Liberal criticism: Ashita no Joe

Liberal criticism: Ashita no Joe
Ashita no Joe

Clarify that in this post I will only talk about the first part (1970-1971), since the second I have not even started.

History

The story begins and unfolds as expected from a sports anime; the protagonist, in this case Joe, wants to be the best fighter. The interesting thing about this is how it is handled, with a slow pace, making everything flow naturally, although also difficult to follow at the beginning; without fear to destroy the dreams and objectives of the characters and without giving the spectator what he wants. It also does not have stuffing, each of the things that happens contributes to the plot or the characters. The fights are not "the strongest wins", but the characters often have to have strategies to beat their rivals. The only problem I see is the tone, which can be infantilized very quickly, but only when it changes to this.

Characters

The strongest point of the anime. All the characters are explored depending on how much they contribute to the plot, the same with their relationships, which, thanks to the slow rhythm already mentioned, feel natural. I emphasize the rivalry between Joe and Rikiishi.

Animation

Not the best for current standards, but it's pretty good for the time. Static on many occasions and reusing images many times, even so, it is quite dynamic with the fights, which are very enjoyable even with all this.