Story: 7/10
Taking place in the near future, wrestling is not what it use to be. Gone are the days where two opponents would get in the ring, and fight each other hand to hand until the other was pinned. In this era fighters have now dawned metal suits, which strengthens their moves ten times over, thus calling it "Neo Wrestling!" Going into this anime, I was kind of expecting the whole "wrestling idea" to play more of a side story, thus making the anime feel gimmicky. But no, in truth it actually concentrates on the wrestling theme quite a bit...maybe even too much! So what you see is what you get, the anime follows this formula to a T. In center stage we have little Miku, star of the all female fighting team called the Pretty Four. The main bulk of the story follows the girls as they take on opponents (which usually happens at the end of most episodes) until they can make it to the top, all along meeting new friends and fierce rivals. What makes the anime fun is it’s mix of funny bits, drama and action. It doesn’t surpass anything while it does this, but is there none the less. Determination and team work plays key into each fight, as matches take place in a "four on four" tag match. Now because of the metal suits involved, don’t expect to see much in the way of authentic looking wrestling moves. Most of them are exaggerated, what with super jumps, power punches and the like (if you have ever seen Angelic Layer, then they look something like that). There are a few plot twists that take place near the end that can be quite unexpected too. Most opponents don’t play fair in the very least, and you will see quite a bit of cheating and underhanded deals going though. The main characters transform into their metal suits much like you would see in your tradition magical girl anime. While the story does remain very strait forward with it’’s idea, it also doesn’t do it in a repetitive manner either. As each episode spotlights a new problem for the team to over come, whether it be stopping the underhanded deeds done by their enemies, to simply encouraging one another to stay strong. There is little to no romance in this, and the ones that are present are handled very lightly. One of the problems I had with this anime, is with it’s actual ending. Which takes place in a "1 on 1" match, which I found to be odd since the overall anime is centered on teamwork. As a whole, some viewers might find it’s linear wrestling plot to be too strict to the source to enjoy, but I think fans of action anime may want to check this out, as many of the fights are fun to watch.
Metal Fighter Miku shouldn’t contain anything that viewers would find offensive. There is no blood in this, nor is there any fan service. Of course there is violence as far as wrestling goes, but it’s only done in a mildly over the top manner.
Art: 8/10
Taking into consideration that this anime was made almost 19 years ago, it goes without saying that it doesn’t live up to anything by today’s standards. However for it’s time it really is a well detailed and colorful series. Fights are animated smoothly, with hardly any kind of re-hashed scenes used over and over again (battle suit transformations aside). Backgrounds are the only thing that don’t live up to the rest of the art, they can look quite simplistic and dull at times. If you have ever seen a series called "Cat Girl Nuku Nuku" then you will notice many resemblances between the two.
Sound: 8/10
Nice tracks play throughout the series, they feel quite dated, but still have catchy beats to them. The opening and ending tracks don’t feel quite as old however, both are pretty high up beat tunes that match well with the girls personalities. Both are sung by the same vocalist too. As far as the background tracks go there really isn’t much to say. They do their jobs for what is going on in the anime, but lack any kind of really memorable tunes, with the exception of the main track that plays when the girls are about to enter the ring. Good voice overs through out the series, though the dub version does leave a little to be desired.
Characters: 7/10
They are a mixed baggage. Most of them are well thought out and do have a "wrestler’s attitude" about them (a good thing). The character that ended up intrigued me the most was the coach--Eiichi. He was quite the hard individual to figure out at first, they don’t actually try to hide his past from the viewers, but they do hide enough of it to make most people tilt their head in interest when they see him. Miku has everything you would want in a leader. She doesn’t show boat, works hard at what she does, and always gives it here all. As the story progress you will find out that she does have her weakness that must be overcome, which is nice as far as character development goes. The other girls were a little more disappointing, they never really molded past their whole "teamwork" idea, and some such as Sayaka, you never get any really knowledge of at all. The rivals and enemies can suffer from the same thing, with the exception of a few of them, who actually do show their true selves to the audience later on. The characters who were important to the story were great, it's just a shame that some never got the attention they deserved.
Overall: 7/10
Despite it's strait forward plot, "Metal Fighter Miku" serves up just the right amount of action that should keep most viewers satisfied. Fun characters, interesting battles and a nice mix of wrestling and dialog are all part of this package. Because of it's linear storyline though, not all will be able to stay interested, and while it may be not pin any of the competition out there, it does put up a very good fight in the ring.
