Story: The story is long, but not to complex. Best thing about the story is that it's not stagnant things can turn over pretty quickly and the foreshadowing is often vague but sometimes that element is more apparent than in other episodes. There is a lot of lessons to be had about the realities of boxing, and what many boxers have to go through in this brutal sport and how it can effect their lives outside of boxing as well. The story is very dark but there is a lot of motivation and strife to be found in it that can inspire others.
Art: For the era it's pretty decent, there is often detail within fights, and has it's share of gore at times but not Elfen Lied levels of gore. I enjoy the character styles and to be quite honest I was never a big fan of brightly colored anime hair in more modern anime. It looks and feels Japanese and more often than not has traditional Japanese references within the art. There isn't many hiccups in scenes they seemed to put a lot of attention to detail with the animation it even rivals some anime that were made around the 70s and 80s and even into the 90s.
Sound: I enjoy a lot of the OST and it feels very Rocky, especially Rikiishi's theme. Traditional acoustic and for the era that's to be expected you won't have many grand budget studios for amines in the 70s and 80s. I feel a lot of it could have been better but it served it purpose and the OST is used the right way when it comes to the emotions the anime expresses.
Characters: We don't got many cookie cutter characters here, a lot of the boxers have their own back stories and personalities they feel like actual people that would be in the sport of boxing. It doesn't suffer from the modern era of anime with to many generic characters. A lot of people don't like Joe, in fact he is probably one of the biggest A holes you'll ever meet but he changes through out the show but still keeps that certain flavor about him. Characters go through stages and the story progresses some begin to rise and fall, they effect Joe's life many times permanently in both good and bad ways from interactions with the other characters. Joe is far from the standard sports hero and there aren't many heroes to be had in this anime most characters are far from Saints.
Even if you hate sports anime I still recommend watching Ashita No Joe from start to finish. Read the manga to. Only truly bad thing I can say about watching Ashita No Joe was not watching it sooner.
