Hot damn – Gainax lives, Man.
TMS Entertainment doesn’t get talked about much when elite anime studios are the topic of discussion. But these guys are seriously making their case as far as I’m concerned, not just because of quality but stylistic diversity. Kamisama Hajimemashite, Yowapeda, ReLIFE, Nana Maru San Batsu, Keppeki Danshi Aoyama-kun... It’s an impressive list (and there are some really good co-productions with Shin-Ei as well) that shows both a tendency to associate with good material – regardless of genre or demographic – and the wherewithal to adapt it well.
TMS has never done anything quite like Megalo Box, though. There are many anime that try to capture an old-school mystique, and many specifically a Gainax mystique. Some even partially succeed. But Megalo Box gets a bigger bite of that apple than almost any show that I can think of. There’s no credibility gap here, because every aspect of this production reeks of authenticity. These are talents that have walked the walk. It’s funny because Ashita no Joe wasn’t a Gainax series, and this series does feel faithful to it – but as something of a specialist in the post-Gainax wannabe category, I see that imprint all over it.
Megalo Box is classic to the core, which means it’s going to be true to its genre – and so far, no stone has been left unturned. We pick up with Nanbu-san registering “Joe” for Megalonia (rank: 257/257), with urgent task at-hand trying to get him some fights to garner attention. We also get Nanbu drinking a boilermaker in a way I’ve never quite seen done, by the way… But more importantly, there’s also the matter of getting him better gear – and apparently the kingpin’s generosity only extends as far as Joe’s fake license, not new gear for him.
Enter Sachio (Murase Michio). Every underdog boxing story has to have a Sachio (Ashita no Joe certainly did), and this one is the leader of a gang of urchins who steal for a living. Except as it turns out they’re stealing to get “red candy” from the sleazy gear fence played by Suwabe Junichi. And red candy is, clearly, some sort of hard drug – and Megalo Box doesn’t shy away from the extremely dodgy image of little kids getting stoned as an escape from their hardscrabble life. It’s apparent pretty early where this is going – though exactly how it gets there proves extremely entertaining.
Lots of interesting stuff is happening here. Nanbu-san may be a lowlife and not great with gear modification but he does prove himself to be a sharp boxing trainer (there’s obviously an interesting past in there somewhere). Meanwhile Sachio gets into a dustup with the gear merchant when the latter tries to stiff him on his “payment”. Joe intervenes to save the boy’s life, and from that point onward Sachio latches onto Joe and Nanbu like a sort of camp follower, except the camp isn’t going anywhere. And neither is Joe, seemingly, after the gear Nanbu bought fries out thanks to his modifications (exactly as Sachio said it would).
Turns out Sachio is a mechanical whiz, and he tries to earn his way into Joe’s circle by stealing a early prototype of the gear Yuuri is using but gets himself arrested and brutalized in the process. Again it’s Joe to the rescue – and as a benefit he gets a free practice match against the former megalonia boxer the gear dealer employs as muscle. I was even getting a bit of an Outlaw Star (that one was Sunrise, of course) vibe by the end there where Joe and Sachio were concerned – and believe it, that’s high praise coming from me.
Needless to say, this is pretty much all working for me at this stage. A timeless sports myth brought off with an abundance of style and smarts – really, if you’re a fan of anime as a medium what’s not to like? I’ve already used the word “anachronism” once today but I think it kind of fits Megalo Box as well as Tada-kun – with the difference being that were that show specifically feels like the product of a different era, with this one it’s more just timelessness. Most of the great stories in this genre have a bit of the Greek tragedy to them, but there’s still a bit of mystery in just where this one is going to go.
sonicsenryaku
April 21, 2018 at 2:43 amOne of megalo box’s most standout aspects for me is its sense of pace and story composition. Every scene feels relevant to the progression of its narrative, making each episode feel as if no time was wasted lollygagging on pointless story beats. Everything feels integral to moving the plot forward and developing the characters. TMS has been killing it this season for me with Megalo box and Lupin the third, the latter being a show that NO ONE SEEMS TO BE TALKING ABOUT when it should be; such a shame :*(. The first 3 episodes has been some of the strongest of anything this season, one of the best things about it being how it properly uses dialogue in an non-expository way to flesh out its cast. Lupin III has always been a really fun series, but with part 5, it seems like the show wants to shake up tradition in a way that makes the series feel familiar yet novel in the conventions it treads.
Water Imp
April 21, 2018 at 1:27 pmLupin V has been an easy ride, so far, where IV was wonky and stilted.
Though both fall a bit closer to the Scooby-Doo goofiness of the previous series/yearly specials, than the Kill Billish, detailed grit of the Fujiko Mine series and its Jigen-Goemon spinoffs.
Hopefully V can keep on doing what it’s been doing. Almost dropped IV a few times, but like Seinfeld’s Elaine, I wanted my free sub so I kept going back.
sonicsenryaku
April 21, 2018 at 2:05 pmHuh, I never realized how many detractors there were for Part 4. Most people seem to like it but there seems to be quite a crowd who are very vocal about their dislike for it. I liked part 4 quite a bit; there are moments when it’s brilliance shines through evidently even though the story composition faltered at times. But like you said, part 5 has been showing quite a bit of promise in its narrative composition, arguably more so than the first three eps of part 4, which is all the more reason why i’m digging this season. I find Ami to be a more human character than Rebecca so far as fun as she was (which opinions on her are also divisive).
Water Imp
April 21, 2018 at 3:52 pmI didn’t dislike IV, but (excluding parts I-III, and the Fujiko Mine iterations) all the specials take more pronounced cues from James Bond. Parts IV and V somewhat follow this as well as they both feature a Bond/Lupin girl. If the Bond girl is grating…
Ami does seem more human, but maybe that’s because the flat line delivery, emotionally remote Rei Ayanami-Rurumo-Yuki Nagato type is easier to portray? Rebecca was a thankless role as she was Mary Sued a bit too quickly.
sonicsenryaku
April 21, 2018 at 4:07 pm“If the Bond girl is grating…”
Yea I here ya on that one. I wouldn’t exactly say i was an outright fan of Rebecca, but when she was on screen, her charisma and her back and forth with Lupin made for some entertaining scenes. Plus, she gorgeously designed, so that helped; but yea, I’d be lying if i said I wasn’t bothered by some of her more over-the-top shenanigans.
Ami feels more human to me particularly because of how revealing her chemistry with Lupin has been for her character.
Guardian Enzo
April 21, 2018 at 4:10 pmWith all due respect to Lupin, let’s reel it back in to Megalo Box, if you please… Episode was too good to have the comments all be about another show.
sonicsenryaku
April 21, 2018 at 6:19 pmNo, you’re right; the episode spoke so well for itself though. However, I do want to add to the point made about the gainax-esque flair within this episode. In terms of animation fidelity, I think this ep stands out above the other two and a part of that has to do with that gainax flamboyance, particularly the fight in the bar scene. The use of over-exaggerated character animations and the elongated key frame timing is so reminiscent of something you’d see in a late 90’s gainax production or early 2000’s madhouse (more specifically magical shopping arcade of abenobashi…god I’m getting old) really gave this episode an energy that i really hope we see more off in future episodes. Megalo box doesn’t seem to be a just throwback to the visual aesthetic of old school anime; it’s also a throwback to animation philosophies held back then when it came to making anime in general and more of that in my life will always be a good thing. Give me more “old gainax;” give me the mechanical animation of prestige Sunrise; I want to be washed with nostalgia to a time when anime had a large, creative pulse.
On another note, i also appreciate how lived-in the slums look; it’s an expertly crafted part of the visual storytelling, communing the layers of narrative and setting together to facilitate characterization and plot progression. I especially like how exposition regarding the setting is always implied by how the characters interact with the world rather than having it explained to us. It upholds the illusion that this is a world that could exists outside of the text, or in other words, feels logistically plausible. It paints an indelible portrait as to how people would live their lives in such conditions, and that in turn makes the narrative feel that much more intiguing. This has been and always will be the best way to flesh out the setting of a story and the fact that megalo box checks off this trait to its storytelling is why it’s in my top of top shows of this season.
Guardian Enzo
April 21, 2018 at 3:28 pmWas there a hat involved?
Water Imp
April 21, 2018 at 3:53 pmThere was no free hat. I’m not sure I got anything out of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRJiP5ku-u0
Water Imp
April 21, 2018 at 3:39 pmMuch agreement, Megalo Box is doing everything right. So far, it’s been pretty organic, nothing’s been forced and like sonicsenryaku mentioned, everything’s unfolding at good speed.
For my mileage, Joe’s the antidote to all the other underdog characters fielded by animes and live actions, where they try to tell/sell you on the idea that the MC should triumph like Ralph Macchio’s zero sparing exp/pure kata Daniel LaRusso vs William Zabka’s proven competitor in Johnny Lawrence. Unless someone’s a freak athlete with prodigy level fight IQ (Utena Tenjou nods), a person who’s never sparred before has no path to success against a better combat sport athlete. Plot armor of this sort fails the “show, don’t tell” dictum in terms of execution. Sometimes you can’t just “believe” as fairy tale Hollywood might want, unless it’s shoujo.
I’m likely repeating myself from another comment in this blog from an altogether different series, but the offhand character types that trace themselves from Spike Spiegel to Sakata Gintoki, along with the voice actors behind them, smoothly lay the groundwork, so that the heavy lifting of the written characterization, isn’t so heavy. Usually the offhand character is front-loaded in some way; they couldn’t be so casually confident otherwise. I’m probably too easily pre-sold on this though.
Kill City Thriller
April 22, 2018 at 7:18 pmLoving this series! Great review.
The wild guesser
April 23, 2018 at 5:00 pmTo me, Megalo Box is to the sports underdog story like Ajin was to political thrillers and 91 Days to Mafia tales. These shows seem to transcend the limitations and tropes found in anime/manga and instead feel like non-anime stories that happen to be animated in the anime style (if that makes any sense), and I’m loving them for it.