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あしたのジョー [Ashita no Joe] #1
Rocky Joe, Vol. 1
ある日ふらりと下町のドヤ街に現れた、天涯孤独の少年・矢吹丈。腕っぷしの強さが元ボクシングジム会長の飲んだくれオヤジ、丹下段平の目に止まる。段平は丈に自分の果たせなかった夢を託し、名ボクサーに育てようと熱心に面倒を見る。しかし、段平の願いをよそに、丈は毎日、ドヤ街の子供達を引き連れ、無法な行動を繰り返すのだった。
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 1970
4 people are currently reading
233 people want to read
About the author
Ikki Kajiwara
140 books8 followersAsaki Takamori (高森朝樹, Takamori Asaki), known by the pen names Ikki Kajiwara (梶原一騎, Kajiwara Ikki) and Asao Takamori (高森朝雄, Takamori Asao), was a Japanese mangaka.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 20, 2016
Ashita no Joe es el mejor Manganime de deportes escrito hasta ahora, y no es un titulo que se le este dando a la ligera. Escrito en los años 60 y siendo un manga clásico que tristemente es apenas conocido por la comunidad casual del medio aun siendo esta una obra de absoluta calidad objetivamente hablando.
"Peleo porque me gusta... cuando estoy en el ring, olvido todos mis problemas. No hay sensación que se compare a la de pelear... hasta el final"
Ashita no Joe presenta una trama dramática que a diferencia de la mayoría de los shonen de deportes promedio no se basa solo en el deporte en si (cosa que por cierto es lo que hace que me parezcan tan repetitivos y en su mayoría inmerecedores de mi visionado) sino que esta se concentra mas en el desarrollo y construcción de sus personajes y como estos (como ellos mismos lo afirman) pelean por el mañana.
"Sus ojos son los de una bestia, que miran fijamente el futuro"
Siendo los deportes un genero que apenas puede generar tensión porque por mas importante que sea el partido de turno, no se tiene la sensación de riesgo necesaria para esto. Si el protagonista falla en el torneo o el partido siempre puede volver a intentarlo el próximo año o cuando sea que se de la oportunidad, pero esto en Ashita no pasa, los personajes tienen riesgos verdaderos si fallan, y lo que es mas importante, a veces fallan.
Joe Yabuki no es un personaje perfecto, y mucho menos uno de esos personajes tan idealizados en el anime actual, no es especialmente atractivo físicamente, y al principio podría considerarse un idiota y un aprovechado, los otros personajes lo consideran una bestia salvaje y el se ríe de todos estos insultos y apodos. No es un personaje hecho para que te identifiques con el, el es una personalidad separada e independiente, haciendo difícil predecir que es lo que hará a veces.
Ashita no Joe también es muy dramático, y es bueno siéndolo. Cuando los personajes ganan es reconfortante y se siente la felicidad que les produce la victoria, pero igualmente se siente el sufrimiento por el que pasan cuando pierden, y las consecuencias que esto trajo. Y tomando en cuenta que el manga por lo menos no tiene relleno y se desarrolla correctamente en los 20 tomos que componen a la obra no se pierde nunca la sensación de progresión en la trama, dejando un final satisfactorio y que cierra la trama de la mejor manera que pudiera imaginar.
Como pensamientos finales (los cuales incluyen spoilers importantes de la trama y de no haber visionado la obra ya deberías dejar de leer este análisis)la relación de de rivalidad amistosa entre Rikishi y Yabuki esta entre las mejores que he visto nunca en una obra de arte, y desde el momento de su muerte y lo que aprendió Joe de esta supe que el iba a morir.
"Tal vez mi idea de disfrutar de la juventud sea distinta de la tuya. Yo la disfruto cuando siento que todo dentro de mi arde intensamente... en el ring, cubierto de sangre. Yo no tengo nada que ver con esos pequeños placeres de la vida que no poseen esa intensidad. En ese corto lapso de tiempo puedo ver un rojo intenso único mientras arde todo en mi. Pero al final sólo quedan cenizas blancas. Después de arder por completo... sólo quedan... cenizas blancas. ¡Estoy seguro de que Rikishi y Carlos sentían lo mismo que yo!"
El continuaba luchando no importa cuanto tuviera que sufrir, llegando hasta el limite y causándose severos daños, Joe, quien se culpaba por lo que le paso a su rival no podía terminar de otra forma mas que superando el sufrimiento por el que el murió, luchando quemando toda su fuerza y destrozando su mente y su cuerpo hasta el final. En el que después de arder con su máxima intensidad quemando todo su ser, solo quedaron cenizas blancas...
January 22, 2025
Eu não consegui entender as motivações do Joe. Ele chegou de repente ali na região arranjando briga com todo mundo e eu não vi um motivo plausível pra isso. Apesar disso, eu tô curiosa pra ver como vai ser a trajetória dele. Sei que o foco do mangá é o boxe e claramente há uma estrutura de jornada do herói aí, porque inicialmente ele não queria praticar boxe e depois acabou aceitando, e o Danpei parece ser uma espécie de mentor pra ele. Acho que ainda há a possibilidade do personagem ganhar mais camadas.
Por outro lado, a motivação do Danpei é bem clara. Ele é um ex-boxeador fracassado e ficou obcecado de tal forma que a única motivação na vida dele é conseguir ter sucesso de novo treinando outra pessoa, já que ele não pode mais lutar. E bem, o Joe tá tornando isso bem difícil, porque ele não tem a mínima disciplina.
No geral, tá bem divertido acompanhar essa história, principalmente a relação que o Joe desenvolveu com as crianças e com o Danpei.
Por outro lado, a motivação do Danpei é bem clara. Ele é um ex-boxeador fracassado e ficou obcecado de tal forma que a única motivação na vida dele é conseguir ter sucesso de novo treinando outra pessoa, já que ele não pode mais lutar. E bem, o Joe tá tornando isso bem difícil, porque ele não tem a mínima disciplina.
No geral, tá bem divertido acompanhar essa história, principalmente a relação que o Joe desenvolveu com as crianças e com o Danpei.
April 20, 2018
I started reading Ashita no Joe because of the premiere of MEGALOBOX, its ostensible sci-fi remake. I was delighted to find, however, that the two are dissimilar in ways that make both series engaging in their own right. Although there may be some underlying thematic similarities, Ashita no Joe is very much its own series.
The pacing is quite different. We spend a lot of time with Joe in the slums where he has taken up as a pied piper figure. There's no boxing at all in this volume, in fact!
Joe is positioned between a trickster and benevolent Robin Hood-like figure. The way the children, always keen detectors of moral sincerity, take to him reflect the innate goodness that is sure to emerge throughout the series. In the shell of a heel is a classic shounen hero, a well-worn trope. But the artwork and atmosphere account for Ashita no Joe's status as a classic.
The pacing is quite different. We spend a lot of time with Joe in the slums where he has taken up as a pied piper figure. There's no boxing at all in this volume, in fact!
Joe is positioned between a trickster and benevolent Robin Hood-like figure. The way the children, always keen detectors of moral sincerity, take to him reflect the innate goodness that is sure to emerge throughout the series. In the shell of a heel is a classic shounen hero, a well-worn trope. But the artwork and atmosphere account for Ashita no Joe's status as a classic.
May 31, 2021
Sono un po' man mano morto dentro.
January 20, 2026
What an ending…
March 3, 2021
[READ IN JAPANESE] Gorgeous artwork with clean lines and strong shapes. Clearly at its best during fight scenes, where I was reminded of 1960’s Steve Ditko Spider-Man in its ability to so expressively convey physicality and movement through static images. The story is pretty much all over the place, often feeling like disconnected episodes, but I liked the characters, and it served well enough to get from fight to fight. There were definitely sections I didn’t understand, but I feel I got most of what was happening.
As with all comics I read entirely in Japanese, I will now recount the entire plot, so I can check my work later if I ever read this book again.
========== SPOILERS FOLLOW (maybe) ==========
A young drifter comes into town and immediately gets into trouble with various residents. At first, it seems like the town itself is simply malicious, because just about everybody in sight picks a fight with him in these opening scenes. After fighting the first guy, who’s drunk in the gutter when we meet him and looks a like a scarred and eyepatched villain, it slowly starts to come out that this guy actually admires our hero. The boy, by the way, is able to dispatch all attackers with ease. Everybody who goes up against him, even the local yakuza gang, is bested very quickly.
It turns out that the eyepatch guy is a former boxing coach, and he sees our hero (whose name is revealed to be Joe) as the dream apprentice he’s been searching for all his life. The problem is, Joe doesn’t want to be a boxer, and would rather get into trouble around town. It’s only after the two get wrongly arrested after being attacked by the yakuza gang that we learn more about eyepatch guy’s (forgot his name already) backstory. As a coach he pushed his pupil too hard, and the man quit in the middle of a fight. This sent our guy off the deep end.
So after hearing this, Joe agrees to become a boxer. He trains for about two pages, until he’s left alone again, and then he goes on a major gambling spree with the local urchin children. They all win a lot of prizes at pachinko and decide to open their own unlicensed outdoor shop, where they sell everything at discount prices. But when they’re chased by the police, they enter a rundown old building and do... something. This is where I was the most hazy about what was going on. As far as I could tell, Joe had been previously tipped off (off-screen) that this building would have some money hidden in a safe upstairs, so he collects the money and immediately calls the newspapers, boasting that he started some kind of orphanage care center. I have no idea the logistics of how he was able to get this set up with reporters, or why he even did it in the first place.
After this, eyepatch guy finds out that Joe and his orphans attacked the police station and stole stuff from the evidence room. I think this was because the police confiscated their horde of candy and other pachinko winnings, but I’m not really sure. Then, we find Joe holed up with his orphans Cagney style in the abandoned building they were staying in, and they’re actively attacking the police who are congregated outside by pelting them with rocks. Eyepatch guy goes in to try to reason with Joe, and when Joe attacks him, eyepatch guy ends up having to knock him out.
Cut to Joe in a jail cell, bitter about having lost his fight, and hating eyepatch guy. Eyepatch guy still believes in him though, and sends Joe a message in jail which gets him motivated. It doesn’t work on Joe’s bad attitude however, only on his will to fight, so Joe ends up provoking the psychologist assigned to him (in a scene with some great puns that I actually understood) so much that he’s assigned to a shared room full of violent criminals. They proceed to beat him within an inch of his life, but after a few tricks on Joe’s part he comes back and clocks them all. There’s a really well done ‘boss battle’ at the end with the leader of the prisoners too. At the end, the police find Joe with all the other beat-up guys, and I think they assume the worst of Joe (as always seems to happen with him) and I think at the end they’re getting ready to send him off to some worse punishment.
Again, there were a lot of things I didn’t understand here, but I enjoyed it overall. I noticed I’d really lose motivation whenever the comic started bogging down with too much stuff I didn’t understand, but when it was within my abilities, I was flying through. Would definitely read more. I’m interested to know whether the one I read was the original though. I was under the impression that this comic was first written in the ‘60s, but at the end, the copyright said 2012. I’ll look further into this.
As with all comics I read entirely in Japanese, I will now recount the entire plot, so I can check my work later if I ever read this book again.
========== SPOILERS FOLLOW (maybe) ==========
A young drifter comes into town and immediately gets into trouble with various residents. At first, it seems like the town itself is simply malicious, because just about everybody in sight picks a fight with him in these opening scenes. After fighting the first guy, who’s drunk in the gutter when we meet him and looks a like a scarred and eyepatched villain, it slowly starts to come out that this guy actually admires our hero. The boy, by the way, is able to dispatch all attackers with ease. Everybody who goes up against him, even the local yakuza gang, is bested very quickly.
It turns out that the eyepatch guy is a former boxing coach, and he sees our hero (whose name is revealed to be Joe) as the dream apprentice he’s been searching for all his life. The problem is, Joe doesn’t want to be a boxer, and would rather get into trouble around town. It’s only after the two get wrongly arrested after being attacked by the yakuza gang that we learn more about eyepatch guy’s (forgot his name already) backstory. As a coach he pushed his pupil too hard, and the man quit in the middle of a fight. This sent our guy off the deep end.
So after hearing this, Joe agrees to become a boxer. He trains for about two pages, until he’s left alone again, and then he goes on a major gambling spree with the local urchin children. They all win a lot of prizes at pachinko and decide to open their own unlicensed outdoor shop, where they sell everything at discount prices. But when they’re chased by the police, they enter a rundown old building and do... something. This is where I was the most hazy about what was going on. As far as I could tell, Joe had been previously tipped off (off-screen) that this building would have some money hidden in a safe upstairs, so he collects the money and immediately calls the newspapers, boasting that he started some kind of orphanage care center. I have no idea the logistics of how he was able to get this set up with reporters, or why he even did it in the first place.
After this, eyepatch guy finds out that Joe and his orphans attacked the police station and stole stuff from the evidence room. I think this was because the police confiscated their horde of candy and other pachinko winnings, but I’m not really sure. Then, we find Joe holed up with his orphans Cagney style in the abandoned building they were staying in, and they’re actively attacking the police who are congregated outside by pelting them with rocks. Eyepatch guy goes in to try to reason with Joe, and when Joe attacks him, eyepatch guy ends up having to knock him out.
Cut to Joe in a jail cell, bitter about having lost his fight, and hating eyepatch guy. Eyepatch guy still believes in him though, and sends Joe a message in jail which gets him motivated. It doesn’t work on Joe’s bad attitude however, only on his will to fight, so Joe ends up provoking the psychologist assigned to him (in a scene with some great puns that I actually understood) so much that he’s assigned to a shared room full of violent criminals. They proceed to beat him within an inch of his life, but after a few tricks on Joe’s part he comes back and clocks them all. There’s a really well done ‘boss battle’ at the end with the leader of the prisoners too. At the end, the police find Joe with all the other beat-up guys, and I think they assume the worst of Joe (as always seems to happen with him) and I think at the end they’re getting ready to send him off to some worse punishment.
Again, there were a lot of things I didn’t understand here, but I enjoyed it overall. I noticed I’d really lose motivation whenever the comic started bogging down with too much stuff I didn’t understand, but when it was within my abilities, I was flying through. Would definitely read more. I’m interested to know whether the one I read was the original though. I was under the impression that this comic was first written in the ‘60s, but at the end, the copyright said 2012. I’ll look further into this.
June 6, 2022
Although it reads like a generic shonen manga, with shallow characters and predictable scenes, Ashita no Joe manages to rise up out of its narrative weaknesses due to the scope and magnitude of its themes. What starts as the story of a boy overcoming adversities to develop his talents, ends up becoming a meditation on life and death, on the desire to pursue a goal no matter the consequences. It's not a coming of age story, nor a story about personal growth. Instead, it's about lust, about will, about burning bright at the edge of the abyss. At the very end, it's not even clear who are the good guys of the story, because all of them, from the main characters to the crowds, end up appearing either weak-willed and hypocritical, or cruel and selfish. It has the complexity to be interpreted in different ways, either as a critique of the corruption of society and how it pushes all people into madness, or as a visceral celebration of man's power to desire and to achieve.
January 11, 2022
I'm writing this review after having finished the last tome (#13 in the latest French version - Glénat, #20 if we follow the official count on wikipedia).
Although the story is old (first published in 1968), it reads extremely well. This is the story of Joe, an teenage orphan in post war Japan, for whom boxing slowly becomes the only "raison d'etre".
The story is very human, with excellent depiction of characters, and with a high cadence of events.
I'm not going to say more than this in order not to spoil. 2 things:
- this is not a story for children
- this is probably one of the best manga series I've read. (At the top with Akira & Nausicaa).
Although the story is old (first published in 1968), it reads extremely well. This is the story of Joe, an teenage orphan in post war Japan, for whom boxing slowly becomes the only "raison d'etre".
The story is very human, with excellent depiction of characters, and with a high cadence of events.
I'm not going to say more than this in order not to spoil. 2 things:
- this is not a story for children
- this is probably one of the best manga series I've read. (At the top with Akira & Nausicaa).
August 19, 2023
Questa è la storia di un ragazzo posseduto, posseduto da ossessioni che lo consumano e che costituiscono la sua unica raison d'etre. Più che un essere umano sembra uno spirito arrivato dal nulla, una figura carica di allegoria. Fa paura, combatte solo per sputare sangue poiché è l'unica cosa che lo fa sentire vivo. Una bomba a mano pronta ad esplodere, senza alcuna cura dei suoi affetti o dei suoi avversari. Perché lui sul ring vuole "bruciare intensamente fino a diventare cenere bianca, bianchissima". Una specie di demone e sciagura per chi si trova sulla sua strada. L'ultima tavola è una delle più evocative che abbia mai visto.
August 10, 2024
Tal vez mi idea de disfrutar de la juventud sea distinta de la tuya. Yo la disfruto cuando siento que todo dentro de mi arde intensamente... en el ring, cubierto de sangre. Yo no tengo nada que ver con esos pequeños placeres de la vida que no poseen esa intensidad. En ese corto lapso de tiempo puedo ver un rojo intenso único mientras todo arde en mi. Pero al final, después de arder por completo... sólo quedan cenizas blancas.
August 1, 2022
L'inizio della storia. Se sei abituato ai fumetti moderni, ipercinetici dove nei primi episodi non succede quasi nulla devi prendere i ritmo... Dopodichè sarà bellissimo vedere Joe diventare "cenere bianca".
Capovaloro assoluto dei manga
Capovaloro assoluto dei manga
June 15, 2013
keep hearing rocky's soundtrack in my head
March 22, 2016
A great sports Manga from tetsuya Chiba,(circa 1968,early 70's).
May 29, 2018
Some of the best I've read my whole life. Joe, the gang, Danpei, Rikishi, Rivera.
March 18, 2021
Pretty decent manga, the story wasn’t to great and a little dull but the boxing matches were really great and awesome especially the final one😻👌🥊🥊
May 30, 2021
Yep, its good, thats it, thats the review
September 23, 2021
best manga i've ever read
February 16, 2025
Thanks a million Netgalley and publisher for allowing me to read this iconic old skool manga that I have seen floating around and never got around to it..until now!
I gotta tell ya, you would absolutely fall in love with our awesome boi Joe here. He literally is like the best snarky sarcastic character that you hardly see these days. His interactions with his fellow boxing opponents and many other side characters would make you laugh all the way cause he’s just such a likeable character that you really wanna be friends with! Now this manga does have “Megalobox” vibes but honestly both are good in their unique ways so I’m not complaining about that. Yeah it’s a long story but in a way that keeps ya still hooked throughout. I mean the art is old skool but it’s just so well done that you’d be rooting for Joe here. Now I did spoil myself on the ending and I mean bich, it was SO DAMN HARD TO HEAR JOE AND TOORU DYING AFTER THEIR FIGHTS LIKE WHYYYYYY😭😭😭😭😭😭
Just a very good series that people of all ages should check out, it’ll make you laugh, cry and inspired by an action packed rags to riches type of story!
I gotta tell ya, you would absolutely fall in love with our awesome boi Joe here. He literally is like the best snarky sarcastic character that you hardly see these days. His interactions with his fellow boxing opponents and many other side characters would make you laugh all the way cause he’s just such a likeable character that you really wanna be friends with! Now this manga does have “Megalobox” vibes but honestly both are good in their unique ways so I’m not complaining about that. Yeah it’s a long story but in a way that keeps ya still hooked throughout. I mean the art is old skool but it’s just so well done that you’d be rooting for Joe here. Now I did spoil myself on the ending and I mean bich, it was SO DAMN HARD TO HEAR JOE AND TOORU DYING AFTER THEIR FIGHTS LIKE WHYYYYYY😭😭😭😭😭😭
Just a very good series that people of all ages should check out, it’ll make you laugh, cry and inspired by an action packed rags to riches type of story!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2024
This series was once a big deal in Japan and so I watched the anime during lockdown and, twitchy as I was, found it compelling but a little slow going at times. It's good to finally get to the manga version as this feels more what I was hoping for initially - it's still a grimy street manga, Joe is a reprobate, rightly sent to Juvie and causes chaos when he gets there, but the end of volume one of the manga ends probably where episode 15 of the anime did. Joe punching his way into and out of trouble is a lot of fun and the journey from street punk to professional boxer has never felt more compelling. With 19 volumes to go there seems to be a lot more story to tell.
My caveat is that the artwork isn't so great. My caveat to that caveat is that "it does the job"
My caveat is that the artwork isn't so great. My caveat to that caveat is that "it does the job"
September 22, 2019
沢山スラングとかラフーな表現いっぱいあるからちょっと読みづらい。そして今主人公あまり好きじゃない。丈さんはとても横柄とか、嫌な奴だね。丹部さんの方が好き！でも正直キャラは最初の巻でそんなに面白くないと思った。丈さんも強すぎる。僕にとってそれは否定的なこと。この巻で彼は大きいギャングを戦って一人で勝った！本当？！超能力をもってんの？
でも絵はとてもいいし、時々ギャグが受けるし、丹部さんはいいやつだし、読み続きたい。
でも絵はとてもいいし、時々ギャグが受けるし、丹部さんはいいやつだし、読み続きたい。
December 31, 2023
(★★★½)
March 1, 2024
My GOAT Joe Yabuki, only better boxer was Mike Tyson
July 13, 2024
K2 level peak
June 7, 2024
iconicccc
April 30, 2025
(This review covers the complete series)
A gritty story set in post-war Japan, following Joe Yabuki, a troubled young drifter as he discovers his gift for boxing while in prison. It does not shy away from depicting the poverty, class struggle, and feeling of alienation prevalent in the general populace at the time, even as Joe tries to fight his way up from the slums in a world that keeps trying to beat him back down. The final panel, one of the most iconic in manga history, has lingered long in my memory.
A gritty story set in post-war Japan, following Joe Yabuki, a troubled young drifter as he discovers his gift for boxing while in prison. It does not shy away from depicting the poverty, class struggle, and feeling of alienation prevalent in the general populace at the time, even as Joe tries to fight his way up from the slums in a world that keeps trying to beat him back down. The final panel, one of the most iconic in manga history, has lingered long in my memory.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews