Tomorrow's Joe

:"Seiyū:" Osamu Katō, Gorō Naya (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Jun Shioya|塩谷ジュン|Shioya Jun:"Seiyū:" Keiko Yokozawa (Ashita no Joe 2): Wolf's fiancee.;nihongo|Jiro Shioya|塩谷ジロー|Shioya Jirou:"Seiyū:" Yoku Shioya (Ashita no Joe 2): Jun's little brother.;nihongo|Carlos Rivera|カーロス・リベラ:"Seiyū:" Taichirō Hirokawa, Ryūsei Nakao (Ashita no Joe 2), Joe Yamanaka (film):;nihongo|Harry Robert|ハリー・ロバート:"Seiyū:" Takeshi Kuwabara, Michihiro Ikemizu (Ashita no Joe 2): Carlos Rivera's manager.;nihongo|Ryuhi Kin|金 竜飛|Kin Ryuuhi:"Seiyū:" Norio Wakamoto (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Harimao|ハリマオ :"Seiyū:" Takashi Taguchi (Ashita no Joe 2):"Italian Name:" Hamario:;nihongo|Jose Mendoza|ホセ・メンドーサ:"Seiyū:" Yoshito Miyamura (Ashita no Joe 2), Masami Okada (film):;nihongo|Goromaki Gondou|ゴロマキ権藤:"Seiyū:" Chikao Ōtsuka, Takeshi Watabe (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Tiger Ozaki|タイガー尾崎:"Seiyū:" Shōzō Iizuka, Hiroya Ishimaru (Ashita no Joe 2):

Doya Town

Chibi-tachi

;nihongo|Sachi|サチ:"Seiyū:" Fuyumi Shiraishi:;nihongo|Kinoko|キノコ|Mushroom:"Seiyū:" Keiko Ushizaki, Junko Hori (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Tarou|太郎:"Seiyū:" Hiroshi Masuoka, Kiyonobu Suzuki (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Hyoromatsu|ヒョロ松:"Seiyū:" Kaneta Kimotsuki:;nihongo|Chuukichi|チュー吉:"Seiyū:" Noriko Tsukase:;nihongo|Tonkichi|トン吉:"Seiyū:" Jōji Yanami, Hiroko Maruyama (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Chibi|チビ|Squirt:"Seiyū:" Mitsuko Asō:

Hayashi Family

;nihongo|Noriko Hayashi|林 紀子|Hayashi Noriko:"Seiyū:" Kaoru Ozawa, Kei Moriwaki (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Keishichi Hayashi|林 敬七|Hayashi Keishichi:"Seiyū:" Setsuo Wakui, Minoru Yada (Ashita no Joe 2):;nihongo|Tamako Hayashi|林 玉子|Hayashi Tamako:"Seiyū:" Teruko Abe, Shō Saitō (Ashita no Joe 2):

DVD

On March 2, 2005 the series was released on 2 DVD complete box sets covering 33 hour 55 minutes of footage across 79 episodes spanning 16 disks by Nippon Columbia. It also includes an all-color explanation book in 3 volumes totaling 120 pages.

Previous release formats include mini-box sets in September 21, 2001 and individual disks on September 21, 2002.

Influence

When the fans of the series saw the death of Rikiishi, there was a special funeral for him. In March 1970, about 700 people packed the streets dressed in black, wearing black armbands and ribbons with flowers and incense, participated in the funeral. The event was called for by poet Shūji Terayama. The service was conducted in a full scale boxing ring watched over by a Buddhist priest [ Gravett, Paul [2004] (2004). Manga: Sixty years of Japanese Comics. New York, NY: Harper Design International. ISBN 1-85669-391-0.] .

Joe Yabuki is still a cult favorite in Japanese pop culture to the present day. On October 13, 2006, it was voted "Japanese Favorite TV Anime" placing 4 out of 100 among celebrities votes [Japanese Anime Vote. " [http://pwws.tv-asahi.co.jp/anime100/contents/2006geinou/cur/ TV Asashi Voting] . " "Japanese Anime Vote." Retrieved on 2006-11-19.] . It has succeeded in capturing people's hearts around Japan with its quality storyline and excellent boxing matches. The characters are very human and have their own weaknesses like Joe causing trouble all the time and Dampei being short tempered.

On Youtube, diehard fans made a fight between Joe Yabuki and Ippo Makunouchi (From Hajime no Ippo) by splicing and editing episodes from both series to keep the memory of Joe Yabuki alive.

The Wallflower (manga) anime has a brief spoof of the series. In The Adventures of Mini-Goddess, Gan-chan also dresses as the boxer.

equels

The Ashita no Joe movie was introduced in 1980 reusing footages from the TV series to form an identical story but much reduced in length. It was to bridge the gap for audiences who were about to see the 2nd half of the series named "Ashita no Joe 2". The 2nd series featured new directors, as it synced up with the final half of the manga. It was in this series in 1973 that Joe's career climaxed in the anime with the memorable finale. He collapsed into the ring corner after 15 rounds. His fate was left open for discussion as the readers don't know whether he lived or died. However, in the last volume of Ashita no Joe the death of Joe is actually confirmed by the author at the very end of the book.

Video games

{|class="wikitable"! Title ! Alternate Titles! Publisher! Developer! Platform! Release Date
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Ashita no Joe || || Taito || Wave Corp || Arcade || 1990
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Ashita no Joe Densetsu || Legend of Success Joe || SNK || Wave Corp || Neo Geo || 1991
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Ashita no Joe || || K Amusement Leasing || || SNES || November 7, 1992
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|| Boxing Mania || Konami || || Arcade || 2001
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Ashita no Joe Touchi: Typing Namida Hashi || Ashita no Joe Keyboard Pack || Sunsoft || Sunsoft || Playstation 2 || March 29, 2001
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Ashita no Joe 2: The Anime Super Remix || || Capcom || Capcom || Playstation 2 || June 20, 2002
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Ashita no Joe Masshiro ni Moe Tsukiro! || || Konami || || Playstation 2 || December 4, 2003
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Ashita no Joe Makkani Moeagare! || || || Konami || Game Boy Advance || December 4, 2003
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Ashita no Joe Masshiro ni Moe Tsukiro! Konami the Best || Ashita no Joe Masshiro ni Moe Tsukiro! Greatest Hits|| Konami || || Playstation 2 || July 8, 2004
-

Reference in other Media

*The final shot of Joe on the chair in the manga is also the cover of the "Ashita no Joe Masshiro ni Moe Tsukiro!" Playstation 2 video game.

*Masami Kurumada (famous for "Saint Seiya") did a tribute to Ashita No Joe by creating Ring ni Kakero (Put it all in the ring).

*The first and only official European release was in Italy and was called "Rocky Joe", which was either named after the "Rocky" series or the real life boxer Rocky Marciano.

*Parental groups blamed "Ashita No Joe" for teaching young children to be rebellious and anti-social towards Japanese family values during its early release.

*The Super Nintendo game based on "Ashita no Joe" is considered as a collectors item, due to it being very rare.

*In the game , the character Steve fox (boxer) have a hair costume, similar to the Joe's hair.

* In episode 8 of "Great Teacher Onizuka" (GTO), a couple of thugs dress like Danpei and Joe Yabuki and re-inact one of their famous training scenes.

* In episode 63 of "Urusei Yatsura", Ryuunosuke Fujinami cross punches her father, just like Joe did against Wolf Kanagushi. Ataru Moroboshi mentions the name of that attack, which Rikiishi thought to himself as Joe had countered Wolf in that locker room scene.

* The character Dudley from "Street Fighter III" has a special move called the "Cross Counter" which is a tribute to "Ashita no Joe".

* The character Takeshi Sendo from Hajime No Ippo is an homage to Joe- his hairstyle, fighting style, and brash image are all particularly reminiscent of Joe.

*In episode 19 of Ah! My Mini Goddess titled Kitchen Fighters, In the ending of the episode, Ganchan who was named Bruce Ganchan for that episode also sat in his corner's chair and was also colored gray after the decision of the boxing match. Very similar to what happened to Joe in his last fight. The winner of the bout was also named Jose Mendoza, but in this anime, he was just a mouse dressed in Mexican hat and coat, and was only a spectator.

*In episode 65 of the anime Sonic X, there is a scene in the original Japanese version that heavily references to Tomorrow's Joe. It features Tails and Cosmo, a pairing throughout the series' third season, in a scene that directly parodied the Tomorrow's Joe series, in character design and appearance.

*In Chapter 806 of Hajime no Ippo manga, Joji Morikawa created a splash page depicting Ippo Makunouchi shaking hands with Joe Yabuki.

*In Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Kamina's death is an homage to Joe, slumped over in the same position with similar lighting effects as he passes away.

*In chapter 3 of the new manga, Bakuman, by Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Akito and Saiko discuss their favorite manga, and Saiko says his is "Ashita No Joe." Akito responds saying it made him want to be a boxer,this is agreed with by Saiko.

References

External links

* [http://chibapro.co.jp/english/index.html Chiba Tetsuya Official Site]
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=456 Anime News Network]
* [http://www.japanhero.com/profiles/ashitanojoeprofileL.htm Character Profile]
* [http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/joe_red/main.html Official Konami website of Ashita no Joe Makkani Moeagare!]
* [http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/joe_white/main.html Official Konami website of Ashita no Joe Masshiro ni Moe Tsukiro!]