Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow
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| It always makes me happy to get the notification that someone wrote in this thread. Shared my experience, which is now almost ten years in the past. The legendary series lives on. Soon time for a rewatch for me. |
| wow, havent seen a death scene that impactful in a minute... (excluding from shows im rewatching...) |
| rip Rikiishi, you were a true man up until the very end. I hope Joe recovers from this and doesn't lose his will to box. |
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| i never ever wouldve thought that rikishi would die like that im just in shock right now damn |
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| What in the actual fuck? |
 "A name... Toru Rikiishi" |
| Gotta give respect to Joe how he took the loss, he knew they both gave it their all and just admired Rikiishi that much more. Sadly I felt this was bound to happen but damn it still hit me ... His insane weight loss and training just to be able to fight Joe ... then the brutal fight between the two of them. I think they did a really good job portraying Joe's feelings towards losing a friend, someone he looked up to and respected. He was his goal in life so it's going to be interesting seeing Joe develop as a character. Rikiishi was a hell of a man, he knew what he wanted in life and didn't let anyone stop him, not even himself. Goodbye Rikiishi! |
PrOxAntoApr 19, 2023 3:53 PM
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| You know that episode is important, when its discussion has more replies than even those of the first and last episodes, which is not that common |
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| man what a hard hitting episode. |
| Goddamn it, I had an inkling that this would happen, but I didn't expect it so soon. So many different emotions from this, what a powerful episode. |
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| I remember reading the synopsis for the sequel befrore starting this and learned that Joe loses "his purpose". This really made me curious on what would happen to cause that. Once Rikiishi, the man who got Joe to where he was currently, started to deprive himself of basic needs that feeling of "he's gonna die" just wouldn't leave my head until now. Great episode. Probably my favorite one so far. |
| The single greatest episode in both seasons, and a strong contender for the greatest in anime history. |
| I was literally left speechless by that episode. I've been into anime for over 12 years now, and while death in anime isn't unusal, this one hit hard. An anime that aired over 50 years ago! And I somehow avoided this spoiler! I'm sure I'm with many of the people here who thought whatever the final fight is, was gonna be with Rikiishi. I was honestly expecting this match to basically be the catalyst to make Joe focus more on proper boxing and eventually meet him in the featherweight division so they could have a rematch with Rikiishi at his full potential. But no. Joe doesn't get to have a rematch with Rikiishi. Joe doesn't get to fight Rikiishi at his best health. Joe doesn't get to even give him a final handshake at the end. It really shows how brutal the world can truly be, and the world of boxing. One wrong move, and a person you care about can disappear from your life permanently. I truly wish I could have seen this episode air live (or even when the manga chapter came out). How did Japan react to this? It's such a wild, bold move to make halfway into the series that I feel like it caught everybody off guard. Absolutely amazing episode. Easily the best one in the series so far, maybe the entire series depending on where it goes from here. Ashita no Joe's legendary status really solidified itself with this one. |
Reply to Xionea
I was literally left speechless by that episode. I've been into anime for over 12 years now, and while death in anime isn't unusal, this one hit hard. An anime that aired over 50 years ago! And I somehow avoided this spoiler!
I'm sure I'm with many of the people here who thought whatever the final fight is, was gonna be with Rikiishi. I was honestly expecting this match to basically be the catalyst to make Joe focus more on proper boxing and eventually meet him in the featherweight division so they could have a rematch with Rikiishi at his full potential.
But no.
Joe doesn't get to have a rematch with Rikiishi. Joe doesn't get to fight Rikiishi at his best health. Joe doesn't get to even give him a final handshake at the end. It really shows how brutal the world can truly be, and the world of boxing. One wrong move, and a person you care about can disappear from your life permanently.
I truly wish I could have seen this episode air live (or even when the manga chapter came out). How did Japan react to this? It's such a wild, bold move to make halfway into the series that I feel like it caught everybody off guard.
Absolutely amazing episode. Easily the best one in the series so far, maybe the entire series depending on where it goes from here. Ashita no Joe's legendary status really solidified itself with this one.
I'm sure I'm with many of the people here who thought whatever the final fight is, was gonna be with Rikiishi. I was honestly expecting this match to basically be the catalyst to make Joe focus more on proper boxing and eventually meet him in the featherweight division so they could have a rematch with Rikiishi at his full potential.
But no.
Joe doesn't get to have a rematch with Rikiishi. Joe doesn't get to fight Rikiishi at his best health. Joe doesn't get to even give him a final handshake at the end. It really shows how brutal the world can truly be, and the world of boxing. One wrong move, and a person you care about can disappear from your life permanently.
I truly wish I could have seen this episode air live (or even when the manga chapter came out). How did Japan react to this? It's such a wild, bold move to make halfway into the series that I feel like it caught everybody off guard.
Absolutely amazing episode. Easily the best one in the series so far, maybe the entire series depending on where it goes from here. Ashita no Joe's legendary status really solidified itself with this one.
| @Xionea When this event happened in the manga, there was an actual in-person funeral held for Rikiishi, that both the writer and artist for the manga were invited to and attended. |
| Rikiishi went from this world with a smile of extreme satisfaction. The satisfaction of not losing to his rival, and now there's nothing that Joe could do to undo that. Joe Yabuki lost to Rikiishi Toru till the end of times with no chance of making it even. Rikiishi lived in a man's world and died like a man. His death has left a void in Joe's heart. The reason Joe gave boxing a chance is no more. What could motivate him now to move up the ranks in the world of boxing? Interesting Fact: In 1970, around a month after Rikiishi died in the manga chapter, a funeral service was held for him, attended by famous Japanese poet Shuji Terayama and Yukio Mishima (a Japanese author and actor who later committed seppuku the same year after failing his attempt to overthrow the post-war Japanese constitution, which he considered a constitution of defeat). Mishima's famous quote: "We live in an age in which there is no heroic death". Mishima was a fan of Ashita no Joe and committed seppuku 9 months after Rikishi died in the manga. I can't help but wonder if he was somewhat inspired by Rikiishi Toru's character and death? > 2:59 AM, 15/08/24 |
| I never witnessed a death in a spokon, but now I realize that although both were always rivals, in the end they were always great friends. Goodbye Rikkishi... |
| Oh wow, I had inklings something might be up, but I didn’t expect Rikishi to actually die this early on, if at all. RIP to one of the best characters I’ve seen in anime. Such a cool and well written dude. Very interested to see where the show goes from here. |
| Descansa en paz Toru Rikishi |
| One thing about old sports series are how tragic they are. Like the manga Pink said, "anything can happen". I'll say this, at least Rikiishi smiled in death. He smiled doing what he loved, winning a boxing match against his biggest rival. |
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