Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Battle Athletes Victory – episodes 11 to 22

April 5, 2004 on 7:04 pm | In Battle Athletes Victory | Comments Off on Battle Athletes Victory – episodes 11 to 22

Akari goes to University Satellite, but on the way her shuttle gets hijacked by terrorists!
The terrorists were a great crime trio, with the traditionally incompetent leader (his tendency to ramble is hilarious) and the completely stupid threats and demands.
While it makes sense to hijack a shuttle with perceived VIPs on it, it makes less to hijack a shuttle packed solely with battle athletes.
The introductions of Anna and Kris came at this appropriate juncture, with Anna being a victim (“Silly faces make you embarrassed!”) and Kris being nowhere near the sensibility level she once was at.
The new Kris is hilarious. Rather than the “nudity for laughs” approach, we get the “inexplicable instant lesbian love for laughs” approach. There’s more to Kris than that, but to have her introduce herself to a ship occupied by terrorists and students as “[Akari’s] lover” is an effective intro, as is Anna’s embarrassing alien greeting dance.
Anna’s discovery of the terrorists was animated with just the right level of absurdity, and the athletes’ entry into university was definitely memorable and proved that Grant Oldman is the greatest man in human history.

Over the following episodes, Akari’s problems seem to be the opposite of her old issues: that is, she is too independent and doesn’t trust her team mates to work with her. In fact, the whole team consists of some of the flightiest students ever.
Fortunately, Akari comes to her senses, but the completely wonky characterisation of this series comes to a head several times. Jessie can’t decide whether she’s supportive of Akari or if she simply hates her, and she’s frequently written in whichever way it suits the story.
When Anna’s dark secret comes out (which is far more disturbing than the OVA’s totally bizarre revelation), it’s disappointing that there was no hint of her competitive side before. When she was losing all the time, she didn’t care this much.
Similarly, Mylandah is initially portrayed as the rabid monster of the OVA, but then seems to grow a healthy rivalry with Lahrri as opposed to an obsession. Still, she should not have gone unpunished for beating the other athletes into comas with tennis balls. That is just not what sports are all about.
Wong Ling-Pha’s presence is, by its very nature, a waste of potential.
The possibility of losing too much in the character shift from Antarctica to the Satellite was not as devastating as it could have been.

Still, the characters are fun, and Mister Miracle (as voiced by Ishizuka Unshou) is a marvellous character. The episode in America shows some wonderful scenery and atmosphere, and some very good music that would not have fit anywhere other than future New York. It’s interesting that New York of 4999 has slums and gangs, but the Japan that is shown is nothing but rolling countryside. I suppose that the debris had to go somewhere.

The Great Competition plays out well, and the spiritual developments are interesting – although Battle Athletes Victory shows a strong disregard for religious practice when it interferes with sporting prowess.

Despite any of the small and confusing inconsistencies, Battle Athletes Victory is almost wholly entertaining. The final episode arc looks to be very little on the serious side.
(yes, I know it’s cheating to write a whole arc at once)