Megalo Box and Abusing Nostalgia
Megalo Box and Abusing Nostalgia
A Huge thank you to this video’s Sponsor Anime Amino
Download Anime Amino:
https://go.onelink.me/yXCl/ManimeMatt
Follow me on anime amino: Manime Matt
Megalo Box is one of my favorite anime to come out in recent memory which is sort of surprising. This show feels more like an older anime from the late 90s rather than something made in 2018. So today I want to talk about how Megalo Box abused nostalgia in their narrative.
Donate to my Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4318642
Follow me at:
Tweets by ManimeMatt
Like me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/manimematt/?ref=bookmarks
And call me a cis-gendered privileged white male at:
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/oldmps
Please support the official release of any anime shown in the video.
October 15, 2018 @ 1:52 am
the only good show around that time
October 15, 2018 @ 1:53 am
I really liked it alot, the Soundtrack was f****** amazing, the episodes were great but the ending didn’t felt as good, it’s a solid 8/10 or maybe even a 9/10 for me.
October 15, 2018 @ 1:57 am
I also dislike Your Lie in April! Can’t wait to see if our reasons are similar!
October 15, 2018 @ 1:57 am
Wait the mc is black?
Thank you Japan for diversity???
October 15, 2018 @ 1:58 am
I would say the spring was pretty good
October 15, 2018 @ 1:58 am
I did talk about this show from Mudantv too
October 15, 2018 @ 1:58 am
Video starts at 1:37.
October 15, 2018 @ 1:59 am
Megalobox sits in a weird place because it is much more an American boxing story rather than a Japanese boxing story. Megalobox is full of boxing tropes, but not anime tropes; that’s why this story can feel so fresh without being new. Unfortunately, most anime fans only know boxing through Hajime no Ippo, which is an amazing shounen story but a poor boxing story. That observation tends to extend to most anime. Japan cares more about developing characters, while the United States cares more about celebrating the sport.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:01 am
I thought I would like megalo box but he just kept winning till I got tired of it. He literally never lost a match for as long as I watched it.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:01 am
Haikyuu is the best sport anime imo
October 15, 2018 @ 2:04 am
One minute and forty seconds in, 25% of the video is gone and you haven’t said a thing of substance.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:05 am
I still think if Joe had died like Joe in Ashita no Joe this anime would go in anime history forever. Ii wouldn’t just be just a simple underdog story
October 15, 2018 @ 2:06 am
I agree 100% megalo box won anime of the season for me.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:07 am
I liked the atmosphere at first, but as it continued, I realized it wasn’t really special.
Most of the characters were shallow and the plot predictably boring. Not once did I have any sense that the "underdog" would fail. The fight scenes were also dull, and the character drama underwhelming because they never established the characters. We get snippets, sure, but not even close to forming a bond with them. The epilogue felt flat because I never felt the stakes of the fight. To me, Megalobox failed. Not as spectacularly as Franxx, of course, but it still failed.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:09 am
I don’t like your lie in April either. It has many depressing aspects, and the ending is far from satisfying. It’s a painfully boring story with only emotional drama moving it forward. I usually enjoy slice of life anime, but this one was so slow and Boring for me.
*This is my opinion* so don’t judge.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:09 am
Comment.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:09 am
THERE IS SOME BLASPHEMY in this freaking comment section. People actually think this is a crap anime. STOP it
October 15, 2018 @ 2:10 am
It had potential the ending was crap but it was ok
October 15, 2018 @ 2:10 am
This is one of the weakest sports anime.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:11 am
It just needed more episodes.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:13 am
The last fight was a bit less hype than the other ones.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:16 am
Background music?
October 15, 2018 @ 2:16 am
Megalo Box was decent. This show had A LOT of potential. Great ideas all around and was accompanied with a great art style; animation (With a few drops sometimes) and soundtrack. It’s just that the execution felt short mostly because of the low number of episodes. Joe out of all the characters is the least interesting one in the whole show; Not only he is the LEAST developed one but also lacked any kind of motivation for going to Megalonia except for fighting Yuri; also even though he jumped from fighting illegally to a competition with the best fighters around AND with a handicap (Not using a gear) he still managed to win every fight. I get that he was very durable due to him faking fights and letting himself get hit before but they use that excused waaaaay too much. So Joe as a character: Great personality; no motivation (Or one that is not that important or excusable) no development. He is not fighting to find a meaning to his life; he is not fighting to prove that the classic boxing is better than this new geared fights (That would of been a better excuse for him to fight gearless maybe). Like… ANYTHING!
However this show it’s still worth watching just because of Nanbu’s character; for me he was the best charcater in the show. Not only was he the one that changed the most in a good way from start to finish but also learned his lesson and did not commit the same mistake to Joe as he did with Aragaki (Who was for me the best second character in the show and while hes appearance was not that big he did his role as a secondary character in the show flawllesly).
The rest of the cast either felt short or theire appearance was rushed (Sachio, both Shirato and Yuri even though i like the way he got to respect Joe and such but it’s still flawed because of Joe’s character; etc.).
So all in all. Megalo Box was okay. It’s still worth watching but it is kind of a let down due to the inmense expectation’s that where around it.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:17 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt Megalobox was abusing nostalgia to get people to like it.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:18 am
I really like megalo box I would love it if there was another season basically a sequel.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:20 am
Although the fight aren’t that epic to me but the story and the characters development are pretty hell good. After watch the ending I realize the main key plot of this entire show is trying to get respect each other between joe and yuri, not about how good they fight.
[Spoiler warning]
Joe is stray dog back there with no purpose into fighting just for money. Things changes when he meet Yuri. He enter megalobox and keep pursuit forward to be respected by Yuri so he would want to fight him again.
As for Yuri, He suppose to carry Shirato dream legacy not his. But after seeing what Joe did, He finally respected him and abandon Shirato to fulfill his dreams which fight Joe without his gear too.
Same with Mr nanbu, after partner with Sachio and Joe, he finally overcome his selfishness for not betraying Joe in the end. Which usually he just use Joe to gain self purpose.
Same with Aragaki and Sachio, which also have their own hard time. But in the end, they all friends and families.
The ending is probably the most satisfy I ever seen. Joe didn’t even continue to be champ anymore. i think it has to do with Yuri can’t box anymore. Yuri didn’t even have any regrets for the permanent injury that cause after fight with joe. The respect and friendship between Joe and Yuri in the end, it is what show is all about.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:20 am
i enjoyed the show for what it was. i knew going into it that it wasn’t going to blow my mind with originality or anything like that, i just wanted decent enough show to fill the time in between my favorite shows. the fact that it had a great art style was just a bonus.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:20 am
I think I am probably in the minority who liked the ending. Yeah, its bittersweet but they have like 13 episodes to work with? So it’s hard to build up the hype or develop the characters though the animation style and music were top notch.
(Btw, may I know the bg music you are using Matt? :0)
October 15, 2018 @ 2:21 am
I’m a boxer myself, really enjoyed everything this anime had for it.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:24 am
everyone comparing the fight scenes to hajime no ippo, not realizing that the main focus of megalo box was to tell a powerful narrative through the characters’ struggles that just happened to take place in a boxing ring. hajime no ippo has nice fight scenes visually, no doubt about that, but they’re just… "fights" that have little narrative and storytelling weight behind them. and its unfair to attempt to call a boxing showe "cliche" when theres extremely little you can do at this point to make it unpredictable; the only real "twists" that would effectively work are to either have the protagonist lose, or for the protagonist fight someone that had no chance of making it into the finals. you ALREADY know that the protag in ANY boxing show or movie is gonna win every fight up until the championship, so its redundant to be expecting any different outcomes in that time frame. so instead of focusing on the inevitable cliches, maybe focus on how the character emotionally handles the fights and the consequences and just how far he’s willing to push himself to win, both physically and emotionally, which is, at the end of the day, what makes a great sport show.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:25 am
Hey man i’ve never watched an old anime and i still loved it so i don’t think it "abuses" nostalgia. And like the show being "cliche" was the intension of the creators, they didn’t want to revolutionice the genre, cause the wanted to do a homage to ashita no joe. Btw liked to hear your opinion even though i do not agree.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:27 am
It’s amazing that so many have watched all 13 episodes and sill haven’t understood the point of megalobox. After the 5-6 episodes it’s easy to understand that it’s not an anime sport but a character drama anime that is using the box sport to tell the story. But it’s probably the same people that are yanking Jojo, Berserk or HxH blindly because everyone does it.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:29 am
Megalo box to me was a 8/10 for me for a spring anime
October 15, 2018 @ 2:29 am
What homages?
October 15, 2018 @ 2:33 am
I’m mixed with you lie in April to be honest than hating it
October 15, 2018 @ 2:35 am
It’s boring
October 15, 2018 @ 2:36 am
Cogs in a machine my friend, you need the right ones in the right place or the whole thing falls apart.
I believe that everything needs balance. Everything in the universe, physical or not, is a machine, and entertainment, art, and media are no exception. Megalobox would have worked less and less if it didnt use the nostalgic style, or emphasised it too much, and that’s coming from someone who didn’t grow up with AKIRA, Studio Ghibli, Fist of the North Star, etc. Just as Devilman Crybaby would have worked less if it’s art was more traditional and censored, or too abstract, or Aggretsuko’s dichotomy between its themes and cutesyness vs going onr way or the other, and how Made in Abyss would be less immersive without it’s subtle and it’s not so subtle moments, without the dark, edgy, lofi feel of the world, soundtrack, and characters, the story of Megalo would lose most of it’s impact. It didn’t overdo it, didnt underhand it, and was better overall for it.
Plus its like rockem sockem robots on crack.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:39 am
Loved the first 2 episodes, but after that it was just terribly paced, extremely predictable and the fights weren’t even exciting
October 15, 2018 @ 2:41 am
I honestly thought it was boring and overrated. Only made it through episode 5 before I lost interest, it was just too painfully predictable for my taste.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:42 am
Megalobox was an interesting story and the pacing didn’t necessarily feel rushed just parts are omitted. The show could have been better but the pacing for each individual episode was great and I liked the roles and characterization of the mains. The boxing is a little weak but I quickly figured out the boxing came secondary to the story progression and was kinda okay with it. It was just nice to see a less typical anime this season
October 15, 2018 @ 2:42 am
Hey uh… Have you heard of this thing uh… it’s called Ashita no Joe and uh… it was kinda the entire reason for this show existing and the source of most of its characters and arcs, cause, y’know, this is a project to celebrate its 50th anniversary… and they SAY SO… at the beginning of EVERY EPISODE.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:44 am
Megalo box was the Real Underdog of this Anime Season. Quite poetic that story is all about underdogs.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:45 am
Unpopular opinion i like the show i thought it was great its has some flaws especially last episode but i still enjoyed it
October 15, 2018 @ 2:46 am
MegaloBox is an alright show. The best part for me is honestly the visuals. The story is entertaining enough, but not SUPER entertaining. I mainly watched on to see the ending, which was underwhelming to say the least.
Also, people compare it more to Hajime no Ippo instead of Ashita no Joe, which is okay, but the latter is more connected to MegaloBox so I don’t get why that’s the only comparison they’re making.
Still, I liked it enough, would not rewatch it or get super attached to it tho.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:49 am
Download Anime Amino:
https://go.onelink.me/yXCl/ManimeMatt
Follow me on anime amino: Manime Matt
October 15, 2018 @ 2:49 am
Too bad I dislike old stuff x: so this anime is nothing for me x: Plus the fact that I am neither interested in boxing nor the visuals ._. (sry need my bishies if the plot isn’t interesting to me)
October 15, 2018 @ 2:49 am
i loved megalo box
sure it was predictable but it was a a fun story with likable chars
just because somethings predictable dosent make it bad people
October 15, 2018 @ 2:50 am
Megalo Box wasn’t that good. It was just ok. The main enjoyment I got from the show were the animation and the music. Other than that, it’s pretty boring.
I don’t even care that the ending was predictable. What bothers me is that the story felt rushed as hell. This should have been a 24 episodes anime. There’s a reason why most sports anime have at least 24 episodes: characters need to be developped for watchers to want to root for them. In Megalo Box, we never learned anything from the main character, aside for the fact that he’s a natural at boxing and that he has a lot of drive to win. But there does this drive come from? How the hell did he get into the slums in the first place? Why did he want to quit underground matches? Same with his main rival, the russian dude. Heck, we know more about the kid than the protagonist. There’s no reason for me to want to root for Joe when I don’t know who he his and where his motivation comes from. It feels like rooting for a total stranger.
Then there’s the coatch, who’s personality was all over the place. We can tell he’s a ”bad guy with a good heart” kind a of character, which is fine, but it was poorly handled. It felt like his personality changed from good to bad just for plot purpose. Especially towards the end, when he became blind, he suddenly became all nice and somehow knew how to teach from sound alone. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but when you loose a sense as vital as view, you need more than a few days to adapt, just saying.
And finally, as a sport anime fan, I have to say the fight scenes were not that engaging. Most were just too short to make it feel exciting, especially when I knew Joe was gonna win no matter how many times got knocked down.
So yeah, I might listen to the soundtrack once in a while, especially the catchy ending, but I won’t rewatch this show anytime soon, which sucks cause the artstyle is nice. Overall, Megalo Box had lots of potential, but it was poorly used. Too bad.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:50 am
Hajime No Ippo and Cowboy Bepop? Um ASHITA NO JOE/ASHITANO JOE 2? Hellooo? AnJ = Underrated and old
October 15, 2018 @ 2:51 am
The show was really bad
It was one of dumbest boxing shows of all time. The fights were really weak compared to hajime no ippo