English Dub Review: Megalobox 2 – Nomad “Los fantasmas tararean un réquiem”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Five years ago, the Megaloboxer known as Gearless Joe claimed the first Megalonia Champion title. These days, he’s not doing so hot, now wandering from underground ring to underground ring under the name of “Nomad”, beating every opponent until no one will bet against him, and gaining an addiction to painkillers so bad that he’s seeing hallucinations of his old coach Nanbu. Eventually, he finds himself up against another undefeated boxer going by Chief, but while the fight is hard fought, Chief takes a dive at the end, enraging Joe. He confronts Chief later, but Chief taunts him about his addiction, knowing that he used to be Gearless Joe.

OUR TAKE
The original Megalobox series is considered a modern classic in anime, being a short and sweet send up of the iconic “Ashita no Joe” manga from half a century ago while also being a great story in its own right. Despite having a considerable amount of grit to it, the story about Joe and his Team Nowhere as they climbed the ranks of robotic boxing to escape their respective dark and rough pasts also had a ton of heart behind it, with some speculating that it may be a commentary and tribute to the beloved 90’s era of anime that is so fondly remembered today. Though ultimately, even without its franchise connections and subtextual theming, it was a story about finding genuine belief in one’s own strength and overcoming any doubt, even inspiring others to fight with their own strength as well. It would have been quite easy to leave it on its unambiguously happy note and walk away. Which is apparently what the director initially planned on doing.

But here we are, with a sequel, three years later, and it almost feels like a slap in the face to even THINK the ending of the previous season was a good one. One could have feasibly believed that Joe just walked off into the sunset, defending his spot as champion and living a good life being proud of his own strength just as the story built up all this time. Except now we do see him fighting (supposedly) fair fights without needing to take a dive, which was how he started, only fighting fair and beating everyone he comes across just gets him tossed around. He’s back to being a stray dog and he’s his own man, but he’s without a purpose. Aside from quelling his painkiller addiction, which is making him see a ghost of Nanbu, who I have to assume is dead based on the fact that we see him here still having an eye, whereas last season ended with him losing the other one he had. Not to mention, even if he finds a good fight, he can’t help but run into good boxers who will throw the fight to HIM, like Chief. This somber opening and deconstruction of Joe’s happy ending is a ballsy has hell move to say the least, but now the question is how they’ll follow up on it. Guess we’ll see as we continue wandering through “Nomad”.