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REVIEW: Ashita no Joe: Fighting For Tomorrow Volume 1 Manga Review

The bigger barrier to entry, however, is actually Joe himself, and how much mileage you get out of this series is gonna come down to whether or not you can get behind him as a character. Joe is egotistical, rude, hot-headed, and extremely cynical, often to a fault, as his tendency to provoke others usually makes things worse for him....

The question of whether Joe will be able to seize the better tomorrow he's searching for, or fall victim to the consequences of his actions makes for a solid hook, and even when he's at his worst, it's hard not to root for the possibility of him turning his life around. At the same time, the series' age makes it hard to determine how many of his traits are meant to be viewed as negative, versus painting him something of a loveable rogue (particularly his comments about women). While this mostly doesn't take away from the story, it is where it tends to feel the most dated.

As a modern reader I, too, was very confused as to whether Joe is meant to be a likable protagonist or not after he robbed Danpei and sold his stuff.

Also, interesting choice to criticize Tetsuya Chiba's artwork months after he became the first mangaka artist to receive Order of Culture.

The only "criticism" in the review really just says "The art style in this manga is very old school, & not like what you'd expect from most manga that sees release", which while admittedly a little redundant (it's a manga that debuted in 1968, while Chiba himself debuted back in the 50s, so of course it's going to look notably different) is still something to bring up. I wouldn't call it a "criticism", but rather more of an "observation", because in the end Jairus still overall praised Chiba's artwork, and it's something that only gets better as the manga continues on.

I disagree that it's merely an observation, because, while containing no other criticisms for the art, the art still received lowest score in the grading. Why? For potentially looking too dated to some viewers in this reviewer's opinion? And I honestly just outright disagree with this "observation", Chiba's artwork is fantastic and not once looks dated, there's a reason why AnJ is a timeless classic and timeless aesthetic is big part of it.

Dude, you're literally making a big deal out of a "B" grade, while the other two grades given are both B+. You'd maybe have an inkling of a point if Jairus gave the art a C or C-, but he didn't, and he overall praised it. Literally no one's going to look at a B grade for art in a manga review & think "Man, that must mean that the artwork sucks".