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Battle Athletes, one of the first anime DVD series released in the United States, consists of a six-part OVA and Battle Athletes: Victory, a 26-episode television show. The two different series tell essentially the same story, but with some major differences in both tone and events. For example, one character is a girl in one format, and a boy in the other! While odd to most Americans, such differences between various TV, movie, OVA, and manga versions are not unusual in Japan. The Japanese seem to place less emphasis on continuity and more on surprise and originality, and take such relationship, age, and gender switching in stride.

Battle Athletes is a sports anime, common enough in Japan but rare here in the United States. Despite our obsession with sports, few American cartoons have dealt with the topic. Set in the far future, Battle Athletes tells the story of the annual Cosmo Beauty contest, a futuristic Olympics for young women set in space. The main character is Akari, a naïve, rather whiny 15-year old blessed with an incredible but untapped natural ability. Orphaned at an early age, and bearing the heavy legacy of a mother who dominated the Cosmo Beauty competition, the series follows her growth as an athlete and a person. Irritating and endearing in turn, Akari progresses through a series of team and individual events that prove interesting and surprisingly suspenseful. But despite the inherent drama of sport, the program really turns on Akari and her relationships with the other athletes.

The realm of sport has become the realm of the cliché, but this is due in part to the iconic nature of sport itself. The fading veteran desperate to hang on, the cocky upstart oozing talent, and the minimally gifted but hardworking overachiever are common types because they reflect a real world where competition ruthlessly separates winners from losers. The characters of Battle Athletes at first seem to fit various sports "types", but show a surprising depth as the series progresses. Their motivations and secrets keep them from being a mere supporting cast, and make them intriguing characters in their own right. Kris Christopher, who falls hopelessly in love with Akari, displays a weird mix of mature wisdom and childlike innocence. Jessie Gurtland is "Golden Jessie," a talented and angry American who despises Akari's complacency and ambivalence. Anna Respighi is shy and quiet, seemingly out of place in the rough and tumble world of sports. She is a tragic figure, driven by her mother's ambition and a haunted past. These and other characters make for a solid cast, and their triumphs and defeats are both thrilling and touching.

Visually, the show creates a futuristic world that is still comfortably familiar, sort of like the shiny utopias so popular in the 1950's. The sweeping score is especially effective at establishing the grand and epic quality of the tournament. Yet despite the grandeur of sight and sound, the series never sacrifices its characters to mere spectacle. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is ultimately a very personal matter. In the end, it is not the events, but the athletes that move us. Dramatic, funny, and sometimes surreal, Battle Athletes is a wonderful series.

Fan art of Akari by Makino Ryuuichi

• Studio: Pioneer Video
• Format: DVD
• Episodes in Series: OAV 6, Victory 26
• Series Completed: Yes
• Number of DVDs: OAV 3, Victory 8
  

• Audio Tracks: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Genre: Sports
• Age: 13+
• Cautions: Some nudity, sexual situations, violence
• Reviewer: George
• Core Collection: Sports