A different original ending of Ashita no Joe

The last page of “Ashita no Joe" is well known.

Japanese people sometimes use this posture to express “burnt-out" even today, and the discussion about Joe’s fate hasn’t stopped.

However, in fact, there is a different original ending, which the readers at the time of publication did not know about.

The author created the first draft, but the artist rejected it.

 

Joe was supposed to live in Shiraki residence

“Ashita no Joe" was created by two artists.

The story was made by the author Takamori Asao, and the cartoonist Chiba Tetsuya drew pictures.

The first draft of the ending by Takamori was as follows.

On the ring, Danpei spoke to Joe, “Cheer up, you lost this game only on the score, but you won the fight."

The next frame without dialogue was the last.

The storyboard for the scene has been open to the public on Chiba’s website afterward.

It’s called “a different original end which never materialized" in Japan.

Joe sits in a room that seems to be Shiraki’s residence.
We cannot know his condition from that picture.
Yoko looks at him with a gentle smile.

 Go here, Chiba’s official page to watch real storyboard

 

Chiba decided to change the ending

The artist Chiba couldn’t be convinced by this idea. He decided to change this ending.

He and his staff read through the comic series again, and a scene caught their eyes.

Joe talked to Noriko why he continues to be a boxer at the end of their first and last date.
“On the ring, I can burn out completely. Only pure white ash remains after a fight."

While Chiba saw Joe’s hands, he realized that “reaching burnout" is the theme of this story.

Ashita no Joe (14) P103 (c)TakamoriAsao ChibaTetsuya 2012

 

And then, a picture came to his head.

It was a white white one, sitting Joe with closing his eyes at the corner of the ring.

Yes, that scene you know.

50 years later

At an exhibition in 2018, celebrating Ashita no Joe’s 50th anniversary,  30 scenes selected by 2 persons were shown.

15 of those were chosen by Chiba, and the other 15 were chosen by a son of the author Takamori, who passed away in 1987.

As mentioned above, the last section was changed by Chiba and it was completely different from author Takaomori’s idea.

However, the son of Takamori selected that last frame as one of the most impressive scenes.

I guess it might include a message from Takamori’s bereaved family, that his father accepted that ending.

 

Was Joe die? Was he alive?

It’s still unclear.

In any case, that picture gave Joe eternal life.

 

The article about Joe’s fate is here

Did Joe Yabuki die? It’s unclear but there are some comments by creators