I recently wrote about how I was revisting Megalo Box, an anime that I had previously started but never actually finished despite really enjoying what I had seen before. There was no specific reason behind me not finishing the show other than I simply had a plethora of other shows and films to watch which ultimately led to it being buried into a backlog of things I had never finished but had started. I wanted to break free from this and return to many shows I had started, and give them another chance instead of pursuing new things to watch all of the time. Megalo Box was one of these shows, and an anime, given I had completely stopped watching anime over the years as the newer creations just completely lost my attention. I can't say I am a big fan of anime, but I can definitely appreciate something when it is good and unique, rather than following the trend.
Well, I finally finished Megalo Box's first season! It took a week or two to get through, watching one or two episodes per night, trying my best to not just binge through it in order to get it out of the way. I wanted to make sure I did enjoy it, and I did! The first season was pretty good, but I do feel it had quite a few weaknesses which became apparent over the season's progression. Namely the genre of the show and how repetitive it got. That said, it still had a lot of greatness, even if the boxing aspects became a bit too uninteresting. Even with the slight disappointment of how things went along, I did still enjoy it. And I have already started the second season since that interest still remains, and it does appear to be different and attempting to learn from its first season's mistakes. Whether it continues to keep its quality is yet to be discovered though.
Despite reviewing the season, I will attempt to avoid writing about big moments in the season, refraining from mentioning any spoilers in case anyone decides (or already is) to watch the show themselves. If you want to avoid any potential spoilers whatsoever, I guess avoid the rest of this review!
Megalo Box details a dystopian world in which the sport of boxing has also resulted in a reliance on technology and greed to propel it into the public's eye. The idea that man must fuze with machine by placing various technological enhancements over and even into their bodies to gain an edge on their opponenets. This is considered multiple times throughout the first season, as we see how different characters share a unique reliance on this technology and lack of rules for the greater part that can allow for easier victories. Our protagonist loses the gear and begins to train traditionally, noticing that the edge without gear is that you have a little extra agility where the movements aren't delayed in any capacity by the many pieces of gear moving as well. Quickly earning the title 'Gearless Joe' for this, the season continues on in that idea of fighting without gear against those who still rely on it, each opponent ultimately having their own unique traits in terms of the gear and how they rely on it.
A lot of the episodes feature these unique characters that have their own reasoning for using the gear in the ways that they do, and the show takes advantage of it to serve as filler. As we see many scenes and episodes dedicated to telling their stories and giving the audience context, but of course this is more to deal with pacing and giving the audience a breather between the boxing matches; it is inevitable and there will be more context and character development outside of the action sequences to fill out episodes and tell the story, but I feel it could have been done better. The show is beautifully animated, and some of the backgrounds and environments hold so many interesting details that I felt that they were somewhat wasted by paying so much attention to filler content rather than worldbuilding instead. These characters our protagonist faces needed to have some stories behind them, but it felt like a bit of a lazy attempt to pass time given we already know our Gearless Joe will win the fight.
This brings in moments of drama, where context and these stories take reign and very quickly become repetitive each story, almost feeling a little like Pokemon episodes in which Team Rocket appear on time every episode and we know that the same structure will inevitably play out. We had reasons to care for our protagonist, but in the event of a boxing anime, we already know that our protagonist is likely to see victory. What comes from this is moments of exaggeration and again time wasted during the boxing matches as well, as Joe takes a hit and falls to the ground, where time pretty much slows down and we see his realisation that he must get up and fight. The show relied on this far too much, it got a bit boring admittedly. The drama of our protagonist being low to the ground and close to losing -- we know he will get up and win, so why bother repeating this story structure?
Not all was repetitive, however. Much of the character development behind our protagonist's opponents was still useful. We see how their lives have been altered, and how they relied on the technology and sport to cope with their hardships. We see how they sometimes even realise that they are now reliant on the gear, and that the sport is in the people and the flesh. That the technology doesn't always provide an edge, or much else to their lives outside of it. In a way there is character growth as they too realise they are somewhat cheating themselves, not quite as talented as they think in boxing when machines, artificial intelligence, and expensive gear handles much of the work for them. This did add to the depth of characters introduced, as we saw what got them into the sport, but how the sports reliance on technology led to them not really gaining much from it other than rivalries.
I would have enjoyed the first season a lot more if it felt the stakes were much higher. There was not a whole lot to care about in regards to the boxing matches, and a lot of the stories really did just feel like filler content when it could've been used in a different manner to tell more of the dystopian, futuristic world. It felt a little too traditional in the larger anime scale of things, such as Bleach, where the episodes go on and on but no real conclusion is there that has any weight. It was still enjoyable, but the show started off so much stronger and lost some of that momentum the more it went on. The animation itself remained excellent though. I am a massive fan of the gritty, watercolour styled animation where things are very beautifull crafted. The backgrounds on their own are stunning. The character designs seem a bit generic, but the main cast are great.
Sadly it felt as if there was more style than substance in the first season, and that is something I was concerned about going forward with it. It is rare that a show can choose an extensive style without quality suffering to some degree, and often enough it is either story that lacks, or the animation quality itself begins to dwindle. I think things definitely could have been done better. The world this show takes place in seems ripe for various slice-of-life elements that contribute to the characters and their development, as well as providing a deeper look into the world itself. We did not really see much of that where other animations may typically take consideration towards. Cowboy Bebop. Space Dandy, and Samurai Champloo being the most famous anime series that will come to mind here for most. These shows had a bit of everything within them, but still ensured they didn't just go too far with the filler that seemed cheap.
Beneath that filler is a concept with a ton of potential, and sometimes that potential is realised. Perhaps just not enough in the case of this first season of Megalo Box. I'm already going through the second season now, and I really do hope that it takes a different approach this time. The story and characters it shared in the first season seemed fast and over. With little more direction to go on. And that was just with the span of 13 episodes. At times it did feel too slow, a little boring, but again: this show still shines here and there. Just not enough as it could.
I loved this series. (Haven't watched the sequel "Nomad" yet.) I didn't feel it was repetitive as it always tried something new. I liked the main character and his coach. I don't remember much, but I believe the coach was my favorite character.
I haven't watched "Ashita no Joe" but I know little about it, and since Megalo Box was a spiritiual successor, I feel it had good allusions to that series. (From the little I know.)
The level of stakes felt realistic and just right in my opinion. I heard that the stakes of season 2 are higher though. I never watched that, but it's in my "to watch" list.
I kinda agree with this, but I felt the substance is enough for me.
I !LUV 'd this review.
!PIZZA !CTP
I think I just have to get used to anime again. I am noticing how different it is to anything else. There usually is quite a specific structure to the stories and how they're told.
I really like Nomad so far, I'm really enjoying the general idea of it so far compared to the first season. I won't say much more though. ;^)
I fell in love with anime with the classic Dragon Ball and Naruto, then I noticed certain peculiarities in these Japanese titles. Normally an anime can get repetitive, I think we will always see a bit of the hero destined to fight against adversity, the villain on the cusp and the events that contemplate adventure, honor, competitiveness, etc. There are good productions, have you seen Shingeki no kyojin? It is one of my favourites.
I have not even seen Megalo Box, but it has been highly recommended to me. Reviewing part of your opinion I feel that I will not be disappointed.
Pretty much. I do think it is mostly just me having to get familiar with the anime structure again having had such a long break from it.
I watched the first two seasons back when they were released, but I don't recall sticking with it. I'm not really sure why, I think it was just the fact that it took so long for those seasons to come out and I moved on.
Sounds interesting enough to give a watch. Thank you for the recommendation.
I always forget that you watch anime sometimes. ;^)
I got back into Mubi by the way! It has changed a lot, so much more worth it now. I'm really enjoying the library it has at the moment.
Finished watching Megalo Box yesterday night. Mixed feelings about it. I like the retro look, including the weird intro, and certain aspects of it but it also bored me a little. It was less and less about the fighting itself and that was one of the most enjoyable parts for me. Too much talking and too little action ( who would have guessed I would ever say that about a movie / series haha! )
Yeah that's pretty much how I felt too. I enjoyed it, but it felt like they used too much filler as a means to avoid constant animation of action sequences. Definitely could've been done better.
Exactly that. Too much filter, felt like laziness to me.
Nice Animated Movies