English Dub Review: Megalobox 2 – Nomad “Aunque las ovaciones se callen, la voz de los mudos no desaparecerá”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

While Team Nowhere refits Chief’s Gear to fit Joe, Mac wanders the streets in a mental haze, thinking back on his first run as a boxer, meeting his wife, joining the police force, being almost paralyzed, and his comeback, all the memories of which are tainted now that he knows what Sakuma did to him. Miraculously, he runs into Hakeem, his former partner in the police force, who reminds him of how much people look up to him. Inspired by this, Mac returns home to reconcile with his family and then goes to Sakuma, letting him know that once the match with Joe is over, he’s done working for ROSCO.

OUR TAKE

Our penultimate episode of the season, much like last season, centers mainly on Joe’s opponent needing to go on a rough internal journey to find himself before the big match. I’ve mentioned before the differences and parallels between Mac’s relationship with Sakuma and Yuri’s with Yukiko in the first season; how there was a mutual respect between the latter that the former doesn’t seem to have. Sakuma seems to see Mac as marketable guinea pig who he could parade around and hype up with talks of being an icon and hero, but as we’ve now seen, when Mac puts his foot down to cut ties with him, Sakuma either doesn’t care or just considers the whole thing sour grapes anyway. He never really cared about Mac or his well being, just how he could use him as a test subject for as long as possible. In a way, it’s actually kind of a less nuanced version of Yuri and Yukiko, with a clear good and bad person between them instead of two decent people who just finally saw a difference in goals after so long. Mac’s BES chip is effectively just like Yuri’s Integrated Gear, only it was only ever life threatening for Yuri to remove his, while Mac’s chip is actively damaging his brain.

But putting that aside, let’s look at how Mac and Yuri’s respective journeys differ and how those two episodes differ in content. Whereas Yuri’s life seemed to mainly revolve around boxing, with no clear life or hobbies outside of that, Mac had to find a life and family after his first go around with Megaloboxing didn’t work out, which is how he met his wife and eventually had his son. So while Yuri only really has to worry about himself if he puts his health in danger, Mac putting himself at risk also endangers his family. And while Yuri removing his gear and suffering from the pain is him trying to put himself on equal footing with Joe so as to have their best possible and most authentic fight, Mac’s introspection hardly involves Joe at all. He was certainly inspired by Joe to try boxing in the first place, and he does want to fight him, but his link to Joe is in how they both mirror the tale of the Nomad and the Hummingbird, which we see the conclusion of in this episode. The Nomad eventually reaches the end of his journey, but instead of seeking death like he originally planned, his time with the Hummingbird reminds him of how much he still has, leading him back home. So, just like Joe coming back to Team Nowhere, Mac eventually comes back home to his own family. Both men are released from their guilt and ready to enter the final match of their lives as their best and most healed selves. Next time, the title fight.