On Your Mark!

The first volume of Battle Athletes Victory is a very entertaining disc, but it left me scratching my head over a number of questions surrounding the story's setting and the characters. Fortunately, Doubt & Conflict picks up the pieces nicely, explaining many of these issues. For example (Minor Spoiler!), Antartica looks like a desert now because of a shift in the Earth's magnetic poles that cause the entire planet to shift 180 degrees. Simple really...

Anyway, this disc features only 3 episodes instead of 4, which is a bit of a bad thing in my opinion. This series is really growing on me, and I want more! The episodes include "Arrogance," "The Return Home," and "Lamentation." The events of the first two episodes actually precede those of the first disc, while the final episode comes in right where the last disc left off. This jars continuity somewhat, but I believe that this is a tactic by the producers of the show to force viewers to concentrate on the plot.

The tone of events in this second installment is a bit darker than the first one, but still manages to keep the sense of outlandish humor established in the first volume. The plot of Doubt & Conflict focuses on the character Akari and her relationship with Itchan. The other characters play secondary roles of various significance, Jessie's role probably being the most important. However, there is never any doubt on whom the spotlight is truly shining. I didn't find this to be necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely indicates that the show is truly about Akari, a point that was not made completely clear by the first disc. The first two episodes describe the fall and rise of Akari, about how she found her competitive spirit. The final episode contains the most heart-rending and serious moment yet in the whole series. I won't give it away here, but suffice to say, it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The animation continues to be of moderate quality, with enough humorous exaggeration to maintain an overall sense of humor about the show. I especially enjoy Itchan's angry faces. Boy, if looks could kill! Speaking of Itchan, the dub continues to be pretty good, but I have a minor quibble with how the dub often makes Itchan out to be more of a potty mouth than she is in the original Japanese version. Otherwise, the dub does a good job of matching voices with characters and conveying the nuances of the Japanese track. I am especially impressed with the way that everyone pronounces Akari's name as a native Japanese speaker would (aka-RI instead of a-KA-ri).

Overall, Doubt & Conflict has only made me a stronger fan of this series. None of the episodes have yet been filler material, although I wish they would put more on a disc. Considering that there are no extras, Doubt & Conflict seems awfully thin with only three episodes. On the other hand, what we do get is really good. This is an easy recommendation to all anime fans!

By Andy Rucker