ahill boy watches AnJ (this time for reals)

[Captain Cadaver]

[youtube]BNnEgzRTqvM[/youtube]

 

[ahill1]

Again, Yoko was one of the earlier examples of this, not to mention it was likely the biggest loss she'd suffered at this point in her life.

I was less speaking about an in-universe character perspective and moreso about an overall out of universe angle.

Yeah, I know that it's the first or one of the first series to work with this concept, I wasn't like criticizing the story per se, only noticing that this way of working with characters relationships seems already a little tiring to me based on what I've observed in other stories.

He actually does show up a few times in the later arcs.

Oh, that's nice. Eager to see how he's worked on.

AnJ2 probably doesn't have a track on par with Joe's Whistle or Rikiishi's theme, though it easily makes up for it in variety and isn't that far behind in quality either.

I see. I'm pumped up for it, will begin it later up tonight.

 

[ahill1]

Upon re-watching the end of the Rikiishi arc I can understand Joe's motive for attacking that brawler better. The fact that he bad mouthed Wolf taking him as a boxer past his prime that was lamenting and licking his wounds confronted Joe as that was how Joe saw himself at the moment... someone who was licking his past wounds. So he almost took that as an insult directed to himself. Now that brawler mentioning that Joe's eyes give a different vibe from Wolf's might have settled to him that he isn't like Wolf, he isn't destined to warp his head around the fact he killed Rikiishi endlessly.

Those are very nice and subtle ways of conveying the points and finishing this pretty good arc. Subtleties I hadn't noticed until now, after reading more carefully.

 

[ahill1]

Damn, Danpei was harsh talking about closing his gym and kinda forcing Joe to retire. Nishi could do it, but he knows the same isn't true for Joe and that without box he won't settle down and will lilely come back to living like a stray dog. Joe will overcome this weakness with time, for sure, but curious to see how it'll unfold.

And lol, this Carlos boxer... him speaking English is funny af.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

And lol, this Carlos boxer... him speaking English is funny af.

He's got nothing on the bluntness of Mendoza's Engrish.

Also, fun fact: Carlos' seiyuu is the same one as Freeza and Coola, Ryusei Nakao.

 

[Papasmurf]

Why the hell does Mendoza speak English to himself when he's Mexican?

Couldn't hire someone who could read lines in Spanish?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

His wife was pretty clearly white, so I could imagine him to have become that used to speaking English in general, or he may have had it as his first language despite his country of origin (he didn't really look what you'd expect of for an average Mexican in terms of tone or facial features, after all).

 

[Papasmurf]

Still kind of weird. It'd be like if Kim spoke Japanese as a first language or something.

 

[ahill1]

@CC figured Carlos' dubber would be someone famous. The comment section in KissAnime seemed to be treating him as such, but it's still a surprise to know it's the same as Freeza's. Well, not so much so as when I realized L's seiyu was Usopp's, that was a real shocker.

This Kim fighter seems an interesting one. They are doing a good job in hyping him up, I wonder how well would he be ranked amongst the world's best boxers if Carlos was 6. His eyes look like someone's who just got out of a cemetery.

 

[ahill1]

@CC figured Carlos' dubber would be someone famous. The comment section in KissAnime seemed to be treating him as such, but it's still a surprise to know it's the same as Freeza's. Well, not so much so as when I realized L's seiyu was Usopp's, that was a real shocker.

This Kim fighter seems an interesting one. They are doing a good job in hyping him up, I wonder how well would he be ranked amongst the world's best boxers if Carlos was 6. His eyes look like someone's who just got out of a cemetery.

 

[ahill1]

Joe is going down the same path as Rikiishi. Also, Kim fought someone from 2 weight classes above him, so couldn't he fight Joe even if Joe gained a little more weight than the Bantamweight class?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Not by official rules. Kim's fight was likely not one associated with an official boxing league. Joe could still potentially fight even with the weight gain if Danpei and Yoko pulled some strings, though it wouldn't be in his character to do so due to what being in the bantamweight class means to him.

 

[ahill1]

Not by official rules. Kim's fight was likely not one associated with an official boxing league. Joe could still potentially fight even with the weight gain if Danpei and Yoko pulled some strings, though it wouldn't be in his character to do so due to what being in the bantamweight class means to him.

Fair enough.

 

[Papasmurf]

Not by official rules. Kim's fight was likely not one associated with an official boxing league. Joe could still potentially fight even with the weight gain if Danpei and Yoko pulled some strings, though it wouldn't be in his character to do so due to what being in the bantamweight class means to him.

Why do you think Joe didn't seem to be starved or dehydrated in his later matches like that Indonesian(?) dude and Mendoza? Do you think the author just decided he'd put enough scenes of Joe starving himself to maintain his low weight?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd say it's a mix of that and the plot point of Joe's body adapting back to his bantamweight build after enough regulation.

 

[ahill1]

I like Jose as a character. Very intriguing. This last episode showing a powerful gaze by him shows that he sees a threat in Joe. The fact that he bothered going to a party only to say good luck to Joe already shows he sees a lot of potential in the Japanese boxer boy. I still dislike somewhat Joe's edginess... predicting that he's gonna KO his opponent in x round to everyone sounds very... eh.

 

[ahill1]

the "green reaper" nickname suits Joe well.

every fight he fights off ends up with a tragic outcome.

well, the last fighter died after the fight and he was all by himself, but it still stands that every fighter meets a death or dark fate after the fight with Joe is over.

it seems Yoko wants joe fighting someone else before Jose. it seems she wants his beast side to be awakened again. I wish it were a little more explored. Joe having softened with time and having lost his edginess kinda came out of nowhere to me. I remember it was touched upon a little in the Carlos' match with the Joe and Carlos apparently losing control with the beast inside them, but it was too little on screen to me for Yoko to make a special case about that now, imo

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Joe having softened with time and having lost his edginess kinda came out of nowhere to me.

It's actually pretty apparent when taking into account how he fought in his earlier battles compared to his last match with Rikiishi and onward. Back before he became a pro, his fighting style was very wild and unpredictable, lacking mercy to the point he almost beat a guy to death when trying to get his boxing licence. That's quite a far cry away from the more refined style gained from his experience and the more respectable personality he gained from being changed by those around him.

 

[Papasmurf]

Joe having softened with time and having lost his edginess kinda came out of nowhere to me.

It's actually pretty apparent when taking into account how he fought in his earlier battles compared to his last match with Rikiishi and onward. Back before he became a pro, his fighting style was very wild and unpredictable, lacking mercy to the point he almost beat a guy to death when trying to get his boxing licence. That's quite a far cry away from the more refined style gained from his experience and the more respectable personality he gained from being changed by those around him.

This is actually kind of similar to Sakuragi's transition from a street brawler/delinquent to a respectable sportsman. Do you think Takehiko Inoue drew some inspiration from AnJ, or do you think it's just a trope for these types of manga in general?

It's worth noting that at the end of both series, both protagonists suffered debilitating injuries (Sakuragi had his back injury and Joe became punch drunk).

 

[Captain Cadaver]

This is actually kind of similar to Sakuragi's transition from a street brawler/delinquent to a respectable sportsman. Do you think Takehiko Inoue drew some inspiration from AnJ, or do you think it's just a trope for these types of manga in general?

It's worth noting that at the end of both series, both protagonists suffered debilitating injuries (Sakuragi had his back injury and Joe became punch drunk).

It could be. A lot of sports series have been inspired by Ashita no Joe as well as the other manga written by Ikki Kajiwara having played a huge influence in the sports genre of manga as a whole (almost all baseball manga owing to Kyojin no Hoshi, most football/soccer manga including Captain Tsubasa owing some inspiration to Akakichi no Eleven, etc.). It's hard to say if it was a direct homage or not though, seeing as how life changing injuries or sports being an outlet for personal growth are pretty common in most sports in general and Inoue would be invested enough in basketball that such real life cases may have very well been on his radar.