'Nomad: Megalo Box 2' Is Much Better Than Its Predecessor

Unlike with SSSS.Dynazenon, the sequel to SSSS.Gridman, I knew going into Spring 2021 that Megalo Box was having a continuation.  Nevertheless, Megalo Box getting a sequel was a surprising development.  It was a self-contained story, and it already wrapped up nicely.  So, nobody was expecting a sequel.  Hence, I was stunned when Nomad, the title of this sequel, was first announced.

Then I remembered that Megalo Box is a science fiction reimagining of the classic boxing anime Ashita no Joe, which ran during the 1970s and 80s.  In the ending of Ashita no Joe (SPOILER), Joe presumably died after the final match.  That’s why when Megalo Box was ongoing, everyone was wondering if it would wrap up similarly with Ashita no Joe.  Episodes even closed with a “NOT DEAD YET…” title card, which understandably fueled assumptions that it was foreshadowing Joe’s fate.   However, in the end, Joe ended up winning – and surviving! – his final match – the opposite of what happened to the original Joe.  So, by having a sequel, it meant that the new Joe’s story was continuing, negating his “happily ever after” ending in Megalo Box.  That also meant the new Joe could still end up dying in his final match, like the original Joe did.

Nomad: Megalo Box 2 is set some years after the events of Megalo Box.  We find Joe maintaining a nomadic existence – continuously on the move on his bike, keeping a low profile, and participating in underground matches under the alias “Nomad” to get by.  His health has also taken a turn for the worse, as he’s regularly plagued by hallucinations and headaches, and has become reliant to painkillers.  Apparently, sometime after the last time we saw him, three major events occurred that led him to this wretched state: a.) he lost to the champion of the second Megalonia tournament, the protégé of his rival Yuri, in an exhibition match; b.) Nanbu, his coach, died from an illness; and c.) he became estranged with Sachio and the other kids of Team Nowhere.  One day, he meets someone who will inspire him to turn his life around – “Chief”, the de facto leader of a community of undocumented immigrants who also fights in underground matches to get by.

Nomad has everything that made Megalo Box appealing, but much better.  It’s grittier, more subversive, more emotional, more well-written, and thematically richer and more coherent.  It has both style and substance.  It has interesting secondary arcs, and its plot threads merge beautifully into an impactful whole.  Thus, I think I enjoyed Nomad more.

Joe also comes off as more Rocky Balboa-esque than before, if ever he did come off as such the first time around.  During his arc in Megalo Box, he fought gearless, which was supposed to be a handicap, but narratively, he never really came off as vulnerable.  Despite any extent of punishment he received in the ring, you as an audience just knew that he would come out with the win in the end (at least, until he gets to that final fight).  On the other hand, Joe isn’t invincible in Nomad.  Like Rocky, Joe feels like an underdog legend – meaning, the sense of being a legend is perpetually around him, but at the same time, he has well-defined vulnerabilities at this point, which also makes him come across as beatable.  There are no assurances that he would win his fights, and thus, his fights in Nomad feel more high-stakes and exciting than his fights in Megalo Box.

The writing also does a great job in giving the possibility of a looming death in the aftermath of his final fight a true, significant presence all throughout.  In the end, (SPOILERS) he didn’t die.  But the storytelling convincingly established a 50/50 odds for it that its coming about yielded a subversive and satisfying impression, and the way given by the story for Joe to avoid death involved some pretty masterful drama and character writing.

In summary, Nomad: Megalo Box 2 is an excellent sequel.  It’s an improvement of its predecessor – building a substantially more rewarding experience upon an already fully complete experience.

Nomad has brought Joe’s saga at a fulfilling close.  However, at this point, I’m half-expecting them to make another surprise sequel to complete a trilogy.