Battle Athletes


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Name:Battle Athletes
Contains:
checked Comedyun-checked Mechsun-checked Drama
un-checked Violencechecked Shoujo 
un-checked Hentaiun-checked Explicit Sexun-checked Brief Nudity
Running Length:75 mins.
Description:

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Battle Athletes
Battle Athletes Victory review

(Remember, if this review is helpful or well-written, please give me a good rating (down below)! Thanks for your support! *^__^)

Battle Athletes tends to be a more overlooked anime, particularly compared to others released by Pioneer, but it really shouldn't be.

Animation:
There's something about the animation in this show... The animation is nearly perfect and it's pretty well-detailed, but somehow that's not the real eye-catching aspect of it. It's just that as you look at the animation here, with the body movements as well as background animation, it feels more "real" compared to many other anime series. Or maybe it just seems more authentic to not have too many "shiny blue background zooming by" moments.
Also worth noting is that this show tends to use a lot of animation in the ways of motion and camera angles, which is a good thing. At the very least, Battle Athletes isn't as static as most anime, and as I said, everything looks pretty realistic as far as the animation is concerned.

Plot:
This was a hard point for me to grade. The plot has some great twists in it (at least, starting from episode five on) and really has you worried about the characters and cheering on the characters and, basically, enjoying the characters.
In case you can't tell, I think the characters shine in this series.
Not unlike great shows like Oh My Goddess, Sailor Moon, or Rurouni Kenshin, Battle Athletes really is a show where you can get emotionally attached to the characters, because their personalities are developed enough to allow you to and the situations they face are realistic enough to let you relate.
No matter how silly the characters can be at times (Akari House!), the characters are very believable when they're not being funny, and that's the factor that makes the entire show stand out.
Simply put, I can't say enough about this show's characters and their ties to each other. As soon as six episodes in, you're left wondering why gritty, "realistic" anime can't have characters as great as a series that's about athletic competitions in the future.
Speaking of that, I should get to the plot. The basic point is that a lot of girls are training to overcome all the odds and become the next Cosmo Beauty in a worldwide athletic competition. (Well, actually, at first the girls start off down at a training school trying to get up to the University Satellite, one of the biggest steps into the proverbial "big leagues.") Actually, that's more or less the only main point, but it's the journey along the way that makes it all worthwhile.
If you've ever loved stories of personal challenges, overcoming your inner fears, and determination, this series is for you, anime fan or not. There's no magic, no special powers, and the fact that it takes place in the future is rarely a factor... These are strong-willed, extremely talented, and very athletic, but still mostly normal girls just beginning to find out how far they can push themselves when they believe and when they try. I can't really begin to describe it... It's just... Uplifting.

Humor:
Much like Sailor Moon, I find that humor is somehow more effective when the characters are more human. Maybe it's just me, but I can only watch so much of a show like Slayers, where the characters' personalities aren't particularly realistic, before the fact that it's constantly being funny somehow starts to make it less funny.
With Battle Athletes, on the other hand, the theme of the show is pretty serious, with struggles to overcome inner conflict as well as outer conflict and to just become the best, so throwing in humor at points is a nice extra touch instead of "just another laugh."
On a side note, though, I have to say something about the dub:
I usually like dubs. I really do. But that's only when they stick to the original script, or at least the original tone. When reporters start saying "Christ!" and "Oh my God!" in the English version and that's not what it says in the subtitles I'm looking at, then we got a problem. (Of course, to be fair, maybe this sort of stuff stopped after the show turns more serious... But I wouldn't know. I stopped listening.)
The funny thing is, the English script actually does seem more realistic to me in the less-serious scenes, as if that's how characters would be more likely to react in the same situations in the real world. Still, it also tends to change the tone of things and, for me at least, it hurts the seriousness of other scenes.
It might not be the same way for you, but either way, the DVDs only cost from $13-15 online, so at least you don't have to choose if you have family members who prefer subbed versions over dubbed, or vice-versa.

Soundtrack:
English version aside (which doesn't affect my grade since DVDs are bilingual), I just didn't really find anything endearing about the music in this show. It wasn't bad or anything, but it wasn't standout-quality and it wasn't really memorable. In a few scenes, the first of which was a dramatic "snap out of it" scene between Akari and Itchan, I wondered why they didn't just leave out the BGM entirely.
And I may or may not be alone in this, but I didn't think the theme song really fit the show. The show seemed to be a lot more energetic than the theme, which is a far cry from what I'm used to.
At first, that seems to be an okay thing: The song doesn't really get me excited for the show, but the show itself more than makes up for it.
Still, I don't like it when a song that's just over a minute long feels slower than an episode that's 25 minutes long. It may just be me.

Overall:
Definitely, definitely hard to grade. I really did wanna give this show a 10, but the background music, at times, is so uninspired that I really couldn't.
But that note aside, Battle Athletes Victory is actually a better show than you would think if you went around asking how many people knew about it.
The truth is, it should be more popular than it is, and it's a shame it isn't. I vastly prefer anime that takes the time to develop its characters to any other form of entertainment out there.
I challenge anyone to go buy volume 2 ("Doubt and Conflict") and tell me it wasn't entertaining, because if you like realistic anime and you don't like those three episodes, you're in trouble... You're not going to find much else better, whether it's anime or live acting. If you have any knowledge at all about the physical and mental challenges of being the best while still going through the drama of the rest of life, and probably even if you don't, this is as good as it gets.
I recommend Battle Athletes Victory with all my heart, because it honestly deserves a lot more recognition than it has.

A list of my other 29 anime reviews:
Saint Tail
All of the series I've reviewed are listed at the bottom.

Overall Rating: 9
Animation:10 Plot:10 Humor:9 Sound Track:6
Weight: 40 (Reputable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=93245


Battle Athletes
pretty funny and i love sports but see the sub!!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18304


Battle Athletes
I like the TV series best, Akari and Ichino are the best!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18299


Battle Athletes
Battle Athletes is one of those shows where many (girls) from different places duke it out in athletic sports. But the two athletes I feel mostly sorry for are Anna Respighi and Mylandah Walder.

Anna is shafted wherever she goes. In the OAV she's a he, and on TV she's threatening to kill you.
Mylandah is just straight-up threatening to kill anybody who gets in her way. She wants Lahri DEAD! And I'm thinking that there's gotta be more than this...

Oh well... Battle Athletes. GO FOR THE GOAL!!

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18298


Battle Athletes
cool ass anime that asks the question "how would advanced civilizations settle there differences?" war you say, no. perhaps a fight to the death, hardly. Zero-gravity lacross? why of course what would you expect. this very funny series has some good laughs, a kick ass head master, and the craziest hairdoos this side of the galaxy. The best is OAV#2 where you learn anna's secrect, frickin hilarious.

bxm

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18295


Battle Athletes
I think the animation in the Battle Athletes TV series is great! The story line is awesome and it has characters you just have to love! The story is sometimes sad sometimes funny and when its sad its really sad and when its funny its hilarious!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18294


Battle Athletes
Only got the first tape, so I'm still on earth. Do I have any doubt in my mind that Akari will eventually become cosmo beauty? No. I suppose, then, I probably have the whole series worked out then, so I'll say that I like some of the jokes(SAMA!?!?), I get my mouthfull of playfully offencive stereotypes (Americans are stuck up, Africans live like animals, Chinese are brats, Russaians are bulky, emotionsless thugs and If you're from Osaka you are a roudy punk). Animation rivals Pokemon and Sailor moon but Battle Athletes isn't to kiddie (or merchandising) oriented, and it doesn't re-use attack footage (Not yet anyway) so If you see this get it........SUBTITLED!

AVOID ROBOTECH ALUMNI




KUNYA!

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18302

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