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 rooting ... for 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.

This anime really hits home for me. It's an emotional rollercoaster that takes you on a journey through the highs and lows of the human experience. At its core, it's a story about the human spirit, about never giving up, and about fighting for what you believe in, no matter the odds. The characters are so well-written and relatable that you can't help but get invested in their struggles and root for their success. The themes of identity, ambition, and self-discovery are explored in such a poignant way, that you can't help but reflect on your own life and experiences. Watching MC go through his ... journey is nothing short of inspiring. His determination, grit, and resilience through the toughest of times, makes you feel like you can conquer anything. What a hidden gem.

Why you should watch Megalo Box?

The story is Great (9). Unlike today, anime before the age of digital advances put a lot of time into developing a single episode of 20-24 minute show for the audiences and this, in turn, makes all the people behind the anime work hard to provide at least the best story that they could ever provide to justify the amount of time and money that is invested in a project. That is why if you are looking for wonderful anime in terms of story and content I would suggest you go back to watching the classics like cowboy bebop, samurai ... x, detective Conan to mention a few.

Now how does this relate to Megalo Box? A lot! To begin with, this is a love letter to one of the most popular stories ever made: Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe) for its 50th Anniversary. It's a story of a true rise of an underdog from the slums to the peak of the highest pedestal. It does not keep you waiting and throws you to the depths of its semi-dystopian world of underground megalo boxing. It is boxing with the addition of supporting boxing mechanical gears that enhances the boxer's skill, strengths, and abilities.

Upon knowing this, you would be immediately pulled by the idea of it and the possibilities that it would bring. But I bet you would not be able to guess the direction that the story would pull you through once you start watching it.

The story kept me guessing on what would happen next or would they be some high-end upgrades that the protagonist would be going through. Yes, there were tons of upgrades but not in the part that you may interpret.

This is one of the stories that I can say I was totally satisfied from how it piqued my interest, how it sustained my interest and how it satisfied me with its conclusion.

Art is Outstanding (10). Megalo Box's biggest advantage is its art style or to be more precise, how it imitated an art style. remember how I mentioned Cowboy Bepop? It was because If you have at least watched one of its episodes or seen its art, you can directly see where it adapts the art style.

There are no, flawless lines here or vibrant colors. It stayed away from the flawlessness of anime of today and went to the classic 90's anime look with how it handled color and texture. Even on 1080p, you can see the intentional grainy or imperfect lines that create those character models and I love it!

Sound is Very Good (8). The sound is also very good. I would like to commend the ambient music and mood-setting chimes and tunes it plays along with the story. It is a major factor in sustaining the moment when I watch Megalo Box.

"Bite" by LEO Imai the opening theme of the story is a great tool to set up the hype of the battle that the anime shows all throughout the story and it greatly shows the personality of this anime: ruthless. Even if I am not a fan of the type of rock they play in this opening theme, I can truly appreciate it.

"Kakatte Koi yo (かかってこいよ)" by NakamuraEmi its ending theme is just fun for me. It brings me to a bar setting vibe not only with the music but also with the accompanying animation using neon lights. a perfect way to wrap up an episode.

Characters are Outstanding (10). This is where Megalo Box shines as the story is heavily reliant on the characters. All of the characters know their roles in the story and they are not pretentious or confused about it.

From the underdog protagonist of the story Junkyard Dog to his partner in crime Nanbu up to the end boss of the story Yuri and his manager Yukiko, all of their characters critically weaves the story altogether.

Supporting characters are there not only to move the plot forward but to make the main of the story bloom and shine more as the story progresses into its final act.

Overall, I would greatly recommend Megalo Box to people who are sick of the mainstream approach to anime and wants to go its roots, or for people who just love brilliant storytelling. It does not matter if you like boxing or the sports genre in general, this anime is definitely for you. So watch it! Better yet... Binge-watch its 13 episodes

With that said, I would give Megalo Box 9 gear pieces out of 10.

I feel like people are unable to be critical of this show probably bcoz of nostalgia and the lack of boxing anime

Coz IMO it's very overrated, like some people already pointed out, those gear would kill people if we talk realistically, like people already dies irl boxing with just gloves, and those are metals like wth

As for the story, nobody seems to noticed the rinse and repeat patern of Joe and his coach, coach wouldn't trust Joe for the entire episode, Joe or the kid will convince the coach somehow and the coach will pull a very heartwarming speech that this is it I am ... definitely trusting you Joe we gonna win everything sike, rinse and repeat, this happened like 5 or 6 times in a span of 13 episodes, when drama comes the coach will be back to not trusting Joe lol, it happened when their mafia boss suddenly backout and wants to sell the fight again, then when that war veteran and when Joe was about to get exposed as an underground sellout those are just the few examples of this rinse and repeat pattern with them

Another problem I have is when Joe is so happy to see the champion without his gear like what that contradicts with his whole personality, and obviously the guy lost I mean he almost die just by removing the gear

3/10 this is probably me being lenient just coz there's no hateable character here

**spoilers**

Megalo Box is a somewhat formulaic anime that does a great job of pumping you up at certain points in the 13-episode streak, and had some very intense fight scenes that didn't rely on shiny lights and superpowers. Having said that, I feel that the show peaked halfway through and didn't really "knock me out" with the ending. The final moments of the show felt a bit rushed, as if I were watching some sort of abridged version, and honestly didn't really feel as satisfying as it should have for some reason. There was something about they way they handled Yuri and the final fight ... that left a bad taste in my mouth, although I appreciated that they threw a curveball with the "meat versus meat" finale.

Like mentioned earlier, it's a relatively formulaic anime that closely follows the stereotypical boxing movie arc (think "Rocky Balboa"), even complete with an stone-cold Russian guy as the final boss. I'm not necessarily hating on shows that follow a formula, but they have to offer something unique and different to really impress. Megalo Box had some really good moments, but they weren't central to the story and hence never spawned into interesting subplots. The show stuck to the formula pretty closely.

So because of that, I guess I would say that there were very few risks taken with this anime as a whole. The writers do a good job of throwing a lot of "oh crap" moments that threaten Joe's ascent to the championship outside of the ring, but there's always a Deus Ex Machina moment to get the sequence of fights back on track. And when all else fails, the writers can always fall back to Joe's complete inability to get knocked out... like ever.

Speaking of Joe, unless I'm forgetting something we don't ever find out who Joe really is or why he even cares about boxing all that much. He just happens to have an extreme amount of natural talent for it, an extreme desire to become the champion, and the aforementioned invulnerability to knockouts.

It just didn't feel very realistic that this guy can get beaten down by jacked cyborgs every episode and be strong and lucky enough to knock them out with a single counterpunch. And no, a scene of him riding a motorcycle in a desert is not enough to explain the apparent invincibility. There's a difference between having tough characters and lackluster writing. Why can Joe take 20 hits while his extremely tough and well-trained opponents can only take 3 or so? What was the point of even including the mechanical enhancements to the fighters if they seem just as strong without them? Was it just me or did it feel ridiculous that the announcer said that Yuri was "stronger than ever" a week after undergoing a body-mutilating surgery to take off his ultra high-tech, godlike strength enhancing equipment? I don't expect anime to be all that realistic, but the disbelief factor became too extreme to ignore at some points.

I hate to say it, but none of the other characters really stuck out to me. The veteran coach, the hopeful slum kid, the stone-cold russian opponent, the sadistic crime lord, and the corporate lady were all archetypes of characters that have appeared in countless other movies and shows.

The art and sound were gritty, and there seemed to be a little hip hop in there which I had mixed feelings about. I really enjoyed some of the post apocalyptic landscapes, and the animation in the boxing ring, but as a whole the visuals and sound didn't particularly stand out to me. Some people are crazy about the soundtrack, I personally would have preferred if they went a totally different route. To each their own.

I rated enjoyment as the highest category here, because I think the show was quite addicting to me while I binged it. I think we all knew the outcome from the start, but I was really eager to see what the next knockout would look like, and how many times Joe would have to get beaten to the ground to climb up the ranks. There was definitely an addiction pushing me to complete the series once I started, but the actual content of the show just wasn't enough to create a fully satisfying and memorable experience in my books.

6/10 -- Good show that is definitely worth watching if you want to see some fights in the ring. You will root for Joe just like you'd root for your favorite sports team in a high-stakes game, but Megalo Box is not something that I'll think about years down the road.

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 effective ... with 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.

WOw this show is so fucking cool and I've only seen four episodes. WOW. Seriously. Everything I could ever dream of is here from the scrapy kids to the futuristic sci-fi stuff to the brilliantly animated boxing to the world building to the music to the charaters' and thier motivations and just wow. This is like rocky but better.

Whoever wrote this show should get an academy award like wow.

And the opening and endings are so great too. They get me hyped up every time. The dog metaphor and the whole motorcycle riding to the edge like wow what a great way to set up ... tone and the mood for the entire series.

And I really love the episode titles too and how at the end there is a card with the text "not dead yet" or something like that... SO COOL wow.

I haven't been this excited for an anime in years lol

Finishing Megalo Box was a strange experience for me. I felt adequately satisfied, but looking back on the series as a whole, that feels like a weird thing to say for something that, on paper, is kind of a disappointment.

I started watching the series with a lot of anticipation; I’d never read Ashita no Joe, a manga that’s highly well-regarded within the hardcore manga community, but the idea of a new series with a gritty, early 2000’s anime aesthetic was highly appealing, especially in our current anime environment where good series still get released, but shows with this particular kind of look are hard to ... come by. The first episode had me as excited as seemingly anyone else in the anime community; its impeccable art direction and stellar music, bolstering a well-worn but perfectly acceptable underdog premise, had the makings of a slam dunk landing that had a lot to offer regardless of your experience with the medium. Newer anime fans could enjoy a well-made, lavishly directed show simply on its own merits, while veteran fans could appreciate it as a callback to a cherished bygone era where many encountered the hobby for the first time.

I continued to enjoy the series week to week for the most part, but even around the halfway point I became aware of the fact that there were some serious downsides that were becoming increasingly more obvious as the series went on. They’re the kinds of problems that would never be clear just from the first few episodes, because you can’t expect a show to unload everything all at once. But even as the show concluded, none of them were ever really addressed properly.

The main character might be the best place to start. If you’ve been around the block long enough, complaints about the protagonist dragging a series down are nothing new. While this isn’t exclusively a problem with anime, it might be more noticeable here than anywhere else. When compared to the landscape as a whole, it almost feels wrong to complain about Joe. He doesn’t possess the frustrating blandness of many harem-comedy everyleads, nor is he unintentionally unlikable or obnoxious. He doesn’t even really fit into the category of emotionally frail and indecisive main characters that tend to be so divisive, like Evangelion’s Shinji Ikari. If anything, his simple goal and roguish charisma make it so that it’s not difficult to get behind him and he’s never someone who annoys the audience. So then, what’s there to complain about?

To put it very simply, he’s not really bad, but he feels like he could be and should be so much more. The series establishes his goal of boxing, yes, but it doesn’t ever really explore WHY it is so important to him, how he came to value it, or really anything about his trajectory or personal story in the larger world beyond him being poor and working in seedy underground boxing matches for a living before meeting Nanbu. Even protagonists who are far more grating on a moment-to-moment basis than Joe, like Naruto Uzumaki, usually get this from the first few chapters. It’s one of the most basic and important aspects of properly establishing a character so the audience can be emotionally invested in them, and something most scriptwriting professors drill into you constantly.

This in and of itself might seem like a strange thing to complain about, but consider that both Nanbu and Sachio both have more detail put into their backstories and have a more compelling reason to be doing what they’re doing in the story, and you can start to see why some people felt unsatisfied with Joe’s character. It wouldn’t have been necessary in a vacuum, but here, it definitely makes him feel a bit incomplete.

Joe’s ultimate rival, Yuri, is slightly more developed in this sense, but still suffers from the same problem. He claims that Shirato took him in when he was nothing and gave him a future, and that's why he's devoted to Yukiko, but this is never really explored in a satisfying way. About the only thing we see of any substance is their first meeting back when Yukiko's grandfather was still alive. It's actually a decent scene that establishes both their characters nicely, but that's about all we really get and it feels terribly insufficient.

This refusal or inability to properly explore things in-depth is the central weakness of Megalo Box and why it often feels underwhelming.

Consider, for a moment, the setting of Megalo Box itself. Its futuristic cyberpunk setting, with its massive class divide where the poor are not considered real citizens and live in shanty towns while the rich live in futuristic opulence, and boxing has drastically changed with the introduction of advanced prosthetics that make the matches far more deadly. It's interesting and rife with potential. It also ends up feeling like a change for the sake of the reboot having a new gimmick more than anything else, because this is also not something that well-explored either. Like anything else, we get to see a little. The episode with the people latching onto Joe as a symbol, and the rap that came with it, was great. But outside of that, I don’t remember much else. The cybernetic boxing aspect feels even more irrelevant when Joe himself goes Gearless for the vast majority of the show; I understand that there was something of a thematic point to it, along with adding to his underdog status, but the point is, the show isn’t all that great at using the new stuff that differentiates it from Ashita no Joe despite its best efforts. This is another aspect that I noticed which makes the show a bit frustrating: when the show actually delves a bit into the aspects that would make it better and more well-rounded, the material is usually decent or even good, it just doesn’t deliver too much of it to make enough of a difference in the big picture. Personally, the episode with Aragaki remains one of my favorites for its surprisingly realistic depiction of trauma and PTSD that soldiers suffer from.

If Megalo Box was the kind of show where strong, tightly-directed action scenes were the focus as opposed to an emotional journey or worldbuilding, then all the downsides I’ve described until now wouldn’t be so important. Given that this is a sports anime, you might be forgiven for expecting that to be the case here, but you would unfortunately be mistaken. It’s rather bizarre to say, but the boxing matches in Megalo Box are probably the weakest part of the whole series. It’s not even that the emotional core of a lot of them are bad, but that the direction in all of them is rather flat and uninspired the vast majority of the time. Everything from the sound effects, camera angles, narrative of the match itself, etc feels completely worksmanlike, almost as if the staff didn’t really care much about them either. They consistently fail to be exciting in and of themselves, and mostly serve as a resolution to whatever conflict is going on at the time. This is honestly one of the most disappointing parts of the production overall and one of the other big reasons why this show ends up falling short of what it could be.

With all of that being said, I still don’t feel particularly unsatisfied or depressed with Megalo Box. I was delayed a bit in watching the last few episodes, but when I did I didn’t feel any regret for having picked up the series and given it a go. There are definitely much worse anime out there that you could waste your time on. It’s just that this could have been better, that’s all.

The beauty of anime is unrivaled power to the author. Any premise, any character; any plot, any idea; any moment, and any image. It has limitless potential as a medium. In blatant disregard to such majesty stands Megalo Box. It's existence towers in disrespect to both art and storytelling. Every moment exists as a spit in the face to the audience for attempting to glean even the smallest sliver of value from the material. There is no justification for this facade of entertainment; it's a story where the characters don't matter. Completely driven by plot, any attempt of buildup is eradicated by time skips and ... fabricated intended outcomes. Cause and effect don't exist in this world, nothing you will find here makes rational sense.

If the above wasn't clear enough already, here's the specific: A previously untrained, uneducated, street urchin becomes the champion of the deadly sport of cybernetically enhanced boxing, without the
use of cybernetics. How does he do this? We don't know. The story for some reason skips most of those parts. What we do and don't learn are many things.

1.) Post the pilot episode where the premise is explained, the sport magically discontinues to be bloody and deadly mess.
2.) Apparently none of the hundreds of other fighters who have actually trained for years are "The Real Deal", whatever that means.
3.) Who is the kid in the hat, and why are you here? Remember how your friends literally needed you for survival and you immediately ditched them to live with strangers?
4.) How can you have fully functional bionic legs and feet for amputees, but not hands?
5.) Apparently your fully functional bionic legs and feet suck ass, despite being the 17th best fighter? But only now are causing you problems because you're fighting the MC...?
6.) How was the AI gear magically changed to not need other gear to detect for its sensors?
7.) How does removing an eyeball atone for losing millions and millions of dollars, in the face of people who have killed others for far far less?
8.) What kind of bad guy reveals his evil intentions to the good guy with a double-cross in the exact moment where the good guy holds all the power in the situation?
9.) How can a man who lost his sight yesterday have both tremor sense and perfect hearing sense?
10.) Is it a wolf or a dog?
11.) Why does it randomly bark at things?
12.) What was the actual dream of Yukiko? Joining the Military Industrial Complex?
13.) Why did Yuuri abandon Yukiko?
14.) Why did Yuuri join Yukiko to fight for her dream in the first place?
15.) As the champion fighter, isn't majorly handicapping yourself for the final "Real Deal" fight the most disrespectful thing you can do?
16.) Oh I guess the scientist/entrepreneur/top-fighter is an expert in very dangerous, never performed before surgey, and can do it all in his basement, by himself.
17.) How does the MC win every fight with a single punch to the face? His frame is smaller than every other character, and uses no cybernetics.
18.) And finally, why would you build a new massive megadome project and not put a roof on it?

Does this list of atrocities cover everything? Absolutely not. But for the sake of brevity, let's move on with our lives.
Art and Music were below standard.

“Show me what real Megalo boxing looks like!” - Yuri

Megalo Box is easily one of the most hyped and best anime of 2018. The storytelling, fights, the unique art style, the intensity, everything was breathtaking!

Have you watched Ashita no Joe & Ippo and are still craving more boxing anime? Or maybe you’ve never seen them and want a shorter, alternative with the same level of hype and storytelling? If so, i’ll present to you Megalo Box!

Megalo Box is a homage to the great boxing series- Ashita no Joe, set in a futuristic, cyber punk type setting following a boxer called J.D. “Junk ... Dog”. It’s got a 80s themed, hip hop, gritty, atmosphere to it and gives of Samurai Champloo/Cowboy Bepop feels.

Plot: 7/10
Pretty typical, boxing underdog story. It’s a story about a boy named Junk Dog fighting his way through the Megalo tournament to fight the champion. Sounds pretty simple right? The main difference here is the inclusion of gears that fighters wore, as it enhanced their physiycal capabilities. However not our protagonist. He enters without using gears and dons the name “Gearless Joe”. What I didn’t like was the gangster sub plot (where Joe and Nanbu entered the tournament to pay him back) because it’s too cliche and has been done so many times.

Characters: 6/10
I would say this was the weakest point to me. There’s a diverse cast of characters, however there’s only a few characters with decent characterisation whilst the rest are rather flat. I think the best written characters were Aragaki and Nanbu. I feel we could have explored more on Joe, Yuri, Yukiko and her brother’s past (SPOILERS)

For example, Joe: we don’t know Joe’s childhood, why he became a boxer, whether he has any relatives (was he an orphan in the system?), why he came to the city Nanbu saw him in (or did he grew up there?)

Yuri: All we know is that he had a trainer in his boxing club when he first met Yukiko. Again, we know virtually nothing little about his upbringing/life. Why does Yuri view Yukiko so highly, as to call orders from her and call her his owner? There has to be a deeper meaning than Yuri working for her.

Fights: 8.5/10
There were some decently choreographed fights. You could tell were most of the punches landed and it had some really standout moments. However, for the most part the fights were lacklustre. That’s probably because I’ve seen better fights in Ippo. A lot of Joe’s fights were him getting pounded and then he making a comeback and wining in the end. It became a bit predictable.
The training was rather basic. It didn’t really teach me any boxing moves, compared to other boxing series.

Animation: 9/10
I love the dull (is that the right word? ), low quality animation. It made the world feel more gritty and realistic.

Music: 9/10
I love the hip hip hop soundtracks, it really encompasses the 80s-themed setting they were going for. I loved the OP and ending song. The raps were amazing.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I loved Megalo box. It was my most hyped and anticipated anime this season. I was pumped every week waiting for the next episode to be released.

Megalo Box would have been better if it was 24 episodes as it would have covered some of the flaws I had with it e.g. Joe’s characterisation.

Overall, I’ll give Megalo Box a 8/10

Warning! Minor Spoilers Ahead!

Animation has been noticeably changing over the years. As technology grows and improves, so does animation styles as most anime these days are slick and clean whereas you look back in the 90s where many anime were cell shaded with heavy outlines and rough textures. It is kind of amazing how animation has evolved and how easier it is to animate now compared to animating anime years ago. But today I am reviewing an anime that pays homage to the 90s style of animation using modern technology to animate to bring this art style to the modern era.

So sit back ... and relax as I present to you the anime review for Megalobox. "Lets get ready to Rumbllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"




Story 8.5/10

The story takes place in a dystopian city where the world is mesmerised by the sport of Boxing where boxing is amplified by the use of augmented gear to make the sport more physical and dangerous. The story follows Junk Dog or Joe (depending on how you want to call him), a nameless, underground boxer that throws boxing matches for money. However, after meeting with the boxing champion Yuuri and being challenged to a match where they duke it out in a boxing ring, JD vows to challenge him again in his ring at the major boxing event Megalonia where whoever wins that becomes world champion.

The story is very much a proper underdog story where JD has to start from the very bottom and work his way all the way to the top. But there is more than just boxing his way to the top as he and his teammates, Sachio and Nanbu, have to also deal with gangs and corporations as they have ways to derail JD from becoming the number one boxer. What's interesting here is that the story is not just another rookie learning skills as he goes along (although it is still there), this is about a boxer who has already got skill but is held back by outside interference. It is a different kind of underdog story that makes it refreshing to see. It perfectly matches this gritty anime where the world is cruel and unforgiving and you have to fight not only to win, but to survive.

The anime also gives us the question of whether augmentation actually makes things better or worse. In this case of boxing, does it improve the boxer or make him worse? JD answers this question as he goes through most of the anime without using a gear to augment his boxing skills. Questioning whether the gears make the boxer or the boxer makes the gears look like they improved the boxer itself. It kind of makes you question whether the gears actually add anything to the anime and if there removal would affect the anime in anyway? Well it does in some instances in the story as it plays a key role but in other situations, it doesn't. The emphasis is on the boxing itself rather than the augmentations that amplify it. This makes the gears nothing more than a novelty at times, emphasising that JD is the real deal when he walks into the ring without a gear on.


Characters 9.5/10

So lets talk about Junk Dog/Joe. Junk Dog is a no nonsense, gritty boxer who has no name. This is why he addresses himself as Junk Dog, he is no one. This is why he doesn't have a backstory, he is no-one important. Very much makes sense since this being an underdog story, he starts from the very bottom without knowing anything about him. That means that anything we learn of him in the present gives us and idea of his character throughout all of his life. It leaves us open to guessing who he is. All he wants to do is to get into the ring and have a good boxing match but that mindset also what gets him into trouble at times with his team, the people around him and also himself. This is because he is short tempered and stubborn because once he makes up his mind, good luck trying to stop him which, in turn, gets him into trouble.

His teammates, Sachio and Nanbu don't share this no-one personality as they have there own reasons for wanting to join JD and help get him to Megalonia. Now matching the setting, they aren't exactly happy backstories and have some dark reasonings behind them which led them to where they are now. Nanbu is in debt to a gang which influences his actions quite a bit. He is a guy you would think is sleazy and selfish (and you would be right) but the fact is that he actually cares for those who are close to them and want what is best for them. Sachio uses JD as a crutch to get back at someone for the fate of his family and as such, is more defined than the rest of the characters. Loud, rude but knows what is best. He is kind of like the glue that holds the team together and with JD and Nanbu disagreeing with each other half the time, they really do need Sachio.

Each character has their own role in the story and have their own reasons as to why they do the things they do. This lead to to a conclusion that there isn't really any clear cut villains as each character has their own justifiable reasons for their actions. The closest to a villain we get is Fujimaki, the gang leader that Nanbu is in debt to. But also helps him get what he wants for the right price and agreements. But still, he is shady so he is the main body block for our main characters. Even Yuri, the main rival, isn't really a villain as he has respect for JD as he is the "genuine article" and respects his style of boxing. He fully believes JD will give him the best challenge and fighting and beating will make him believe that he is a "genuine champion."



Animation 10/10

What I think is the main selling point of this show is its animation. As I hinted back at the start, the animation harpers back to the 90s animation style with heavy black outlines as the anime goes for a more cell shaded, hand drawn art style. And you know what, it works. Instead of a clean, polished art style, we get a more gritty art style that matches the tone of the show. But with modern technology, it actually animates better than it would in the 90s which was to be expected. So it is more than an homage to older anime art styles like Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. It brings that art style to the modern day and gives it a modern face lift while still keeping that animation style.

What I also like is the lack of 3D animation in this show. Now there are a couple of scenes where 3D animation is used but it isn't in any fight scenes. Instead, the anime uses great use of cinematography and slow motion effects to capture the fights scenes brilliantly. And I'm telling you, these fight scenes are brilliant. Despite it being obvious who is going to win, the execution of these fight scenes are done brilliantly and is where the animation really shines.


Sound 9/10

If you like Samurai Champloo's OST, then you are going to love this. The soundtrack just has so much character to it and works well with this show being a gritty, dystopian anime. Rap tracks just work well with these kinds of shows because they give this kind of atmosphere where it isn't all sunshine and rainbows and it is more like "Put up or shut up!" But if you don't like Samurai Champloo's OST then you ain't getting much enjoyment here since it is almost entirely rap. As someone who likes Samurai Champloo's OST, I got a kick out of this soundtrack as it was so fun to listen to.

The opening is another good tone setter as it features a stray dog (referring to JD) going around and doing what it wants and picking fights with other dogs. It gives us an idea of what JD is like in this show and his attitude. The song, "Bite" by Leo Imai complements this opening well with a sense of anger and rage in its vocals to add to the fact that this is one vicious stray dog.

The ending is nothing to write home about as it is nothing more than a glorified credit sequence with neon lights as a frame to scroll down with the credits.


Conclusion

Megalobox is a highly enjoyable boxing anime that has so much style and character to it. With its well told underdog story, brilliant use of animation and enjoyable OST sees me finishing Megalobox very satisfied. It is more than a homage to 90s animation style. It takes that animation style and modernises it to give a new spin on it. My complaints with this show are only minor ones and I enjoyed the positives much more than a I hated the negatives. It's gritty, It's exhilarating, it's what I look for in an anime. "Entertainment." It is simply a fantastic and I highly recommend to everyone to check out this one.


My personal Enjoyment: 9.5


Overall score: 9.3/10 Recommendation: Go f*****g watch it

This is more like my overall opinion and reasons why I disliked the show than an actual in dept review. There are minor spoilers and could have mistakes here and there, as English isn't my first language.

Megalo Box wasn't that good. It was just ok. The main enjoyment I got from the show were the animation and the music. Other than that, it's pretty boring.

I don't even care that the ending was predictable. What bothers me is that the story felt rushed as hell. This should have been a 24 episodes anime. There's a reason why most sports anime have at least 24 episodes: ... characters need to be developped for watchers to want to root for them. In Megalo Box, we never learned anything from the main character, aside for the fact that he's a natural at boxing and that he has a lot of drive to win. But there does this drive come from? How the hell did he get into the slums in the first place? Why did he want to quit underground matches? Same with his main rival, the russian dude. Heck, we know more about the kid than the protagonist. There's no reason for me to want to root for Joe when I don't know who he his and where his motivation comes from. It feels like rooting for a total stranger.

Then there's the coatch, who's personality was all over the place. We can tell he's a ''bad guy with a good heart'' kind a of character, which is fine, but it was poorly handled. It felt like his personality changed from good to bad just for plot purpose. Especially towards the end, when he became blind, he suddenly became all nice and somehow knew how to teach from sound alone. I'm not saying it's impossible, but when you loose a sense as vital as view, you need more than a few days to adapt, just saying.

And finally, as a sport anime fan, I have to say the fight scenes were not that engaging. Most were just too short to make it feel exciting, especially when I knew Joe was gonna win no matter how many times got knocked down.

So yeah, I might listen to the soundtrack once in a while, especially the catchy ending, but I won't rewatch this show anytime soon, which sucks cause the artstyle is nice. Overall, Megalo Box had lots of potential, but it was poorly used. Too bad.

Great anime from start to finish.
The characters, introduced as a mystery and slowly unraveled, are not fully explained, but they don't have to. This anime puts the focus on what is happening, rather than on who is making it happen.
Coming from having read Ashita no Joe three times, the homage is quite clear. As a review said, you can't retell or remake AnJ in the modern age, due to it being set in its era, and many societal values having shifted ever since.
Nonetheless, Megalo Box manages to create a "modern" kind of Ashita no Joe, taking key archetypes and tropes from the original ... and integrating them into itself.
It is definitely enjoyed more if you know where it's coming from, and doing so makes most complaints from others lose their value.
Great soundtrack as well, it really goes with the atmosphere and feel of the anime.

Definitely a hidden gem, and an overall amazing series.

------------------------------------ Review English/Español--------------------------------
A desolate world, an inhospitable world, full of thieves, of inequality separated from all civility for its citizens, away from all help, from the constant fear of not being able to do anything to improve and that there is no other way to live, where they have nothing more and deep down than hope, hope that one day everything will change.

In this place lost from the sight of God our protagonists are, naturally, swindlers, where (and it is not surprising in this world) the Megalobox is the most watched and loved sport, a small part of the place that eye of the hurricane ... in this a bleak world where progress and development dress up, this contrast between these two worlds makes it well seen by a large majority, you could say if I am allowed to doubt, the way they distract that Pan and Circus that each person needs,naturally the underworld to have no option is full of bets, scams, mafias but more important a place where poor people without "nothing" can fight ironically to get to get something they know they can never, life is hard and they They know, but that does not make them give up, they just follow the game that was set, that show fixed.

We have our dog, where already mentioned, is "Nobody", "Nothing", together with our coach, where from the first glance you could say that he had a better past, you can see that this is very different from our "Dog"; , fell to the misfortune of that world by bad decisions if I may say so, but from here things start to get complicated, in the Eye of the Hurricane of our beloved World announces a tournament, only requirement? To be Someone, something that, of course, is not our Protagonist, to aspire to that is to go against his very being, his "Soul", but fate had kept things for him, a meeting, if I may call him; forced,between our "Dog" and the main antagonist where our protagonist is already very well defined, he is, quite the contrary, the proclaimed King of Kings, the best of his time, where and to sum it up he had everything was "Someone", this great differentiation is the initial spark where everything begins, the preamble of what happened, having its unlike but not yet its "Rival", this is given shortly after but not by the work of our "Dog", if not the same antagonist, ¿ How does that character who has everything, get into where there is nothing? , crucial question with a simple answer; He was missing something.

There are people who need very little motivation to achieve to be great things, that is the case of our protagonist, who promising to face his rival again (although the other does not consider it yet) decides to leave that place, that is, decides to be "Someone", there are naturally people against him, his trainer victim of a glorious past and believing in a bad future discourages him,but this already tired and seeing little by little to shine the only thing he had: La Esperanza, look like a wolf looks at the moon, and see a future, where with reasons of destiny, our coach, product of those bad decisions previously spoken, He reaches an agreement that will turn him into that being that breaks every obstacle, not without something from the product of his despair accumulated over the years.

A name needed: Joe, it seemed that it was no longer "Dog" or "Nobody", if not someone with a future, that hope becomes stronger and stronger.

Doing a bit returned to the World, there are some devices called: Gear, some enhancers, emphasizing not only the inequality of the place, but even the wrestlers themselves, it could be argued that these do not make the winner, but if they give a considerable advantage.

With that already said, it is not surprising that our protagonist does not have one, it is only for people who are "Someone", after an attempt of joe, where he meets our other protagonist: a small one quite common in these Anime styles of the 70s-80s, made of course as inspiration for the protagonist, you could say being with more Hope of the three, returning to the subject, Joe realizes that after that failed attempt to achieve these enhancers is not for him, can not and should not,It comes from nowhere and has to come up from nowhere, they decide (at first by advertising mode) that it will not be like the others, the Gear is something that it does not need, like it has nothing to lose (its life for him is nothing ), it is only a dog wanting to cling with everything it can to its prey.

From here we see as a little ladder a step that will take you to your heart you want, a fast pace, typical of an anime of few episodes, but not extremely to appreciate both the development of him and the other protagonists, a story, if allows me to say it, predictable but honest gets same, it does not aspire to more than what it can and although it is improvable it is several things, that honesty and heart is very important, especially in an industry that for a while is said to be in decline.

As we progress, we learn a little about the past of the two protagonists outside the main one, since naturally, not being anyone, has nothing to show, just a constant struggle for the future.

Returning a moment to the world, it is normal that every time that Joe is higher, his popularity increases as if it were an explosion, not using the Gear gives an impression, as a hope to the people that it seems (although it is not like that ), who lost it a long time ago.

At last and after overcoming obstacles, seeing old friends, faced problems of both the organizer of the tournament and the aforementioned mafia, all derived from that past where it was "Nobody", manages to reach its goal: The King de Reyes, confronts him again, but there is a notable difference both external (he no longer uses his Gear), as internal, no longer struggles with "Nobody" is with an AUTHENTIC being, full of hope for the future.

After that contrast between them, if I can tell predictable but honest in what you want to be, we reveal the reason, the question of our antagonist, where despite having everything, did not carry something that our protagonist had all the time Deep down, Hope, different from it, but still no less important; the opportunity to have a Rival an Adversary, worthy of a noble being like him.

Despite having visibly not so high budget and having a lot of recycled scenes, aesthetic images, cuts of scene ... was compensating for the good use of the camera, plans and others that denotes a great love of work, with a design that makes remember an anime of the 70-80 without losing that modern touch, making it easily entertained both for old and new school.

With a musical section of Hiphop combined in my opinion with Metal features very common at that time, although I do not deny it, I can be wrong.

In short, an anime quite honest in what it does, characters not deep but if with their own personality and more than anything in the case of people commonly called with the genre "Under dogs" that is, people from the bottom of the estate get (not effortlessly) reach the summits, this story is an inspirational something very common in these animes, I recommend it to all those who seek to get away from the typical of modern anime and finally congratulate Megalo Box for being an excellent tribute to Ashita not Joe.

See you, Vaquero

---------------------------------------- Español ------------------------------------------
Un Mundo desolado, un Mundo inhóspito, lleno de ladrones, de desigualdad apartado de toda civilidad para sus ciudadanos, alejadas de toda mano de ayuda, del temor constante de no poder que hacer nada para mejorar y que no hay otra manera que vivir, donde no tienen nada más y muy en el fondo que la esperanza, esperanza de que un día todo cambiara.

En este lugar perdido de la vista de Dios nuestros protagonistas , son, naturalmente unos estafadores , donde (y no es de extrañar en este mundo) el Megalobox sea el deporte mas visto y amado , una pequeña parte del lugar ese ojo del huracán en este mundo desolador donde el progreso y el desarrollo visten de gala , este contraste entre esos dos mundos hace que sea bien visto por una gran mayoría, se podría decir si se me permite dudar, la forma en que ellos se distraen ese Pan y Circo que cada persona necesita , naturalmente el bajo mundo a no tener opción está llena apuestas, de estafas, mafias pero mas importante un lugar donde esa pobre gente sin “Nada” puede luchar irónicamente para llegar a conseguir algo que saben que jamás podrán , la vida es dura y ellos lo saben, pero eso no los hace desistir simplemente siguen el juego que fue puesto , ese espectáculo arreglado.

Tenemos a nuestro perro , donde ya antes mencionado, es “Nadie” , “Nada” , junto con nuestro entrenador , donde desde el primer vistazo se podría decir que tenia un mejor pasado , se nota que este muy a diferencia de nuestro “Perro” , cayo a la desgracia de ese mundo por malas decisiones si se me permite decirlo , pero desde aquí las cosas se empiezan a complicar , en el Ojo del Huracán de nuestro querido Mundo se anuncia un torneo, ¿único requisito? Ser Alguien, algo que, por supuesto no es nuestro Protagonista, aspirar a eso es ir en contra de su mismo ser, su “Alma”, pero el destino tenia guardado cosas para él , un encuentro ,si se me permite llamarlo; forzado ,entre nuestro “Perro” y el antagonista principal donde ya muy bien definido nuestro protagonista él es, naturalmente todo lo contrario, el proclamado Rey de Reyes, el mejor de su tiempo, donde y para resumirlo lo tenía todo era “Alguien” , esta gran diferenciación es la chispa inicial donde comienza todo , el preámbulo de lo acontecido ,teniendo a su desemejante pero aun no su “Rival” , esta se da poco después pero no por obra de nuestro “Perro” , si no de el mismo antagonista , ¿Cómo ese personaje que lo tiene todo , se mete en donde no hay nada? , pregunta crucial con una respuesta sencilla; le faltaba algo.

Hay gente que necesita de muy poca motivación para lograr a ser grandes cosas, ese el caso de nuestro protagonista , que prometiéndose enfrentar de nuevo a su rival (aunque el otro no lo considere aun) decide salir de ese lugar , es decir, decide ser “Alguien” ,hay naturalmente personas en contra, su entrenador victima de un pasado glorioso y creyendo en un mal futuro lo desanima , pero este ya cansado y viendo poco a poco a relucir lo único que tenía: La Esperanza , mira como un lobo mira la luna , y ve un futuro , donde con razones del destino , nuestro entrenador, producto de esas malas decisiones habladas anteriormente, llega a un acuerdo lo convertirá en ese ser que rompe todo obstáculo , no sin algo de por medio producto de su Desesperanza acumulada a largo de los años.

Un nombre necesitaba: Joe, parecía que ya no era “Perro” o “Nadie”, si no alguien con un futuro, esa esperanza se hace más y más fuerte.
Haciendo un poco devuelta al Mundo, hay unos aparatos llamados: Gear, unos potenciadores, haciendo más hincapié no solo en la desigualdad del lugar, si no hasta en los propios luchadores, se podría argumentar que estos no hacen al ganador, pero si le dan una ventaja considerable.
Con eso ya dicho, no es de extrañar que nuestro protagonista no tenga uno, es solo para personas que son “Alguien” ,después de un intento de joe , donde conoce a nuestro otro protagonista: un pequeño bastante común en estos estilos de Anime de los años 70-80 ,hecho por supuesto como inspiración para el protagonista, se podría decir el ser con mas Esperanza de los tres , volviendo al tema, Joe se da cuenta que después de ese intento fallido que lograr esos potenciadores no es para él , no puede ni debe , llego de la nada y tiene que subir de la nada , deciden (al principio por modo de publicidad) que no será como los demás , el Gear es algo que no necesita , igual no tiene nada que perder ( su vida para él no es nada) , solo es un Perro queriendo aferrarse con todo lo que puede a su presa.

Desde aquí vemos como escala poco uno escalones que lo llevaran hacia su corazón desea, un ritmo rápido , propio de un anime de pocos episodios , pero no extremadamente para poder apreciar tanto el desarrollo de él como de los otros protagonistas , una historia , si se me permite decirlo, predecible pero honesta consigue misma , no aspira a mas de lo que puede y aunque es mejorable es varios cosas, esa honestidad y corazón es muy importante, en especial en una industria que hace rato se dice que anda en decadencia.

Al progresar, nos enteramos un poco del pasado de los dos protagonistas ajenos al principal, ya que naturalmente a no ser nadie, no tiene nada que mostrar, solo una lucha constante para el futuro.

Regresando un momento al mundo, es normal que cada vez que Joe esta mas alto, su popularidad aumenta como si de una explosión se tratase, al no usar el Gear da una impresión, como una esperanza a ese pueblo que parece (aunque no es así), que la perdió hace mucho tiempo.

Al fin y después de superar obstáculos, viendo a viejos amigos, enfrentado problemas tanto de la compañía organizadora del torneo y de la mafia anteriormente citada, todas ellas derivadas de ese pasado donde no era “Nadie”, consigue llegar a su objetivo: El Rey de Reyes, lo enfrenta otra vez, pero hay una diferencia notable tanto externa (ya no usa su Gear), como interna, ya no lucha con “Nadie” esta con un AUTENTICO ser, lleno de esperanza del futuro.

Después de esa contraposición entre ellos, si me permite decirle predecible pero honesta en lo que quiere ser, se nos revela el motivo, la pregunta de nuestro Antagonista, donde a pesar de tenerlo todo, no llevaba consigo algo que nuestro protagonista tenía todo el tiempo muy en fondo, La esperanza, diferente de esté, pero aun así no menos importante; la oportunidad de tener un Rival un Adversario, digno de un ser noble como él.

A pesar de contar con visiblemente no tan alto presupuesto y contar mucho con escenas recicladas, imágenes estéticas, cortes de escena… fue compensando por el buen uso de la cámara, planos y demás que denota un gran amor al trabajo, con un diseño que hace recordar un anime de los 70-80 sin perder ese toque moderno, haciéndolo fácilmente entretenido tanto para vieja como nueva escuela.

Con un apartado musical del Hip- hop combinado a mi parecer con rasgos Metal muy común en aquella época, aunque y no lo niego, puedo equivocarme.

En fin, un anime bastante honesto en lo que hace , personajes no profundos pero si con personalidad propia y más que nada tratándose de personas llamadas comúnmente con el género “Perros callejeros” es decir, personas que desde lo más bajo del estamento consiguen (no sin esfuerzo) llegar a la cimas, tratándose esta historia de una inspiracional algo muy común en estos animes, la recomiendo a todos aquellos que busquen alejarse de lo típico del anime moderno y para terminar felicito a Megalo Box por ser un Excelente homenaje a Ashita no Joe.

Nos vemos, Vaquero

So megalo box, an anime i have been holding off for quite a bit. Honestly, i wasn't expecting much, but i was wrong. The show does a really good job of just putting a character through and outwardly around the ringer. But thats not the focus I think. I think its how well the events occurred with the banger ost of a choice. I mean the music was a complete game changer. Without the music involved, i would not have enjoyed this as much. It was such a bop that i had to get up and start jumping around towards the boxing. With the incorporation ... of ears and eyes, the music illustrate these emotions and fights in real time. Honestly, im not much of a boxing type guy myself, but with just the absolute banger of a playlist, this has got to be a bang. In the middle of every three episodes, there will be some random rap scene that occurs wether or not its important, but it carries so much weight to the music masterpiece itself. Honestly, i just cant describe how hype this music is, it basically was the incorporation of the characters into a ballad, one of the things the coach in the anime says. Their master hinting of moving like music, dancing himself, hearing instead of seeing, and just the obvious fruit, fire ost.

Most anime look alike and have a lot in common, however I would say that Megalo Box is different from the rest. By approaching an art style similar to anime such as Cowboy Bebop which gives it a very western feel I can say that Megalo Box is a breath of fresh air. The voice acting in my opinion is very enjoyable and the characters have a pretty decent build-up. The soundtrack is great and really adds to the experience. What I would say makes this anime truly fun to watch is basically the large amount of action-packed scenes which keep the viewer interested about ... future episodes. Megalo Box is definitely an anime you should watch if you enjoy action and good plots.

(TLDR Review below, as usual, thanks for reading in advance)
***Implicit spoilers ahead***

Megalo Box is kinda meta.

To understand why let's go over this point:

You'd think that a world in which an anime is set in, would follow the logic of itself for it to be believable and the like. It doesn't have to coordinate with reality, hell, even school anime don't have to, but so long as it makes sense in its own world, it becomes a very believable story, something to take seriously.

Now, Megalo Box seems to not understand that and does. I will explain why.
...
Megalo Box is a series that takes boxing to the next level, in a time of which boxing has evolved to gear boxing, which is basically just Real Steel but humans and robots do a fusion dance before fighting. It is also a story that follows the "trash" of society trying to make their way to the top, from nothing to something, most of which is performed via cons. The idea is good, and "mature" (keyword here) even, but I found that Megalo Box kinda cheated its way throughout the entire journey. When I say gear boxing is taken very seriously here, it both is in context and isn't in the narrative, it is just some gimmick to make the story stay alive. An act, a con even. I will put forward what I mean. We have people literally spending (presumably) hundreds of thousands on new technology that literally amounts to nothing, zilch. People from quite literally nowhere can somehow match with big shots that have been in the game for quite some time now. Why? I don't know, ask the directors and scriptwriters. If it integrated the con artist aspect of the anime into this plot device, it probably would have been a hell of a series, but it didn't. Instead, it took itself too seriously and resulted in a half-hearted story being pushed across. I mean, the fact that these guys know that they are shitting their way through legal businesses yet somehow feel as if boxing matches hold everything is on the line is a bit strange to me, I mean, have you seen the first episode. Pretty much every fight would go the way that was decided from the start. It isn't like there was no prior experience too as the story progresses (in the Megalonia), as said, they match big shots, like people who unironically spend a ton on this stuff and have trained for god knows how long. They match it in some ridiculously short amount of time to add as well. The first major fight was probably the most realistic of them all, from the second Joe enters Megalonia is where everything follows on discrepancy over discrepancy. It is truly asinine. It turns into a meta work, it understands it is a hack but doesn't understand which hack it is. It's partially there but that doesn't fit the bill.

But let's ignore the fact that we care about nobodies being able to wipe the floor with top technology like nothing. Even if we didn't care and let's say people just wanted to see some cool boxing matches, I wouldn't go out of my way to say that Megalo Box has the best boxing action anime has to offer. The fights are formulated in the same way disregarding the first and last ones. There isn't really anything new to feed on in terms of what boxing anime can be capable of, it is just the same as others I suppose. When you get to know the series better throughout viewing you begin to see that there wasn't a lot, to begin with anyway, but the writers had to do something, it can't just do nothing. What really annoys me a little in this aspect is a bit arbitrary but I will go point it out anyway. That is its presentation, which draws a little bit into demographics. Firstly, demographics shouldn't mean a lot to the avid watcher, the fact that Non Non Biyori and Elfen Lied are literally in the same demographic needs no further explanation to explain my point, though, if we were to ignore this for a second, and pretend that Megalo Box was to be labelled into demographic typically, then it doesn't exactly do a good job at "fitting in". It takes itself seriously, it is a little mature but uses underhanded and unbelievable tricks to push itself forward. So take it less seriously then? Sure. Until it fires back with more serious tones. You get into this weird loop so much so that Megalo Box cannot be taken seriously as it is, hell, it doesn't really fit anywhere in terms of how "mature" or "serious" it is. It is just, itself, which of course, is paralleled to a hack.

I don't really want to go too much on about the characters, they aren't in the same category as the story and how that was too silly to take seriously, but they were indeed nothing special, to begin with. I suppose with a lack of a serious story, that as well as failing to understand its own atmosphere was subject to also dismantle any hopes for great characters. Joe, the boxer, is said to be the low-life of society, but you know, he always finds a way out. What about more about himself? Who cares, nothing here. Nanbu, the con artist, knows a lot about everything I guess. I suppose he's interesting for what was in store, had a little backstory and other connections you'd like to know more about. Sachio, basically like Nanbu but give him the tech support role plus more tragic connections. Yuri and those other guys, I think they were the bad guys.

All in all, for a series like Megalo Box, the only good conclusion I can come to was the prior mentioned scam/con tactic it uses, making itself seem worse than the superficial visual will have you say. For a series that takes itself seriously, kinda knows what is up with itself, it ended up being short-sighted to not look at the entire picture it was in the first place. I guess when the characters said that they were dishonest in getting what they wanted, they really weren't joking.

Audiovisuals. For its time, it looks pretty well made, that's for sure. It looks really well made but later episodes refused to maintain that quality consistently throughout, so what you are dealing with is a little distorted perception of colours being mistaken for good animation. It just looks nice and that is all. Whilst the animation has its time to shine, again, it just degenerates to the mainstream standard of animation for its time, something you quite wouldn't expect from how Megalo Box sets itself to be. It's the same with the OST of the anime, nothing really there to hit home with. I mean, this one was pretty creative in fairness, some raps here and there to enrich the world and statuses of our characters, but that was it. I will give it to them that at least they were somewhat memorable. Otherwise, nothing more to comment on, if you want, seiyuus did their job as expected.

At the end of the day, it comes down to whether you care as much as I did or not, the suspension of disbelief is very effective. As an individual myself, however, I cannot just enjoy things that don't make sense to their own logic, it is silly to superimpose on reality and fiction but it is also no excuse to just do whatever. You wouldn't expect characters to have their eyes burst out of their sockets like some 30s Disney movie in something that doesn't take itself as a parody, such as LoGH or Monster. Whilst Megalo Box isn't that extreme, and probably is excusable in what it does at times, the very fact that it literally will say something and contradict it, which not only makes it unbelievable but ruins any kind of improvement in the different plot elements that exist, means that I can't really sit down and truthfully say I enjoy what I see. Then again, I still found something to like in the series, it's no masterpiece, but the fights, albeit handled badly, were still something I could praise as something that at least met decent quality. It does well for its own ground. It doesn't outshine anything, but hey, who doesn't like a decent fight. Not everything has to reach maxima (although that would be ideal). So yeah, it is something that can be enjoyed by many people, but I wouldn't suggest taking the series very seriously. Watch it only for the fighting because you'd be disappointed in a quest to dig for more.

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TLDR Review:

Story - 3: It's something that cannot be taken as seriously as it presents itself to be. Forgets the fundamentals of making a believable world.
Visuals - 7: Very good for its time, although it is deceivingly good. It can digress back to baseline at times.
Audio - 7: Nothing particularly special in OST or OP/ED, but the raps were good.
Characters - 4: Nothing memorable. Can give benefit of the doubt to one or two characters but otherwise, no one else is worthwhile. Mostly all hindered by the story.
Enjoyment - 4: Not very enjoyable if you take it seriously, which it tries to be. Even if you don't, there is not a lot to go within each individual match.

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I was planning to watch Megalo Box but ended up watching it at my local anime society instead. It was worthwhile for sure, people shouting and laughing at the odd scene, but I just didn't like it if I took everything into account. Even if I didn't, the fights weren't exactly to standard. But if you are not like me, then this is probably very recommendable. I've never actually watched Ashita no Joe tho I plan to watch that (I'm up to watch anything tbh). It is one of those "elitist" titles, whatever that means, but I will take a look at what the past had to offer in terms of that. Megalo Box sequel is also something I look forward to watching, I've heard it was consistent in quality but given what has happened in this season it is really something I need to watch before I have nothing left to do with the series, I really want to know how an entire season can be made after what was just given. But hey, when money is a reward, anything can happen.


Overall - 4.33 (4)

Pretty darn good anime and is definitely worth a watch.

I love boxing movies so when I heard about Megalo Box I was pretty hyped to begin with, and this anime lived up to my hype. The story was great, an underdog tale that tugs at my heartstrings and makes me want to restart my life and become a boxer. It is straight and to the point without any fillers. The art is pretty great though their is some pretty noticeable lazy animation in the boxing scenes that could have been a lot cooler and the backgrounds which seemed too still at points. ... The score was good, it was simple but got the job done.

Most of the characters were awesome but a couple were my biggest grievance with the show and the only thing keeping MB below a 9. I really liked most of the characters Yuri, Mikio, Yukiko, Aragaki, etc... They all showed growth and had defining characteristics that made them original and interesting. The only ones that dragged the show down were Joe and Nanbu. I enjoyed Joe's tenacity and his backstory but he is one of those characters who always seems to be losing but then has an epiphany moment and then wins, a trait that is way too common in anime and is very lazy. My biggest qualm about Nanbu is that he seems to flip his perspective a couple times per episode between being self-centered or selfless. It felt lazy and plot serving to me and was very distracting.

Megalobox's 13 episodes go by like a storm but they end up being a whirlwind of pure fun with a small cast and the simple goal of being the best.

8s all around on each element of the show, nothing really POPS to make it go to that upper-echelon anime for me. Its a "very good" anime, the characters are pretty static, most motivations are vanilla but interesting enough to keep you watching.

My enjoyment and intrigue kept me through the end but the end was disappointing to me because it had this huge build to one moment, you've been waiting for it since the first ... episode and, like i said earlier, it just doesn't pop. It doesn't have that "we made it" moment in my opinion. Which is probably what's adding to my sour mood.

But overall, for a 13 episode this show lives up to expectations and makes for a great watch with very few - if any - detractors

Story: 10
A classic underdog story, but a great one. It's not very original, but it's still great. Joe, the protagonist is someone with real talent for Megaloboxing, but is stuck fighting in the underground boxing arenas because he was born outside of the city, thus he can't battle in teal Megaloboxing matches. The story is about how he overcomes that fact.

Art: 10
I would rate it higher if I could, it's old school, and that is what makes it so great. I am an artist, thus I see how it makes the show feel different and better.
The art style makes it all the more prominent ... of what kind of world it is and makes it kind of more realistic, in a good way.

Sound: 10
I am also musical and educated in music, so I feel I am classified to talk I about this. The music and overall sound of not just the matches, but encounters as well. The intense parts are really intense and the joyful parts are joyful. It's just perfect.

Characters: 9
The characters are great, but they could be better, the ones I really liked are: Joe, Nanbu, and Aragaki. Everyone other than them really could be better. Sachio is also one of the better ones. Overall the characters aren't bad at all, they could just be a bit better.

Enjoyment: 9
I really feel characters are important in a show, and Megalo box lacked in that area. Nothing much to say here, you could probably get what I mean with the previous parts of the review.

Overall: 9
I really enjoyed Megalo box, and it is a great show. It's definitely one to watch and not skip out on!