Megalo Box is a remix of the Ashita no Joe manga, producing a new anime that showcases the junkyard dog who fights his way to the path of champions.
Megalo Box is 13 episodes of riveting anime masked in grimy animation and a soundtrack that cultivates a theme that matches the mystique of its characters.
And much like the famed Rocky series in America, this show embodies the classic underdog story with unwavering will-power in a quest to punch past the odds.
The show is constructed around an underground Megalo Boxer—this form of boxing uses a mechanical gear which is an enhanced fighting style. The underground fighter’s name is unknown and he is forced to throw underground fights for his crooked manager, Gansaku, until he’s forced to join the Megalonia tournament and settle his gambler manager’s debts by default while testing his own abilities and settling the score with Megalonia’s king of Megalo boxing, Yuri.
Megalo Box has intense emotion entangled in serious obstacles and unbelievable odds, especially when the Junk Dog joins the Megalonia and goes by the name “Joe”—ultimately taking on the name of “Gearless Joe”, taking on a name that proves that this name is more than just a gimmick for a boxer.
The show has unique aspects to it that also make it interesting. You can see the real-life aspects of the poverty in the restricted areas outside the city. Sachio is an example of this. He’s a little boy who is gifted with machinery fixing kills, but he is a child without a mother or father, entangled in stealing for “Red Candy” which is a sort of drug.
His sub-story captures you emotionally as you watch a boy who carries the pain of his late father while helping Joe make it through Megalonia and gaining a new family along the way.
Megalo Box is unwavering in its constant delivery of a bold and inspiring story of the ultimate underdog.