Of all the reboots of old franchises this season (and we’re loaded with them) it seems as if Megalo Box is on track to be the best. It’s also the most Gainax-y by a mile (and I’m including a certain Production I.G. “April Fool” in both those assessments). I’m always a bit cautious with strong premieres when I don’t have a good handle on the key staff, especially where original series are concerned. But this second episode comes a lot closer to sealing the deal, because if anything it was even better than the first.
It’s funny – after the premiere all I had in mind in terms of a studio influence here was Madhouse, and that’s where director Moriyama You has done his most notable work. But this week it was Gainax that kept popping into my head – there’s just something to the look and general attitude that calls it to mind. I’m pretty sure animation director/character designer Shimizu Hiroshi hadn’t been attached to Megalo Box at the time I wrote my first impressions, but his presence here explains a lot – both in terms of the look and the sheer brilliance of these two eps. Shimizu has indeed done great work at Gainax, but also at places like Bones and even Ghibli – he’s a legend in the industry.
I know it stamps me as a relic, but I do love timelessness in an anime – and Megalo Box has it in droves. It’s not enough that it’s an Ashita no Joe tribute – that in itself guarantees nothing. But everything about this series from the writing style down through the visuals feels removed from time. If anything maybe it does look like something from 15 years ago, but really it could belong to any time period in the last 30+ years in anime. And the premise itself is as timeless as it gets – with the tech element stamping it as timeless anime, specifically.
I think the most interesting development this week came in the relationship between Junk Dog and Nanbu-san (Saito Shiro). Is the guy a dirtbag who’s taking advantage of JD and wasting his talent? No question – but somehow, there is an element of affection between the two of them. The grizzled manager character is a must in any boxing story, generally speaking, and Nanbu fulfils that role admirably. I don’t excuse what he’s done on the grounds of desperation, but there’s no question after this episode that he has good reason to be.
Another staple of a story like this (or Ashita no Joe) is of course the foil – entitled, imperious, yet legitimately great. In Yuuri we certainly have a virtual template of the character class, but again he’s no one-note creation. As all of his type must be, he’s admirable in his way – he has the punch to back up his cockiness, and he has a warrior’s respect for JD even as he pummels him into submission. I think he was more shaken at being forced to use his right hand than he let on – but his invitation to JD to join him in “his ring” was genuine. Surely, a challenge is something this man is always yearning for.
There are other great elements here, too – the symbolism of JD as a guy literally speeding right up to the edge, time after time. The introduction of some Japanese hip-hop, which is sometimes overused in anime but suits the setting perfectly. Junk Dog quite literally stamping himself as One Punch Man, throwing Nanbu’s life into jeopardy. The whole scene between Nanbu and the mob kingpin, which was thoroughly tense and unsettling. And the poetic way JD came by his new name, Joe – though I would have thought a citizen might have been less conspicuous with two names than one…
The thing about all this is, that Junk Dog (like Joe Yabuki) is actually a pretty naive guy considering his upbringing. I don’t think he has any concept of what was overwhelmingly likely to happen to Nanbu after he won his bout on one punch (not that I blame him), and he has no sense of the real gap (not even taking the gap in gear into account) that exists between he and Yuuri. Guys like that are often the heroes of stories like this one, and as a rule, life doesn’t tend to reward them for their idealism in a ruthless and violent world. I’m not making any predictions, but if I wouldn’t be betting on a happy ending.
sonicsenryaku
April 13, 2018 at 6:54 am“I’m not making any predictions, but if I wouldn’t be betting on a happy ending.”
Especially with them damn episode titles. If anything, megalo box feels like it might be a bittersweet version of Ashita no Joe
leongsh
April 13, 2018 at 11:07 am“.. it might be a bittersweet version of Ashita no Joe.”?
Evidently you have not watched/read Ashita no Joe.
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2018 at 4:04 pmWord.
sonicsenryaku
April 13, 2018 at 5:01 pmyea just recently started getting into it; I guess I am to take that Ashita no Joe aint going to be all sunshine and rainbows going forward huh?
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2018 at 5:25 pmSorry, that series is such a chestnut it’s hard to slip into spoiler protection mode. That said, this is all pretty generic – I think, as with any good series, the ending is not such a simple thing to break down – it’s complicated. Watch/read and decide for yourself. But I will refrain from discussing it.
sonicsenryaku
April 13, 2018 at 5:49 pmgot it
Simone
April 13, 2018 at 7:28 amI was struck by the scene between Yuri and the owner. Episode 1 had left the impression that the company was simply his sponsor, and he their most prestigious testimonial. This episode made the relationship between them look more… unsettling. Not sure if the control the owner seems to display over his body is just standard contract fare, or given the cyberpunk dystopian setting, something more sinister – even slavery. He’s also got those arms that look way too well adapted to his body to be simply wearable tech. He may be someone who lost his arms and is now indebted to the corporation in exchange for the new prosthetics, or an outright property of theirs, meant to display their new tech. Either way, I suspect he too at some level is a victim of this dishumanising system, for all his cockiness – and boxing might be a road to spiritual freedom for him just like it is for Joe.
Kill City Thriller
April 13, 2018 at 8:39 amThese two episodes have been fun! I absolutely love the style of this series.
leongsh
April 13, 2018 at 11:19 amFirst epusode was really good. This second episode sealed the deal for me. The boxing match between Yuri and Junk Dog felt like Rikiishi and Joe were in the ring again. The looks, their respective attitudes and bearing, and the banter between them in the ring. This first match-up has a few callbacks within that had the AnJ fan in me being delighted.
Also good to see AnJ’s mafia enforcer, Goromaki Gondo, being recast here as Fujimaki, the mafia head.
James
April 13, 2018 at 1:18 pmEven the color palette and “fuzziness” of the animation seems to go back to another time.
Water Imp
April 18, 2018 at 11:37 pmIs Joe a Billy Mumphrey?
A man who has a willingness to drive off a cliff has nothing to lose, particularly when he’s a resident of Meteor City. And true to the hard knocks type, he’s offhand like so many other old school anime leads (Somewhere Spike Spiegel nods). Definitely a framework with which he views the world.
In the case of Yuri, Joe has everything to gain. The least useful is winning; it only confirms that a limited collection of puzzle pieces fit together. Losing is more informative. It tells you things you didn’t know and/or want to know. Many combat sport athletes need to have a delusional self-belief to span the skill gap; emotions fill the holes the mind can’t/won’t. Joe has a drive to fill out that geography with accuracy. Might as well know everything you aren’t, and push at the invisible walls of the world.
Not sure how I read the Nanbu-san settles his debt scene. On first viewing, I didn’t think about it. With his offhand comportment and the worldweary Oota line delivery, in making Joe consistent, he waits for Nanbu as if the old guy’s just filling a prescription. It’s either thoughtlessness/indifference or a characterization blip where they didn’t put it all together. The Billy Mumphrey component doesn’t quite fit.
Guardian Enzo
April 18, 2018 at 11:53 pmPlus, I don’t think he’s a cock-eyed optimist…