Ayane-chan High Kick!

To think Ayane-chan High Kick should have been a complete series, but the producers behind this didn't had the money to contineu this series or just didn't knew how to handle money and/or there was no intrest aswell. Kinda of a shame for being their first debut as a studio. Apparantly it was intented to have six episodes. Someone with a lot of money please build a time machine and go back to 1997 and sponser this anime project. It was pretty OK actually. Good enough to share some own thoughs with this, just to give Ayane High Kick a bit more love that it ... deserves.

Story: 6/10 (Fine)
Meet Ayane Mitsui, a redhead high school girl that wants to be a pro wrestler, but got tricked into the world of kickboxing. That's the story. I know the two sports don't really match each other, but I think I can understand the message they were trying to tell here with this story. It's all about the journey how you want to achieve your goals. To bad we'll never know if Ayane would have succeeded her goal.

Art: 6/10 (Fine)
Ayane High Kick's animation looks if you compair it with modern anime a bit dated, but hey, it's from 1997. It's about the same age when Pokémon (1997) came out in Japan as an anime, so I wouldn't make a fuss that much for it's animation. It's pretty OK. I've seen much worse animation, so no real complaints on the animation part aswell. Sure, I've spotted here and there some animation errors, but hey, I won't bitch and moan about that.

Sound: 6/10 (Fine)
Ayane is voiced by Yuko Miyamura, the person that also voiced the quite famous 14 year old Asuka Langley Souryuu from the Evangelion series. That combined with pretty alright background music that really kind of gives the vibes of the 90's together with decent voice acting from the other and sound effect typical for the '90's, I really can't complain sound-wise. Maybe I could make make a comment that the assigned intro song for this anime should have been "Fight For Yourself" by The Street Beats, which is a Jpop song that I actually don't really like, but hey, music taste does vary aswell.

Charather: 5/10 (Average)
It's kind of a sad thing thing I really can't judge with only two episodes that ever made for this series if I want to talk about it's charathers. You really need more episodes to see the charathers more fleshed out to be honest, even for an anime that was intented to be aired on television. That's why I go the average route if I want to rate the charathers.

Enjoyement: 7/10 (Good)
I actually felt bummed out the two episodes were over already. I honesty wanted more. I sort of want to know if Ayane would have succeeded her dream to become a pro wrestler even after she went the kickboxing route. Let's assume she did. Still I low key want to see all the shenanigans she has gone trough to acchieve her goal. As I already said before; someone please build a time machine and go back to 1997 to sponser this project.

Overal: 6/10 (Fine)
I honesty would recommend this short anime. It's only two episodes long that could get completed within the hour. I think this short cancelled anime is a good example that the lack of funding and/or intrest totally can destroy a potentional good series forever.

Anyway I tend to watch a lot of things and this one is a short two episode OVA and its called
Ayane's High Kick
With a title like that don't expect a romantic drama and it isn't. Its one of them fighting animes that I tend to like. Now this one was made in 1996 so don't expect it to be a looker by today's standards. I have to say it has a female lead character that must be slightly dim as she seems to be easily fooled into thinking that she doing wrestling training in kick boxing gear (ok there have been ones in the past ... that have worn kick boxing gear) but when the trainer takes her to a gym for it you would think she would clock on to it but she doesn't.
There is however room for a possibly series but considering it was made over ten years ago I don't think they will.
The thing its self doesn't take its self to seriously but its sadly not that funny (well not to me) but it is okish so.
Over all
I give this 3/5 as its kinda something id pick up if it was on the cheap.
Recommended for -
People that like to watch this type of anime and want something short and back to basics.
Plot in one sentence -
Girl wants to become wrestler ends up becoming a kick boxer.

Ayane-chan High Kick is a sports comedy from the late 90s. It was written by Shizuya Isao and put out by Nikkatsu & Rikuentai. I've reviewed a lot of semi obscure OVAs so let's delve into this one. 

Story:
We open with our heroine, Mitsui Ayane, skipping school in order to try out for wrestling. Unfortunately for her, throwing herself into things carelessly doesn't work out and she isn't signed. But things look up when she's approached by Tange Kunimitsu who sees championship potential in her. She eagerly takes him up on his offer to train her, not realising that he actually wants her as a kick boxer ... rather than as a wrestler. 

The biggest issue with the OVA comes down to the humour. To explain it in simple terms, it can't decide whether it wants over the top, absurd comedy or more subdued dry comedy. Which basically results in it giving you kind of absurd, over the top situations and then reeling things back and giving you a subdued punch line that usually proves a bit disappointing. Having Ayane woken up when she's sleeping in class by her friend doing a countdown could be really funny, if she let loose and decked the student in the desk next to hers. Not so much when she just stands up awkwardly and shouts. That's just a little funny. Having the antagonist bring a van to her school and challenge her would be really funny if she gave a kind of exaggerated challenge speech like the Ultimate Warrior but it's not really funny when she's just a bit haughty. 

Another issue is with how much time they spend on training montages where nothing all that amusing happens. I get it, you have a sports thing so you want to show some training and progression. However, this OVA has two episodes and runs for a little less than an hour. So, spending a bunch of that time showing training doesn't seem particularly prudent when you could have some jokes for your comedy or character development if you want to take it semi-seriously. Or both. 

With those critiques out of the way, I will credit the series for being kind of entertaining and having jokes that might not be uproariously funny but are a bit funny. And there's nothing in the OVA's writing that's actually bad or even boring. Its main problems come down to trying to do too much with limited time and a general unwillingness to commit to the more absurd elements. And the worst that's going to lead to are some scenes that are a bit "blah."

Characters:
I've often said that a comedic work doesn't need characters with all that much depth so long as it has characters that have strong comedic interactions, although it is a bonus. That being said, this OVA isn't solely comedic. It takes its sport elements somewhat seriously and, because of that, I would say it needs some depth. Which it really doesn't have. Even if this were purely comedic most of the characters aren't all that funny in their interactions. So, you ultimately end up with characters who are a a bit too flat to make for a good cast in a sports work that's taking itself somewhat seriously and not animated enough for a strong comedic cast. 

Art:
The artwork isn't all that good. It's not bad either it's just kind of average 90s fare in terms of character designs, backgrounds and the like. The biggest issue I had with it were with the action sequences. The OVA opts for more pulse pounding action rather than absurd, over the top action. Which is a perfectly acceptable choice but the problem is that it's not good at it. The action sequences mostly involve Ayane taking hits with flashes and recycled footage before she pulls it together and delivers her devastating titular high kick and it's just not that exciting or interesting to watch. And when it tries to illustrate injuries, there's really no detail so it just doesn't work. I get not wanting to show too much blood or detailed gore in a comedic sports work but at least give us some bruising or anything that can actually convey the damage they're supposed to have taken. 

Sound:
The acting is fine. Nishihara Kumiko, Miyamura Yuko, Kawamura Maria & Ootsuka Akio all deliver acceptable performances. I dare say they could've done better if they'd had stronger comedy and/or stronger characterisation to work with. The music is okay. Not anything spectacular or super memorable but it works well enough. 

Ho-yay:
There's a bit between Ayane and Kayoko. When they start talking about graduating together and Ayane realises she has to win her match for that purpose it gets pretty homo-erotic. 

Specific Improvement Suggestions:
This is something new I'll probably do from this point on. Namely, I'm going to suggest three specific changes that I think could have made for a stronger work. Obviously, it's going to end up being a lot easier with works that aren't as good and get more nit-picky when you get something really strong, but I think it'll be interesting. So, for this OVA here are my picks. 
1. Embracing more absurd humour. 
I'm not opposed to drier, more subdued comedy, but with the ridiculous set ups and situations I definitely think going for more zany, over the top japes would have made for stronger comedy.

2. Cutting The Training sequences down, using that time for character interactions.
If the OVA had done a bit more with developing strong comedic interactions, I definitely think the characters would be both stronger and more memorable.

3. More polish for the action sequences.
Whether you want to keep the pulse pounding action, or you want to keep with the general motif and make the fight sequences more ridiculous, the action sequences definitely need more effort.

Final Thoughts:
Ayane-chan High Kick is all right. It's certainly better than some of the random OVAs I've gone over but there are also plenty of better ones out there. If it sounds like it might be your thing, you won't lose much time watching it since it does run for less than an hour and you may enjoy it. But if you skip it you aren't really missing out on anything. I'll give it a 6/10. 

Sadly this only got 2 episodes, if it got more, my rating would have probably been much different. There just wasn't enough time for the story, albeit in the 2 episodes everything was established and executed quite well.

Story: 4

I gave it a 4 mainly because of the ending, That was a BS doctor stoppage, I know the studio could have given the anime 5 more minutes to really finish the fight.

Art: 8

Not much to say, I'm just a big fan of the old aesthetic present in the anime.

... Sound: 6

I liked the ED, but the OP was awful. The soundtracks were just average, not something I'll ever remember either.

Characters: 4

The only 2 likeable characters, were Ayane and her Coach - everyone else was either annoying or just boring like Kayako.

Overall: 6

I would recommend it to people who like fighting anime I guess, the fight scenes were pretty cool. I enjoyed it, though I was shorter than I hoped.

Okokokok HEAR ME OUT. This is a VERY short anime. I went in completely blind and surprise surprise it was absolutely nothing new- but. It was honestly pretty enjoyable in the background. I was half watching half working but I was listening the entire time- It was honestly a lot of fun. There were a few intentional jokes that landed for me and I really don't think this show took itself seriously.

If you want something short, old, and fun to watch I would actually recommend this! Oh and it's not super pervy if that's something you like to avoid!

In my search for a good sports anime with mainly female characters that would actually be worth watching, I came across "Ayane High Kick" and thought it sounded fun. After searching and searching until I found both episodes (dubbed in English, no less!), I finally watched it, and I thought I might as well explain this obscure anime about a kickboxer girl.

Story: 6/10 - fair

It wasn't BAD, I will say that. I actually kind of liked the idea of a girl who wants to be a wrestler but just can't make it in that world, so a kickboxing coach who sees the potential ... in her strong and flexible legs decides to start training her to enter the world of competitive kickboxing. Sounds really cool, right? Well, the anime didn't develop the story as well as I had hoped it would, and everything just seemed kind of rushed and sudden. Like, Ayane fails her wrestling tryout. Boom! Suddenly a guy wants to train her. She trains. Bam! Suddenly a famous hotshot kickboxer gets mad 'cause Ayane stole the spotlight. Just snap your fingers and something new is happening - that's how rushed the two episodes were.

Art: 6/10 - fair

Since this anime is really, really old, I can't really judge it with the same standards as I would a more modern show, but I will say, the animation wasn't as jerky and awkward as I had expected it to be, considering how old it is, and I actually thought the character designs were pretty decent. All the characters are drawn in a thickly outlined, high-contrast sort of style, with blocky highlights on their skin and clothes and VERY exaggerated hair (for the female characters). Their exaggerated facial expressions and designs, though, are part of what I kind of liked: it was easy to tell how a character was feeling just by looking at them. Overall, I think the art was nothing too special, but it was tough-looking enough to fit with the theme of the show and fun-looking enough to fit the tone of the show.

Sound: 4/10 - decent

The sound was probably the worst aspect of the show, but it wasn't completely and entirely terrible. I watched the English dub, and the voice acting was pretty bad - all the characters besides Ayane and Kunimitsu (and even them, too, but for them it was the least annoying) sounded very robotic and fake. The VAs didn't put much emotion into their voices and it was really obvious they were reading off a script. It was impossible to feel the hype of the fight scenes or the tender emotion of Ayane and Kayoko promising to graduate together because of the so-obviously-fake voices. I did manage to find the first episode in Japanese, and the voices were definitely better in that version (probably since it's the original), so I didn't rate the sound "poor" simply because of that.

Another aspect of sound in the show is the music. The anime creators did better with the music than with the voice acting, for sure, but even the music was pretty forgettable and not very interesting or exciting. I've watched some anime with soundtracks that make fantastic emotions swell up inside me and that make me visualize the scenes in my mind even if I'm not watching the anime (Haikyuu!! has one of the BEST soundtrack - if you want an anime with good music, be sure to check it out!), but Ayane High Kick didn't have that. I don't know much about how music works, but I do know that the soundtrack to this anime was pretty boring and only had a couple minutes that I can recall that were actually done well.

Character: 7/10 - good

Despite the bad dub voices, I actually liked the characters. I loved Ayane's strong spirit and competitive energy. I liked how sweet and loyal Kayoko was to her best friend. I liked that Kunimitsu pushed Ayane hard and helped her train just as he would have with a boy. Ayane and Kayoko's classmate (I forgot his name, sadly) was also quite fun, and I liked that the anime didn't push him into a romantic relationship with one of the girls, because that would have added yet another new event and there wouldn't have been as much focus on kickboxing. Ayane's little brother was one of the most realistic characters in the show, and I thought he added a bit of cute comedy to it. The vice-principal was annoying because of how "evil" he was made out to be, and I think everything would have been much better off without him. The worst character was Sakuragawa (I think that's what her name was...), the blond, high-ponytailed "princess" kickboxer. She was one of the most cliche characters and was just so unrealistic in her behavior that it made the whole story even less believable. Overall, the characters were not too bad, and if anybody does watch Ayane High Kick, do it for the characters. The spirited Ayane is a good protagonist, who, no matter how many times she's hit and kicked and thrown to the ground, never gives up and keeps fighting.

Enjoyment: 6/10 - fair

It was fun. It was a little bland and it failed to get me hyped up, but it was nice to see an old anime about a mostly-tough girl and her discovery of a new sport. It wasn't a very exciting anime, but if it got a modern remake, I would definitely want to see it. There were a few funny parts, and a few sweet parts, and some potentially interesting fight scenes, so it wasn't that bad.

Overall: 6/10 - fair

As I said before, it wasn't too bad, but it's not the hidden, magnificent gem of ancient, obscure anime. It makes sense why it never gained much popularity, but it had some potential. It had its good points and its bad points, so I can't say it was fantastic, but it wasn't horrible. "Fair" is the best description for Ayane High Kick, an anime with potential that never managed to make it far enough. And that's a shame, since the story could have been fleshed out more and the characters could have been developed so much more. My main takeaway from this anime is simple: the only person that can force you to stay down is yourself. That's why Ayane kept getting up. She never stayed down because she was in charge, meaning she could always choose to use those legs of hers and pull out another "Golden High Kick."