Megalobox is an animated TV show or anime about the evolution of boxing. In the not too distant future, boxing has evolved into a worldly beauty, a sport where technological advancements have brought about enhanced fighting. The world of boxing has adopted "gears" worn by boxers, giving them more power, speed and reach. It's the right ingredient for the perfect combat sport.
Junk Dog (Jnk Dog) is a relative unknown on the world scene of megaloboxing. He runs a con, along with his trainer/promoter, throwing games in the underground to make a living in the outskirts of town. A chance meeting with the world champion of Megalobox changes his outlook on life and boxing, and sets him on a path towards legitimate boxing with an eye for Megalonia, the biggest megaloboxing event in the world. Can the stray dog conquer the world?
The season premier of Megalobox offered a sneak peek of what viewers were going to be treated to and we absolutely loved the Premier. The introduction to the boxing gear, the introduction of Junk Dog, and his con, it was all brilliant. We loved how the creators of the show did not throw us a character with a hero complex in the very first episode. It gave us the feeling of anticipation, intrigues and a whole lot of thrill.
We have followed a lot of combat sport anime, ranging from Baki the grappler, to Hajime no Ippo, to the relatively new Tiger Mask, and we could confidently puff our chest and say Megalobox had a lot of promise, idea and concept. It was innovative, and the season premier did not disappoint viewers.
How then did it all go wrong? It all went to shit when Junk Dog took on a hero complex, when the creators felt it was okay for con to make it into the big leagues not with hardwork but with resilience only. Taking upon the Persona of Joe meant that he abandoned the persona of Junk Dog, a character we could have come to love with proper character development. From the introduction of the world-conquering-domination-seeking, Joe, we felt the show became a little bit rushed. We would absolutely have loved the conclusion of the first season with Joe(Junk Dog) managing to sneak into the top 50 fighters in the world. I mean, how long did it take Baki to gain world recognition? Two seasons( 25 episodes each); that was a whole lot of time to develop the main character.
We also did not like how the creators deviated from the idea of the show. The idea of the show was to create a show about enhanced boxers duelling for the ultimate title of world champion of Megalobox. We were however very surprised when Joe started fighting without the gear, thereby creating the moniker of "Gearless Joe" . In essence a Gearless fighter was competing to become the world champion of Megalobox. It felt like an irony.
In the beginning, we felt it was due to a lack of funds to get a new gear for Joe, and also maybe to create a hype around a fighter who was fighting without gear, but when he made the tourney fa?
May we also with due respect say that the lack of character development presented viewers with a protagonist who had no talents and had absolutely no reason being where he was striving to be. I mean we would have been perturbed if within a period of 8 episodes he developed incredible talent. Thus what we had, was a protagonist, with no talent, fighting Gearless, getting his ass handed to him in every round of a boxing bout, getting knocked down for fun, and coming out of the dead to win it in the end. It was as routine and boring as that. This disappointed viewers, who wanted to see two men beat the hell out of each other, not to see a beat down.
Well it's not all doom and gloom, we have what we loved absolutely. The season finale, the final match up in the tournament, having the sense to not allow or make the defending champion fight a Gearless fighter, and having the gall to leave viewers stranded as to the result of the final fight. Yes that's right, I don't know who won!
The emotion put into the last two episodes of the season were absolutely incredible. We loved what they did with the ending sequence, choosing to go out on an emotional note, rather than a high note, it's a brilliant piece of business.
With the way the season ended, I won't be surprised if a 2nd season is announced soon. Hell I think I am anticipating a renewal.
There you have it readers, even though we have a show with great ideas with a poor execution, I can absolutely guarantee that you will love this show. You may not love it for what it has provided you with, but for the concept, the ideas and most importantly for what it is capable of delivering in the long run.
If you have time on your hands, do pick this one up and have a run at it. You will love it.
Yo Moriyama and TMS Entertainment have created a superb concept here, and it can only get better from here on out.
FCA'S AppR : 8.2 /10
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