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Copyright © Pioneer LDC / SOFTX / TV Tokyo


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by Charles McCarter
So you think you know BATTLE ATHLETES. You've seen
the OVA,
and maybe you were impressed. Or maybe you weren't. But BATTLE
ATHLETES VICTORY is not what one would expect.
Hapless Kanzaki Akari is still at the center of the story. Now
joined by her best friend, Yanagida Ichino, whom Akari affectionately calls
"Itchan," she must still battle her way through school to become the best.
But there's another problemshe's haunted by the legacy of her late
mother, who won the Cosmo Beauty contest when she was enrolled. As a
result, everyone expects great things from Akari. Except, somewhat
predictably, Akari herself.
The supporting cast is sort of a "United Nations" of teenage
girls. Jessie Gurtland is the blonde American who thinks that Akari is
nothing like her mother. And where there's an American, there has to be
a Russian to compete, right? Enter Ayla Veferascca Rosnovsky, a tomboyish
girl with incredible strength and seemingly a heart of ice. Rounding out
the cast is the more than a little cat-like girl Tanya, who hails from
Africa.
The plot allows for a great deal of slapstick, especially
during the somewhat over-the-top athletic events. But there is also a
more serious side to this show as well. At the beginning of the show,
Akari is sorely lacking in confidence. And things only go from bad to
worse; at one point, Akari quits the school and goes home to her empty
house in the woods of rural Japan. In a true testament to her friendship,
Ichino goes after her friend and attempts to convince her to return.
But there's more to this than meets the eye, and their friendship is
sorely tested as Ichino attempts to help Akari stop running and face
her painful past.
ATHLETES manages to avoid becoming
bogged down in melodrama and excessive sentimentality, however. And the
funny bits are really funny. The episode "Woong A Ji" deals with
Tanya's attempt to help everyone by praying to one of her African gods
to run faster. Akari joins in as well. Unfortunately, part of the
ritual involves painting ceremonial symbols on everyone's faces, and
they are not all interested in participating. A lot of chaos ensues.
Production values are consistently high for this television
series, in some cases the animation even exceeds that of the OVA series. The character designs may take some
getting used to, as they seem to come from the "land of impossible
hairstyles" that is enjoying newfound popularity again these days.
But that's not a new trend in anime, and in a couple of episodes, you
can actually forget that their hair defies many of the major laws of
physics.
This show is surprisingly entertaining. The premise, which
seems silly on the surface, actually allows for a lot of interesting
interaction. There are a lot of different characters as well, and the
director manages to spread the screen time around so that viewers
will come to know all of the characters and not just Akari. In fact,
viewers may find themselves at various times cheering for Ayla,
Tanya, or even Jessie.
For a show that began as a video game, became a radio show,
an OVA, and finally a television series, BATTLE ATHLETES VICTORY doesn't show the signs of a
concept that is tired from being overdone. Give this one a try, and
see which character you like the best. 
Released in North America by Pioneer Animation
Volume 1: VHS, 100 minutes
Subtitled: PIVA-7141S $29.95
English dubbed : PIVA-7141D $24.95
Volume 2: VHS, 65 minutes
Subtitled: PIVA-7142S $29.95
English dubbed: PIVA-7142D $24.95
Available now in the USA
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