Tomorrow's Joe (Ashita no Joe): Classic Anime Now on Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is now streaming the classic 1970 anime series Tomorrow's Joe (also known as Ashita no Joe) Season One – all 79 Episodes. Season Two, which is made up of 47 episodes, will premiere on December 3rd at 4:00 p.m. PT. Tomorrow's Joe is available to stream in North, Central, and South America and available in English, Latin American Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles. The poignant boxing anime is considered an all-time classic and was pretty much Rocky years before the movie came along. The futuristic boxing anime MEGALOBOX was produced in commemoration of Tomorrow Joe's 50th anniversary of the classic manga. This is the first time the full season has been made available in the US.

Tomorrow's Joe, or Ashita no Joe, is about rebellious Joe Yabuki, who wanders the downtown slums. After a street fight with the yakuza to save a girl, his skills catch the eye of former boxing coach Danpei Tange, who offers to train him. Joe rejects until he ends up in juvenile detention and suffers his first defeat at the hands of Toru Rikiishi. This rivalry ignites his passion for boxing, and Joe begins intensive training with Danpei. The series is based on the original manga created by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba, which ran in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1968 to 1973 for a total of 20 volumes. Kodansha USA Publishing will be releasing the manga in English for the first time, officially under the name Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow, starting in December 2024. Osamu Dezaki directed the first season of the original anime series at Mushi Production from 1970 to 1971. Dezaki also directed the second season at TMS Entertainment from 1980 to 1981.

Tomorrow's Joe is now streaming on Crunchyroll. You might not be used to the look of the anime art style from the 1960s to the 1970s, but that was when everything was hand-drawn. There was a grittiness to the look and feel that added to the hardscrabble atmosphere of the story and the tragic hero's story. We recommend the series highly.