An absurd premise (as if adding machines to boxing would make it more interesting), but the animation is a beautiful classic style, the music is great and the storytelling is exciting.
While the boxing matches are definitely beautiful to watch, the show struggles with the challenge of making the challenge of the boxing matches themselves exciting. We generally have to rely on drama surrounding the boxing matches to drive the tension in the story, while the combat itself is actually not important. The creators definitely recognise this: we never even learn the outcome of the final match and they didn't give us any reason to care. It's still a great story regardless, but it is robbed of some of its potential by its failure to invest in its core premise.
It further undermines its own premise of "mechanised boxing" when "Junk Dog" aka "Gearless Joe" decides to fight with the gimmick of not using the machines that are the signature of this anime. On the one hand, this is a reminder that machine-enhancement is completely unnecessary for a boxing match, but on the flip side, if the machines did have any purpose then they would be turning ordinary boxers into murder machines.
But putting aside the lack of commitment to its premise, it's pretty entertaining.
Review by Robert EivaBlockedParent2019-10-10T21:59:55Z— updated 2019-10-16T21:53:41Z
An absurd premise (as if adding machines to boxing would make it more interesting), but the animation is a beautiful classic style, the music is great and the storytelling is exciting.
While the boxing matches are definitely beautiful to watch, the show struggles with the challenge of making the challenge of the boxing matches themselves exciting. We generally have to rely on drama surrounding the boxing matches to drive the tension in the story, while the combat itself is actually not important. The creators definitely recognise this: we never even learn the outcome of the final match and they didn't give us any reason to care. It's still a great story regardless, but it is robbed of some of its potential by its failure to invest in its core premise.
It further undermines its own premise of "mechanised boxing" when "Junk Dog" aka "Gearless Joe" decides to fight with the gimmick of not using the machines that are the signature of this anime. On the one hand, this is a reminder that machine-enhancement is completely unnecessary for a boxing match, but on the flip side, if the machines did have any purpose then they would be turning ordinary boxers into murder machines.
But putting aside the lack of commitment to its premise, it's pretty entertaining.