Battle Athletes is a Japanese series produced by the AIC studio and released
as an original video animation and a manga by Yūki Nakano, and later aired as
an anime television series on TV Tokyo in 1997.
Plot = Battle Athletes =
Battle Athletes is a six-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.
= 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
plot line 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 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. Characters
Akari Kanzaki Voiced by: Rio Natsuki, Bambi Darro, Lia
Sargent Born in Hokkaido, Japan on March 23,
4983. She is the daughter of Tomoe Midou, a former Cosmo Beauty. She's
determined to follow in the footsteps of her mother in order to be Cosmo Beauty.
However, she is usually ditzy, clumsy, and sometimes a crybaby. In the TV
series, whenever she is embarrassed she hides in a cardboard box called "Akari
House". Towards the end of the series, she becomes stronger and confident in
herself. This is shown more in the OVA's after she cuts her hair short. Her hobby
is to read. Ichino Yanigida
Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa, Wendee Lee She was born on December 31, 4982, in
Osaka, Japan. She is the best friend of Akari. Like her, she is also wanting to
become Cosmo Beauty. But their ambitions almost destroyed their friendship and in
the end, it caused her to fracture her right ankle. She later returns after
Akari wins the competition to help her in defeating the Nerillians. Initially
her feelings for Akari are ambiguous until near the end of the series where
she confesses her feelings towards her. She likes playing Shougi and is a big
fan of the Osaka Tigers. Her personality is more upbeat, positive than Akari. She
does not appear in the OVAs. Tanya Natdhipytadd
Voiced by: Aya Sakuguchi, Brianne Siddall, Julie Maddalena
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 Voiced by: Miki Itō, Lia Sargent, Marie
Downing She was born on July 10, 4981, in New
York, United States. Her parents died when she was young leaving herself and
her younger siblings. She grew up in the hardship of living in poverty, and
trying to take care of her ill younger sister. She was then taken in by a
priest and, with the encouragement of Tomoe Midou, she resolves to become
Cosmo Beauty. Because of this, she holds resentment towards Akari, whom she views
as weak and unworthy to be called Tomoe's daughter. In the original manga
story, however, she is a friendly rival with Akari and does not resent her;
rather she views Akari as one of her best friends. She also views Ayla as a
rival. Jessie enjoys dancing, motorsports and playing piano.
Ayla V Roznovsky Voiced by: Yoko Soumi, Mary Elizabeth
McGlynn She was born on May 8, 4981, in Russia.
She has a cold personality, but becomes friends with Akari, Ichino and Tanya.
She views Jessie as a rival. She joined the school of Antarctica in order to
bring honor to her country. However, after finding out that her country was
conquered, she decides to quit. She later marries her swimming instructor,
Sergei and they have a child together, named Jessie, in honor of her former
rival. Swimming is her favorite sport. She does not appear in the OVAs.
Wong Ling Pha Voiced by: Takeo Kawata, Bridget Hoffman
She was born on August 12, 4982, in Hong Kong, China. She uses various cheating
methods in order to win, which always turn out bad for her and loses. However,
she sneaks in to the Satellite University, wearing a pink wing and
going by the name "Marshall". She serves as the comic relief of the show. She
enjoys riding. She doesn't appear in the OVAs.
Kris Christopher Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami, Dorothy
Elias-Fahn An agrarian priestess from the Moon and
member of Akari's team, born January 1, 4982. She is roommates with Akari and
Anna at the University Satellite. She has strange habits such as walking
around the dorm naked. She has a pet cow called Gyubei, whose milk Kris cannot
live without. She falls in love with Akari at first sight. She becomes love
rivals with Ichino. Anna Respighi
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima, Bridget Hoffman A member of Akari's team from Satellite
Colony 7, born August 7, 4982. In the OVA, she is enrolled in the university
satellite by her mother. Eventually, it is revealed that Anna is a boy and was
raised to be a girl. Because of this, Anna transfers out of the Girls'
satellite and moves into the Boy's satellite. In the TV series, she is a
cute girl who enjoys cooking. In the past, she and her twin sister Elaine
fought for the attention of their mother. This led to Anna injuring Elaine
in an act of jealousy during a game. By the end, the two later make up and
become sisters again. Mylandah Alkar Walker
Voiced by: Akemi Okamura, Debra Jean Rogers
A senior student from Satellite Colony 3, born February 10, 4980. She was once
friends with Lahrri up until the final rounds which resulted in losing the
Cosmo Beauty to her. This caused her to become obsessed with defeating Lahrri.
She is defeated in the semifinals by Kris and Akari. In the OVAs, she gets
expelled from the satellite. Lahrri Feldnunt
Voiced by: Yuriko Yamaguchi, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Mimi Woods
A senior Mongolian student, born June 30, 4980. She was the winner of Cosmo
Beauty for two years in a row. She is devoid of emotion and focuses on
victory. However, this led to breaking her friendship with Mylandah. She is
defeated in the semifinals by Kris and Akari.
Grant Oldman Voiced by: Kouji Nakata, Steven Blum
The headmaster of University Satellite. He was once a top athlete that brought
Earth to victory against the aliens. He possesses super strength. He is
supportive of Akari in her goal to become Cosmo Beauty. In the OVA, he is a
pervert who sneaks in to the Women's dorm and bath.
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". 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 and,
some months later, by the TV version. Two more games were released eventually.
There was also a comic adaptation, subtitled "A.D. 4999".
Manga A manga adaptation also exists. The
story is very different from the anime series which involves Akari being a new
candidate in the Anartica Academy. There she meets her male instructor aa he
helps her improve her skills. Akari meets some of the athletes as some
become her good friends and some as her sworn rivals. There is a few differences
with most of the characters: Akari: In the anime series, she is
hardly an athlete who believes she shouldn't be an athlete like her mother
Tomoe Midou and believes she should quit. In the manga, she wanted to
improve herself to see if she is worthy of being a true athlete like her mom.
Ichino: In the anime series, Ichino and Akari have been friends since they were
twelve years old and Ichino is helping Akari to keep going of being a worthy
athlete. In the manga, Ichino have first met Akari when Akari enrolled to the
academy and become friends right away. Ichino still acts hot-headed sometimes.
Jessie: In the anime series, Jessie acts kind to everyone except to Akari because
Akari is the daughter of Tomoe Midou, for Jessie's goal is to become the next
Cosmo Beauty Queen and surpass Tomoe Midou. She wants to be the best to
everyone including Akari. In the manga, Jessie is a lot more cheerful and is
nice to all the athletes which she doesn't see Akari as a rival but a
friend. She sees all sports as her favorite hobby to do and have fun.
Tanya: In the anime series, Tanya has darker skin and acts all funny. She
looks like a cat and acts all childish. In the manga, Tanya is close to resemble
her OVA appearance has less childlike personality and likes to do fun stuff.
Ling Pha: In the anime series, Ling Pha is a princess of China and has a selfish
personality that she would do anyway of becoming the new Cosmo Beauty Queen even
if it means by cheating. In the manga, Ling Pha is much kind to her friends,
has a ponytail, and doesn't cheat. Her father is a very rich merchant who sells
special medicine which Ling Pha gives some of her medicine to her friends to
help them out, in which case the medicine backfires of that cause side
effects for which Ling Pha doesn't know much about the medicines she gives out.
She is close friends with Tanya. Ayla: In the anime series, Ayla's hair
style is a wrap of pigtails and has calm personality. Ayla likes to remain calm
and never losses her cool. In the manga, Ayla's hairstyle is a well groom pouf
fashion and has a dark personality. She watches on all the athletes to learn of
their skills and to know of their weakness as she gathers information on
them and take them out. Episodes
= Battle Athletes = 1. Mission 1: Chronicle Beginning
2. Mission 2: Oath Entrant 3. Mission 3: Screaming Advance
4. Mission 4: Match Unexpected 5. Mission 5: Objective Tension
6. Mission 6: Stage Yonder = Battle Athletes Victory =
1. Ready Go! 2. Kwoolon's Attack!
3. The Night of Woong-A-Ji 4. My Rival
5. Arrogance 6. The Return Home
7. Lamentation 8. The Sinking Talent
9. The Thing on the Other Side 10. The Promise Resurrected
11. Girl Meets Girls 12. There Go the Three!
13. There Go the Three Again! 14. There Go the New Three!
15. Light 16. Shadow
17. I'm Sorry 18. Reason to Fight
19. From Heart to Heart 20. Friend
21. Save the Last Dance for Me 22. Farewell & Introductions
23. Day of Resurrection 24. Cultural Catastrophe
25. Oh God! The Evil Trap of the Nerillians.
26. Goal! References
External links Battle Athletes at the Internet Movie
Database