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Battle Athletes (バトルアスリーテス大運動会, Battle Athletes Daiundōkai ^?) is a Japanese series produced by the AIC studio and released as an OVA, and later aired as an anime series on TV Tokyo in 1997.

Plot synopsis

Battle Athletes

Battle Athletes is a 6 episode OVA set in the distant future where, after many years of war with an extraterrestrial race, a contest of physical strength between one representative from each race is agreed. Although the alien race is far superior to the humans, the human champion prevailed, marking an era of peace for humanity. A University Satellite is created where the greatest athletes of the age train with women competing for the title of Cosmic Beauty.

Akari Kanzaki, daughter of a former Cosmic Beauty, arrives at the University Satellite excited and ready to compete. After watching defending Cosmic Beauty Lahrri run faster than she ever has despite the artificial gravity being turned up, Akari realizes just how far she needs to go. Helping her are her fellow team members and roommates Kris Christopher, a soon-to-be priestess from the moon, and Anna Respighi, a shy girl with a secret so hidden even she is unaware of it. Kris is marked as a standout athlete and competes on a level near Lahrri drawing the wrath of another top competitor Mylandah onto the team as they prepare for the final competition.

Characters

• Akari Kanzaki: The daughter of Tomoe Midou from Hokkaido, born March 23, 4983.
• Kris Christopher: An agrarian priestess from the Moon and member of Akari's team, born January 1, 4982.
• Anna Respighi: A member of Akari's team from Satellite Colony 7, born August 7, 4982.
• Mylanndah Arkar Walder: A senior student from Satellite Colony 3, born February 10, 4980.
• Lahrri Feldnut: A senior Mongolian student, born June 30, 4980.
• Grant Oldman: The headmaster of University Satellite.

Battle Athletes Victory

The television series is not a sequel to the OVA, but a complete retelling of the story. The basic premise of the series remain intact, as Akari still strives for the title of Cosmic Beauty, but the plotline and characterizations are often radically different. The characters and stories of this series tend to be more outrageous in tone than the first series.

The story begins with Akari Kanzaki at a school on Antarctica in the year 4999. There are a series of tests that she and her fellow classmates must go through to determine who'll be the representatives to go to University Satellite, a satellite training facility. Living under the shadow of her mother, the legendary Cosmic Beauty Tomoe Midou, Akari, emotionally fragile in this version, struggles as the worst athlete at the training school. Eventually, with the help of her best friend Ichan, Akari succeeds in making it to the University Satellite where she competes for the title of Cosmic Beauty and trains for a mission that will decide the fate of the human race.

Battle Athletes Victory is listed on Animeondvd.com's recommended list.^[1]

Characters

• Akari Kanzaki: She is in fact the protagonist of the series, and was born on March 23, 4983, in Hokkaido, Japan. She is sixteen years old and wishes to become the Cosmo Beauty like her mother; she likes reading in her free time. Her personality is described as timid and fearsome, but mostly sweet.

• Ichino Yanagida: She was born on December 31, 4982, in Osaka, Japan. She is sixteen years old and has a solid sense of duty; she likes playing Shougi (Japanese chess). Her personality is described as passionate.

• Tanya Natdhipytadd: She was born on May 5, 4984, in Africa. She is fourteen years old and enjoys hunting and fortune-telling; her personality is described as willful.

• Jessie Gurtland: She was born on July 10, 4981, in New York, United States. She is seventeen years old and enjoys dancing, engine sports and playing piano; her personality is described as obstinate.

• Ayla V Roznovsky: She was born on May 8, 4981, in Russia. She is seventeen years old and enjoys swimming (in which she is confident); her personality is described as fresh.

• Wong Ling Pha: She was born on August 12, 4982, in Hong Kong, China. She is seventeen years old and enjoys riding.

Development

At first, the creation of the franchise was set for a public radio drama at start of 1996 on "Orikasa Ai's Moonlight Cafe"^[2]. When the end of 1996 approached, a video game of the same name was released for the Sega Saturn system. It was followed up by the OAV series (the first video adaptation) and, some months later, by the TV version. Two more games were released eventually ("Alternative" in 1998, also for the Saturn, and "GTO" in 1999, for the PlayStation). There was also a comic adaptation, subtitled "A.D. 4999".

Cast

• Akari Kanzaki: Rio Natsuki/Lia Sargent
• Ichino Yanagida: Aya Hisakawa/Wendee Lee
• Kris Christopher: Tomoko Kawakami/Dorothy Melendrez
• Anna Respighi: Akiko Yajima/Ruby Marlowe
• Tanya Natdhipytadd: Aya Sakaguchi/Julie Maddalena
• Lahrri Feldnunt: Yuriko Yamaguchi/Mimi Woods
• Mylandah Arkar Walder: Akemi Okamura/Debbie DeRosa
• Tomoe Midou: Miki Takahashi
• Jessie Gartland: Miki Ito/Marie Downing
• Student A: Kae Araki
• Student B: Michiko Netani
• Student C: Chiharu Tezuka
• Announcer: Miho Yamada/Jane Alan
• Chief of the Dorm: Shiho Niiyama
• Control Officer: Takeshi Igarashi
• Grant Oldman (Headmaster)/Prologue Narrator: Koji Nakada/David Lucas

References

External links

• Battle Athletes Victory at the Internet Movie Database