Hana no Asukagumi! 2: Lonely Cats Battle Royale

I don't think this was truly ever lost media. I think that's more a product of kenny lauderdale not living in Japan and not knowing how to google things in Japanese, because I saw tons of comments on the video that probably led you here reporting that it was super easy to find secondhand copies of it on Japanese auction sites.

So yeah, you're probably here because that guy on youtube told you that this was an unwatchable show, but you got clickbaited because the whole thing is on youtube now with subtitles and everything. And it's... not very good. It's basically the story of these ... delinquents who are constantly fighting and an underground illegal gambling ring that bets on the outcomes. You don't need to watch the first one or even be familiar with the franchise at all to get the gist of what's going on.

It has a simple story and a simple conclusion, and it isn't really anything special. It only got attention for being "lost." 6/10

Short review: really only watch this if your bored

Hana no Asukagumi! 2 was lost media for 30 years. After it was found and posted on YouTube. This isn’t best story but I wouldn’t say it’s th worst

Story: 5/10
Asuka is a delinquent school girl. Her parents one day decide to give her a gold coin to use just case anything bad happened. Asuka decides to use this coin as a weapon to fight, for no actual reason. One day a club forms that starts a battle royale between a bunch of different gangs or individuals. Asuka is put in to the battle without her knowledge. This ... story may be original but that doesn’t mean it’s good. It’s fun at first but then it gets boring quickly.

Art: 4/10
I’m just gonna be blunt and say this, the animation is awful. Most of the scenes the characters look stiff and there’s even time where they just put 1-3 still images moving for scenes with crowds.

Sound: 6/10
Not much to say here. The voice acting pretty good for it’s time

Character: 5/10
Ok so basically Asuka is the only character. I mean yes there is other characters but they don’t have much to them at all, I can’t even remember their names. There is a scene where it shows a flashback to Asuka’s past and gives some insight on why she might have chose to become a delinquent but it’s not great. There is this one girl who shows up in the beginning who is anorexic and gets bullied. She sorta goes through some development at the end. In last few scenes she says she going to try as hard as she to start eating again, which is nice.

Enjoyment:5/10
I’d recommend this to anyone who is bored honestly


This is my first review so please take it with a grain of salt,sorry if there is any grammar mistakes, etc.

“Lonely Cats Battle Royale,” a spinoff of 1987’s “Shin Kabukicho Story: Hana no Asukagumi!” OVA, has some positive aspects, such as a promising start and decent music, but it’s rather subdued and lackluster compared to the original story.

The gist of the plot is that Asuka, and her friends Hime and Miko, have been put into a “battle royale”-style fighting bracket without their knowledge or consent, and they have to fend off various groups of delinquent girls attacking them while trying to get to the bottom of who created this bracket and why. Provided you know who the characters are, the setup is okay and is ... easy to follow, but as the story unfolds, it begins to fall apart. The reveal of the culprit behind the bracket, as well as the reason for making the girls fight, is explained clumsily. The climax is drawn out and boring, and although they try to wrap it up at the end, the characters’ interactions with each other don’t feel genuine. Compared to the over-the-top antics of “Shin Kabukicho Story,” “Lonely Cats Battle Royale” is underwhelming.

The characters act roughly the same as they do in the first OVA, but since there’s a different character designer here, some of them look different, particularly Miko. I didn’t even realize she was supposed to be Miko at first. Asuka is even tougher and meaner than she was in “Shin Kabukicho Story,” and she comes across as not being very likable here. Neither Hime nor Miko stand out very much, and Yasuhiro shows up briefly and adds little to the story. “Lonely Cats Battle Royale” has its own set of bullying schoolgirls, just like “Shin Kabukicho Story,” but the interactions between the bullies and their victim, as well as the bullies’ motivations, seem forced. Asuka’s way of dealing with them in “Lonely Cats Battle Royale” also isn’t as satisfying as it was in the first OVA.

The animation is serviceable, but subpar, and as touched on above, the designs for some of the returning characters are different. Also, many of the new characters look bland, compared to the outlandish designs in “Shin Kabukicho Story.” The voice acting is average. The music is decent, particularly the catchy, upbeat ending theme. The direction isn’t very good; it’s hard to tell what’s going on at times.

As for potentially objectionable content, “Lonely Cats Battle Royale” has fighting, blood and references to drugs. Also, gambling plays a major role in the background of the story, as do anorexia and bullying. This OVA is a bit tamer in general than the first one, though.

Overall, while there are a few positive aspects to this OVA, it’s missing the spark that the first one had, and thus comes across as dull, and with a messy plot on top of that. Not recommended.