As the first decent 3-D fighting game on the Playstation, BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN quickly gained a following in Japan. With so many fighting games being turned into animated series, it was just a matter of time before BAT's anime-style characters would appear in their own show, especially with the whip-bearing Sophia and the beyond-cute Ellis.
However, the writers of TOSHINDEN had to once more face the ultimate fighting question: how in the world to stuff a mixed bag of fighters into one consistent plot. And again, they passed with mixed results.
U.S. Manga Corps decided to release TOSHINDEN dubbed in English only, but with two Japanese volumes on one tape. Both episodes form a complete story. There are two versions: the uncut version with a few extra fan service shots of Sophia (the mandatory shower scene), and a younger viewers version. The "Uncut" version is no more shocking than much of the standard anime out today, but U.S. Manga Corps decided to also target a new, younger crowd who would hopefully purchase this after playing the game.
The story itself revolves around Shinjo Eiji (the STREET FIGHTER "Ryu" type hero) after the Toshinden tournament, where nobody won. The evil "Organization" interrupted the final bout between Gaia (big bad boss from the first game) and Eiji. Gaia, a renegade from this organization, escaped after mortally wounding Chaos (an insane, vengeful lunatic), who was leading the Organization forces. And Eiji left without finding any more information about his long-lost brother, Sho (the extra-cool secret boss character from the game).
Now a mysterious, superhuman fighter is hunting down and beating up the participants of the last tournament one by one, using their own moves against them. With Amoh Kayin (the STREET FIGHTER "Ken" type) helping him out, Eiji heads out to warn the other remaining fighters and to confirm rumors that this figure is actually his brother.
The animation quality is standard OVA style, although nothing spectacular. The combat is filled with moves from the game (even Sophia's "Call me Queen" super attack), as one would expect. I found the English voice acting to be reasonable, not detracting from the anime (and Ellis is just as annoyingly cute in Japanese). Also, U.S. Manga did leave intact the Japanese ending credit music "Makenaide Fly Away," which is a catchy pop tune.
However, many of the plot and character elements are pasted in from other sources. For instance, Sophia is a dead ringer for Sarah from VIRTUA FIGHTER (brainwashed, then programmed as a killer), and guess what The Organization's plans are for the world? Plus the "learn the moves to program the perfect fighting machine" plot has been very abused as of late.
The main characters are likable, and the story behind Eiji's past, Sho, Gaia, and The Organization was enough to hold my interest. The character designs were a little plain however, with the detail from advertised cover shots missing in their effort for smooth animation.
In summary, I felt Takara could have done more with this series. No real character development occurs and most of the people seem flat. But the large amount of combat is there and, amazingly, they fit in all the characters from the video game (although I still find the cop, Tracy, to be a very unbelievable character).
So if you have watched any of the STREET FIGHTER, FATAL FURY, or VIRTUA FIGHTER series and want to see more, then BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN should be right up your alley. However, you will not find anything especially new here.

BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN Original version copyright 1996 Takara Co., Ltd. English dubbed version copyright 1996 Central Park Media Corporation Dubbed in English Uncut USM 1475 $19.95 Edited for Younger Viewers USM 1559 $19.95 Released in North America by U.S. Manga Corps 60 minutes Released: 4/15/97