Ashita no Joe 2, the greatest anime I have ever watched, and I don't believe anything will ever surpass it. The journey of Joe Yabuki, the bantamweight boxer who made it in the slums. This story is not about boxing, but a man who used boxing as a vessel to grow as a better person.

Just wow. Phenmomenal story that couldn't have been told any better. Pops continuously tried to get Joe into boxing, but he always refused or couldn't care less. As the story goes on Joe slowly starts falling in love with boxing. There was never a dull moment, every word and thought had meaning behind it. The classic theme of "never give up" is explored to its finest here, with how much Joe suffered, it's insane how he only lost his mind once. He gets knocked down so many times only to get back up each time.

The theme of loneliness is explored a lot as well, primarily as no one around Joe can tell what he's feeling and what pain he's in. He always grew up alone, orphanage to orphanage, with even a scene depicting him being a little child always alone, wandering around endlessly with no where to go, and no purpose in life. When he found boxing, it became his life, his purpose to live, and that's why he chose to go all out in the final match and burn out his flame. The quote "until there was nothing left except pure white ash" is honestly amazing. Joe asking pops to let him turn white, wanting to finish the match even if it meant his end.

The amount of love that Joe has for boxing has grown immensely since the start and his passion and excitement to match up against other world class boxers is what cements him as an absolute legend in the sport. If there was an epilogue, he would be noted as the greatest boxer in history in the AnJ world. Yes, even though he lost to Jose, he took the sport to the next level. It was crazy how dedicated to the sport Joe was, that when he got disappointed at Nishi when he was cheating on the weight loss Nishi actually changed for the better as well, where Joe changed the people around him. He gave everyone back at the slums hope and glory that even they had someone who could be a champion.

Every arc was wonderful, beautiful, filled with purpose. I honestly believe boxing was the best sport to choose because of the severe violence and resilience one needs to become better. Every main rival was phenomenal, but nothing beats Rikiishi and Joe's dynamic. Every match Rikiishi is basically telling Joe: you better not lose, I gave my all for you now its your turn. Rikiishi really passed the flame down from one spectacular boxer to another. He literally went down 2 weight classes just to fight Joe, that's how much respect he had for him. His brother, father figure, and best friend. "If Rikiishi suffered losing weight for me, I need to as well." The character development of Joe after Rikiishi's death was honestly insane.

As the story progresses, Joe constantly ends up finding a new goal, which is beating the next main rival. Joe was always a hard worker when he wants to win, and this shows the most when hes fasting severely, almost not eating at all and suffering to make the bantamweight class weight limit. Right before the 2nd weigh in he got blood drawn to make the weight, that's how serious he was. He follows the same path as Rikiishi, and Yoko watches it all unfold, trying to stop him but Joe's sole purpose was to box.

The ending was absolutely beautiful man, from pops telling Joe he can give up, to Jose being frightened by Joe's tenacity, to Joe giving his blood-filled gloves to Yoko, just peak finale man. That last frame while the song midnight blues playing just did something to me. Even though I was already spoiled about the ending, the build up to it was so good that it didn't matter anymore. Seeing him die with a smile on his face brought me to so many tears, he died doing what he loved the most. Personally, the ending would've been a little better if he won the match, because he would've been the champion and at the pinnacle of the boxing world before passing away. I can only believe that the legacy Joe would leave after his death would make everyone that was around him proud.

Now here are my favorite scenes:

"The fall of Joe Yabuki," where he spirals into a depression after Rikiishi's death.

"See you again" before Joe vs Jose.

Joe trying to button up Carlos' shirt.

"All that was left was just pure white ash."

Joe handing the bloody gloves to Yoko

The animation was gorgeous, way better than s1. Joe's character design improved by a lot too. The jazz ost fit perfectly, and every ending song from this season was excellent. This soundtrack was leagues above s1, perfect. Personal favorite songs are ballads 1 and ending 1. I would always be whistling along with Joe.

Spoiler, click to view

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Everyone on this site should experience this masterpiece. Peak fiction, I will forever glaze this anime now. God man I cried so much writing this review.

"It may be for a moment, but my fire roars up so bright and hot, it's almost blinding. And then, all that remains is pure white ash. There are no embers left...just pure white ash." ~ Joe Yabuki