Battle Athletes
(Battle Athletes Daiundokai OVA)

(OVA Series 1997-1998 - 6 episodes - AIC / Pioneer LDC)

4 reviews - 13.5 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (3.4)

4. Tempy

The Battle Athletes OVA series is a different retelling of the events on the University Satellite, which comprises the middle part of the Battle Athletes Victory TV series. Being much shorter in length and having much less characters to work with, the Battle Athletes OVA is not nearly as good as BAV. Still, it does quite well on its own, this story of Akari Kanzaki's dream to follow in her mother's footsteps and improve herself in order to become Cosmic Beauty. It still has the fun and most importantly, Kris Christopher; Akari's roommate, opponent, and best friend. The Kris character, with her quaint but inspiring spirituality, is one of my favorite anime characters of all time.

3. bremmi

The OAV series takes place roughly in the middle of the TV series, after the students make it to University Satellite. While the OAVs still mainly focus on Akari and the females, unlike the TV show they show us some of the male athletes as well. Sadly, most of the really interesting females from the TV series did not make it to the OAVs. Because they're so much shorter, the OAVs also suffer a bit from a lack of character development. Some of the characters are drastically different from their TV counterparts as well. Overall I think the only highlight of the OAVs is that Kris gets a bit more time in the spotlight, and there's a bit of nudity thrown in there too. However, the absence of Mr. Miracle and Yanagida Ichino is the reason I've only watched the OAVs once compared to 4 or 5 viewings of the entire TV series.

2. Jeneki

The Battle Athletes OAVs take place during the middle episodes of the TV series. Some of the characters are a little different from the TV series, but I didn't have any problems adjusting back and forth between the two. The OAVs are a little heavier on the fanservice side of things, but this gets no complaints from me. I like the character designs and appreciate the fact there aren't any females with insane body proportions. There are some decent character developments and plot elements, but it seems about average to me. It's worth watching, but I prefer the TV series by far.

1. weasl

While not nearly as good as the TV series, the Battle Athletes OVAs are still worth a watch. Battle Athletes mixes a story about competitive sports in space, with comedy, some human drama, and a splash of fanservice. Sadly the story is cut short, and character development is pretty weak. Ultimately it succeeds, though less so then its TV counterpart.