Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe / Champion Joe)
Genres: drama, tournament
Themes: boxing, sports
Objectionable content: Mild
Plot Summary: Ashita no Joe tells the tale of a wandering orphan named Joe Yabuki. He falls into one of Tokyo’s slums and gets into a fight with a local gang and his street fighting skills gets him the attention of a washed up alcoholic boxing trainer. Until he sticks up for Joe when the gang comes back to finish Joe, Joe decides to live with the trainer. Despite the trainer’s generosity, Joe is still committing money making scams and lands him in prison. While serving time, he meets another boxer named Rikiishi Tooru who gets Joe interested in boxing. Upon release, Joe then pursues a boxing career.
Number of episodes: 79
Vintage: 1970-04-01 to 1971-09-29
Ashita no Joe 2
Themes: boxing, sports
Objectionable content: Mild
Plot Summary: A continuation of the previous series, Ashita no Joe. After accidently killing his rival in a boxing match six months ago, Joe, a boxer, steps into the ring once again to pick up the pieces of his past and regain his former glory.
Number of episodes: 47
Vintage: 1980-10-13 to 1981-08-31
Megalobox
Genres: drama, science fiction, tournament
Themes: boxing, future, sports
Plot Summary: In the not too distant future, boxing has become a sport enhanced by “Gear,” machine exoskeletons worn over the shoulders and arms to allow boxers to punch farther and harder than before. Known as “Megalobox,” the sport is popular as both a regular sporting event and as one during which underground bets are laid, with dramatic differences between the fanbases. Junk Dog, a young Megaloboxer, is struggling both to make a name for himself in the underground fights as well as with whether he’s really happy with his current situation. When he hears that the upscale Shirato Group is sponsoring a worldwide Megaloboxing tournament in a special arena, he’s largely ambivalent, seeing it as both not worth it and beyond his grasp. But he’s getting tired of the rigged fights he’s forced to participate in. Then he encounters Yuri, the reigning champ of the sport, and might change his mind.
Number of Episodes: 13
Vintage: 2018-04-05
Episodes on Toonami
- Buy or Die? (December 8, 2018)
- The Man Only Dies Once (December 15, 2018)
- Gear Is Dead (January 5, 2019)
- Let’s Dance With Death (January 12, 2019)
- The Man from Death (January 19, 2019)
- Until the Last Dog Dies (January 26, 2019)
- The Road to Death (February 2, 2019)
- Deadline Of The Dream (February 16, 2019)
- A Dead Flower Shall Never Bloom (February 23, 2019)
- The Die Is Cast (March 2, 2019)
- A Deadmarch (March 9, 2019)
- Leap Over the Edge of Death (March 16, 2019)
- Born To Die (March 23, 2019) FINALE
Megalobox 2: Nomad
Plot Summary: In the end, “Gearless” Joe was the one that reigned as the champion of Megalonia, a first ever Megalobox tournament. Fans everywhere were mesmerized by the meteoric rise of Joe who sprung out from the deepest underground ring to the top in mere three months and without the use of gear. Seven years later, “Gearless” Joe was once again fighting in underground matches. Adorned with scars and once again donning his gear, but now known only as Nomad…
Vintage: 2021-04-04
Ashita no Joe (movie) - Vintage: 1980-03-08
Ashita no Joe 2 (movie) - Vintage: 1981-07-04