Give em the ol' one, two

"They don't make graves for Stray Dogs" - Megalobox

After watching Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann, I thought it was going to ruin whichever show I decided to review next. I'm glad I was wrong.

Megalobox produced by TMS entertainment and is directed by Yo Moriyama came out in 2018 on Netflix and was the underdog anime that no one could stop talking about.

It came out on the 50th anniversary to Akita no Joe, which is what the anime is based on and pays a great homage to, throughout the series.

If you've never seen Akita no Joe, it would not hurt you to go ahead and give it a glance, but you don't have to have consumed the original in order to enjoy this action packed anime. From the very first scene we're reminded stylistically of classics like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, and it only explodes from there (in a good way). Let's talk about it

Music

Megalobox OST (Original Soundtrack) is done by Mabanua (Manabu Yamaguchi). There are other artists who contributed to the music as well including rapper DJ TAKU and others. I'll link their stuff at the bottom.

But let's talk about this sound track for a second. It's not your typical anime fanfare of orchestral instruments with voices coming in over the top. It's an homage to rap, r&b, hip-hop with an electronic mix. In a word: awesome.

The time in which the music is played during an anime I think matters just as much as the anime itself. Megalobox has one of the best timings when it comes to playing that main theme. If you don't get hyped up when that beat drops, that's on you. As for me, I've added the main theme to my running and work out playlist because wow.

It would get a good score if that's all it had. But that's not all. It's got rhythm and soul as well for the slow scenes, it's got slow builds for dramatic scenes, it's got reggae for some of the relaxing scenes. It's even got emotional hits for the sadder parts of the show. Excellence in every form.

Music 5/5

Animation

Well, would you look at that. I know it's a boxing anime, but this is one of the first scenes that the anime presents. And it only gets better from here.

However, just in this scene you can see the fluidity of the movement, the grit of the style reminiscent of Lagann, and Devilman Crybaby, but also the sharpness of some of the features, reminiscent of Samurai Champloo. It's hard not to see the desert landscape and tonal mixes and not think of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.

With everything else, it seems like the TMS team sought and produced excellence. If you think this motorcycle scene is cool, you should see the actual boxing of the show. From sweat to blood, from injuries to anatomy they covered a lot of very cool bases that you don't see often covered in the niche aspects of anime.

Now, I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. This isn't my preferred style of anime, but the artistry and dedication to craft here cannot be ignored and my personal preferences can take a back seat to the impeccable animation in this case.

Animation 5/5

Characters

I want to be clear when I say this. The show doesn't really fail here, but it doesn't come as an all out victory either. The characters are REALLY well done. I may be alone in this opinion, but I still have to give it as an honest review, and that means being a little critical when it comes to the beloved cast.

I'm not going to focus on every character but here's the ones that I think are worth focusing on for now:

Yuri

Yuri is easily one of the most likable antagonists in all of anime. He's straight forward, from the very get go you know what he wants and the entire series builds up to this fight. We even see a change in him from wanting to put down a stray dog to wanting to train it. From wanting to bury his competition in the gutters to wanting Joe to face him in the biggest ring.

He's one of Joe's biggest rivals, while at the same time being usually the one that has the most faith in Joe, and sometimes his biggest fan. I give his haircut decision a pass, this guy is awesome

Gansaku Nanbu "Pops"

This. This ladies and gentleman is character development done right. If this was a Hollywood film, the role of Nanbu would probably get the Oscar for best supporting actor.

Throughout the series this is the one that changes the most, that grows a backbone at the cost of everything within him. He's one of Joe's only friends and the glue of team Nowhere.

Any complaints of character development don't come through this man.

Sachio

Okay. Sachio personally annoys me a little bit, but he's supposed to. He's the little brother that some of us never had. Or that some of us did have. He lives up to that reputation by being a little annoying at times, but in a lot of tough spots coming through for the team in the way that no one else could.

We first see him as the leader of a small group of kids that steals to get money enough to buy 'drugs'. (It's a type of candy that's similar to the effects of acid/marijuana but not really either) But he becomes an impromptu coach, water boy, engineer, and team nowhere enthusiast.

Yeah, Sachio annoyed me at times, but his character is well thought out, his back story is touching, and you can't help but want his dreams to succeed as well as everyone else's.

Okay John, so if it's not all of these characters that are the issue, who is?

Joe

I know. I know, this is where my opinion probably differs from that of every other anime connoisseur out there. Hear me out though.

Joe is great. He's the one that everyone looks up to - he's the underdog the fighter - gearless mother F#$#@ng Joe. I get it. I like him too. I even love this character for all of his flaws.

His flaws of course being that he doesn't really care about anyone or anything besides pursuing this dream of his. Which is a frustrating trait at times, but it's endearing at other times. His conversations with Yuri, and other fighters are something that make you want to see him just absolutely crush his opponents.

My complaint is not that he's a static character, I think in a sports/action anime you need a little bit of that. My complaint is not that he gets knocked down in nearly every match and then gets back up with seconds to spare using some fantastic plot armor. (more of a plot issue) My complaint is not even that we never get a fleshed out back story for him. We don't really need one.

My complaint is this: For someone with such backbone, and for someone who's trying to become this champion, he literally needs reminded of it every. episode. In a short time you get to the point where you're like "okay Joe you've been training for this, Sachio and Pops believe in you, let's get this believing thing over with already. He's supposed to be headstrong and stubborn, he's supposed to be the fighting spirit of the team. Why is he the one that always forget it?

I know it's a small complaint, but it is one that keeps this anime from having a perfect character score. Arguably the hardest thing to get a perfect on.

Characters: 4.8/5

Plot

*Spoilers Ahead*

Probably another area where I'm going to get torn a new one by lovers of this anime but the plot is another area where this anime falls a little short. I'm not saying it's not phenomenal, I'm saying it's lacking (just a little bit)

It's a sports/action anime so I expect to see a lot of similar instances where the action is a little repetitive. I expect to see a lot of matches, I expect there to be comebacks.

But when every episode shows the same fight it's a little bit of a drag. What do I mean by the same fight?

Script for every single Megalobox fight:

Opponent underestimates Joe - Opponent is kicking Joe's ass - Motivation via flashback or speech - Joe kicks their ass after being on the mat for like 8 seconds - Joe finishes thing with one punch.

And I'm not saying that's not entertaining. It very much so is. Because the anime is so short I'm not even saying that it wore out it's welcome, but near the end it felt gratuitous to have Joe even fight everyone when you know the outcome already. Being that the story leads you to this buildup between two crazy awesome opponents what you need to see then is how they get there. It would've been awesome to see more Yuri fights, it would've been awesome to change the formula up for Joe (which happens a little bit in the Aragaki fight I'll give you that) but ultimately it's just kind of flat.

That being said, the scenes outside of the ring are some of the most well thought out montage-lacking epic pieces of writing I've ever seen. The plot is well thought out and the story board writers seem to really have figured things out. Pacing, action, drama, comedy, a little bit of everything make this anime truly wonderful.

That said it's an anime that is about boxing. I'm not saying that's all it's about. Rising from poverty and obscurity, challenging one's own fate, battling an oppressive system, wealth and power, the grip of crime and greed. All fantastic themes and well handled throughout the show, but the vehicle for how they get there is boxing, and in that way this show is a little lacking.

Plot 4.5/5

Overall

If you like boxing, or moving dramas, or action anime watch this anime. If you like amazing animation and are a fan of a great soundtrack with production value that goes through the roof, watch this anime. If you like a show that gives you one idea throughout itself and finishes that idea in 13 episodes watch this show. One of my new favorites for sure.

My final score 4.8/5 Definitely Bingeworthy

****

Extras:

I've also watched Season 2 so be prepared for a season 2 review coming out soon-ish. Also, if you like these reviews and want to let me know which ones you'd like to see let me know, I'll watch and review the anime you don't have time for.

Send these inquiries to [email protected]

Music Extras:

The links in order are the IMDB page for Manabu Yamaguchi the composer of the OST, the jpop fanpage for COMA-CHI a singer/rapper featured, Wikipedia page for Taku Takahashi aka TAKU featured, and the youtube channel for Michael Kaneko, featured.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5002877/

https://jpop.fandom.com/wiki/COMA-CHI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taku_Takahashi

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBt157wUa3JaPk66xxxXgg

Animation Extras:

The links in order are the IMDB page for Yo Moriyama producer of the series as well as the official global page for TMS entertainment

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8125525/

https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/

Characters extras:

Below is a list of the voice actors for their respective characters

Kaiji Tang - Joe

Jason Marnocha - Gansaku Nanbu

Greg Chun - Aragaki

Erika Harlacher - Yukiko Shirato

Lex Lang - Yuri

Jamieson Price - Fujimake

Erica Mendez - Sachio

Plot Extras:

Someone went ahead and gave every Akita no Joe reference in Megalobox and made a video of it. If you like stuff like this here ya go.

https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/a4e79m/every_ashita_no_joe_reference_in_megalo_box/