Review of Tomorrow's Joe

I'd like to preface this review by saying, I finished watching Ashita no Joe ages ago, quite literally the day before MAL went down so it wasn't until now I could write this review. I also recently bought the Tomorrow's Joe Blu-Ray and watched it as a refresher, so I remember everything pretty well. I personally was intimidated by the episode count but I had heard a lot of really good things about the show so I didnt think twice to start. Now the first half of the show is very different from the second half. It's a very slow burn at first but oncethings pick up it really gets going. The first part of the story when he is just a roaming hooligan serves a back story to how he becomes the way he is and gives his first professional fight so much more meaning. Now for the time they made this show it still has some pretty incredible moments for people who like boxing shows. I personally am a big fan of boxing anime and this show is far from the norm. It does have matches but they serve more of a reason to why the characters end up the way they do. This show is more about consequence of fighting and dealing with those consequences outside of the ring. Take Hajime no Ippo for example, it's a show about boxing but a lot of the elements outside of the ring are focused on the training aspect and dealing with injuries. Everything ends up working out for the most part where as in Ashita no Joe things go way off the rails and makes the main character question if its worth to keep fighting. I will say the second half of the show meanders quite a bit and spends a lot of time not doing a whole lot but it ends with a massive pay off. Overall the show was fantastic and would recommend it to anyone who loves boxing shows.