https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/06/MegaloBoxNomadBanner.png Megalo Box first aired in the Summer season of 2018. Part of the 50 year anniversary for the legendary series Ashita no Joe it was... satisfactory. It brought anime fans back to a different time an older time in ways good and bad. Yet despite ostensibly being an Original Megalo Box was so heavily tied to Ashita no Joe that it couldnt escape the comparisons. The story felt like a retelling of something we got 50 years ago smashed into a 13 episode season. And while some myself included still enjoyed the series it felt like something was missing. In Nomad we find that something. While while watching Nomad I felt like I was watching Megalo Box for the first time. The real Megalo Box more than just a copy of Ashita no Joe what the series was always meant to be. And I love it. Created by TMS Entertainmenthttps://anilist.co/anime/113359/MEGALOBOX2NOMAD/ jointly written by Katsuhiko Manabehttps://anilist.co/staff/123866/KatsuhikoManabe and Kensaku Kojimahttps://anilist.co/staff/205991/KensakuKojima and directed by You Moriyamahttps://anilist.co/staff/123865/YouMoriyama I give to you my Summer 2021 Anime of the Season: Megalo Box: Nomad. Lets dive in Be warned this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Megalo Box: Nomad. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/04/MegaloBoxNomad4.7.jpg Visuals Like always the best place to start is with the visuals. And compared to everything else about the show it is here that Nomad has evolved the least. If you enjoyed the aesthetic and style of the first season than this is a good thing The lines are still rough the colors bright and the backgrounds detailed. If anything the art has only gotten rougher and heavier as the linework on characters appears to ebb and flow both in thickness and intensity. Perhaps there is an overreliance on dark browns and greens early on making darker scenes difficult to see at times. But I quite like it myself Its generally a very striking style that stands out among the clean digital art we see in most anime today. Sadly there is one major flaw or perhaps eccentricity depending on how you look at it to Nomads style. The resolution. Just like its predecessor Nomad goes to absurd lengths to recreate that feeling of watching an older anime. That feeling of watching a 480p or 720p show on an HD monitor. And it does this by upscaling. By rendering/creating the footage at a lower native resolution and then forcing it to up to HD 1080p Learn more herehttps://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/8fuott/nerdpostanimeproductionresolutionmegalobox/. It might not look it because of the size of the screen shots here but the effect is noticeable. Initially this is rather novel and suits Nomad well. It truly does feel older. But as the show goes on as you get used to it it starts to become annoying. The beautiful backgrounds can become ruined by the resolution switch characters can become fuzzy and lighting difficult. As much as its a part of Megalo Boxs unique visual style I cant help but wish it was done away with. This brings me to Nomads animation and all I can say is that like the art it hasnt changed much. Just like the first season Nomad isnt what I would call a powerhouse. Dont get me wrong there are some great cuts Shinichi Kurita created one of my favorite scenes of the seasonhttps://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/154822. When Nomad wants to its rougher looser style of art and design allow for some great movementhttps://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/155478. But thats the issue: When it wants to. And Nomad generally doesnt. The cuts above are a small small minority in Nomad. Fights often feel slow and plodding impacts are weak and sometimes you cant even tell if a punch landed or not. Even the final fight felt lacking here Is this upsetting? A little bit yes. But unlike the Megalo Boxs first season Nomad doesnt actually have that many fights. Or rather they arent the focus of the show. What Im saying is that if you came to Nomad for hype fights and fantastic action sequences you will be disappointed. You will often go an entire episode without a single punch being thrown or fight even talked about. And the fights you do get? Well only 2 really made me wow at the visuals. Its outside those fights in the scenic views and gorgeous backgrounds that you will find Nomads true worth. The quiet moments where the characters and the story are front and center. Because thats what Nomad is really bringing to the table where its strengths lie: The narrative. And what a fantastic narrative it is. https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/05/MegaloBoxNomad6.6.jpg Narrative Nomads story is easily my favorite part of the show. Its not perfect and we will talk about why but it is emotionally effecting. And not in that sappy melodrama sort of way with signs that say CRY NOW in all caps. Rather its a very human story one that speaks to our lives as a whole instead of a singular moment or experience. Its a story about home and family. About making mistakes recognizing them and then moving forward with your life despite them. Of not letting who you were define who you are. And in that sense I think Nomads story isnt just about the characters but about the show as a whole. Just like Joe must accept his past and work towards a new future with his chosen family Megalo Box must accepts its Ashita no Joe roots and strike out to be more than a retelling. Enough fancy meaning and symbolism behind Nomads story though lets get into the nitty gritty Set 7 years after the events of season one Nomad follows Gearless Joe once again alone in the world. Traveling the desert fighting in underground matches what happened to Joe? Where did Gansaku Sachio Yuri and Aragaki go? I wont spoil those here suffice to say a lot has happened in the time skip. Structure wise Nomads story can be split into two main arcs or halves of the season. The first arc is easily my favorite as Joe travels the desert meets a group of immigrants listens to their story and comes to learn what it means to be home. Meanwhile the second arc deals with Joes return to the city and his reunification with his family along with a sideplot involving Shirato big tech and a new antagonist named Sakuma. Interested? Read on. This is where I have to dive a bit into spoiler territory if I want to have any kind of meaningful discussion about Nomads narrative. If you havent watched the show you can skip this bit and go to my conclusion where I say This is pretty damn good. However if you have watched the show then click here and lets talk some light spoilers. And if this section seems to short dont worry I talk about how much I love the themes later. To sum it all up what Im saying here is this: Nomad tells a really ambitious story. One of inspired hope and damaged idols. Of found families and new homes. A story that can connect with anyone that has ever moved somewhere far away from home in search of work or a new life whether it be to another country or even another State etc. A story that is at times to ambitious and tries to cast its net to wide. Ultimately I think Nomad succeeds. It manages to bring all of these arcs together into a conclusive and satisfactory conclusion. But there were a few bumps along the way and in some places its desire to tell a heartfelt story conflicted with its need for boxing action set pieces. Also the Latin theming is just gorgeous. Ill talk about this more in the OST section I promise but... just trust me when I say we need more Latin American/Spanish themed anime. Please. https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/04/MegaloBoxNomad3.8.jpg Characters That brings me to the characters Though with how tightly they are tied to Nomads story weve already largely covered them. Overall I would say Nomad has a pretty strong cast both old and new. Naturally there the returning characters such as Joe Sachio and the rest of the family. All of whom feel like good continuations of who they were in Megalo Box after the 7 year time skip. Their motivations their relationships their goals all of these are compelling and make sense Joe in particular has undergone a major transformation and its presented well. Indeed the only major complaint I have is that Nomad relies a bit to much on flashbacks to tell their stories. Often jumping us back 5 years for half an episode at a time to give us more backstory when I would rather it show us the effects of such history in the present. So rather than spend a lot of time having a spoiled discussion about Joe Gansaku and Sachio lets instead talk about the new characters and how they influence the old. I am of course talking about Chief Mac and Sakuma the three big new additions for the cast. Chief is pretty straight forward hes the best character in the show. This is a man who has gone through everything Joe is now who was inspired by Joe to come to this land who never lets the world beat him down a paragon. He is the ideal that Joe wants to become but doesnt think he is worthy of. Yet he isnt a Gary Stu either. Chiefs made mistakes hes susceptible to anger and all the emotions we feel. Hes a broken man just like Joe but one who has found a home and is determined to keep it. Next we have Mac mirroring another facet of Joe: The one 7 years past. Where Chief is what Joe aspires to be Mac is what Joe was. Someone in the process of breaking his family through actions that are not his fault but that he still feels responsible for. Mac is here to show that its never to late to fix things. That running away for however short a time only makes things worse. Meanwhile outside of his connection to Joe Mac also takes the reins of Nomads themes surrounding immigration. How good men can be inspired find a life and a family in a new land be accepted by their communities. Where Chief and his people were being pushed out Mac has become the local hero. Yet the sorts of problems that plague Joe Chief and Mac are not limited to any one social class. They are universal. Finally out of the 3 major new characters we come to Sakuma. Sakuma is... hes complicated. Not in his story of that hes rather straight forward. Sakuma quite literally represents the willingness of big corporations to take advantage of the poor the disenfranchised for their own personal gain consequences be damned. He views the world from his ivory tower and doesnt have a care in the world for the lives he is destroying and in that he fills his roll well. However throughout many of his early scenes Sakuma felt... out of place? Like he was part of a larger story that Nomad didnt need to tell. Like a blatant villain thrown into a story of complex characters just for the sake of having one. Ultimately I think his presence works fine for Nomad. But your mileage may vary. All in all I would say that Nomad has a pretty good cast of characters. They are brought down a bit by Sakuma and his assistant for me but only because the rest are just... so damn good. Joe Chief Mac their families how their stories intertwine etc. All of that is fantastic. If you dont mind a bit of Billionaire Tech Mogul thrown in for everyone to unite against then I think you will have a grand time with Nomad. https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/05/MegaloBoxNomad8.4.jpg OST/Sound Design EDIT: You can find the full OST herehttps://www..com/watch?v=jgQ8JZRlBBw Finally in the last real section of this review I get to to talk about the OST and sound design And if you know anything about the first season of Megalo Box you know thats OST was fantastic. Manabu Yamaguchi AKA Mabanuahttps://anilist.co/staff/123867/Mabanua and the man responsible for the soundtracks of Megalo Box Nomad and BNA incredibly talented. He can take a setting whether it be a bustling city or lonely desert distill its essence and infuse that into his music. Take a listen to his original Megalo Box soundtrack if you dont believe me. From the melancholic and simple tones of Sachios Themehttps://www..com/watch?v=3NKhW7EyyLUt=1209s or the almost community driven The Slumhttps://www..com/watch?v=3NKhW7EyyLUt=1603s to the high class strings of Yukikos Themehttps://www..com/watch?v=3NKhW7EyyLUt=2141s or the thrumming reverb in main theme MEGALOBOXhttps://www..com/watch?v=3NKhW7EyyLU. It was my favorite OST of 2018. And Nomad is my favorite OST of 2021 so far. Thanks Mabanua. Now you might ask me Lenlo why are you bringing up Megalo Boxs OST so much? Well aside from because its awesome the answer to that is because a lot of it reappears in Nomad. As the story shifts back to the city the original themes begin to return. There are variations of course shifts in instruments pacing or mood for the tracks along with a couple new ones to match how the characters have changed. This is pretty cool Not only does this let us hear as well as see how the characters of changed but it changes the feel of the entire show. The music is changing not only to fit the emotions on screen but our location in the world as well. Giving each location a distinct sound unique to them. So if Megalo Box is the city sound and all then what is Nomad? Nomad my dear friend is LATIN FIRE. Seriously just give this track from episode one El Canto del Colibrhttps://www..com/watch?v=ICUyh0AKSQs a listen. While I cant speak to the authenticity of the lyrics or their pronunciation since I dont speak Spanish I can at least say they sound authentic. That when paired with the guitar and Mabanuas softspoken way of singing it evokes images of Latin America of the culture and their way of life. And this sort of sound permeates the first arc. It pains me that the OST isnt released so I cant give you good direct links to the music so you will just have to take my word on this: Nomad lives and breathes this setting this culture. And while in the second half it fades away to make room for the more city oriented music what we get is incredible. More anime need to use Latin music. This brings me to sound design the boring part of this section. I say boring because Im not a sound engineer I cant speak to the quality of sound whether they come from existing libraries or anything like that. All I can do is say whether or not they impacted my enjoyment one way or another. And the answer? Not really. I was never taken out of the moment by the sounds they never felt out of place. Similarly though I was never really wowed by them. Part of me thinks this is a conscious choice on Nomads part though. That its sounds try to stay in the background so that the music the real star can take center stage. Whether its intentional or not though thats the effect. The way Nomad mixes its sound allows the music to reign. And since I love the music I say good choice. https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/06/MegaloBoxNomad9.9.jpg Trials of Immigration And with that we are done with the official part of the review This bit here is just a place for me to ramble a bit and talk about Nomad without any sort of set structure or singular topic. Its where I spoil the absolute hell out of the series and talk about what makes it special for me. Basically it exists to let you dear reader have a look into my head and see what I connected with. Might even spark a conversation who knows. So you dont mind MAJOR spoils or have watched the show then feel free to read on. Otherwise skip it and come back later. In we go https://i0.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/06/MegaloBoxNomad10.7.jpg Conclusion So All in all when everything is said and done and boiled down to a single paragraph how was Megalo Box: Nomad? After 4000 words this is the answer I have come to: Its pretty good. The production has some issues and it makes some stylistic choices that I dont like sure. Nomad really could have done without the upscaling and the final fight definitely didnt get the treatment it deserved. But the story characters and themes of the work engaged me in ways nothing else could this season. I loved their journey their arcs and the satisfying happy conclusion it brought. Its not often an anime really earns its happy ending. But Nomad certainly did.