After watching one anime about boxing in the past, I forget the name, I never imagined I'd bother watching another one. But between the idea that they were boxing with super-powered arm machines called gears, and one of my friends constantly hyping it, I gave it a look.
And I was very surprised with how much I was enjoying this show. Despite not caring at all about boxing, the show creates an interesting dynamic by having it's lead character enter into his fights with a bit of a gimmick, he doesn't use any gears to enhance his own attacks like all the other entrants. At first, it is just a way to get some matches, but as time goes on it becomes more a matter of pride and fun.
He ranks low not because of his skill, but because he is an 'undocumented citizen' and until now he only participated in illegal underground boxing. The whole aspect of an undocumented citizen is a bit of an odd one, as it doesn't really go into detail on the pros and cons of not having any kind of government ID in this world. You just kind of have to accept it.
The emotional drive of the show is seeing what are essentially con artists rising up to become the real thing with these Megalo Boxing matches, though traces of the manager's fraudulent character becomes a pretty consistent thorn in the side of achieving this goal. It is of course given some emotional weight due to the heavy debt he is in, and for the manager, this was his way to try to get out of that.
It's a very simple kind of story that has been told time and time again, but the characters are likable and engaging enough to make you care. It's also a lot of fun to see the underdog 'Gearless' Joe stand up against some pretty exceptional gears completely unarmed. That being said it leads to a pretty disappointing climax. I'll spoil it at the end, but all I'll say for now is that you really don't get to see the fight you were wanting to see the whole show.
But there is another moment that just kills any kind of tension. In the second to last match, it looks like Gearless Joe may actually end up using a gear, the manager has gone rogue from the plan, and all looks like it's about to crumble. And then, for no reason or precedent, the kid on their team just starts rapping. The entire moment was drained of energy, and I just couldn't take anything seriously anymore. It was just plain silly.
Overall, it's a 13 episode run, so it's not a huge time sink. In that time frame, you come to care about the characters, you get a lot of really fun fights, some good laughs, and aside from the climax and rapping bit, there wasn't a whole lot wrong with the show. Definitely worth checking out. Though now I will talk about the end, spoilers past this point.
The whole show is pitting Gearless Joe against all of these impressive gears, and seeing him overcome them through sheer skill and willpower. This is all leading to a fight against Yuri and his integrated gear, an advanced gear that becomes part of the user, and is supposed to be the greatest of all gear technology.
And Yuri just up and decides he wants to fight Joe man to man, without the gear. And you are left with what is just a simple boxing match. You don't get to see Joe overcome the greatest obstacle that has been placed in front of him, just two guys punching each other in the face with their bare hands. It's a fine match, but not what you were wanting to see.