Ranked #2649

Battle Athletes Victory

PROLOGUE
Let’s start with what this series is not. This series is not a serious sports anime. Neither a serious coming-of-age social drama. Neither an epic adventure of saving mankind from invading aliens.
Let’s now mention what this series really is. This series is a sports parody. It is full of pretty chicks, running around in sport uniforms, while occasionally offering fan service in the form of underwear and lesbian relationships. It is a silly story, where everything is possible if you want it really bad. Training in order to get better has nothing to do with increasing the chances for victory.
By the way, the series is a remake of an older anime, which I found more appealing than this newer version. The original 6 part OVAs were more serious and spicy; thus more likable than this 26 episode lukewarm comedy.

ART SECTION: 5/10 [Dumb chicks in uniforms.]
The animation is average at best. The backgrounds are not very detailed. Characters share not only the same type of uniform but also the same kind of body type. Another case of having their hairstyle as the only way to tell who is who. Motion fluidity is a joke, as the use of SD and low-frame movement take up 90% of the time. Even the visual effects are clearly cartoonish. The only good thing I find in them are the several silly grimaces and the wacky reactions and poses the characters made in various situations. Hiding in a carton box when feeling down is a simple and yet funny example. Body language equals comedy factor. There is of course plenty of nude and spicy scenes, where naughty ideas cross your mind.

SOUND SECTION: 6/10 [Dumb looks, dumb voices.]
Music themes had no impact on me. Voice acting was average but with strenght and appropriate tone for such a show. Trying to give accent to some of them was a nice touch. Sound effects are as wacky as the visual effects. As for the dialogues… Well, how should I put it? The characters talk all the time about becoming better, reaching the heavens, feeling the beauty of sport fever, cooperation, friendship, world peace, blah, blah, blah… Although all sports anime share this idealistic pile of stupidity, at least Battle Athletes tries to make fun of them. Becoming friends with someone and then double-crossing him in the last minute just to win is a simple example. This parody was enough to earn something above average in scoring.

STORY SECTION: 2/10 [Silly girls, silly story.]
Ok, don’t look for it. It is just an excuse for stupid sports events and wacky situations. It starts the usual way; a rookie girl trying to become the best athlete. And then jumps to a quest of saving mankind by winning in a race against aliens. But there is no real progress in the story as willpower, genes and even cheating resolve every obstacle. There is no realism in it; just silly girls doing silly things. The plot goes nowhere, as you could jump from the second episode to the last two without missing any important events. As for the last two episodes, well, they certainly do feel a lot better than the rest of the series. We now have villains in the story, a world crisis and even people coming back from the dead. The story doesn’t get any more serious in the conclusion; just more grand-scaled and exiting and leaves you with a nice last impression of it.

CHARACTER SECTION: 3/10 [Harem material.]
They could easily make a harem anime out of them. Or even an average hentai. Because they are only archetypes with no real depth or development in their personalities. You will remember them as the perky one, the shy one, the serious one, and so on. Or the red-haired one, the black-haired one, and the like. The leading girl is the only one who actually has some interest. She is the daughter of the best athlete and has a really low esteem of her capabilities. Crying and feeling bad most of the time, she has to live up to her legacy and find the strength (Deus Ex Machima) in order to win. Not that she actually learns anything or really improves at something. By the end of the last episode, you will feel nothing for any one of them.

VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 2/10 [Don’t put your money on it.]
It was partially funny. It had half a dozen of interesting scenes. It even left a nice last impression. But in all, I find no reason to watch it again or have something really good that’s worth remembering.

VERDICT: 3.5 / 10
This series got last place in the race. read more