“Voted “Japanese Favorite TV Anime” placing 4 out of 100 among celebrities votes. Joe Yabuki was ranked seventh in Mania Entertainment’s “10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes”, written by Thomas Zoth, who commented that, “Tomorrow’s Joe captured the zeitgeist of 1960s Japan. The story of Joe’s rise from nothing touched a chord with Japanese audiences, who were seeing their country prosper after a long period of postwar devastation.” According to a character designer from the video game company SNK, Ashita no Joe was an influence in designing Kyo Kusanagi. Anime News Network’s reviewer Justin Sevakis analyzed the series, praising its storyline but criticized some aspects about the first movie adaptation. He praised Joe’s character development and his relationship with other boxers.^[16] According to The Japan Times‘s Mark Schilling, the series “became the template for not only Fumihiko Sori’s 2011 live-action film of the same title, but many Japanese sports movie and TV franchises.”
– wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashita_no_Joe#Reception_and_cultural_impact

In honor of the Ashita no Joe anniversary two anime series were announced early this year to commemorate the event, one being a new adaptation of Grappler Baki and the other Megalo Box which premiered on April 6, 2018 and can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

Set in a futuristic cyberpunk world, with all the grime to glitz polar extremes to bounce off of, the story is a new re-visioning of the Ashita no Joe story. Our main protagonist is a scrappy down on his luck underground prize fighter named Junk Dog. Junk Dog makes his living throwing fights with his promoter for a local crime boss fixing unsanctioned “smoker” boxing events in the slums of the city. Junk Dog does this with the expectations that his promoter / trainer will start taking his skills seriously in future fights and let him compete honestly. The boxing of this future is the same as in our contemporary era; except in the future of Megalo Box, fighters compete with Gear rigs. Gears are exoskeleton like harnesses attached to fighters either externally or integrated giving the fighter enhanced strength and punching power. Adding more danger and excitement to the already dangerous sport of pugilism. It’s a marriage of athleticism and state of the art technology. The journey of our hero is one of accomplishment and acknowledgement as he aspires to win the Megalonia tournament.

Now into my fourth episode of the series, I have to say I am very impressed. The art style of Megalo Box is very reminiscent of older anime-say from the mid 90’s into early 00’s. The series is directed by conceptual designer Yō Moriyama with Katsuhiko Manabe and Kensaku Kojima oversee scripts. Japanese producer and mulit-instrumentalist Mabanua is in charge of music (victoriously). The opening theme is “Bite” by LEO Imai and the ending theme is “Kakatte Koi yo” by NakamuraEmi, there is an insert song by hip hop artist COMA-CHI. There are a total of 13 episodes.

The animation is crisp and the backgrounds are dirty, grimey and covered in graffiti. The character designs are unique and they are all individually interesting. Definitely full of interpersonal chemistry. If you are a fan of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Baki the grappler, Texhnolyze, Redline, Hajime no Ippo, then you’ll really sink your teeth into this.
So keep your guard up and your finger on that Rewind button.

WATCH IT NOW!!! – http://www.crunchyroll.com/megalobox

In my early twenties, I dabbled in boxing for about a year. I never fought any official bouts, but I did some training and fought a few practice fights. Since I’m 5’9” and have short arms, I got my ass handed to me. Boxing is a demanding sport, and you not only have to be in good shape, you have to be determined and mentally tough.

For the rest of us, there are games like Punch-Out.

Arguably one of the NES’s classic titles, Punch-Out began as an arcade game. The original was trimmed down and gently reworked into the NES cart we all know and (some of us) love. Punch-Out chronicles the story of Little Mac, a plucky little boxer with a good uppercut and an iron determination to make it to the top. The version most of us are familiar with is 1987’s Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, which features the eponymous heavyweight legend as the final challenge. In 1990, the game was re-released without Iron Mike’s name attached, his place at the top filled by a character called Mr. Dream. 

He’s waiting. Waiting and staring with his beady little jet-black ghoul eyes and his vicious hook-teeth. I know photos don’t translate well to 8-bit, but this is downright ghastly.

In either case, Mac must fight his way through three circuits: the Minor, Major, and World Circuits. Each is filled with a cast of bizarre but capable characters, ready to smash our little protagonist flat if he doesn’t have what it takes. My favorites are the tubby tyrant King Hippo and the flamboyant (and easily underestimated) Don Flamenco. Some of these fellas are in more than one circuit, and the second time you face them they will be fighting extra hard to put you down and regain their credibility.

Top row: Minor Circuit. 2nd row: Major Circuit. Third: World Circuit. Bottom: the champ, depending on which version you have. the 1990 version was released after Tyson’s loss to Buster Douglas, so Nintendo decided a fictional champion was more appropriate.

Mac’s a pretty capable pugilist in his own right, but he’ll need your help. Anyone who’s played this game will tell you that timing is the key to success. As Big Trouble in Little China’s Jack Burton likes to say, “It’s all in the reflexes.” Your enemies will give you little clues and tip-offs when they’re about to go apeshit on you, and if you act fast and know what to do, you can pick through their defenses at those very moments and lay the hurt on. When you land particularly juicy punches, a little tone plays and a white star appears above your opponent’s head. These stars can be used to fire Mac’s devastating uppercut. The D-pad is used to move around, and you’ll need to do a lot of that. You can also block, but doing so saps a little of your stamina, which renders you a weak puppy if depleted fully. It comes back very slowly, so it’s better to try and fly like a butterfly and avoid getting stung entirely.

Piston Honda’s grandiose posturing leaves him open to a well-timed gut shot. Patience and timing are crucial to victory. Don’t fall for their sexy dances. They’re only trying to confuse you.

If someone’s white energy bar drops to nothing, they hit the mat. They then have a 10-count to get back up or they lose by KO. Another way to win a match is by TKO, which means a boxer has hit the mat thrice in one round of fighting. Fights can also be won by decision, although many of the later matches don’t give you this option.  If you lose a non-title bout, you are given a rematch, but if you lose to a circuit champion you are knocked down a peg or two and have to work your way back up. Punch-Out is a little unforgiving, but then, so is real boxing!

You don’t have to tell us, Your Majesty. It’s been twenty-eight years. We’ve figured that shit out.

The graphics and sound are pretty good, with the former outpacing the latter. The characters are illustrated in a charming and exaggerated way, not to mention the humor inherent in the size difference between Mac and his towering foes. The music is pretty stripped down, and there’s not a lot of it, but the tracks are memorable and convey the struggle of a boxer’s story pretty well.

Punch-Out was rehashed for the SNES in 1994 as Super Punch-Out, with a little more depth to the gameplay, and reappeared for the Wii in 2009. I really REALLY like the Wii version, which particularly deserves praise for its updated soundtrack. It is also brilliantly adapted for the Wii’s intuitive, movement-based play (although you can play it old school style if you want).

It takes a lot to be the champ, kid. Do you think you’ve got the stuff? There’s only one way to find out: pop that cartridge in, lace up your gloves, and get in the ring.

One more for 2015, RetroChamps! See you in a couple weeks!