Animation Revelation Forum

Of course, Joe knew his body better than anyone else. He knew he was deteriorating from the punch-drunk syndrome. "So what?" Indeed. Joe didn't care about what would happen to him after the match. His only concern was his fight with Jose. Joe fights because he loves boxing, the challenge, and the thrill that can only come from doing his best, pushing himself to the limit against a mighty opponent. Jose offers Joe his shining moment, an ability to match fists with one of the greatest boxers ever, to prove his mettle, to fight the best fight he could ever fight. If that was going to be the end of his career, so be it. He didn't care about what happened after the match, win or lose. So long as he could give his all against the man he respected most, for the sake of those who suffered along his path, and for himself, it just didn't matter.

For some time now I expected Yoko was in love with Joe. Really, with how far she went out of her way to help him, and how much she cared about his well-being, it was clear she had grown attached to him on a level exceeding mere business matters, or even that as a concerned friend. Her confession was a wonderfully powerful moment, since so rarely did she let her emotions get the better with her, and act so distressed at any time in the series. And while she was tempted to run away, avert her eyes from the gruesome spectacle in the ring, she knew she had to go back, and bear through it in order to see what she helped create through to the end. She needed to be there to support Joe. In a rare moment, she does not ask him to throw in the towel, as she usually did in past matches when things got rough. She encourages him to fight on. She understands that Joe has to see this through to the end, and her words gives him a push of energy to carry it on with intensity. I'm not sure if Joe reciprocates her romantic feelings for him, but as his gift to her proved, he certainly was grateful to her and and that she did for him through his career, helping him get to where he is. I feel bad that she had to lose another person she loved, and it's too bad we don't know how she carries herself afterwards, but I'd hope she managed to find happiness and live on for both their sakes.

I loved how pretty much every recurring character in Joe 2 came back to observe Joe and Jose's match. I liked the scene where all the prison inmates were together, talking about how while they've lost their youth and become adults, Joe still has his youth, and Aoyama wistful of those days. And I was happy to see Wolf return the money he borrowed, and his and Joe hanging out at the bar, Gondo looking on, backing out from greeting Joe so to not ruin their moment. That was a brilliant scene. I was happy to see both of them root for Joe in his match, and how at the end of it, Gondo takes his hat off for Joe. A quiet, but profound action of respect for a fallen friend.

I like how, during the fight, we learn more about Joe's life in the past before he met Danpei. How he was a vagabond, an orphaned child who lived life through wit and luck, but shallowly and aimlessly. What would have happened to Joe if he didn't meet Danpei? Would he have just been like that, alone, a drifter wandering about with nothing to do and a deep emptiness? It's hard to think about, since Joe's life was so radically redefined by Danpei and boxing, but those flashbacks, if anything, showed Joe always had one thing. A passion for survival. A willingness to fight against any odds and adversity, using any means possible, in order to win at life. That part about him hasn't changed. Though he has people who care about him now, he is still fighting a solitary battle. It's a battle against his own limits, but a battle all the same. Even if he had to reduce himself to a thoughtless husk motivated only by the fight, it was necessary. He had to make it through the entire fight giving it his best, never once faltering or deteriorating, even at the end.

The flashbacks/visions of Rikishi was good foreshadowing of where this fight would lead Joe to, but they also were just additional motivation for Joe to succeed. After all, as much as this is a fight for himself, it is also a fight motivated by the fate of Rikishi, the man who inspired him to seriously become a boxer, and the man who's death forced him to overcome unbelievable adversity, adversity that lead him to meet Carlos, find a new goal in Jose, and become the fighter he is. So, those were some good scenes.

The fight was incredible. Joe pushed himself to the limit, and by the end, was a pure fighting machine, with determination so fierce it made the reserved Jose completely lose his wits. I enjoyed the return of the cross counter, and triple cross counter in the fight, as it seemed only natural to have Joe's signature moves be utilized in his finest hour. Not to mention the satisfaction in seeing Joe hit Jose that first time, and using his own tricks against him, is insurmountable. But I especially have to love what happened to Joe as the fight progressed. Jose has stayed champion thanks to his foresight to maintain a healthy body, something Joe failed to do. Joe, as usual, doesn't start off at his best in the first rounds, which lulled Jose into a false sense of security. However, once Joe started to gain momentum, standing up and fighting with fierce punches despite his weakened state, and near blindness in his right eye, he became afraid. Joe was willing to sacrifice his body, his life, in order to win the fight. Jose keeps himself healthy exactly because he is afraid of dying and injury. Joe was hanging on purely out of determination in the final rounds; his life was already forfeit, but he showed no signs of struggling. Despite his air of mightiness, Jose was actually weak-hearted as much as he was weak to punches, and that's why, in the heat of things, he snapped out of fear and committed a foul. There was no way he could stay rational against someone as anomalous as Joe. This pushed Jose to fight with all the strength he had to spare as well. This brought out the best in both fighters, which Joe gladly desired. Of course, the consequence is that Jose lost his healthiness; he is withered, bruised, his hair white, and is no doubt psychologically scarred. He may have technically won the fight, but in reality, he completely lost to the fire of Joe's spirit, which burned him up and left him broken. There is no way he'll be able to stay champion anymore, his body as it is. In the end, Joe got what he wanted, but Jose lost everything. It's a sad fate, but of course, one befitting someone who thought he could stay at the top for most of his career, underestimated his opponents, and never suffered a true defeat.

Now, the final scene. I'm going to bungle my thoughts on this. I still don't know how to best describe my feelings about it. It's funny how many series spoiled it for me, yet I didn't even realize yet. It did not in any way affect how powerful that image was, though. Joe Yabuki died with a smile. He burned up his youth in a fiery passion, performed the greatest fight he ever had in his career, and was now but ash. But there was really nothing waiting for Joe after this fight, nothing he wanted at least. His fight with Jose was everything he needed to leave the world happily. Death was by far the best fate for him, rather than being a crippled shell of himself like Carlos became. His body was failing him. As the fight went on he must have been in unbearable pain. But he did not deteriorate. His body lasted him, so he could see it through to the end. He lived and died a boxer in the prime of his strength and youth. I can't see any other fate that would be better. If you ask me, this is a happy ending. Of course, the other characters, Nishi, Danpei, and Yoko will despair and mourn, but Joe Yabuki had no regrets. He was glad to live a fulfilling life as a boxer, and leave the world at his peak. There was nothing left he needed to prove, or had to do in the world. He completely burned up, and was content to leave as pure white ashes.

I will say that there is one, singular thing I did not like about the ending...the usage of "Midnight Blues" when we see the final image of Joe. It may be "blues," but the song felt too upbeat for a powerful, (I would think) quiet and contemplative scene like that. I really think that either of the ending themes would have been more tonally appropriate. Just a nitpick, but something that did kind of rub me wrong.

Ultimately, Ashita no Joe ended as I thought it would as I got closer to the ending, and I was more than pleased with it. It was a strong ending, with a powerful final image, and left me thoroughly satisfied.  I can only hope to find more gems like AnJ as I press onwards in polishing off my gargantuan manga and anime backlogs, but it'll be hard to top this series. It's a rarely crafted masterpiece.

As for the ending insert song, I did actually enjoy Midnight Blues being placed there, since I don't consider it to necessarily be a tragic ending (as you yourself stated). It's actually not a bad song to represent what Joe was feeling at the end. Having said that, I implore you to go onto YouTube and check out this version of the ending from the movie:

http://youtu.be/ExHozD7lpDA

I think that was a much better choice for the ending song, even if I did like Midnight Blues.

After all, how many modern shounen series would have the balls to kill off the main character at the end? You just wouldn't see this in most modern shounen series. And it's not like it's a Shakespearean type tragedy of a death. It fits the tone of the series. I feel as though Joe dying with a smile on his face shows the audience that he is completely satisfied with accomplishing what he set out to do. He essentially leaves the world with absolutely no regrets (for himself, of course). The bitter part of it has more to do with the people who care about him. Obviously both Yoko and Danpei would quit the boxing business for good after this. I would like to hope that Danpei doesn't go back to being a drunk, and that Yoko could still find happiness despite the 2nd man she loved dying in the ring, but the beauty of it is that Takamori leaves it up to the audience to interpret things how they will. At any rate, the fight leading up to Joe's death was suitably climactic, and it almost makes me wish that I were born a Japanese person at the perfect age to read AnJ when it was out just to experience it as it was when it was a currently serialized series. I can't imagine how excited people must've been whenever a new chapter of this series was published.

The first that comes to mind is the Dragon Kim fight. I liked how initially Joe didn't feel he had it in him beat someone who had struggled through a life of hell, but he came to realize Kim was just making excuses for himself; he had a tragic childhood, yes, but that has nothing to do with how strong he is as a boxer or Joe's ability to beat him. Moreover, Joe realized he already has faced someone who went through hell; Rikishi. No, Rikishi didn't suffer from the trauma of killing his own father or anything, but he starved himself to his breaking point, willingly, purposefully, in order to fight Joe. While Kim had no choice as a kid to starve and live through a hell, Rikishi chose to endure that kind of pain, he sacrificed his own health and the pleasures of eating good food for the sake of fulfilling a promise, and he didn't back down. And it is the fact that Rikishi chose to experience the pain of starvation while Kim was forced that leads Joe to realize Kim isn't as indomitable as he seems, nor does he have the willpower of Rikishi to endure hardships willingly. And while Joe, like Rikishi, worked exhaustingly to reduce his weight to meet the lint, and is willing to get up again and again after taking beatings, Kim, who doesn't have much affinity for boxing and just sees it as a game, lacks that kind of resolve. He may be physically strong, but he lacks the passion for boxing and the ability to endure pain for it's sake like Joe or Rikishi, and inspired by the memory of what Rikishi did for their fight, Joe ultimately is able to overcome Kim. I just really love the idea behind that fight, how it tied in with Joe's weight struggle, messed with his confidence, and how it connected the arc back to Rikishi's struggle with weight loss and his fight with Joe, and that's why it seems to really stick in my mind.

There are other moments I love, obviously. I just don't have it in me to write about them all right now. I will say that Mendoza saying "See you again" to Joe at the end of the Hawaii arc and Joe's happy reaction to finally be acknowledged by him was a memorable scene to me, and was Mendoza's and Joe's first encounter.

To be honest, I actually expected Joe was going to die at the end because of all the build up, because as I was watching the series past the Harimao fight I kept thinking that was really the only natural destination for the series and Joe's character arc. Joe's sole, final goal was fighting his best fight he could with Mendoza, and his weathered body lasted him until he did that, and afterwards, he had nothing left he needed to accomplish, so satisfied with his life's journey, he peacefully, and happily, expired. Basically, I agree with all your points on the ending, and in fact I said the same kind of things earlier in that post where I talked about what I though about the Joe vs. Jose fight and the ending and stuff. I like that it's ambiguous as to how the other characters will move on, but I'd also like to think Danpei continues to train aspiring boxers and Yoko finds happiness and love again, somehow.

I'd say my favorite segment of the series have got to be the events from Joe and Rikishi's official fight (including the build up to it) all the way through the final fight with Carlos. Joe having to deal with his psychological scars and not only just find the resolve to fight again, but be able to overcome the trauma that unconsciously affects his boxing, and just how low his life was at this point as he struggled to return to form, definitely was the most striking part of the series to me as well, but I also loved the satisfaction of seeing him overcome  it, and fight a glorious fight with Carlos, a man who was incredibly similar to him and had his same wild spirit and passion for the sport, that both of them could be proud of, really felt like a victory and was an uplifting moment. So, I think I like those parts best because it's a rollercoaster of the highs and lows in Joe's life, with the low being his absolute low and the high being his absolute high (until his fight with Mendoza), and I think it's the part that best encapsulates the greatest strengths of the series and it's characters as well.

Sometime later I think I might make a top ten favorite moments in the series list in the manga thread (say, there's an idea I can do for a few shows/manga...), and then I'll elaborate more on some of the other parts of the series that really made an impression on me.

Although the ending is a little more serene then I was expecting. I guess I was expecting something more bittersweet like AnJ's ending, but you can also make a case that it wasn't that happy of an ending, just that everyone seems to be doing okay at this point. And I do like seeing Joe alive and well this time, all things considered.

It beats doing the same thing as AnJ while still following the core themes of the story. Joe proved himself and can now move on with his life. A happy ending was unexpected, but all their sacrifices paid off. I enjoyed it.