Gearless Joe
Gearless Joe, also known by his aliases Junk Dog and later Nomad, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the anime series Megalobox and its sequel Megalobox 2: Nomad, produced by TMS Entertainment. Joe is a Megalo Boxer who first fights in illegal underground matches before rising to fame in the official Megalonia tournament, where he gains the nickname "Gearless Joe" after choosing to fight without mechanical gear.
Many noted how Joe paid respectful tribute to Jo Yabuki while forging his own path. The gritty visual style, powerful fights, and emotional storytelling surrounding Joe contributed to Megalobox being considered one of the best anime of its season. The character was created by director Yo Moriyama as an homage to Jo Yabuki, the protagonist of the classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe. Joe is voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya in Japanese and Kaiji Tang in the English dub. Joe received widespread acclaim from critics and fans. Reviewers praised him as a compelling and relatable protagonist with a strong emotional arc. His rise from anonymity to stardom in the first season was seen as a classic sports underdog tale. In the second season, critics appreciated the mature exploration of trauma, loss, and redemption, calling Joe's character development one of the most impressive aspects of Nomad.
Character overview
In the first season of Megalobox, Joe fights under the alias Junk Dog in underground fixed matches managed by his trainer, Gansaku Nanbu. Despite his talent, he yearns for a real fight. After a chance encounter with Yuri, the reigning Megalo Boxing champion, Joe becomes determined to challenge him in the official Megalonia tournament. To stand out, he competes without mechanical gear, earning the nickname "Gearless Joe". Nanbu devises this approach to attract attention to their underdog story and build hype around Joe's raw fighting style.In the sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad, Joe reappears under the alias Nomad. Haunted by his past and the death of Nanbu, he suffers from drug addiction and depression. Joe lives as a drifter until he meets an immigrant community and a young boxer named Chief, who helps him begin his path to redemption. Through these interactions, Joe starts to recover emotionally and gradually returns to boxing—not for fame, but to atone for his mistakes.
Both voice actors were praised for their performances, with particular acclaim for capturing Joe's emotional intensity and internal struggle in the second season.
Creation and concept
Megalobox was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ashita no Joe. Director Yo Moriyama and the creative team developed Joe as a modern reinterpretation of Jo Yabuki, adapting the underdog narrative for a futuristic setting. Joe's rival, Yuri, was modeled after Tōru Rikiishi, Jo Yabuki's iconic rival in the original manga. Real-life boxing footage and fighters were used to inspire the choreography and aesthetic of Joe's fights. 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 adapted. Originally, the series was meant to have Rikishi as the lead character but the idea was scrapped and Gearless Joe was created. 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.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. Joe's fighting style was loosely inspired by Jake LaMotta. 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. 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. For the second season, Joe's more somber and broken demeanor was a deliberate choice. The staff aimed to depict a fallen hero struggling with guilt and grief, allowing for a deeper emotional journey than in the first season.
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. 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.
Casting
Voice actor Yoshimasa Hosoya who plays Gearless Joe, and was present at the screenings, said he was moved by the premiere due to how carefully handled were both Joe and Yuri's characters through the scene when the two meet on a rainy road. Hosoya felt that there was a character to Joe's character upon meeting Yuri due to the presence of the later. Being an Ashita no Joe fan, Hosoya was glad with he giving the role of Joe and give his best when playing the protagonist of Megalobox.In the making of the second season, Yoshimasa Hosoya was surprised by the announcement and felt ready for the new changes given to Joe's character. Other returning voice actors were curious about the narrative as their characters did not appear in early episodes. Hosoya noted the response to the first season was not popular only in Japan but also Western regions as a result of the multiple letters the team received. Hosoya noted the response to the first season was not popular only in Japan but also Western regions. When asked about the impression of the character of this work, which was set seven years after the previous work, Hosoya did not know that he was Joe at first when he saw the bearded and transformed Joe in the main visual of the second season. Joe's new name, Nomad, is meant to give a new impression about how the story changed.
In making the English dub of the series, producer Dave Casipit stated that both the cast in general "suck at communicating" specifically pointing Joe and Yur's portrayals due to how they act more rather than talk due to their quiet personalities. As a result, he wanted to make sure the characters did not act rushed. During recording, Kaiji Tang's performance surprised Casipit. He aimed to make the audience note that Joe is not a hero or that Yuri is a villain in the series. He added that he "wanted the audience to hear that it hurts and that he’s only just controlling the fury inside him, even if he’s decided he’s just going to do his job. That, in my opinion, is closer to the spirit of the anime than having him simply being an angry rebel all the time." Tang did research on fighter's breathing during box matches in order to portray Joe. The first minutes of the first episode were Tang's favorite scenes especially the part when Joe is riding a bike based on the storytelling and animation. He said that the message he wants to give is that "You can always move forward" and felt that while the series never explain his character's past, Joe wants to reach his goals in the future as he never had something treasured.
Appearances
''Megalobox''
Gearless Joe is introduced in the anime Megalobox as "Junk Dog", an underground Megaloboxer from the outskirts of town whose real name is unknown, he is forced to throw fights to earn money for his crooked manager. He initially fights with old Gear that is constantly in need of repair. He starts a rivalry with Yuri, the champion of Megalonia who knocks out in the first round. Nanbu enters Joe into the Megalo Box rankings which starts him at the very bottom in 257th place, he plans to have Joe fight the toughest opponents that the rankings will allow, so that he can move to the top bracket in as little as 5 fights. Joe enters the ring for his first professional match against Shark Samejima, but shocks the whole arena by not wearing any gear for the fight, being dubbed "Gearless" Joe, this is all part of Nanbu's plan to have him attract attention. Some time passes, during which Joe wins 2 more fights and climbs to rank 102 while gaining a reputation for himself. His next rival is Nanbu's former student Aragaki who tries to get his revenge on Nambu for forgetting about him by killing Joe. Eventually, Aragaki quits the fight.Joe continues to grow in popularity, but still has very little chance of being chosen for Megalonia. Mikio Shirato meets with Joe before their fight is due to start and reveals that he knows he is an illegal underground fighter with a fake ID and threatens to tell the world if he gets in the ring. Joe goes to punch Mikio but is stopped by Nanbu who knocks him out, Mikio wins the match by default when Joe does not enter the ring. The following night, as the ceremony is held to introduce the final four fighters for Megalonia, Joe crashes the scene and demands that Mikio fight him fairly. Yukiko decides to rip the fourth Megalonia ticket in half, giving one half each to Joe and Mikio, and declares whoever wins their rematch wins the final spot. Joe manages to defeat Mikio. Nanbu tells him that the real bet he made with Fujimaki was to reach Megalonia and then throw the match upon reaching the semifinals. Initially, Joe goes according to his plan to protect him but both Sachio and Nanbu support him to win even though the latter loses one eye as a result. In the finals, Joe and Yuri have their rematch, as Yuri enters the ring with his Gear removed to fight Joe on equal terms. Joe becomes the new champion but remains on friendly terms with Yuri.