ONA
Description
Joze Carlos Nagato is a highly skilled boxer with a heavyweight build who appears as a significant supporting character. Though his name might suggest foreign origins, he was born and raised in Japan. His early life was marked by tragedy and a deep connection to boxing, a sport that defined his family. At the age of ten, his mother passed away, after which he was taken in by his father, a professional boxer. Joze spent his childhood accompanying his father on boxing tours, a period he remembered as a happy time. Following in his father's footsteps, he went professional at the age of seventeen, and the father-son duo gained considerable publicity together.
A devastating event shattered this promising trajectory. Shortly after Joze turned pro, his father was stabbed to death by a drunk thug. Despite this profound loss, Joze continued to train relentlessly and rose through the boxing ranks, eventually reaching eighth place in the world and earning an opportunity for a title match. However, his unresolved trauma proved to be his downfall. During a bar fight, a man pulled out a knife, which triggered the horrifying memory of his father's murder. Joze lost control of his actions, brutally beating the man and effectively destroying his own professional boxing career overnight. This incident put him on the run, making him a wanted man much like the series protagonist, Juzo Fujimaki.
Joze’s personality is shaped by this contrast between his traumatic past and his underlying youthfulness. He can be seen as childish in comparison to the more stoic and tormented Juzo, but he carries a great deal of pain. His primary motivation is to turn his life around and escape the shadow of his past. He sees participation in the illegal underground tournament known as KODOKU as a way to achieve this, as he can gain direct entry by defeating Juzo. During his time as a fugitive, he meets Ranbo, an old man researching ancient ways, who immediately recognizes that Joze, like Juzo, has a beast inside him. Rather than training him to become a more ferocious fighter, Ranbo instead trains Joze to help control his inner turmoil and avoid fighting altogether.
Despite his desire to fight Juzo for a spot in the tournament, a reluctant friendship develops between the two men. Joze challenges Juzo to a fight, but Juzo defeats him by breaking his arm. Following this defeat, Juzo is forced to participate in KODOKU. Since Juzo has no one to guide him in his corner, Joze offers to act as his advisor, a role Juzo accepts. In this capacity, Joze proves to be both a trusted friend and a good advisor, supporting Juzo throughout the fierce competition. Their bond deepens as they share their respective pasts with one another, creating a mutual understanding based on their shared trauma and status as outcasts. Joze also finds a surrogate family of sorts with Ranbo and a woman named Miyuki, who treat him with kindness during this difficult period of his life.
A key moment of development for Joze comes not from his own actions in the ring, but from the selfless act of his friend. After Juzo wins the KODOKU tournament, he rejects the prize he was promised. Instead of asking for his own freedom, Juzo asks the tournament organizer, the Sergeant, to clear Joze's criminal record. This act of friendship gives Joze a second chance to pursue his dream of boxing again legally, dramatically changing his life for the better. In the end, he is seen watching and cheering for Juzo, having found a new path forward thanks to the bond they forged.
As a fighter, Joze is an exceptional boxer with notable abilities. Because he never missed a training session even after going into hiding, he maintained a high level of skill. His boxing is refined to the point that he is capable of dealing with kicks, a type of attack traditionally considered a boxer's primary weakness. However, his skills are put into perspective during his training with Ranbo, where he finds he is unable to land a single punch on the old man.
A devastating event shattered this promising trajectory. Shortly after Joze turned pro, his father was stabbed to death by a drunk thug. Despite this profound loss, Joze continued to train relentlessly and rose through the boxing ranks, eventually reaching eighth place in the world and earning an opportunity for a title match. However, his unresolved trauma proved to be his downfall. During a bar fight, a man pulled out a knife, which triggered the horrifying memory of his father's murder. Joze lost control of his actions, brutally beating the man and effectively destroying his own professional boxing career overnight. This incident put him on the run, making him a wanted man much like the series protagonist, Juzo Fujimaki.
Joze’s personality is shaped by this contrast between his traumatic past and his underlying youthfulness. He can be seen as childish in comparison to the more stoic and tormented Juzo, but he carries a great deal of pain. His primary motivation is to turn his life around and escape the shadow of his past. He sees participation in the illegal underground tournament known as KODOKU as a way to achieve this, as he can gain direct entry by defeating Juzo. During his time as a fugitive, he meets Ranbo, an old man researching ancient ways, who immediately recognizes that Joze, like Juzo, has a beast inside him. Rather than training him to become a more ferocious fighter, Ranbo instead trains Joze to help control his inner turmoil and avoid fighting altogether.
Despite his desire to fight Juzo for a spot in the tournament, a reluctant friendship develops between the two men. Joze challenges Juzo to a fight, but Juzo defeats him by breaking his arm. Following this defeat, Juzo is forced to participate in KODOKU. Since Juzo has no one to guide him in his corner, Joze offers to act as his advisor, a role Juzo accepts. In this capacity, Joze proves to be both a trusted friend and a good advisor, supporting Juzo throughout the fierce competition. Their bond deepens as they share their respective pasts with one another, creating a mutual understanding based on their shared trauma and status as outcasts. Joze also finds a surrogate family of sorts with Ranbo and a woman named Miyuki, who treat him with kindness during this difficult period of his life.
A key moment of development for Joze comes not from his own actions in the ring, but from the selfless act of his friend. After Juzo wins the KODOKU tournament, he rejects the prize he was promised. Instead of asking for his own freedom, Juzo asks the tournament organizer, the Sergeant, to clear Joze's criminal record. This act of friendship gives Joze a second chance to pursue his dream of boxing again legally, dramatically changing his life for the better. In the end, he is seen watching and cheering for Juzo, having found a new path forward thanks to the bond they forged.
As a fighter, Joze is an exceptional boxer with notable abilities. Because he never missed a training session even after going into hiding, he maintained a high level of skill. His boxing is refined to the point that he is capable of dealing with kicks, a type of attack traditionally considered a boxer's primary weakness. However, his skills are put into perspective during his training with Ranbo, where he finds he is unable to land a single punch on the old man.