Takahashi is the creator of anime hits like Inu Yasha, Ranma 1/2, and Urusei Yatsura).

Ichi-Pound no Fukuin in the story of Hatanaka Kosaku, an up-and-coming boxer with an insatiable appetite. He can't keep his weight down and often gets disqualified for being too heavy for his weight class. (In the manga, he once ate a huge meal before a match and got disqualified for vomiting in the ring after a nauseating blow to the stomach.)

Hatanaka has a chance run-in with Catholic nun Sister Angela. After unwittingly feeding Hatanaka and contributing to another disqualification, the kind-hearted nun pledges to help him train for his next fight. Despite her efforts to remain true to her vows, Hatanaka falls in love with her... and maybe she's just a bit smitten with him, too.

Ichi-Pound no Fukuin was released as a one-epsiode anime in 1988 and released on VHS in the United States.

Somehow, NTV has managed to revive the series as a live-action TV drama featuring former junior league baseball player and pop idol Kamenashi Kazuya as Hatanaka and model-come-actor Kuroki Meisa as Sister Angela.

The first episode of Ichi-Pound firmly grounds the show as a romantic comedy. Hatanaka's antics are outrageous and his personality is a bit quirky and over the top. The show has the feel of a live-action anime, complete with exaggerated FX. (Hatanaka display's Matrix-like reflexes in "saving" one of Sister Angela's kindergarten students from an onslaught of runaway rubber balls.)

Hatanaka's character is quizzical at best. He just doesn't seem to understand the entire concept of nuns as he keeps trying to sneak into the convent to ask Sister Angela out on dates. The other characters in the show do seem to get it as they keep telling him "Duh! She's a NUN!" But Hatanaka won't be discouraged as he comes up with one crazy scheme after another.

The romance is innocent enough as Hatanaka seems to have the romantic sensibilities of a 12-year-old. He's more interested in holding hands and going to the movies than he his in getting into Sister Angela's panties. While this is probably a plus for the show's target audience of adolescent anime fans, it's a definite downside for sleazy fans of nunsploitation movies like School of the Holy Beast.

Kuroki Meisa is beautiful as the reserved and big-hearted Sister Angela. The 19-year-old Okinawa native is new to acting following a brief stint as a fashion model. She is supported by Motai Masako who plays the kindly and permissive Mother Abbess who encourages Sister Angela to help Hatanaka. To balance things out, Eguchi Noriko plays Sister Milee, the voice of dissent who disapproves of Hatanaka and follows the rules of the convent to the letter.

Ichi-Pound no Fukuin is definitely a fun show. Hatanaka's antics are funny and Sister Angela is as beautiful as she is kind. It's amazing that NTV managed to take this short story (which only spawned a few issues of manga and a single anime) and turn it into an ongoing series. Yet, there seems to be plenty of room for them to work with. Only time will tell if this concept will last.