Gearless Joe

Megalobox director Yo Moriyama stated Gearless Joe and Yuri were loosely based Jo Yabuki and Rikishi from the manga Ashita no Joe as Megalobox is a tribute to such manga, respectively, as he views that the rivalry of two boxers was the main event of Ashita no Joe which Megalobox adadpted.[1] Originally, the series was meant to have Rikishi as the lead character but the idea was scrapped and Gearless Joe was created.[2][3] Every episode of the series end with the note "Not Dead Yet..." which was created by Moriyama. It is a message saying that Joe will not die. During production of the first series, the staff portrayed him as fighting throughout each episode. It was also a message for the Ashita no Joe fans because in such series, there was a dead involving Joe and Rikishi. He did not aim to give the series the same ending but instead come across with an unexpected ending for the viewers.[1]

Moriyama said the first two episodes were developed to introduce the entire narrative and setting together while aiming to develop the future cast in later episodes.[4] Joe's fighting style was loosely inspired by Jake LaMotta and Naseem Hamed. A theme besides individualism featured in the series is "for people to live"; Moriyama elaborates that there was a focus on three main characters despite Joe being the lead while also showing similarities with the cast from Ashita no Joe.[3] In the first season's finale, Joe faces Yuri. Moriyama was initially mixed about how the battle should end until deciding to make Joe the winner which was appreciated by other staff members who were rooting for Joe.[5]

The staff had mixed thoughts about how they should handle Joe as a depressed adult despite his young days as Megalonia's champions as that was how the first season ended. Moriyama decided to touch new themes to make Megalobox become a more independent work rather than keep staying as a tribute to Ashita no Joe.[6] The staff highlighted Joe's depressing portrayal as he has not been able to move on with his life in contrast to Yuri and other returning characters. In order to support Joe's psychological state, the character of Chief was written. Across the narrative, Chief serves as a mentor to Joe in the first four episodes where his slowly recovers his fighting spirit. In early stages, Moriyama drew the encounters between the characters Joe and Chief, and the things that react to each other. Joe's sin that torments him would be kept vague until the fifth episode where Joe is forced to fight himself. From there, more boxing matches were written. However, in contrast to the first season which Joe's characterization was kept simple as he was obsessed to only defeat Yuri, the second season was written in a more complex way as the writers decided to make the impact of victory or defeat be less important for the boxers.[7]

Critical response to Joe's characterization in the first season was positive. Anime News Network praised the character of Joe, most notably due to the handling of his fights which were felt as the biggest appeal from the series despite saying his character arc is not innovative comparing them to the Rocky boxing films. Tang's performance as Joe was well received by the writer nevertheless.[20] Otaku USA liked how Joe's character changes across the narrative as he goes from a fighter who does arranged matches to a more competitive boxer driven his rivalry with Yuri and pride.[21] Manga.Tokyo also praised the handling of the main character whom the audience would cheer. He positively compared Gearless Joe with Jo Yabuki as, despite the series being a tribute to Ashita no Joe with multiple similarities, he comes across as more likable character than the arrogant Jo describing him as a "much more down to earth, easy-going loveable rogue, kind of like Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop". As a result, he views Gearless Joe as an improvement over the original Jo but felt his rivalry with Yuri lacked depth despite him being his final rival in the first season.[22] Biggest in Japan wrote an article titled "Megaloxbox isn't Really About Boxing, it's About Human Drama" where he wrote that despite having raw talent for boxing, the protagonist is not given the possibilities to participate in professional matches due to his humble beginnings in the series' first episodes. As a result, the fear he expresses when entering into the competition Megalonia feels natural due to high probabilities of Joe dying in the ring, which he felt were inspiring.[23] The final fight between Joe and Yuri was praised by Anime News Network for how well executed it was and the way the narrative treats it in such a way that the fact if Joe might not win it would not matter because the message of the series was about trying instead. The aftermath of the fight also received feedback because the ending of the season shows the impact Joe made in the scenario as he inspired multiple children to try boxing in Nowhere.[24] Manga.Tokyo agreed with Anime News Network for how entertaining was the final fight not only due to their exchanges but also because of how both matured.[25] In 2019, Joe was nominated for the 3rd Crunchyroll Anime Awards in the categories of "Best Protagonist" and "Best Boy", but lost to Rimuru Tempest from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia, respectively.[26] In the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Joe was nominated for "Best Protagonist", but lost to Odakawa from Odd Taxi.[27] Michael B. Jordan revealed that the emotional foundation for Joe's fights in Megalobox inspired the film Creed III.[28]

In regards Joe's portrayal in the sequel, Anime News Network wrote, like Biggest in Japan, that the character still feels faithful to the idea of the importance of human drama rather than sports based on his depressed state over Nambu's death. The writer was moved by how Joe interacted with immigrants, most notably the boxer Chief due to how gradually accepts their way of living due to their differences in regards to how the two had different priorities at the times of fights: while Joe is a dedicated boxer, Chief instead chooses to participate in arranged matches to provide for his people.[29] The Fandom Post was surprised by Joe's depression over his coach's death and how he became addicted to painkillers to escape from reality. Nevertheless, he still enjoyed the fact that the character could fight in an entertaining fashion and there were several hints about why Joe feels his guilty over Nambu's death.[30] In a following review, Fandom Post enjoyed Joe's support to Chief's through his fights and like the parallelism there was between this two characters as Chief is also hunted by the death of a person, his son, but criticized how Joe's motive was not fully explained yet.[31] With Chief's death, the writer from Anime News Network felt that Joe has faced enough trauma and earned the courage to face reality thanks to their interactions.[32] The eventual reason behind Nambu's death was felt to be heartfelt by The Fandom Post due to how Joe wanted to escape from reality to fight again under the excuse of earning money for Nambu's treatment but lost and shortly afterwards he died. Meanwhile, the present Joe was felt to be caring as he allows himself to be defeated in an arranged match in order to provide for Sachio even if his friend will never forgive him for abandoning Nambu.[33]