Rwaaaarg I’m back with another episode of Megalo Box: Nomad! I know it’s late, blame the State of the Season and work for being busy. Do you know how annoying interfacing with a dying protocol like XMPP is? Anyways without further ado lets dive in!
And like usual what better place to start than with production? Except this week we actually have something cool to talk about! That’s right Nomad actually gave us a well animated fight for once and I loved it. It shouldn’t be, it makes perfect sense why, but it’s incredible how much good animation can elevate a sports series. Seeing Liu and Joe go at with such clarity and speed really sells how far above the rest of the competition they are. Whether it be Chief’s fights or Joe’s underground matches, all of those look like child’s play compared to this. Just look at the way Joe’s hair moves in the clip below the break as he ducks and waves through punches. It’s a very different presentation of Boxing to Hajime no Ippo’s jet engines and explosive power. I hope Nomad can keep it up, I would love to see more.
Getting to the narrative I’m still not sure where Nomad is going. From Chief’s death to the underground fight to this spar with Liu, the whole thing seems to be slowly bringing Joe back to the ring. Showing us just how many people remember him and how his run effected them. Having them manipulate Joe into these situations where he has to box etc. And you know what? I’m not totally sure I like it. It feels like the familial focus of the first half has taken a back seat to the “We want to fight” part of the story. As if moving back to the city has reverted us back to Season 1. We can hear it in the music as well with the Latin flair taking a back seat to the heavier sounds of the city. Hopefully this is only temporary as all that was my favorite part.
That said the fight we did get this week was rather nice. I enjoyed seeing Yuri again and Liu actually seems like a good guy. He isn’t nearly as cocky or antagonistic as I expected him to be. In fact he’s rather respectful of Joe. He knows just how bad of a deal Joe got in their last fight 5 years ago. That he didn’t get to fight him in the best condition, that he still hasn’t fought “Gearless” Joe. It’s a nice continuation of the Yuri/Joe relationship from season 1 that was built on mutual respect. I hope Nomad can expand on it a bit and maybe even leverage it to rebuild the familial side of the story. Maybe Liu talks/gushes about Joe to Sachio or offers a differing perspective. The two young boxers of a new generation waxing on about their predecessors. Could be nice.
Moving on we come to a new introduction this week with the tech wiz kid Rosco! And boy is he a complicated one. Like Liu, Rosco doesn’t seem evil. In fact his motivations seem rather good-natured and his team-up with Shirato lends him a lot of credibility. At the same time though there’s no way that brain-chip isn’t doing bad shit. Right? It’s like a doping allegory surely? What other explanation is there for Mac’s improvement in his fights or for his desire to prove its effectiveness. Of course I really hope this isn’t the case. Not only because I like Shirato but because I don’t think Nomad needs this. Keep the focus on Joe and his familial struggles, on reconnecting with people. Keep the stakes low and personal. None of this possible Megalonia returns or fighting against “machines” or “Mind controlled” people or whatever. Please?
On the topic of that, Mac might actually represent that struggle in Nomad’s story. From the Latin music and the focus on his family to his violent past and current calm all the way to his fight for the championship, Mac is connected to Joe in a lot of ways. And thats not even mentioning how he apparently knows Joe, though I expect that to be a “You inspired me” sort of thing. Anyways, should Mac win the fight against Liu that could be a metaphor for the familial themes taking over and toppling the sports/challenger ones. A sort of passing of the torch from Megalo Box to Nomad. Of course that only works if Nomad then follows through. I also have no idea how Nomad would properly portray such a shift but I admit it’s one Im partial to, as I explained above. Whatever happens though, Mac’s important.
Finally lets talk about some small stuff, like Shirato! it’s nice to see her again. The short hair looks hot and had this episode aired when writing the State of the Season I surely would have voted her in. Since I can’t though I will have to settle for gushing about it here. Similarly it was also nice to see Yuri. I like how he still respects Joe and hasn’t written him off, though we still don’t really know his thoughts on the whole “abandonment” thing. My big hope for Yuri is that the bio-chip that let Mac walk doesn’t get applied to him. I don’t want Yuri walking, I don’t want a repeat of Season 1. Nomad needs to stand on its own two feet and while these references, these returning characters, are fine I don’t want them to dominate the story. At least not outside the familial context.
Anyways all this talk of “familial themes” and “bio-chips” aside, how was the episode? While certainly not the hypest or most emotional I think Nomad did a good job this week. The fight was engaging and I continue to enjoy how the orphans are all processing Joe differently. One is desperate to put it all behind them and reconnect, enjoying his company. Another is open to starting over as strangers rather than what they had before. Meanwhile Oicho is reticent and Sachio is downright hostile to the whole thing. All the while the side characters offer their own perspectives, slowly pushing them into conflict/interactions with each other. That’s nice to see! I just wish it got more of a focus. Hopefully this Liu stuff is all setup for something great that I just can’t see yet. I want nothing more than for *Nomad * to be a success!
