The recently launched anime series "Megalo Box" is based on the manga classic "Ashita no Joe" (Tomorrow's Joe). Yet many fans of the classic boxing tale may be left wondering how it is connected to "Ashita no Joe."
To begin with, the settings of the two works are very different. The original took place in the 1960s whereas "Megalo Box" is set in the near future. The modern incarnation of the tale features a river that divides a city with towering skyscrapers from a massive unauthorized slum, which is home to an ethnically diverse community.
Megalo box is a popular sport in this world that sees boxers compete with mechanical gear on their arms to enhance their power. The central character is Jnk.Dog, who scrapes together a living by fixing gambling fights in the slum.
In an underground ring, Jnk.Dog briefly fights megalo boxing champion Yuri. Shocked by Yuri's overwhelming strength, Jnk.Dog decides to emerge from the slum for a rematch with Yuri. Jnk.Dog obtains a fake ID and starts fighting under a new name: Joe.
"At first I thought the burden would be too heavy for me, that it was an impossible task," director Yo Moriyama said, looking back.
In the early stages of planning, the anime was to be an original side story about Toru Rikiishi, the arch-rival of Joe in "Ashita no Joe." Moriyama is a big fan of the manga's two anime adaptations, "Ashita no Joe" (1970) and "Ashita no Joe 2" (1980), both directed by the late Osamu Dezaki. The younger director was overcome with awe and wondered if he could add anything new to Dezaki's works.
Moriyama sketched images of Rikiishi, but faced difficulty putting together a story. One day, he was struck by a totally different idea and resolved to venture beyond the original story.
"Ultimately, the original depicted the miracle of Joe Yabuki. It's a story of how an individual lives his life. As long as I stayed true to the original's theme, I thought I would be able to continue the thread of the story," Moriyama explained.
"Megalo Box" is Moriyama's directorial debut, though he has worked as the visual concept designer for various anime productions, including "Shingeki no Kyojin" (Attack on Titan). For those productions, he created fantastic worlds of which nothing similar had been seen before.
The idea for "Megalo Box" originated with Moriyama. He drew the background art by himself and brought to life the hard-living men and women of the world.
Moriyama's commitment to the production is also seen in the lines shaping the characters. While recent mainstream anime is drawn using delicate lines, he purposely utilized thick pencil-drawn lines. The rough, dramatic aesthetic resembles gekiga, a more mature genre of manga, and is reminiscent of Dezaki's captivating directorial style.
Dezaki was famous for his innovation and lifelike visuals, such as triple replays of certain shots, realistic depictions of light reflecting off perspiration and the transformation of a scene into an illustration-like image, a device he dubbed "harmony." His techniques starkly contrast with the calm, serene style of the recently deceased director Isao Takahata in "Alps no Shojo Heidi" (Heidi, A Girl of the Alps). Dezaki nevertheless stands as a genius alongside Takahata as both broadened the possibilities for expression in anime.
Having reread the original manga, I realized it takes place amid the shadow of war. Both Joe and Rikiishi are reminiscent of children orphaned during World War II, even though they belong to a younger generation. The boxer Kin Ryuhi was likewise deeply traumatized by his experiences during the Korean War.
Meanwhile, the world in which "Megalo Box" takes place is gradually revealed to be no stranger to war. Although it is very different from the original, I'm starting to think of it as the 2018 version of "Joe."
One element is emblematic of "Ashita no Joe": Yuri's distinctive eyes. "I couldn't change them from the Dezaki version," Moriyama said.
They capture the feeling of a deep forest or sea, just like the eyes of Toru Rikiishi.
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