The Ballad of Tobio

The Ballad of Tobio (トビオのバラード, Tobio no barādo) is a manga and later Anime series by Osamu Tezuka that ran on Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1965 to 1969, it tells the story of young orphan Tobio Tenma (Expanding his brief role in Tezuka's Astro Boy, this time, in a different role) training from Street Smart Teen to Featherweight Prize fighter, this is considered to be Tezuka's most violent work in his career.

in 1975, United Artists released a loose adaptation simply named Toby, starring Gene Hackman as the trainer Robert Shmuel, in 1979, an Anime adaptation was aired on NTV that concluded in 1982, followed by some video games.

Story
the year is 1963, Tobio Tenma is a troubled 14-year old boy who ran away from an orphanage in 1955, wandering through the slums of Tokyo, he picks a fight with 60-year old Jewish WWII vet Robert Shmuel, after punching the elder in the face, Tobio slips on a banana peel and gets knocked unconscious, Robert later takes Tobio to his Boxing Gym and later Tobio wakes up on one of the benches, the two become friends and Tobio agrees to be Shmuel's boxer pupil.

however, a ruckus begins outside caused by the biker gang, the Mad Masked gang, Tobio pops out of the gym and defeats many members, including their leader Mack "The Knife", Tobio later frees Italian-american 14-year old schoolgirl Hannah Cacaronie, whom becomes Tobio's love interest later on.

Tobio later attends Hannah's school to get a better education.

after some weeks of rigorous training, Tobio feels ready for his first fight, Tobio starts his debut at a underground bar against the 28-year old French weakling, Jean Belmondo, whom Tobio defeats in the first round, Tobio later fights the more stronger 17-year old Jo Kashuka, whom he knocks out in the second round.

during Tobio's school life, he makes some new friends, including Jiro Takeshi, whom he saves from bullies.

After winning a slew of illegal underground matches, Tobio then faces off against Jazz Kidd, a 16-Year old African American living in Tokyo, they then score a brutal match on each other, both getting major injuries in the process, at the final 5th round, Tobio soon gets the upper hand and knocks him to his corner, Tobio tries to perform the final blow on Jazz, when his arm is stopped by Hannah, preventing Tobio from accidentally killing Jazz, the match ends with a split decision, declaring Jazz the winner, though they become friends later on.

Tobio and his friends from School and the gym all decide to unite together to fight the Mad Masked gang, they all emerge victorious against the gang and even getting leader The Knife sent to the police while the rest of the gang all declare surrender, they become heroes of the Neighborhood slum, thus ending the first half of the Story.

3 Years Later and it's Late 1966, Tobio is now 16 after years of being a Club fighter, at school however, the School principal Mr. Oroka expels Tobio after founding out his Double life, Tobio is now in a state of depression and having constant visions of his dead mother, it would all seem like the end for Tobio's career when suddenly while training, he is found by a TV Sportscaster and reccomends him to sign a deal to broadcast his fights on national Television, he agrees but in order to get in, he lies about his age and claims he is 21 and suggests his Ring name to be "Kid Kamikaze of Yokohama" (横浜のカミカゼ) after Yokohama, his place of birth, he then tells Robert and Hannah the news about his deal, Tobio then trains more harder than before for his first Televised match against 26-Year old Calamity Jones from the UK, as Tobio appears on the TV, he gives Hannah's parents who are watching on TV a big shock, the match begins as Tobio throws Body and head blows at Jones, but no success, but at Round 2, Tobio takes the round and knocks Jones down for the count, thus winning the match.

after having a successful winning streak with 17 wins and barely any losses, Tobio is then approached by 36-year old undefeated heavyweight champion Salvador Havana from Cuba, and they agree to a 15 round match on Christmas day 1967 that be broadcast worldwide, between July and December, Tobio trains rigorously to be stronger and more worthy of fighting an unbeatable menace, December 25th arrives and the fight is to start, their respective corners are decorated in the flags of Japan and Cuba, their home countries, here Tobio officialy reveals to the press that he's actually a Teenager, not a Young Adult as he he claims, though despite his age, Tobio says he can fare against Salvador.

the fight begins as Tobio and Salvador duke it out early on, during the grueling match, both boxers get facial and body injuries including black eyes, bloody noses, ect., sometimes, Salvador has the upper hand, other times is Tobio.

at the last round of the match, Tobio and Salvador are at each other's throats, beating each other senseless, until the round ends, both fighters are separated to avoid further damage, Salvador is declaired the winner by split decision, until a bruised and bloodied Tobio falls out cold on the xanvas, he soon gets taken to his locker room by his trainer, only to see that Tobio is dying of injuries, leaving Robert, Hannah, her parents, the rest of his pals, and even Salvador in shock and sadness, Tobio dies satisfied.

Anime Series (1979-1982)
the series was adapted into an Anime series that ran for two seasons on TV Asahi from 1979 to 1982, the first season was later dubbed into English by Cookie Jar Entertainment (Then known as Cinar) and retitled "The Life of Toby" with Distribution from MGM/UA Television (There movie division owning the rights to the 1975 Movie adaptation), unlike most English dubs, this one was uncut by retaining the violence and swearing, and aired on HBO from 1984 to 1986, later on, MGM/UA Home Video released volume tapes of all the episodes.

in 1998, MGM sold the home video rights to Family Home Entertainment, the same company that released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech, and Rakin & Bass tapes at the time, though MGM continues to own the 1975 Movie to this day, FHE released volume tapes of the dub in an edited form to cater to Children, FHE's target audience.

in 2003, Lions Gate Films acquired and folded Artisan Entertainment and FHE became a sub-division of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, before taking down FHE with them in 2005, in the year prior, Manga Entertainment (which itself is a Lionsgate division under Starz Distribution) bought all rights (including the undubbed Second season) and released the entire original series Uncut on DVD.

Video Games
the series spawned many video games some only released in Japan,
 * 1987 - Tobio no barādo (Arcade) - Data East,
 * 1988 - Tobio no barādo: Hotto Buraddo (Family Computer) - Data East
 * 1991 - Sūpā Tobio no barādo (Super Famicom) - Bandai
 * 2002 - Tobio no barādo: Eikō (Playstation 2, Gamecube) - Sega, NOTE: GC Version was released in the US as Hot Blooded Street Story: Tobio's Highway to Glory