Tomorrow's Joe

Tomorrow's Joe
Cover of the first manga volume of Ashita no Joe
あしたのジョー (Ashita no Jō)
Genre	Drama, Sports (Boxing)
Manga
Written by	Ikki Kajiwara
Illustrated by	Tetsuya Chiba
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	January 1, 1968 – May 13, 1973
Volumes	20
Anime television series
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Written by	Osamu Dezaki
Music by	Yagi Masao
Studio	Mushi Production
Original network	Fuji Television
Original run	April 1, 1970 – September 29, 1971
Episodes	79
Anime film
Ashita no Joe: Gekijōban
Directed by	Mizuho Nishikubo
Written by	Shun'ichi Yukimuro
Released	March 8, 1980
Anime television series
Ashita no Joe 2
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Written by	Tadaaki Yamazaki
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Original network	Nippon Television
Original run	October 13, 1980 – August 31, 1981
Episodes	47
Anime film
Ashita no Joe 2
Directed by	Osamu Dezaki
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Released	July 4, 1981

Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー, Ashita no Jō^?) is a critically acclaimed boxing manga written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba in 1968 that was later adapted into an anime series and movie. The title means "Joe of tomorrow" or Tomorrow's Joe. Outside Japan it is also referred to as Champion Joe, Rocky Joe or Joe.

Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again. As Rikiishi learns he is scheduled to leave the prison, he challenges Joe to a fight right the two promise to meet each other again, this time as professional boxers.

Upon his release from prison, Joe manages to go up to Bantamweight, after provoking a rookie champion boxer named Wolf Kanagushi. Joe quickly raises up and gains popularity for his brawling style, and trademark cross-counter KO wins. Joe manages to perform a triple-cross counter on Wolf. Joe then earns the right to fight Rikiishi in the professional ring. Although Rikiishi is assured a promising career, he is intent in settling his score with Joe, whom he feels stands in his path. Because Rikiishi is three weight classes above Joe, he has to cut down on lots of weight and go under a super-strenuous weight loss program. Rikiishi defeats Joe in the 8th round with but collapses as he is about to shake Joe's hand due to an extremely hard blow to the temple two rounds before and him landing his head on the ropes. Rikiishi dies from the combined effects of the extreme weight loss on his body and brain hemorrage suffered during the fight. Joe is still shaken up from that match, both mentally and physically. Soon after, during matches, his trainer Danpei realises that Joe is having a serious problem with boxing: he is not giving shots to the face. It takes Joe quite some time to get over it and costs him three straight losses. But then he finally conquers his fears when he faces the globally #6 ranked Carlos Rivera. The fight ends with a draw, yet it gives Joe tremendous fame and respect around the world, especially since Rivera was going to face the World Champion Jose Mendoza in his next match.