
|
Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 1994 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| WIN | 9-6-0 |  Boy Arate
|
TKO | 3(10) | 199- | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| WIN | 8-6-0 | Snake Thomas
|
KO | 1(10) | 1993-07-11 | Tokyo, Japan | Come-back match |
| LOSS | 7-6-0 | Omyama
|
KO | 8(8) | 1993 | Tokyo, Japan | Class-A Tournament Demi-Finals |
| LOSS | 7-5-0 | Jackal Itou
|
KO | 6(8) | 199- | Tokyo, Japan | Class-A Tournament Second Round |
| WIN | 7-4-0 | Bull Ishida
|
KO | ?(8) | 199- | Tokyo, Japan | Class-A Tournament (Round 1) |
| WIN | 6-4-0 | Arman Garcia
|
KO | 7(8) | 1992-04-20 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| WIN | 5-4-0 | Yamanaka Hiroshi
|
KO | ?(6) | 1991 | Tokyo, Japan | N/A |
| LOSS | 4-4-0 | Unknown | KO | 1(6) | 19- | Tokyo, Japan | Opponent was a southpaw boxer |
| LOSS | 4-3-0 | Unknown | Decision | 10(10), 3:00 | 19- | Tokyo, Japan | Rookie King Tournament, First Match |
| WIN | 1-0-0 | Yamanaka Hiro
|
KO | ?(4) | 19- | Tokyo, Japan | Debut match |
Appearance
Aoki's Appearance
Aoki has a tanned complexion with a body build that fits an orthodox lightweight in-fighter. He has curly dark brown hair in a short afro hair style with a prominent hairline. During his delinquent days, he had a more noticeable prominent hairline with shorter hair. He has dark brown eyes, large nose and pointed ears. In addition, Aoki has relatively short thick eyebrows and a wrinkle on his forehead.
At one point, Takamura cut Aoki's hair into a broccoli hair style.
Personality
Aoki and Kimura (duo named 'Aokimura') together in the Kamogawa Gym.
During his youth, Aoki was known for his troubled school life as a delinquent. He, along with long-time friend Kimura, were known to participate in countless fights and brawls with 'rival' schools, with Aoki being the more aggressive and violent of the two. Throughout the series Aoki has shown a rather immature, mischievous and boastful personality, contrary to Kimura who is generally more laid back. Despite his often tough-looking demeanor, his overconfidence and goofy personality in and outside the ring usually earn him the frequent ridicule of other characters, and he is usually the butt of many of Takamura's pranks and attacks. Due to this, many characters, even to an extent Ippo, indirectly look down on and sympathize with Aoki and his embarrassing antics. However, he is mostly easygoing and is able to get along well with others, also usually being the one to help Ippo out with his girl-problems when around Kumi. A long-running gag is that Aoki keeps revealing impressive talents, that sadly have no connection with boxing. His prankster personality extends to his own teammates and is most notably reflected in his attitude towards Ippo and (at times) Takamura. Together with Kimura, he is paired into the Aokimura duo by Itagaki Manabu.
Aoki's taste in women is seen as a running joke where, in contrast to the tastes of his gym mates, Aoki places his preferences in women considered 'ugly' by everyone else. Aoki admits that he gets nervous around beautiful women, specifically his ex-girlfriend Miyuki (who was caught cheating on Aoki with another guy), and is unable to make any further advances on them. However, surprisingly, Aoki seems to be very kind towards women and he himself prefers to judge them firsthand not by their looks, but as a person, unlike Kimura and Takamura. Even though he may have a taste for 'ugly' girls, he is able to hold a girlfriend, Tomiko, longer then any other members of the group.
Fighting Style
Aoki's fighting style
Despite not being a terrible boxer overall, Aoki's boxing is largely downplayed in the series, making him pale in comparison to boxers like Takamura, Ippo, Itagaki and oftentimes, Kimura. His outlandish personality is usually reflected in his boxing matches where, due to his comparatively unexceptional boxing skills, he constantly thinks of odd techniques to deceive and confuse opponents. He uses unorthodox methods to ruin his opponents' rhythm; it was stated by Kimura that no one is better at ruining a boxer's rhythm than Aoki. He is also a decent out-boxer, and able to switch from orthodox to southpaw. Lacking any special skills to speak of, Aoki's matches tend to end up becoming extremely messy mud fights, much to the displeasure of his audiences. Eventually, his 'Frog Punch' became a trademark and earned him the nickname 'Leap Frog' or 'Frog Man' by his audiences. It is then mentioned by characters in the series that Aoki's boxing ability can be comparable to that of a national champion's.
Techniques
Weaknesses
Because of a previous right straight from Takamura that caused him to flinch everytime he faced a right straight in the ring, Aoki's potential was held back a significant amount. This has made him easier to hit, making him lose patience and resulting in the many "mud fights" he's had throughout the years, but this was fixed by having him wear special headgear while having Takamura throw repeated right straights at him. Takamura also admits that Aoki's natural boxing ability can be greater of that of Kimura's should he overcome his weakness.
Gallery
Trivia
- Aoki works part-time at the Chuuka Soba restaurant where Ippo and other core characters of the series frequent after training. He wants to open a restaurant with money earned from boxing after retirement.
- According to Takamura, Aoki masturbates a lot.
- While his boxing skills are lacking, Aoki is incredibly skilled in baseball, bowling and cooking.
- After his declared 'loss' against Papaya Dachiu, Aoki's hair was cut in a broccoli style. This style quickly grew in fame with kids and generated a new popular franchise Broccoman (ブロッコマン, lit. burokkoman)
- Aoki is currently ahead of Kimura in their long race towards championship. Kimura lost his title match by KO but Aoki got a draw.
- Aoki's bad taste in women has been a recurring gag ever since first mentioned by Takamura.
- Despite his age, Aoki does not know how to swim.
- Aoki is a fan of Roberto Duran.