Megalo Box

Megalo Box started off as a really cool anime. The most noticeable thing to anyone at first glance is the art, which if I remember correctly was just the art being down-scaled and then up-scaled to give it the aesthetic it has. Don't quote me on that. Either way, the artstyle was interesting and the idea of a 50th anniversary project for Ashita no Joe sounded interesting. So why did it end up like it did? There'll be spoilers, btw. The first few episodes were great, personally. The soundtrack alongside the art made the first few episodes seem badass and hype, and I was really rootingfor Joe to win his goal of...not losing matches I guess? I mean, the main "story" doesn't start until a few episodes in, but even by then you're already given several good setups at least. -The protagonist, Joe, who is an underdog type character without too much unique to his personality. He's cool and all at least, enough to get you rooting for him if nothing else. Plus he rides a motorcycle 3 or 4 times. - An antagonist, Yuri, who doesn't actually seem like a generic douchebag but an actual person who respects the sport and the fighters, and is rather likable as far as antagonists go, even by the end. -An idea of what exactly Megalo-boxing is and on what scale of appeal the sport is. It's enough of a setup within the first few episodes to give a sports anime a nice start, a promising start. I sure thought so, at least. The show was pretty good up until the main story started, whatever episode that was. I don't think I'm in the minority opinion for that statement seeing as how the MAL score around that time started slowly going down from a mid-8.4 to what it is now. The problem that starts around this time is the problem that the show inevitably ends with: predictability. Being a sports anime, you're kind of expected from the get-go to assume the protagonist will win a lot of the time and be all badass and stuff. But Megalo Box doesn't even try to be subtle about it. Every match is the same thing over and over again. You're given an "antagonist" for that match who gets some semi-interesting backstory and maybe some relevancy to other characters, and then they get in the ring with Joe and they both have at each other. Joe gets the absolute crap beat out of him for several minutes, while Sachiko (an annoying and 100% useless kid who does a really cringey rap in one of the last few episodes) and Nanbu (a generic coach) yell at him to do this and that and not give up. Then, through the power of absolutely nothing, Joe is able to K.O. the opponent in one hit, ending the match with a win for him. I never mentioned this, but Joe is "gearless" during all of these fights meaning that basically he doesn't have these boxing-aid-machines on his arms. Logically, he should lose all his battles against his opponents who DO all have gear, since they literally have machines on their arms whereas Joe has his arms bare, however, he never loses. This means that Joe is literally the most overpowered character in this show, because not once does he get KO'd even though by all means he should, especially when you see how badly his ass gets beat in the ring. Each match starts and ends the same way, with a lot of flashbacks and other things going on being thrown into the fray WHILE the matches are going on, which often times messes with the momentum of the fights. Most of that stuff could've been mentioned before the fights at least, then I'd at least go into each fight with a good understanding of the opponent, regardless of how generic their backstory is. That doesn't happen, of course. The fights are pretty cool though, and well choreographed imo. Asides from the matches being done in such a bad way (asides from the actual fighting, for the most part), the main story is also really lame. A woman, who also could be considered an antagonist of sorts, is basically the founder of megalo-boxing as we see it and hosts the competition for which everything takes place. I think what her goal was was to show-off how interesting megalo-boxing was and how viable it is as a military weapon. At least, that's what I could remember from the ending. Frankly, whenever the fights weren't happening I found myself bored a lot of the time, which is another point to bring up. Sure the music's good and the art is unique, but the characters either have no depth or are straight-up bad. Why should I care about the story anyways? I already know Joe is going to win all the matches just because he can, why not just skip to the fights? I mean, they show the meat of who the opponents Joe face are mid-fighting, so it's not like I have to spend the other 15 minutes getting to know who they are and whatever the hell else is going on. The only character I can say was genuinely interesting was Yuri, although he reminds me too much of the one character from Ping Pong to say he's original. On the other hand, there's some story going on with Nanbu and some loanshark type guy who's just an asshole but is also kind of cool. Nanbu has to have Joe win the Megalo Box tournament at first so that the mean man can make money, then he has to lose it so the mean man can make money. It's probably the most interesting thing going on story-wise but that isn't saying a whole lot. So all-in-all, you've got a run-of-the-mill nothing story, several obnoxious/shallow/boring characters, and fights that are as predictable as they come. Frankly, I can't say there's much reason to watch this show asides from the artstyle and soundtrack. If you strip those two things away this show has nothing else going for it really. That's not to say you SHOULDN'T watch it, that's your choice obviously and there's some pretty cool stuff that happens in the show every so often, but there's nothing to gain from watching it. No messages besides generic underdog stuff and blah blah blah watch Rocky instead if you want something more interesting that's also boxing related (can't comment on Ippo or Ashita no Joe, so). Frankly this show is just disappointing and has nothing worthwhile in any of the major departments. Can't really recommend it for anyone who wants a sports anime with substance as I can with, say, Ping Pong. Give that a watch instead, there's a good chance it'll be more of an experience than this show would be.

When you hear the term ‘boxing anime’ there are two series that come to mind: Hajime no Ippo and Ashita no Joe. Ippo becoming a boxer out of wanting to become stronger and Joe Yabuki becoming a boxer by a chance meeting with a boxing coach that saw potential in him. I haven’t seen any of these series... but, what I have seen is Rocky; a story about Rocky Balboa, debt collector and part-time southpaw boxer, is given a chance to fight the heavyweight champion: Apollo Creed based off of his name alone. A pretty simple premise for a film that is just so effectivewith the charismatic Rocky, the romance with Adrian, the adrenaline pumping training scenes and the drama everywhere else. All culminating into one final fight of emotion and hype! A structure that Megalobox follows while taking in the sights along the way. One thing you’ll immediately notice is the visual style of the show, which is very much reminiscent of series from the 90s, but just recreated using 2018 technology and nails it.The aesthetic oozes character with its detailed and recognizable character designs and its worn, lived in backgrounds that gives each environment its own sense of place in this world; with direction that shows us what each environment is like and how the characters interact in it. Each fight illustrates each fighter’s unique way of fighting with their gear and well choreographed to make up for any less than stellar animation cuts from the rest of the great ones. If the aesthetic of show got your attention then the music will get you invested. Each piece of music encapsulates the characters, settings and emotion throughout its entire runtime. Like how the slums area uses more hip hop and rap or how Yukiko’s theme is mostly orchestral instruments given her higher status and how Yuri’s theme uses a lot techno beats with his integrated gear and deadly efficiency in the ring. A great OST on its own merits that is strengthened by the series its attached to. The sounds for each fight sound crisp with the squeaks of the fancy footwork and the satisfying ‘pop’ with each punch with more powerful punches sounding like it could KO you in real life. Sound is even consistent outside of fighting with the training equipment and mechanical movements of the Gear. Story structure is pretty straightforward to follow. Each arc starts with the introduction of the new fighter, we learn more about the fighter, MC trains for fight, fight happens, repeat a couple more times. There able to repeat this structure because the writers are able to create interesting out of the ring conflicts that eventually build up to the actual fight. Aragaki is a particular highlight for me. Something I felt was a bit of a wasted opportunity was with the Gear. Gear seems to just be used to turn boxing into a bloody extreme sport, but I wanted to see real world applications of people using Gear in everyday life. It does get brought up towards the very end of series but did very little to satisfy this thought. “Joe.” - Joe 2018 Our main character finally has a name, hooray! Yeah… there… isn’t really to much to the characters. Not to say they were poorly written. When a new character is introduced you definitely get an idea what they are like from the couple lines of dialogue and their design; there isn’t too much more to them outside of that first impression. Of course the main opponents are more fleshed out so we understand their purpose for participating in Megalonia; to the point where they have more going on with them than the main cast. However, what kept the characters interesting for me was how a majority of the cast are characterized as animals. Joe being a stray dog, Nanbu a scorpion, Fujimaki a snake, Yuri as a trained dog and how he refers to Yukiko as ‘owner’. Some fighters who aren’t given enough screen have an animal as part of their ring name which pretty much defines the type of person they are. Kind of ironic how Yukiko doesn’t approve of Joe for being a stray yet all the megalobox fighters are animals themselves. Megalobox doesn’t try to do anything new or innovative with the story it’s trying to tell, but instead serves as a reminder for why we love these types of stories. An underdog rising through the ranks in order to fight on the ultimate stage to show their worth. With recognizable characters that you get at an instant, detailed, sketchy art to give its rough look and music to get your blood pumping. A tried and true way to create something that is the genuine article.

*Minimum Spoiler Hidden Gem Review* TL;DR: If a young Hajime no Ippo made an illegitimate baby with the sexy cougar, Cowboy Bebop, in an 80's themed love hotel with Samurai Champloo music blasting in the background, then Megalo Box would be the gorgeous mixed bastard child that will emerge from the Redline ambulance nine months later. Such a hidden gem but packs so much hype. "JOEEEEE!" [Story: 6/10 , Characters: 7/10, Art: 9/10, Sound: 9/10, Enjoyment: 8/10] "They don't make tombstones for stray dogs" - JD Yes Yes Yes. This is that shounen sports anime this season badly needed to remind what real anime is all about. You don'tneed bad CG. You don't need blended CG. You don't need Ufotable level CG. What you need is a good mindblasting underdog story, eyegasmic hand-drawn visuals and eargasmic catchy rap music to ignite that flame that you put out long time ago to suffer through random sports anime thrown at you. Boxing anime can always be hyped. There is just something about two people beating the crap out of each other that brings out our animalistic nature to get that testosterone cascading within us and our blood viciously pumping through our veins. Megalo Box just takes it one step further. If you didn't watch it yet, then damn you are one lucky twat, because you get to binge this greatness and I'll tell you why. "I don't mind dying as long as I know that the faith I had in myself was real" - Joe This is an underdog story paying an homage to the 50 years of greatness to the boxing anime, Ashita no Joe, brought in the Japanese Anime Industry. It's a similar story however with one twist, mechanical box or gear attached to every boxer that enhances the speed and power of the user. Boxing is already bloody as it is, now imagine boxing with robotic limbs. It's a crazy concept but luckily this is not the focal point of the story and we don't focus on the gear too much but rather the boxer themselves. This anime follows the archetypal hero's journey but since they execute it well, it becomes a great strength rather than an overused flaw. The whole idea is that there is a Megalo Box World Tourney and our hero must fight from the slums where he threw boxing matches to earn money to face the number one boxer, Yuuri, in the new Megalo Box Arena. Will he be able to do it? Find out on the next episode of DBZ. Jokes aside, from training montages to flashbacks of boxers' background to understanding their purpose in life, you really get drawn to this linear rollercoaster plot that's constantly giving you knee-jerks to throw you off of it. However, if you hang on tight, albeit a few slip-ups here and there, you get to taste the rewarding experience. "Why don't you tell me your name?" - Yuuri The best part about Megalo Box are the characters. There aren't many but the few characters that are shown are really well fleshed out. They don't have as much complexity as other boxing anime have but given the limited number of episodes they have to work with, we get to understand their emotional baggage they carry with them. We have "Joe," a junkyard dog coming from the slums that are cast aside in the society, Nanbu, his shady coach, Sacchio, a tech-genius kid seeking revenge against the rich and lastly Yuuri, a Russian husky of a boxer, champion of the Megalo Box arena, itching to find the greatest opponent in his life to give a good beatdown. All of these masochistic characters have so much charisma that they easily outshine the lackluster one-dimensional side characters thrown in this anime. Moreover, with a great deep-voiced seiyuu cast, this show feels so gritty and lifelike. Every time, Joe or Yuuri, speaks, they just steal the scene. Kudos to the seiyuus for not holding this anime back. "If his punches were sharp, they wouldn't sound like a cow cutting through cheese" - Coach Nanbu Aside from the linear rollercoaster story and the gritty characters, the highlight of this anime are the animation and music. Seriously from episode one, the hand drawn animation puts so much life into this anime. Each panel feels picturesque. Each panel feels like it can be a wallpaper. The characters are so well drawn while maintaing the respect for Ashita no Joe and the use of lines & variation of pen-strokes just makes this anime stand out from other boxing anime that came out before them. It really goes to show how maintaining a good homogenous colour palette throughout the animation really pays off. The fight sequences are well drawn and choregraphed as well. Aside from the breathtaking visuals, the music is really freaking good. The OP song provides the hype and the ED song mellows us out but the background score and sound bits in the transitions are just addictive to listen to. This anime will have one of the best standalone OST to listen to. Couple that with gritty rap music thrown in at appropriate times in the anime, it catapults the plot and hype even further. If you don't get to watch the anime, atleast listen to the OST. "Everyone's only looking out for number one, so why stop now? You're still not done. No metal on your back so they call you gearless, right now the way you act sure ain't fearless" - Sacchio Overall, Megalo Box is a great sports shounen anime to watch if you are into boxing. Their purpose was to celebrate the 50 years of Ashita no Joe and they went ahead did just that and more. They brought back boxing anime to its roots and they showed us hand-drawn animation will never be beaten by commercialized CG animation industry. If you put forth passion and work hard to achieve a goal, then it will all be worthwhile in the end. This anime isn't perfect and everyone always enjoys sports anime of the sport they are into, but even if you aren't into boxing, it's enjoyable to watch as they don't delve that much in detail about how to box. So if you can get past the crazy plot of boxers using mechanical gears & one dimensional side characters, give this show a watch. After all, this anime isn't about the destination, it's about the journey and being the spectators we are in that megalo box arena, let's just sit back and enjoy. Anyways, check it out & let me know later how you like it as well as share with me your favourite quote from the anime! Ciao. P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!

Art, in its purest form, is a catharsis of imperceptible cognitive entities onto a “canvas” for the purposes of provoking reactions from others. Sometimes that reaction involves laughter, other times it is sorrow, and on rare occasions, profound enlightenment, in either case, it is the responsibility of the artist(s) to determine the desired reaction, and how best to achieve it through their intended medium. As one would expect, it permits a copious amount of creativity to take place, yielding unexpected outcomes that one would rarely see in the real world. Antithetical to this branch of human intrigue, is the world of binaryresults and conventional outcomes, otherwise known as: sports. That is not to say that all sporting events are replicas of past events, but in the grand scheme, one team will lose, and one team will win — end of story. As is the case with a boxing match, one boxer will lose, and the other, by default, will win (I understand there can be split decisions, but for the sake of argument, bare with me). In case I am mistaken, one cannot win at art, as it has no predetermined result. Ergo, making the mixture of the two (art and sport) quite the peculiar one. One demands openness and originality, while the other requires an outcome. Not to say that it cannot be done, as the predecessor of this series, “Ashita no Joe” proved otherwise. Yet, fans of the original series will be quick to point out, that while it was a “boxing anime,” it was so much more. In a numerous amount of ways, the original “Joe” is akin to Ping Pong The Animation — a character driven narrative — as opposed to your typical sports anime. Breaking free from the restrictions of defined outcomes and crafting something truly imaginative. That all being said, how does this new iteration of “Joe" stack up on the hierarchy of sports anime? Story: 4/10 I’m going to discuss the story first, mainly because I feel there is one glaring detail that demands acknowledgement before pressing forward. I am referring to the “Gear” (i.e. mechanical limbs) the boxers use to inflict blood-stained carnage on their respective opponents. The concept, in theory, sounds interesting, but when one considers the ramifications, especially with the proliferation of CTE in athletes, it’s a horrifying notion. Imagine if “Iron” Mike Tyson were equipped with this "Gear" in his prime, he would straight up murder people with one punch (cue the One Punch Man theme music). In all seriousness, weaponizing the instrument of pain with highly sophisticated machinery, without providing protective barriers for the combatants is just ludicrous and a colossal oversight on the writer’s part. I understand the rationale behind the decision, as it pertains to my original statement regarding originality, or lack thereof, in sports. But, this innovative nuance is just a cosmetic flourish that adds little to nothing towards the overall plot. Which is a shame. Because there are numerous routes the anime staff could have taken this idea, that would have elevated this anime into something worth remembering. Perhaps, for example, they could have used the technology to profit from unnecessary conflicts and war, propagating political tensions and the fears of an overreaching quasi-government (this was sort of hinted at, but never really explored with any specific detail). Boxing would have still been the main focus, but underneath, you would have an interesting perspective about the dangers of proliferating technology. Instead, what we are left with, is a brother and sister competing for control over their father’s legacy. Then, much to the chagrin of the viewer, Yuuri decides to expel his integrated “gear” for the final match, making the entire concept an irrelevant element in a story that — desperately — needed vitality to successfully engage the viewer. As the saying goes: haste makes waste. The “gear” was the waste; therefore, invariably, the production must have been made in haste. The remainder of the story is your ordinary sports anime framework, by which I mean: a tournament. Somewhat unavoidable, given the format of the show, but do we really need to see Joe get knocked down for a ten count, only to rise to his feet at the count of nine, in every single fight? Watch boxing clips on YouTube and you will see for yourself that this sort of thing rarely happens. Characters: 5/10 Joe, as they refer to him in the series, is reminiscent of a stray dog: he’s tough, gritty, aggressive, and has nothing to lose. Another characteristic of stray dogs is fear, an emotion that is briefly touched upon in Joe’s first fight (his first fight in the tournament, that is), but is never revisited later in the series. I would have liked to see this affliction be a recurring issue for Joe, a malignant hindrance that would have required significant mental effort to overcome his anxieties, potentially derailing his short-term goal of reaching Megalonia. Unfortunately, the series allows Joe to conquer this obstacle relatively early, diminishing much of the intrigue in his plight towards the top. In this sense, the story quickly dissolves from being an in depth character drama, and into a simple revenge story. The reflection of emulating the original “Joe” proved too arduous for “Megalo-Joe” to achieve, disappointing fans of the original series who were looking for a show that retained its predecessor’s desirable traits. Gansaku Nanbu, Joe’s manager, is your prototypical boxing coach: tough exterior, but has a sense of honor and virtue. His actions are fairly predictable, and while they attempt to portray him as an indifferent character, we all know he will stand in Joe’s corner, no matter the circumstances; thus, nullifying the astonishment of his evident, false heel turn(s). Nanbu’s previous protege, Tatsumi Aragaki, is the “genuine article” of the entire series. A man who was robbed of his legs and half of his face during a war, Aragaki struggles to find a reason to press forward in his “meaningless” existence. Much like the duality of his disfigured face, Aragaki leads a conflicted life, wanting to exact revenge on his coach through Joe, but also desiring a peaceful resolution that will alleviate some of his psychological woes. The depiction of this character was spot on, creating a connection with the viewer in a palpable way. The emotions that flew from Aragaki highlighted the fragile nature of all humans, reminding the viewer that one’s own mind, can be the greatest opponent of all. I won’t engage in talking about the other character’s of the show, as the vast majority were dearth of any real personality; however, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Glen Burroughs coming out in a monster truck. I mean, what was that? We already know he’s a boisterous American, but they really tried to hammer that point home. Perhaps they watched some old clips of Stone Cold Steve Austin driving on his ATV to the ring, but just missed the point that the WWE was a contrived entertainment event, and not a real sporting competition. Enjoyment: 4/10 The boxing matches were, for the most part, uninspiring, and as the tournament progressed to its later stages, it became onerous for the viewer to tune in to the next episode. Real life boxing is tedious enough (just look at the declining viewership numbers), but watching it in an anime format is all the more dreary when you consider the absurdity of the “gear” itself. There were a few plot twists thrown in here and there, but nothing that made the viewer second-guess the outcome of the series as a whole. Perhaps watching Ping Pong the Animation and Ashita no Joe has spoiled my standards for what to expect from future sports anime, yet, in the end, being judged by your peers is the only unbiased way of determining your place on the hierarchy of the sports anime genre. And while this may seem blasphemous to some of you, I believe the first two seasons of Haikyuu!! capture character emotions with more veracity than Megalo Box. One of the few times a Shounen anime did something better than a Seinen anime. Not the legacy Megalo Box was attempting to solidify with its sights set on attaining the previous glory of its predecessor. Overall: 4.67/10

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