I decided to take a look at this show after seeing the characters and artwork. I've never seen a sports anime before this. So from my limited perspective, I enjoyed the show.
VISUALS-
Since I came for the art, I'll start with that. What's my say on it? I actually love it. There are animation errors galore (mouths flying off of faces), and plenty of wonky movements, but it makes up for them. You may dislike the art, though, if the cheapness or outdated look distracts you.
To begin, there's a ton of beautiful texture throughout all of the drawings in the show. Especially in the more
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emotionally intense or fast-paced action sequences, you get a lot of wild pencil strokes, rough brush lines, and deep, comic-like shadows that are really refreshing to see when compared to the clean, overly sanitized look of the 21st century. The characters are often contoured in a much thicker line than the backgrounds they're placed on, creating a bold, stylish effect. The backgrounds, especially during fight scenes, are beautiful. The artists transport the characters out of the ring and into colorful, psychedelic backgrounds that I always pause to appreciate.
A highlight of the artwork is the facial expressions. When characters are punched, knocked out, or physically tortured in any way, their faces contort into these brutal, lifeless expressions that really communicate what they're feeling. They always make me go "Oof!" and cringe when I see them take a hit. Their eyes become empty husks. It's very effective.
The art also makes great use of "line of action" or "arcs". These aren't weak punches being thrown. The artists will place the most extreme line they can on the page and draw a punch over it, I swear. There are some really great frames in here to study if you want to learn about drawing great arcs and great punches.
Other than that, you get a strong 70s aesthetic with the art style itself, as well as the outfits and settings depicted. My only qualm with the art, besides the errors and reused animations, is that it suffers from (I hate using this phrase, but) "same face syndrome"-- every notable lady in this show looks identical (Noriko, Yoko, Yuri, and even Sachi), and most men that Joe goes up against in the ring resemble Rikiishi in some way.
THE ANIMATION ITSELF-
The show has a great look to it at times, but the animation itself isn't very special. You occasionally get clips that are well animated, like some punches, which tend to have more frames than a typical shot, but for the most part, the movements themselves are average, sometimes a bit wonky, or just very cheap. Simple lip flap animations, no interesting camera movements, and sometimes wonky/shaky scenes. Very standard of the time it was made, so I can't really complain much about that.
CHARACTERS- SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!! SKIP THIS SECTION TO AVOID SPOILERS.
I love a good antihero. Joe, at first, is a frustrating character to watch. You will find yourself yelling at him through the screen for the majority of the first half, but that somehow made me all the more invested in him. I couldn't help but to keep watching as I waited for him to finally do the right thing.
And then, of course, there's Rikiishi: Joe's rival. He's got ruggedly good looks, a deep voice, a wicked backstory where he ended up in jail after nearly killing a heckler at one of his boxing matches, effortless skill and charisma, and when he gets out of juvie, he's always dressed to the nines and has an inventory of multiple vintage sports cars. He's hard not to admire. At least to a chick like me..!
So you have these two characters that you get invested in, and then you just.. Watch them waste away.
You watch them, for seemingly no good reason at all, go down a road of destroying themselves for the sake of their own foolish pride. "This is a man's world," Rikiishi says, as he develops an eating disorder and suffers a brain hemorrhage all in a span of roughly 10 episodes. It's hard to watch.
But the show handles the loss beautifully. I watch a lot of soap operas-- those characters drop like flies, and the cast forgets about them within three or four episodes. Not Ashita no Joe. Joe dedicates a lot of time to mourning Rikiishi. You watch Joe battle in agony with so many feelings that finally make his character a lot more sympathetic. He drops the tough-guy act and you hear him admit that all of this time, it was love and admiration that kept him so enthralled with Rikiishi, it was never the hatred he claimed it to be. Echoes of his death are felt for the rest of the series, as Joe can never return to the fighter he once was. Every match brings him flashbacks of his tragic fight with Rikiishi, forcing him to go into shock and throw up in the middle of the ring.
As the audience, you go from rooting for Joe to join boxing, thinking it'll help get him off of the streets and give him a solid job and purpose, to feeling very conflicted and almost guilty that you ever wished that for him at all.
NOTES ON THE SHOW- NO SPOILERS
In regards to the show as a whole: There were a lot of moments where the slow pacing felt like filler and dragged the show out, but other moments where the slow pacing was perfect and gave the audience the exact emotional time frame it needed to feel the impact of important moments. Past around episode 60, I was surprised that I still felt engaged at all with the character of Joe and the show as a whole, but even with that being said, it wasn't the same after that point. As other reviews have pointed out, Nishi has a confusingly fast turnaround and Joe has very, very strong plot armor. Nevertheless, I was impressed that this show got me to cry multiple times. I fell for every emotional beat!
The troupe of children are the weakest characters in the show. They're annoying. The only time I enjoy their presence is when Joe bonds with them, it can be touching and softens Joe's frustrating-at-times exterior. In my opinion, it's okay to skip their scenes and episodes at your discretion.
ENDING REMARKS-
If you have an appreciation for older films and older anime, and if you like dramas, I recommend this. Especially if you like grungy, bloody, scratchy art and plenty of pretty boney looking men, hahah! As a horror fan, I sure do! It's a very masculine show.
I need to read the manga! From these reviews, it seems like I'm missing out! If the show's pretty good, I'm sure the manga is a masterpiece.
Aug 20, 2022
Ashita no Joe
(Anime)
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I decided to take a look at this show after seeing the characters and artwork. I've never seen a sports anime before this. So from my limited perspective, I enjoyed the show.
VISUALS- Since I came for the art, I'll start with that. What's my say on it? I actually love it. There are animation errors galore (mouths flying off of faces), and plenty of wonky movements, but it makes up for them. You may dislike the art, though, if the cheapness or outdated look distracts you. To begin, there's a ton of beautiful texture throughout all of the drawings in the show. Especially in the more ... |
