MEGALOBOX Ep 3 THAT BOOZE DID NOTHING WRONG!

• Genre : Cyberpunk, Sports!, action, cool
• Studio: TMS Entertainment

I’m back again following Joe (JD) and Yuri’s adventures as they struggle to find their way back to one another.

You know, the art itself in this show is very cool but drops off in detail a lot. It’s obviously a conscious choice but it might not be to everyone’s taste. What is remarkable to see is the way that character models move. And not just during high action fighting sequences. Different people have different gaits which seem to be at least in part tailored to their physiques. Motions are just a little exaggerated as limbs get overextended for even trivial actions. It’s quite fun to watch.

And just as I write a post about the dearth of different bodies in anime, of course the universe has to immediately prove me a moron and throw a show with just about every possible size and shape of man, my way. We can see different limb ratios, characters that are overweight but also obviously muscular versus those that are simply out of shape. Even the kids have aren’t proportioned the same. Of course, leave it to show that’s particularly concerned with men’s anatomy to provide us with such a variety of masculine body types!

 

I’m going to have to pace myself before these reviews just turn into straight up NSFW fanfics. Or is that a good thing??? With my fiction writing skills – it is not!

Speaking of body types, unless I’m mistaken, Yuri is visibly taller than JD, are they sure they would even be in the same weight class? Maybe Megalo boxing rules don’t seal with that in the same way but you have to admit it would be pretty hilarious if after a season of fighting his way to the top, JD is in a completely different class and they have zero chance of fighting each other officially.

OK, so on to the actual episode… I am not getting better at this….

We only get a glimpse of Yuri this time, but that glimpse is entirely dedicated to assuring us that he is still thinking of JD. In fact, he can’t get JD’s voice out of his head. So the obsession is indeed mutual.

Otherwise, we got back to the slums and JDs preparations for his first fight. Once again, I love the heavy dystopian vibes. JD is training hard with his current “partner” who is doing a pathetic job at trying to hide his jealousy. Not only does Nanbu constantly insist on reminding JD and everyone else that they’re partners but he does that passive aggressive mind game thing. One minute berating JD and ordering him to forget all about Yuri, the next minute bringing up Yuri himself every chance he gets. Obviously, something’s gotten under his skin.

Nanbu and JD’s training gets interrupted by a chance encounter with a group of kids while trying to get new gear at a local pawn shop. I’m not a fan a little kid characters but if you have to have them in there, might as well stick a scene where they do heavy drugs in a pan shop or get beaten half to death by enormous enforcers.

We’ll see where this goes, as Saio is a little too precocious for my tastes. The obvious Tragic Backstory^TM  and super mechanic powers seem a somewhat too convenient and cheesy for this particular type of story. It almost Dysnified it despite the brutal context however the treatment has potential, so I’m not calling foul yet.

Besides, I’m assuming the plot chose to give our hero a spunky junior sidekick in order to soften and humanize him. After all, being good with kids is always a desirable trait in a partner, and now we know JD can be counted on to be a family man!

We did get a few look at how *cool* JD is scenes and well, they were pretty cool. Rather silly but definitely cool. Not only is JD good with kids but also the type to ram his motorcycle throw a widow to beat up a huge cyborg guy even when his own tech breaks down. In case you hadn’t notice, JD is a man! In fact, he may be The Man!

I’m a little worried the series may be leaning a bit too hard on it’s cool factor but I’m still enjoying it thoroughly. I look forward to the next episode and even more to making you all mildly uncomfortable as I attempt to channel my inner E. L. James!

Look at all these screencaps – you don’t even need to see the episode now!