Mikio Shirato

Megalobox is an original 13-episode anime from TMS Entertainment that aired from April to June 2018. It was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe), one of the most famous boxing manga ever made. It is not a remake. Instead, it takes the spirit of that old story and places it in a new world. It was the first series directed by Yo Moriyama. The team gave it a rough, grainy look on purpose, so it feels like an anime from the 1980s. The music, by the artist mabanua, mixes hip-hop and soul. The story takes place in a future city divided in two. Rich citizens live in a shining, well-run area. Outside it lies a huge slum for people without official papers. They have no rights and little hope. The most popular sport in this world is Megalo Box. It is boxing, but the fighters wear metal frames called Gear on their arms and backs, which make their punches much faster and harder. The main character lives in the slum and fights in illegal matches. He has no real name, so everyone calls him Junk Dog. He is very talented, but he loses on purpose to earn money for his manager, Gansaku Nanbu, an old trainer with bad debts to a gang. Junk Dog is bored, angry and stuck. Everything changes when he fights Yuri, the champion of Megalo Box, in a secret match. Yuri beats him fast, but he also sees his talent. Yuri tells him that if he wants a real fight, he must climb up to meet him in the big ring. Junk Dog accepts. To do that, he has to enter Megalonia, a big new tournament run by the powerful Shirato Group and its cold, clever leader, Yukiko Shirato. With a fake ID and the new name Joe, he starts from the very bottom. Joe, Nanbu and a sharp street kid named Sachio form a small, poor team. They have almost no money and no proper equipment. Soon Joe makes a shocking choice that turns him into a symbol for everyone who has been left behind. The show follows his rise from match to match, against fighters who each have their own reasons to win. Megalobox is a classic underdog story, which means a story about someone weak who fights to beat the strong. It is about pride, poverty, and finding a reason to keep going. The fights are tense and physical, but the quiet moments between Joe, Nanbu and Sachio are just as strong. Critics loved the show and compared its style to Cowboy Bebop. A sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad, came out in 2021 and follows Joe years later. This first season works well on its own and is a great watch even if you have never seen a boxing anime before.