*Be Sure To Check Out The Review For Megalobox Season One Before Reading This Review!*
He became the champion of Megalonia, the first-ever Megaloboxing tournament, giving people hope and mesmerizing them with his boxing prowess without using any gear, Gearless Joe seemed on top of the world after his rise from the depths of underground matches. Seven years later, Gearless Joe hit rock bottom and found himself back in the dark depths of the underground megaloboxing circuit, under the name Nomad.
Nomad was certainly a season nobody could pass up. It had a story that tackled plenty of subjects such as drug use, redemption, corporate greed, medical science, and Immigration while balancing the focus on Joe and what happened after season one.
As many were aware like Boxing, life always has a way of throwing punches, and we take the hits and keep moving forward, Joe’s case in the first half of the story was how his life changed after the loss of Nanbu, and the trust of his family and friends. The second season took on other key issues that weighed heavily in the real world, mental health, and the current red-hot topic in American Politics, Immigration.
Available for Pre-Order: Mike Tyson Funko Pop!
One of the challenges that Nomad faced was having it be its own story, not just a tribute to Ashita no Joe. While Ashita no Joe is a pillar in manga history, it doesn’t need a modern approach and the second season of Megalobox proved that it could stand on its own two feet without trying to prove that it is a modern Tomorrow’s Joe. I don’t say that out of disrespect toward Asao Takamori or Tetsuya Chiba, but Yō Moriyama and the Megalobox creative team made their story their own while keeping the tribute intact. The first half of the season focused on Joe’s psychological state, one of the biggest challenges that the Nomad staff had to contend with while he tried to recapture that fighting spirit from the first season. The second half focused on owning up to the damage done to his friends and allies, while also focusing on medical science and the dangers that boxing has on one’s body, which was on full display with Joe’s opponent Mac “The Hero” Rosario, who had an experimental chip implanted in his brain.
While I do have a lot of praise for the script and writing, it was the animation and choreography that won me over. Megalobox 2 improved its animation style from the first season but still caught the attention of the viewer with the power behind each blow and stepping up the battle choreography with a solid soundtrack to accompany it. Speaking of the soundtrack, I enjoyed the Latin theme in the music and in the series.
Megalobox 2: Nomad may have had a rocky start with a seven-year time skip, but it managed to stick the landing at the end. It’s another win for not only Joe and his team. It was a win for TMS Entertainment as well. Megalobox 2: Nomad is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Final Grade:
Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions, news tips, or questions, email them to: webmaster@bigrednerd.com.
Red's Nerd Den 