Yet another of the anime I picked up this season has come to a close. Megalo Box is a sci-fi boxing anime made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Magazine manga Ashita no Joe.
Part brand new story, part retelling of Ashita no Joe, Megalo Box is a 13 episode thrill ride. Junk Dog is an underground boxer who, alongside his coach Nanbu, throws fights for a living. But these aren’t just boxing matches. In the future of Megalo Box, boxers equip advanced metal power frames that increase their strength. Junk Dog believes he can go all the way so when a major corporation announces a tournament for the world’s best boxers, he wants in.
Together with Nanbu and the crime lord that controls them both, Junk Dog gets a fake ID and develops a plan to get all the way to the top. Along with this, Junk Dog takes on a new name, Joe.
In terms of story, I don’t think Megalo Box does anything incredibly bold or daring. It’s simple storytelling done well, and I really appreciate that. What it has in spades are compelling, nuanced characters, and all its central characters grow. Joe isn’t rough around the edges. He’s rough all the way to the core, and his fighting spirit threatens to burn him alive. Nanbu initially comes across as a manipulative, lazy coward, and he might be the most nuanced character on display. At times, it was Nanbu I tuned in for.
Megalo Box also takes a lot of cues from anime of the ’80s and ’90s. To imitate the feel of ’90s hand-drawn animation, they downscaled the animation and then re-upscaled it to HD. This worked remarkably well, and it is not just a neat touch. Every element of the presentation from character designs to music choices was obviously carefully considered to give a very specific feel.
I was immediately reminded of anime I loved from the late ’90s and early ’00s, and the comparison held up all the way through. Shows like Cowboy Bebop and franchises like Ghost in the Shell had a huge impact on my taste and my views on storytelling so for Megalo Box to deliberately compare itself to them and then hold up means a lot. When I say they don’t make anime like this anymore, I’m not saying that today’s anime are inherently inferior. They’re not. What I mean is anime doesn’t tell stories like this or tell them in this manner today.
There’s also something about Megalo Box that makes it feel like it’s part of an old series, not just a standalone homage to one. If I watched it without context, I would expect it to be OVAs for a long-running series with spin-offs.
Some of Megalo Box‘s best storytelling happened outside the ring, and I do feel like some of the fights were told more than shown. I’m also still chewing over the ending. I loved the show and the ending, but there’s a tonal shift at the end that felt a little off to me.
Those few gripes aside (and they’re small gripes), I really dug Megalo Box. Its characters stick out in my mind, and I’m still not over some of its mid-season cliff hangers. It’s the kind of show that makes me want to watch more anime. You can check it out on Crunchyroll.
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