User reviews

I went through a good period where I was pretty into anime, but eventually, I just got bored with the medium. Check out what's airing the same season as Megalo Box: a handful of continuing shows, a bunch of sequel series, and all of it is very "anime" - I'm talking art style, writing, most slot very nicely in with their contemporaries. Don't get me wrong, anime is not inherently bad, there's just a ton of it, and the shows start to blend together. In this horde of anime, Megalo Box stands out as a unique, raw, and awesome sports anime.

The show is propped up considerably by its distinctive art style. Beautiful backgrounds and unique character designs are the hallmark of this show. It doesn't look like its peers. If it looks like anything, it's 90s anime like Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. And I say the show looks better for it. Honestly, the art direction on the show is stunning, and is probably the top draw for the show.

As for plot, it's a pretty standard underdog story framed in a tournament arc. This approach is simple, yet effective. The show does a great job in characterizing its characters, specifically Joe, Nanbu, and Sachio, in a myriad of little ways. The characters are brought to life by excellent voice acting. The drama of the show comes from the high stakes of each match and our desire to see (the average) Joe overcome. The show has a great sense of narrative stakes and ramps up the tension in each episode, even when there's no boxing in the episode.

Beyond narrative stakes, tension and other emotions are promulgated by the intensely vivacious and superb soundtrack. The music in this show is so excellent, and well-integrated in the story.

If I had to offer some complaints, tons of anime offer these cheap shortcuts of not showing speaker's faces so they don't have to animate the lips or jaws. Many frames have little-to-no movement in them. This is distracting to me because I look out for stuff like this, it's probably not something that too many people actually care about. Besides that, the actual boxing matches could do with some better boxing choreography. Odd angles and strange pacing in the fights hampers the show. Hajime no Ippo and Rocky Balboa are both better examples of how to frame and direct the sport of boxing.

These complaints are relatively minor, and the show itself is fantastic. Honestly, it just feels refreshing to have an anime that a (mostly) original property that tells an inspired story in an inspired way with an inspired art style. The show smacks of passion, originality, and creativity, all things that I value in art. This is one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory, and I think this one is going to have a long shelf life.

There's only so much you can accomplish when talking a story of a boxer rising to stardom, so when one comes along that impresses most of its viewers, that's nothing to take very lightly. Megalo Box is one of 2018's latest anime to reach completion and it's nothing short of terrific from start to finish. Going into this show, I was worried that it would rip-off classic boxing stories and give them a new spin, and while this show definitely does versions of that, it truly is its own thing and there are quite a few surprises along the way to keep you hooked. Megalo Box is a series that never wastes a moment throughout its 13 episodes and here's why (if you can get into anime in the least) I think it's absolutely worthy of your time.

In a world where underground boxing has boxers wearing gear to enhance their fighting skills, Megalo Box follows a young man with no name but "Junk Dog," as he is used as a tool to throw matches for money. Determined that he has what it takes to take down the champion at this year's "Megalonia," he throws his past in the dust and decides fight fearlessly to the top of the rankings. Along with some surprisingly emotional episodes involving characters from the past, this show takes your heartstrings and tugs on them pretty hard on multiple occasions. While the overall series is slightly predictable in terms of where the story progresses, the point is that it keeps you emotionally invested.

Throughout each episode, whether it's simply a character reflecting on the past or literally fighting in the ring, everyone gets their shot at development here. As I mentioned, there isn't a single wasted moment or filler episode, because at a mere 13 episodes, there are a lot of stories to get through. It's almost as if the core story of fighting to the top takes a backseat and places itself on autopilot, as the writers take you on separate journeys into the past or future. Just when you know you have everything figured out, Megalo Box either gives you a gut-punch of a fight or has you begging for certain character's fates. I was on the edge of my seat through each consecutive episode, with a true standout storyline involving a character who goes by the name Aragaki. To myself, at least, this was a standout moment from the series.

In terms of being satisfying and delivering a final episode that will please all viewers, I believe this show ends on a very, very solid note and leaves you feeling complete, while also possibly wishing for it to continue. When a series can do both of those things at once, then it has done its job perfectly. I do think there are a few episodes that could've devoted themselves to exploring the villain side a little more, but other than that, everything about this show felt earned and worthwhile by the time the credits began to roll on the 13th episode.

In the end, Megalo Box is a generic story of a boxer rising to stardom, but it spins that classic tale on its head by throwing in characters that may have you in tears, boxing matches that could take your breath away, and twists that had my jaw on the floor on one occasion in particular. I don't believe this is a premise that can win any awards, but for being so similar to other things, I truly believe this show deserves all the credit in the world for feeling completely fresh. I loved watching this series and I have no regrets in recommending this one to anime lovers and even casual viewers alike. Megalo Box is fantastic.

I wanted to give this anime 10/10 but i didn't. Because the story is way too simple. No match to today's boxing but still enjoyable. Art is 7/10. Soundtrack is awesome 10/10. Story is 7/10. But somehow with simple story this series can make you get obsessed with it, just like it did to me. So, it is worth to give this anime a try ;D

This anime is just straight up amazing and I highly regret delaying watching it. Everything from the animation to the story to the characters to the voice acting is absolutely spectacular. A longer review would end up being redundant praise. The music is great, the fight choreography is perfect, its really hard for me to find any flaws in the story or the show itself. I would highly recommend watching.

I've been watching a lot of anime's at the moment, I usually watch 3-4 episodes of a new anime and if it holds me then that's the one I'll watch. To be honest though home of them usually fade out near the end, but this method usually doesn't disappoint me. Well! Megalo Box hooked me from the first episode with its fresh image and thumping sound track! I just couldn't get enough of it, it really pulls you into the story of Joe an up and coming fighter competing in underground fights. These fights use arm mechanisms to assist the fighters... That's all I'm gonna say to get you started. This is a very emotional anime in a world of tough guys. It's my best anime this year and it's gonna take something unique to knock it of my the spot.

Super hooked the first time I watched it. the whole vibe of this anime is dope - cowboy bebop and oldschool vibes...

Megalobox official review

Megalobox was a great show about Gearless Joe, a boxer in a tournament against power-suited opponents.

It did a great job of hitting the right gritty tone and I loved the old school look.

Worth a watch, and im hoping for a second season.

8/10

With an older school animation style that is reminiscent of some of the classics (Cowboy Bebop, etc.), a simple and clean story and characters just deep enough to enjoy it was worth the binge.

Series length about perfect, episodes were straight forward storytelling without much filler and the final episode was surprisingly fulfilling, especially considering I'm one of those anime fans who always thinks the endings are rushed / needed more wrap up.

All in all it's a nice clean 13 episode arc with a tidy ending leaving one satisfied and feeling "complete".

FYI watch until the final seconds of the credits.

Pros:

• Classic / Old school animation style.
• Good music, with some unique scores for the show.
• Characters that are simple and identifiable with most not feeling like cardboard cutouts.
• Short but satisfying series that is easily binged.
• English dubbing.

Cons:

• Animation quality dips at times, some distracting irregularities.
• Predictable story, but it doesn't pretend to be more than what it is.
• English dubbing misses some of the dialogue (I watch with subtitles on).

Not only has the series celebrated its name sake, the series has been put together in such a way that fans are noting huge properties like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun as anime in the same vein. With a grungy, nostalgic art style mixed with a hip-hop soundtrack, fans can't believe that a new series would make them think of those famous classics.

I have heard of this anime being mentioned by Joey (The Anime Man) many times saying how great this anime is and 110% agree with him on his opinon. The fighting scenes were just beyond incredible. The characters just make the whole viewing experience of the 13 episodes much easier to follow, especially Joe with his laid back but pumped up attitude when it comes to every opponent he fought in the ring.

It's been a very long while since I last heard an English dub and I can honestly tell you, Kaiji Tang among the other English dub actors were pretty soothing to hear haha. It's good seeing and of course knowing, that the voice actors were matched well with their characters. I can definitely say this also for the Japanese voice actors in the sub version of the anime series.

What was a downer though that it did lose a score is that the music was a hit/miss. I personally didn't think that the op and ending songs weren't that pumped up enough for this particular series. Hopefully whenever season 2 comes out this year (or next year if covid did affect its airing), the soundtrack side will be better. Don't get me wrong, the songs were good in a way but just not to my tastebuds.

Literally can't wait for season 2 and what'll bring in Joes boxing journey ^^

I found the story to be interesting but frankly not very creative. Considering it's going for a classic story plot it does do a good job of keeping your interest, however imo this show gets boring real quick after 2nd season 2nd or 3rd episode. The characters decisions make little to no sense and this is the same frustration that promise never land gave me. Basically they don't build up a character enough for you to believe they can do something they did. And that's basically where Meglabox goes down hill. It never spent the time to build some of the important support characters and frankly the man character isn't even all that interesting and I don't find any narrative tools that work to get you to be sympathetic.

So you end up with a decent story, imo ehh writing and boring fights with questionable character development. I know the anime community is loving it but personally a 10/10 for this anime is really not honest because it's not that good. 10/10 makes meglabox better than some really legendary anime and it's honestly a joke and not serious. It's closer to an 8/10 however I removed a point for the fact that they decided to make the animation blurry for styling but it's just annoying and to noticeable.

Great design, soundtrack and costume of characters. It takes reference from cyber punk genre and titles like cowboy bebop. One of the best first episodes in Anime. Straight forward plot with a good delivery. Don't expect the best plot of the world, but a very good "rocky"-esque that just works. Definitely worth checking it up.

Good fights, a history of overcoming and belief that victory does not discriminate against your social status, depends only on your effort and opportunity.

It is worth watching, without much time to develop the characters, simplistic overcoming but a good story.

I enjoy sports anime so when I saw one on Netflix with just having thirteen episodes, decided to give it a go. The anime is based on boxing with metallic gears, the story of an underdog boxer aiming for the top. Found the plotting and storytelling to be below average and the ending very disappointing. The idea of using gears in boxing sounds and looks cool but not realistic. Also the characters are simple, even by the end I didn't care what happened to them. Also what was with the world making, it only revolved around the boxing ring and we don't get to see anything else of this dystopian style world. The animation itself is really good, it looks great and the music is amazing, but the story is shallow.

I watched the first season and it was amazing so of course when I saw it was a second part I was gonna watch, I did not expect such an amazing , beautiful story! Omg the progression of the characters, I watch a lot of anime and hadn't seen that in a very long time, this story of redemption and family! Omfg 10/10.

Megalo Box is an incredible anime, with amazing realistic art, pumping full on steroids! The first season is phenomenal!

But the second season, although it starts strong, gets tiredsome very quickly, leading me to say "stay at the first season, Nomad was unneeded."

A good anime with likeable characters, good voice acting, and decent writing. It's a bit derivative; we've seen this main character and his supporting crew a thousand times already. But, it still manages to remain unique thanks to its new take on boxing by adding a technology element that's relatively new. How the writers choose to implement that technology into the story as it unfolds is what truly makes the show surprising and fun to watch.

I should start by saying I love this show. The art style, music, and worldbuilding are all so good they HAVE to be compared with shows like Cowboy Bebop, especially given the visual similarities and emotional use of music. That said, for all Megalo Box's style, it doesn't have the substance of a show like Bebop.

The main issues I think are character presentation and emotional pacing. My best examples are the many many times Joe is always depicted as being right, even when his decisions have real, negative consequences for other people; the show needs to at least make him morally grey and learn from his mistakes as he is arguably the main character with the least personality growth throughout; and secondly the amount of buildup the show gives only to cut short its emotional payoffs in the two biggest fights of the show by never dwelling on is happening or what just happened.

All that said, the show is still amazing and hits basically every other beat so anyone reading this don't be discouraged.

A great anime if you want to fall asleep - as I did most of times. Shallow, poor characters and no plot at all. The fightings scenes are nothing but an unsalty effort of something which could do way better. If you have some time to waste...well, still skip this one.

Megalobox goes beyond just boxing. It's a view on life itself and expertly tells an incredible story. The story touches on a lot of mature themes but manages to have a very optimistic outlook, it's dramatic but not overly, it's dark but not to the point of being edgy, and it just is a damn good show. It's honestly one of the best shows I've ever seen, and I'd recommend it even if you don't like boxing or don't like anime.

Amazing characters with a very good storyline, love it.