English Dub Review: Megalobox 2 – Nomad “Si la flor del alma florece, el amor no se perderá”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Chief faces his final match against a boxer for the landlord who wants to kick him and his people off the land, but with Joe’s coaching, they’re able to win and fully own it. Sadly, Chief dies from his injuries, but was able to make Joe promise to follow his own heart. At his family’s request, Joe takes Chief’s gear and rides off, heading back to boxing and the place he has to return to.

OUR TAKE

When this sequel was announced, I was understandably skeptical of both the intentions and possible execution of it. The first season was a pretty damn well structured story with a solid closed book ending that seemed very difficult to improve on, and trying to recapture the magic that it had was going to take a damn miracle, assuming it was even remotely possible to pull off. Heck, it would be hard to even imagine what to do with the story beyond just doing basically the plot of the first season again and trying to make it feel not stale. Whatever I thought it might be, it was certainly not how these last few episodes have been, namely in how it has dragged the initially honorable and sound code that Joe had in the first season down into the dirt, had him find other people there as low as him, helped him to find a community and a fight that is basically life or death for those people, and still ending with a heart wrenching conclusion that brings out the tears just like the end of the first season did. And we’re only on episode four.

Chief as a character felt like a great mirror for Joe, not only from the start of his journey in season one but also the nomad he had become. Both felt like the only way to make up for their past mistakes was to keep fighting without end or purpose, with only a sad death awaiting them. But Chief found his purpose again in fighting to defend his people’s land, while Joe found his in helping give guidance and coaching to Chief much like Nanbu did for him. Incidentally, this is the first episode that Joe has not seen Nanbu’s ghost, likely meaning he’s not nearly as haunted by things as before, even if they do still need to be resolved. As for Chief, his death was very sudden and tragic and has been the topic of speculation about how he may have passed. Most seem to agree that he died from the injuries sustained in the match, which caught up with him along with the alcohol and drug abuse (as well as there being real precedent for this delayed reaction happening in real life boxing matches), though others wonder if he took his own life after feeling like he obtained his purpose and wanting to see his wife and child in the afterlife. Whatever the reason, his spirit and gear live on in Joe, the man who inspired him in the first place. Yet it’s still unclear where the story will head from here.