Megalobox

This review contains minor spoilers about the first episodes.

I’m not into shounen anime. I’m not into many sports anime. Heck, I don’t even like boxing. However, Megalo Box managed to catch my attention. And boy, that was a fantastic ride.

Megalo Box is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Ashita no Joe, probably the first boxing manga/anime in history. However, this review won’t focus on that fact. I will focus on the values that make Megalo Box stand out by itself, ignoring all “fanservice” (read: tribute elements to impress old-school fans) that it could have.

Story: predictable and simple, but it works.

This is the classic underdog story. Joe, also known as Junk Dog, who literally lives on trash, is a boxer who makes money with rigged fights, but he’s unhappy with that lifestyle, he wishes to prove himself in a real fight. One day, he finds an opponent who he can’t beat even giving his best: Yuri, the champion of Megalonia, the biggest megaloboxing tournament. After that fight, he decides to join Megalonia to climb until he can rematch Yuri.

The story is simple, but it’s well done. It’s obviously not a strong point of this anime, but it isn’t either a weak point. Let’s say that the story is just there to allow the other elements to shine, so those elements are the ones that will decide if this anime is memorable or not.

Plot: focused on fights, with a simple yet effective message.

Oh, I haven’t mentioned what’s this “megaloboxing” about. Well, the story is situated on a future where boxing has evolved into a sport where all boxers are equipped with a gear which empowers the arm strength of its user. What’s the twist? Our protagonist, Joe, will fight without any gear. He wants to prove what is to be “authentic”. He wants to prove that you can win with only your own strength. And other characters eventually understand his message, and this may change their point of view on megaloboxing.

This anime is mainly focused on fights. Are they good? Some ones are, but some others are average. And by average I mean that, even when Joe was clearly losing, at the last moment he manages to one-hit KO his foe, which may seem as an artificial resolution to the fight. Luckily, this doesn’t happen in every fight, so it’s not a big deal. The rest of the fights, the good ones, are kind of predictable, but they’re still entertaining and manage to deliver some shivering moments.

On later stages of the series, the fights are still there, but some other conflicts appear, and those conflicts can’t be resolved through winning a fight, so it adds an unpredictable factor to the plot. And I find this to be really nice.

Characters: very well done, almost all of them experience good development.

Ironically, Joe is the only one to not get any significant development. He starts as a stray dog, and he ends as a stray dog. But that’s the point of his character. However, he serves as a medium to allow other characters to develop. The characters that are with him learn things from Joe and his motivations. Even the antagonists learn from Joe, and they get to have more screentime thanks to that. At first, this development is so small, but as the show progresses they face tougher situations and those are the decisive moments that will make them change.

Visuals: excellent 90s style and very good animation.

Oh boy. The artstyle in this show is excellent. It’s made on a 90s anime style, it may remind you of other well known anime from those years like Cowboy Bebop. But I’m not praising it for making an homage to that style. I’m praising it because it’s done good, and it demonstrated that this style is still enjoyable even in modern times. The character design is also so good, they perfectly reflect their personality and makes them look unique. The animation is great too, and keeping in mind that the show is mostly focused on fights, this is a very important factor.

I find funny that the point of most fights in this show is “classic technique can win over modern technology”, and the artists did exactly that with the visuals of this anime.

Sound: amazing soundtrack used perfectly.

The soundtrack of this show is on point. They use every track exactly at the moment where they should be. That allows some amazing moments and they produce a really good experience. The soundtrack has a certain theme for every important character, and that adds to the mood when they appear on screen. It also has some original rap songs which are catchy too. Overall, the soundtrack is absolutely amazing.

Final judgment: Is this show worth watching?

Definitely. Even if you’re not into shounen nor sports anime, it’s still highly recommended. This isn’t one of those deep shows which make you question your existence, it’s just a show to have fun and enjoy its quality and good design, but that’s totally fine, and it will let you satisfied once you finish it.

This review was taken from my reviews blog, link to the original here.