The protagonist of the story. He is known for his long bangs and for always wearing a worn out beige coat and a red flat cap.

Not long after birth he found himself in many orphanages and facilities. However, he quickly grew tired of the boring life and frequently escaped, eventually finding his way to the Doya Town the story takes place in. Joe is rude and quick to fight, but he can also be very frivolous at times. Because of his rough upbringing he is a delinquent who likes his solitude, but he later grows to appreciate his new friends and rivals. He is not very good at understanding women, and essentially only treats them nice out of giri.

~!As a result of Rikishi's death, that happened in a fight between them, he temporarily suffers and cannot hit people in the temple, but he later overcomes this.!~ 

He is a bantamweight and his specialties include the cross counter and the No Guard stance. He has extraordinary punching strength, fortitude, and fighting spirit, often standing up after taking killer blows and has been known to counter cross-counters (a double-cross), possessing a raw, natural talent for the sport. He has even countered double crosses with a triple-cross, implying he has high-level technical abilities. Following his fight with Rikiishi, he begins to better develop his guarding. 

~!If Joe dies in the end or not remains ambiguous, but it hints that Joe Yabuki perished at the end of his fight with Mendoza.!~ (Source: Wikipedia)

Joe, a teenage orphan in the slums of the Doya streets, meets Danpei, a homeless, alcoholic ex-boxing coach. Danpei, seeing Joe's boxing talent, decides to train him. When Joe is sent to a terrible juvenile home for petty crimes, he meets Rikiishi who becomes his boxing rival. Danpei arrives at the home to help Joe to train in order to defeat Rikiishi. When Joe decides to seriously pursue boxing, Danpei cannot get a coaching license because of his reputation as a drunk. 
(Source: AnimeNfo)

A former Johnny's singer and actor. He began in show business at an early age by modeling for many magazines. Later on, he joined as a dancer for the idol group Johnny's. When Johnny's disbanded in 1967, Aoi later pursued a television acting career, debuting in the TBS television dorama Futari no Sekai in 1967. He also debuted as a voice actor three years later in the anime Ashita no Joe.

A summary movie of the first season for people to get reminded on what happened before the airing of the second season.

Yabuki Joe is left downhearted and hopeless after a certain tragic event. In attempt to put the past behind him, Joe leaves the gym behind and begins wandering. On his travels he comes across the likes of Wolf Kanagushi and Goromaki Gondo, men who unintentionally fan the dying embers inside him, leading him to putting his wanderings to an end. His return home puts Joe back on the path to boxing, but unknown to himself and his trainer, he now suffers deep-set issues holding him back from fighting. In attempt to quell those issues, Carlos Rivera, a world renowned boxer is invited from Venezuela to help Joe recover.


In 2000 after a trip to India he changed his first name to Niseem

Son of [Glauco Onorato](https://anilist.co/staff/182653)

Yabuki Joe is left downhearted and hopeless after a certain tragic event. In attempt to put the past behind him, Joe leaves the gym behind and begins wandering. His return home puts Joe back on the path to boxing, but unknown to himself and his trainer, he now suffers deep-set issues holding him back from fighting. In attempt to quell those issues, Carlos Rivera, a world renowned boxer is invited from Venezuela to help Joe recover.

Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend, ​and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again. 
(Source: Wikipedia)

Pilot films for Ashita no Joe, released as bonus material on the series' DVD box. 
 
- Aoyama-hen (prod. 1969/11/06) 
- Rikiishi-hen (prod. 1969/12/22)

A Japanese actor, seiyuu, and narrator. During his life, Tomiyama was affiliated with Aoni Production and Production Baobab. He died of pancreatic cancer.

Special collaboration between Shounen Magazine series.

After a long carrier and satisfyine life, Chiba Tetsuya only desires tranquility and peace. Through flash-back scenes, the 1939-born author remembers the big moments in his life, his youth under the U.S. bombings, the exile from Tôkyô, his recklessness in those times, but also his carrier, his beginnings, the hard moments, Tezuka's death... an extraordinary life tale filled with a refreshing positivism. A rare testimony by a master storyteller.

3 short collaboration commercials between Japan life insurance and Ashita no Joe.

A milestone in Japanese manga, "Ashita no Joe" celebrates the 55th anniversary of its serialization. Hina's father, enraged by Hina's indifferent attitude toward her post-high school career decision, disappears, leaving behind all the volumes of "Ashita no Joe" for some reason. When Hina picked up the book, which had a retro Showa-era feel to it, she was immediately moved to tears. On the advice of her father's friend Kenkichi, she determined that the key to his disappearance lay in a place associated with the original work. Hina decides to visit the "sacred places" of the original work... 


A boy named Tanaka (Sanbanchi Kawa) left his hometown of Aomori to become an apprentice of the master artist, Tetsuya Chiba! There were days full of surprise and excitement beyond his imagination! The wonderful world of "manga" is passionately depicted by the former Chiba Pro assistant, Sanbanchi Kawa, based on his real-life experiences!