The Story of Tomorrow’s Joe
Anime is the type of animation that originated in Japan. Some anime first start out as comics known as ‘manga’. Moving from Japan, anime has been making its way across the globe, jumping from continent to continent. Now it is slowly becoming more popular in the western world.
Though the English word ‘Cartoon’ means the same as the word ‘Anime’ in Japanese, in the modern day it is not wise to consider anime to be the same as cartoons. This is mainly because anime has formed its own separate fan base which ranges between the ages of 14–24 (of course the content, both in terms of art and story, generally varies drastically depending upon your age and interests). Now, even if the popular anime Sword Art Online is in the form of animation it definitely does not come in the same category as Banana Fish purely due to the target audience.
Now, people ask questions such as, “If anime is so matured, then why don’t they make movies on the same script with actual actors?”
I don’t have a direct source for this but I believe that trying to make something look more realistic such as a dinosaur or titan in a live action movie costs a lot more than drawing a dinosaur or titan with other characters on the same piece of paper which is the reason why the form of anime is preferred. I can support my argument based on the fact that most if not all of the anime are based on fictional themes that would be very expensive to produce in the form of a live action film.
This summer vacation I felt as if I didn’t know what to do in my excess of free time so I tried to remember what I did in my last summer vacation and remembered that I watched a very old anime ‘Ashita no Joe’ (a.k.a Tomorrow’s Joe) a critically acclaimed manga written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba in 1968 that was later adapted into an anime series as well as a movie.
Among the otaku community (Japanese for ‘geek community’) Ashita no Joe is not unheard of but often when its name is brought up in a conversation all that people know is, “Oh! That boxing manga!”
Yes, Ashita no Joe is the story of a boxer named Joe Yabuki but just because it is about boxing don’t think of it as just another sports anime. Similar to other sports anime, AnJ does show values such as dedication, hard work & respect for one’s opponents. But for Joe, boxing isn’t just a sport, it’s a way of life; his way of life. Ashita no Joe is unique, if there was one word to describe the series it would simply be ‘masculine’. The story deals with what a young boy feels such as feelings of disappointment, sadness, powerlessness, guilt, and more. This is all for the sake of achieving his dream.
Read the manga from right to left.
Joe is an orphan who has never seen or even known the names of his parents. Throughout his childhood he was transferred from one orphanage to another. Inside the orphanage being surrounded by walls on all sides he feels as if he is being held captive. He often looks at the mountains surrounding the orphanage and wonders what lies beyond them. He soon starts believing that beyond the mountains lies a place of happiness; a place of freedom. In his imagination this place of happiness is just like the scenery when the sun rises from the mountains indicating a new day. Thus, the show gets its name as ‘Tomorrow’s Joe’.
Joe tries several times to escape from the orphanage in attempt to reach the other side of the mountain. Once, he successfully escapes the orphanage and crosses the mountains, he is disappointed to find out that a poor little boy is powerless in such a world. From this point forward Joe lives by himself as a vagabond and protects his freedom with the help of his fists.
The show begins with, a fifteen year old Joe reaching Doya town, where he protects a little girl from a gang of criminals. An ex-boxer, Tange Danpei, observes Joe fight around 5–6 people without being scratched and asks Joe to train under him and become a boxer. Joe refuses his repeated requests until he eventually grows tired and decides to start practicing boxing. Danpei tells Joe to practice every morning while he himself goes to work in order to earn more money for him and Joe. But Joe, having lived without any guidance, shows his rebelious side by becoming a petty criminal during his short stay living in Doya town. He commits a huge number of crimes ranging from the most petty ones to the point of scams like accepting donations for an orphanage, which doesn’t even exist.
These crimes lead to him being thrown in jail and as he doesn’t show any improvement he gets sent to the juvenile prison where he meets Riikishi, a former boxing prodigy, and feels something which can best be described as ‘hate-at-first-site’. Riikishi’s boxing skills are vastly superior to Joe’s. Not just the boxing skills but Riikishi’s personality begins to influence Joe in to becoming a boxer. Joe shows tremendous improvement and completes his prison sentence after which he leaves and heads back to Doya town where he is determined to start practicing boxing, become a professional boxer, and face Riikishi in the ring.
Joe starts off as an annoying and arrogant teenager and eventually turns into a professional boxer whose personality issues seem to have been cured by the constant trials and tribulations he faces. However, his annoying and arrogant side still reappears from time to time which shows that he still hasn’t completely gotten rid of his quick temper and other bad habbits. However, this attitude of his is the key to his success and he never completely does away with it. So instead, we as the audience start liking him the way he is. And even if he is careless about the things around him, Joe’s dedication to boxing is extraordinary. Joe can go to absolutely any extent if it’s for boxing. The very first time Joe experiences boxing he confesses that he loves it. He seems to love boxing as it challenges him just like the mountains he crossed in his childhood.
As you must have sensed it by now, Ashita no Joe continuously alternates between a tragic and more tragic tone. It mainly focuses on the relationship that a boxer has with boxing and the relationship a boxer has with his rivals. Unlike the common sports stories where the protagonist and the antagonist merely compete with each other, Joe is shown to actually hate a good number of his opponents. Each opponent affects Joe’s character, personality, and future. But most importantly, once the bout is over, Joe forgets all the hatred and starts respecting his opponents. It is commonly observed that nothing good ever happens to Joe’s opponents after their bouts. Joe feels guilty about this as he tends to think he is responsible for their newly found hardships. Nonetheless, his respect for his rivals and guilt for how they ended up gives Joe extra encouragement to get up for one more time and fight with all his might.
Most of Joe’s rivals are shown to have something in common with Joe. Wolf, for example, has his story based on a similar background. Riikishi shows tremendous heart in the ring that rivals and even surpasses Joe’s. Carlos has the same wild eyes as Joe. Kim has a hunger that is unrivaled which is similiar to Joe. But at last, there is the World champion, Jose Mendoza, who can be described as a perfect champion (a gentleman, rich, not usually arrogant, internationally popular and an inspirational figure) who seems to be the exact opposite of Joe. Jose Mendoza plays the role of the greatest mountain in Joe’s life. Mountains cannot be defeated but they can be crossed. Beyond Jose Mendoza lies Joe’s ‘Tomorrow’ (his place of happiness).
Joe’s emotional, mental, and physical struggle is harsh and continuous. In this struggle, moments of happiness are scarce but Joe’s cheerful and light hearted personality sometimes makes his smiles and laughs annoying. But as the story approaches its final arc, these same actions come off as more tragic and people start wanting to see Joe smile more often.
This image shows that even as strong as he is, Joe too has limits and moments of weakness. His record consists of both wins and losses. Joe realizes that in this world a person can never achieve the happiness of freedom but what can be achieved is the happiness of fighting for hi sfreedom. Joe even says, “I want to burn down to ashes, all white”, which means that he wants to fight until his flame burns out, until the very end.
The show ends with Joe being around 20 years old. Joe’s ending scene is very emotional as it can be seen as both tragic and happy at the same time. The show ends with Joe reaching his “Tomorrow” and smiling for one last time as his voice echoes through the minds of his friends and ex-rivals saying, “I have ignited, I burn down to ashes, all white.”
Just by watching this anime it made me shut down my computer every evening and go to practice boxing at my boxing class everyday last summer and ever since I have continued boxing. I hope other teenagers would watch this great anime as I think it really is the type anime which would make them shadow box along with Joe every time the bell rings.
– Clay Matthew
Links to read and watch the series are below:
Ashita no Joe anime season 1 (watch until episode 47): https://gogoanime.io/category/ashita-no-joe
Ashita no Joe season 2 (this is the amazing portion of the story): https://gogoanime.io/category/ashita-no-joe-2
Ashita no Joe manga (the style is old but classic):
https://mangarock.com/manga/mrs-serie-19199
Ashita no Joe live action film (it’s rushed but still quite enjoyable):
https://kissasian.es/Drama/Ashita-No-Joe/
