Copyright © 1997 AIC-ipc/Pioneer LDC, Inc.-TV Tokyo-AEON

BATTLE ATHLETES is a shoujo OVA show, which means its target audience is young girls. It also means its characters wear short skirts, sport architecturally impossible hair, and the story flirts a bit with lesbianism but the nudity is not erotic. This is a funny show with good characters and good animation. The only thing spoiling it is the lackluster opening.
The characters are the expected mix of backgrounds, abilities, and loyalties. Kanzaki Akari, is the naive but earnest prodigy trying to live up to her mother's reputation. There's the evil reigning champion, the vulnerable book-worm/weakling roommate, the wild one who looks like a genetic crossbreed of a cat and a human, and the enigmatic and charmingly silly headmaster. Perhaps the best character is Chris Kristopher, a girl from a community of Amish-like colonists living a "low tech lifestyle" of peace and agriculture on the moon. (Don't ask me how life on the moon is supposed to be low tech...) Since her unique religious upbringing has sheltered her from such things as shoujo manga and laws prohibiting public nudity, her culture shock scenes are often the funniest.
This show's animation is clean and attractive, handling both action scenes and wild takes with equal skill. The techno gear and effects are far short of a film like GHOST IN THE SHELL or even TENCHI in both realism and style, but these are only athletes and not commandos. The girls are cute and their hair is cool, which is much more important for a shoujo series.
The first episode is essentially a backdrop to the rest of the series, using more random coincidences than a Douglas Adams novel to throw the characters together. But by the end of that episode and in the following ones we finally start to enjoy the show and its characters as they compete and help each other. And along the way, English speaking viewers can enjoy the many and hilarious English misspellings throughout the show!
This franchise actually began as a PRINCESS MAKER type game which gave way to an OVA series, finally leading to a TV series (following, of course, a slightly different plot line). Judging from the first volume, this show has a lot of potential and it's funny enough to warrant a look.

Volume 1 "On Your Mark"
Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.
Subtitled PIVA-1570D $24.98
Dubbed PIVA-1570S $29.98
60 minutes
Now Available