Magical Girls Site and Megalo Box: Playing with the Monkey Paw

I bet this is a combination of shows that you never expected me or anyone to talk about at the same time, right? One is a decidedly controversially “edgy” magical girl anime which has some mixed reactions across the land, but I find ok and watchable. The other one is a very popular sports anime that has a very retro feel to it, which I find just above decent despite the hype. Still wondering about how they can be connected? Wishes and Death. One has a focus of characters in school uniforms with short skirts trying to save the world from the apocalypse (spoilers) and the other one focuses on shirtless people wearing robotic arms to beat each other up. You couldn’t possibly compare the two in any serious sort of way, but I am now picturing the characters in Megalo Box beating each other up in school girl outfits. Kind of disturbing, but I can’t help but laugh at it. Anyway, wishes. The wishes that become the girl’s weapons in Magical Girl Site and Joe’s wanting to climb the ranks in Megalo Box are virtual the same thing. Let me explain why.

(Spoilers ahead for both series ahead.)

Magical Girl Site

Jumping into Magical Girl Site, I have a feeling that this show’s sticks are based on their individual wishes on how to solve the grief from each of their situations. I do feel like I am digging into this aspect more than the anime itself is going to in themes, but all of that is still there in one form. Let’s talk about some examples with some interesting speculation. Aya was being physically abused by almost everyone in her life. How do you immediately resolve a situation like this? Making them go away. That’s Aya’s stick. Another one? What about Ms. Yatsumara’s situation. Her life was changed in a single moment when her parents were killed by a crazy guy. Her stick’s ability is holding on to a moment as long as possible/stopping time. That makes sense, right? What about the idol girl’s “stick”. She is an idol that has the ability to control the audience of anyone that she talks to. Maybe after many failed attempts and her falling into her own grief, her stick was what helped her become popular in the first place? I don’t know for sure., but that’s how it works out in my mind. Every single magical girl has an item that immediately resolves their former situations.

So taking into practice that I think I am right, each of them has their situations resolved. All for a great cost. What cost you may ask? The first one is an early death. Every time the girl’s use their power, it drains on their lives. We’ve seen this in the anime. A girl was in a coma for a while, because her organs where like those of an elderly person. Kind of scary, don’t you think? Well, this next part is scarier possibly. By taking pat in the Magical Girl Site, you are now a target for something called the tempest. So, basically the apocalypse. So basically, the exact opposite of Fairly Odd Parents. Could you imagine this situation? (I assume that you can because this has happened in quite a few anime. One very popular that you are thinking of right now.) You instantly solve your problems, but slowly die and help the coming apocalypse a little bit? Kind of a steep price for happiness. At least you die happy!

Megalo Box

So here we are with the sports anime. That whole unnamed boxer is making his way up the rankings to fight in a tournament thing. How is this a wish exactly? It is our main character Joe’s wish to escape his previous life of brawling in the dark corners of this anime’s universe and aim for the spot light of Megalonia. How does he become popular very quickly? In matches that involve boxers using robotic arms to amplify their fighting abilities, Joe is completely gearless. He puts himself at great risk during each match for building hype as well. Still, he wins them. His popularity around the city he is around booms after three matches. His face is tattooed on some motorcycle woman’s thigh for Christ sakes. The public loves him and is considered a front runner for the last spot in the Megalonia tournament. He’s doing it. Joe’s plan is working.

The cost you may ask? Isn’t that obvious? These boxing matches are killing Joe. You remember that one scene in episode 7 were Joe was pissing blood? Clear signs that something is wrong with his internal organs. His rise to the top without robot arms, though it would only be slightly better if he was using robot arms, and the blows that he has been taking on his way to the top is wrecking his body. I suppose that the show has been hinting at this with death in each of the episodes titles too. This is a thing that is happening. Gaining what Joe wants in a short amount of time is taking everything away from him.

What do we learn from these two anime and many other anime that have come before them? Two things really. First one? Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. There is something to said about having a boring and redundant life. Not only those two aspects, but that staying where you are in life and not being ambitious is safe and guarantees you living longer. But being safe is boring and doesn’t provide any interesting bits of fiction, right? The second one is everything has consequences. Stepping out the door and climbing the ladder isn’t just going to be an easy journey. There is a large amount of stress, consequences, failures, and possible death that you might hit before you even get there. In these two series’ case, I am pretty sure that the characters of Megalo Box and Mgical Girl Site are going down the dark going down the path leading to their inevitable deaths. Bang.