MEGALOBOX – The Ultimate Underdog Anime
MEGALOBOX – The Ultimate Underdog Anime
Megalo Box and its hero “Gearless Joe” have a lot in common. Mainly – they’re true underdogs.
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In the depths of his Mother’s Basement, Geoff Thew creates videos analyzing the storytelling techniques of anime and video games. He has been named the number one Worst YouTube Anime Reviewer by The Top Tens.
September 19, 2018 @ 2:55 pm
lol I didn’t see it this way before you pointed it out, cel shaded style is great
September 19, 2018 @ 2:56 pm
I Loved this show from the first episode
September 19, 2018 @ 2:56 pm
Shit ending doe
September 19, 2018 @ 2:57 pm
i see what you did there saying "Genuine article" C:
September 19, 2018 @ 2:58 pm
One of the biggest reason of megalo boxes success apart from its music is its art style. The 90s art style really is the G.O.A.T.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:01 pm
I don’t get about Megalo box, they are wearing strength enhancing armor, but what gets hit is an *unprotected* head. It just doesn’t add up, I tried ignoring it but it’s just so obvious that fights should end with only one punch. Guess I’m the only one….
September 19, 2018 @ 3:02 pm
reminds so much Ashita No Joe..
September 19, 2018 @ 3:03 pm
First time I heard/see this anime. I already liked it….
September 19, 2018 @ 3:04 pm
I think joe will die cause Word death is in evry name of a episode.And that "Still not dead yet"
September 19, 2018 @ 3:05 pm
Thank you so much to putting in words what i feel about anime, for me cowboy bebop style is art, and SAO style is trash
September 19, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
Comic girl
September 19, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
This show looks beautiful, had great moments, but in the end, I think the show was…okay. But this review made me appreciate it a bit more
September 19, 2018 @ 3:08 pm
I saw it to reference Ashta No Joe quite often either in design or in some lines. Heck, I saw it as a remake of the classic series. Loved it and made me want to re-watch the original Ashta no Joe
September 19, 2018 @ 3:11 pm
What are your thoughts on the ending?
September 19, 2018 @ 3:11 pm
sub or dub?
September 19, 2018 @ 3:11 pm
I honestly thought that Megalo Box was an anime straight out of the 90’s, just recreated in 2018. The minute I saw JD, with that rustic and authentic looking art style, I couldn’t help but think of Spike from Cowboy Bebop. I fucking love that!
September 19, 2018 @ 3:11 pm
because we just missed the good old days of Knock Out. XD
I’m glad that Baki is back. Oh YIS!!
September 19, 2018 @ 3:12 pm
The art style is the only thing this anime had going for itself. I appreciated the unique characters that are different from the basic cookie cutter characters we typically see for 12 episode animes. Other than than the short story about the fighter who went to war and was forgetten/ left behind by his coach, this anime is trash. I don’t get why people like it. Can you even consider him an underdog if he is already better than most fighters? Just because he wasn’t well known? His skill level really does not increase throughout his fights. Most of his problems are from outside the fights, such as being forced to throw the match or being blackmailed. He basically won most of his fights by having infinte stamina. He takes a ton of punches to the face and yet one lucky punch gets him the win. I personally hated the fights because they all ended up this way. The story outside of the fights was way more interesting. Speaking of story, the start of this story made no fucking sense. He runs into Yuri and says he doesn’t know what real megalo boxing is or some shit like that. Yuri, the fucking champion can’t get over it. So they decide to battle it out in the megalo boxing arena, but it ends up being regular boxing, nothing megalo about it. Yuri is so unfit to fight after his surgery that he can’t even sit down from the first round, how is this even fair? The ultimate fight of the anime and Yuri has this huge handicap on him, how is Joe’s win supposed to be satisfying? This anime was such a let down in terms of the fights and most of the story. Yes I like the art style, the music, and the character design, but I hated to story. It just wasn’t good and I don’t get why it’s getting so much praise
September 19, 2018 @ 3:12 pm
And yet we still can’t get hajime no ippo Smh
September 19, 2018 @ 3:15 pm
It has a bomb ass soundtrack
September 19, 2018 @ 3:19 pm
It is simple: It got a story and stays with it. Development feels earned by the characters. There was somehow the Feeling that they can fail – well simple. They felt like human.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:20 pm
This video made me watch it. Currently on episode 4 and "I’m Lovin it!!!!"
September 19, 2018 @ 3:21 pm
So MEGALOBOX is to anime what Sonic Mania is to Sonic games. The be all and end all of retro throwbacks incorporating what was great about the past and using all the superior technology we have today to emulate it and making it as good as possible whilst still retaining that authentically retro feel and aesthetic.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:23 pm
Did the people that created this have any actual real life boxing experience? That’s what made Hajime no Ippo so amazing for me; although it was exaggerated, a lot of the scenes actually represented real life boxing. As a professional boxing fan I feel like if this show doesn’t base the fights somewhat in reality then it could really hurt the show for a lot of people.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:24 pm
I like the end to this anime. It may seem a bit cliche, but it’s believable because Yuri handicaps himself by removing his gear. The post-fight scene also gives a good idea at how the world would keep progressing after the show ends.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:25 pm
Not sure how garbage shows get 800 episodes, but something this good only gets 12?
September 19, 2018 @ 3:26 pm
Just watched the final episode, and god damn was this fucking good.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:27 pm
Trying way to hard to look like Cowboy bebop and samurai champloo
September 19, 2018 @ 3:30 pm
I love Megalobox’s soundtrack. They recently released the full album on Spotify and I’ve been listening to it non-stop ever since. Some of my favorite tracks include "Theme of Pepe Iglesias," "Enter the Arena," "The Slum" and "Resolution" along with all the rap songs by COMA-CHI. I’d recommend that anyone who’s interested check it out, you will not be dissapointed.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:30 pm
On episode 9…I freaking love the retro feel of this series…reminds me of the days that Anime was called Japanimation, straight up old school!
September 19, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
This show is the real deal. Not your average anime.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
Mentions trigun and cowboy bebop, shows outlaw star and cowboy instead hahaha
September 19, 2018 @ 3:34 pm
I just watched episode 11 and I am kinda dissapointed with the show.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:34 pm
i noticed you used megalobox songs in your video , theyre truly a masterpiece , well from my perspective .
September 19, 2018 @ 3:35 pm
For some reason I’m reminded of punch out and little mac.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:40 pm
it’s good. But fuuuck i’m soo sick of "throw this fight or there will be consequences" cliche. And this time it makes no sense as well.
We never seen Joe win a single fight in that uneground arena, and judging from dialogue with him an his coach he loses on purpose multiple times in a row(which makes 0 sense, you either throw a single fight after a long win streak, or you are so bad that you loose a lot, and then make a deal to win one uecxpected). It’s safe to assume nobody would bet on him at that point, and when he finally wins, and with one punch no less(if they bet on round of win as well), owner probably took full crowd worth of money, cuz not a single person could have predicted that.
And second time they use that trope it makes even less sense. why does owner of the arena even cares and even still owns this shithole if he could arrange fake lose in the world wide championship this whole time and nobody would notice?
September 19, 2018 @ 3:41 pm
It’s not kicking ass it’s… punching ass, hehe.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:44 pm
I started watching this recently and I really like it so far. Thanks for recommending this, Geoff.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:44 pm
I think something important to note about Megalo Box in terms of the fight choreography is that Megalo Box is not ABOUT boxing, it’s simply a boxing story. That is to say, the boxing is there as set-pieces and tone setting, it’s not a real part of the show’s meat. Hajime no Ippo would be on the other end of the spectrum; a show that dedicates time toward the training and strategy in equal measure to it’s plot and character development (usually simultaneously, in fact).
Personally, that was my problem going into Megalo Box, I was looking for something to fill the void Ippo has left me without more seasons, but that’s not what Megalo Box is. I’m not saying this as a bad thing, I just think it’s important to keep your expectations in check going in. I went in looking for a hit of my favourite drug and instead had a pleasant time. It was good, but the fact it wasn’t what I wanted effected it poorly.
So yeah. Go into Megalo Box as a Rocky movie, not sports anime.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:44 pm
Most veterans will agreed this anime look, felt like a love letter of a forgotten media , it wash out all anime stereotypes, I have friends that dont like anime but can recommend this show to then and they genuinely love the story.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:44 pm
The story of MEGALOBOX’s success is so incredibly similar to the story of the protagonist Joe that it feels like it must have been deliberate, but you know that it can’t have been, and that’s what makes it so amazing to me. How both the story presented within the show is an underdog story that hits basically all the exact same story beats as the real life story of how the show worked it’s way up to the top, gaining international success and popularity, by drawing people in with an interesting premise and/or gimmick, and then keeping them interested with a fantastic underdog story.
I don’t even know if this comment even got my point accross, but it’s just mind boggling to me how there can be so many coincidental similarities between a show’s fictional story and it’s real life story of success.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
Soooo where is the whats in an op?
for this anime
September 19, 2018 @ 3:46 pm
The anime looks great but I can’t get passed the boxing gear. Its problematic. What does it do? Because from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem to do anything. It doesn’t make the fighter faster and it definitely doesn’t make them hit harder. If it did, the fighters would have to wear full body armor in order to avoid immediate death from one blow. There’s no way Joe’s arms could block a punch from a fighter using gear without shattering from the impact. I’m trying to look passed it but its hard.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:46 pm
personnaly, i think this anime is… plot convenient xD
September 19, 2018 @ 3:47 pm
What?!
DSC is sponsoring anime content?! Neat!
September 19, 2018 @ 3:49 pm
What? The Megalo Box does not won anime of the season?!
Let’s RIOT!
September 19, 2018 @ 3:51 pm
Yo am I the only one who thinks yuri looks like glass Joe from punch out
September 19, 2018 @ 3:51 pm
I like this show but I do have one serious problem with it. It’s not a boxing anime. It just isn’t, flat out, period. Sure it’s kind of ABOUT boxing, but the actual matches are fast and very frequently end in a single hit one way or another. There is rarely back and forth and even when there is it’s mostly just said to us. The final contest between the two at the Megalobox championships goes 13 rounds, we see maybe…7-10 minutes of it? The rest is just exposited toward us about how back and forth it is.
Even when they do show boxing its all super tight shots of clamped gloves blocking a hit or a wild swing shown from above the stomach. I can count the number of times the shot showed both competitors entire bodies facing each other in the ring and they threw more than three punches before it cut away on one hand. That’s like, in the entire series not just in that last encounter. It’s kind of silly, imagine if you could continue to call Kokuro no Basket a basketball sports anime if 80% of the shots where of either; a bouncing basketball, a closeup on someones face, a closeup on someones hand dribbling a basketball, someone shooting a shot in a void shown from the shoulders up, a basketball going through the hoop uncontested, a closeup on someones hand missing a basketball in flight or two guys looking at each other while one dribbles the ball twice before a quick cut away. I honestly don’t think you could, and boxing is MUCH more about the exchanges and the dance (as megalobox puts it, which I would agree with) than basketball is.
I am not calling Megalobox bad, it isn’t, i watched it all and loved it. But if you put Megalobox (even it’s best match hands down) against almost any random fight in Hajime no Ippo (even the bad ones with the gag boxers nobody expects to win) it won’t even be a contest. The tossed off fights we don’t even really care about in Ippo get 10X the love, attention and character building as even the super important fights in Megalox box. This is JUST judging the quality of the matches themselves understand, not either show as a whole, I am just assessing them as boxing matches, not anime and not stories right now.
So yeah, Megalobox isn’t a boxing anime, it’s a character study and emotional trip framed with boxing. It’s not that they don’t try to give equal screen time to the matches (even if they did, that isn’t bad, half of Ippo’s storytelling happens during the matches themselves at least), it’s that they clearly aren’t interested in the matches. The matches are a hurdle they have to jump to get on with the story so they do what they need to and move on. The writer doesn’t treat them as anything other than something to get past to move on, this is very evident as almost zero character development happens in the fights. The closest they get is people making a decision about something already bothering them during the fight and even that happens like…twice? Past that the only thing that happens in the fights is the fights. You could honestly supercut them out and replace them with a spash screen of the results and you just wouldn’t lose much.
You can blame some of that on the time they had available to tell the story but that’s a cop out, just tell less of the story before the fight and more of the story during the fight. Just because it’s slightly more difficult a thing to do doesn’t mean it’s not something that should be attempted or something that should be desired as a "boxing anime".
TLDR: This is a great character anime. This is a terrible boxing anime.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:52 pm
Gundam Thunderbolt did the old school aesthetic a lot better
September 19, 2018 @ 3:53 pm
This anime is trash when it comes to boxing tf u talking about son
The animation is shit doesn’t matter wether it is classical or hand drawn, the author doesn’t know shit about boxing, just counter punch, he never explained the benefits or downsides of using a gear, he just thought it would be cool to add some sort of machines, they fail at building tension, at giving a valid point like Joe having no gear gives him more stamina but no jack shit, such much potential ruined, the idea having him gearless is genius, but anything else is shit a barley 6/10 this shouldn’t even get at the top 20 anime of the year