Cows in Space!

(WARNING! Spoilers Ahead! Go to the Conclusion to avoid them.)

Spaceward Ho! introduces the viewer to a whole host of new and interesting people, places, and things (I like to call this things "nouns"). This volume takes the Battle Athletes Victory series from strange to downright bizarre, but that is a good thing!

The three episodes on this volume, "Girl Meets Girls," "There Goes The Three," and "There Goes the Three Again" tell the story of Akari's arrival on the University Satellite and the people she is introduced to there. Among the new characters is Anna, a quiet and shy girl, the dubiously named Kris (she makes a number of homosexual advances on Akari) who is something of a Space Mennonite and brings her own cow with her (!). Also new to the cast is the Headmaster (with his signature kimono with the kanji for "Big" on it), and Mr. Miracle, Akari's coach. 

The Headmaster saves Akari and Kris as they arrive on the Satellite.  The shuttle carrying them to the satellite is high jacked and nearly crashes into it, but the Headmaster catches it with his bare hands. Big, indeed! One they arrive, Akari, Kris, and Anna are partnered up into a team for the Prelim Competitions, but they quickly start losing left and right. Meanwhile, Mr. Miracle is promising to make one of them a Cosmo Beauty (as if there is any question who that will be!), but he seems to be doing nothing at all.

Miracle is a bit of a quirky guy, since the only way he can remain functional is by consuming large amounts of chocolate. So, thus far we have a headmaster who can catch spacecraft in his bare hands, a coach that eats chocolate to survive, and a gay roommate who insists on having a cow live with her. Sounds normal to me!

These episodes do a decent job of introducing a new story line. There are, however, a whole bunch of new characters that we honestly have no information on. Hopefully there will be more development of them in the next disc. Also, Jessie and Tanya fade almost to obscurity in these episodes. They appear in a few scenes only briefly, and then only to provide comic relief or Akari with motivation. However, there has been some comedic situations that haven't involved Tanya for a change, and that is something that I think helps balance the show better.

One interesting note that I would like to make is that these episodes make it clear that humanity has expanded across the solar system. I think this was mentioned in an earlier episode, but we have seen no evidence of it until now. There are people from all over the place at the University Satellite, including the Moon, Mercury, and Mars. Whew! At least, with the show set in 4999, this could be possible. A big problem with some sci-fi anime, such as Cowboy Bebop, is that it is set too near the current day. Don't get me wrong, I love Bebop. It is just that I find it harder to suspend my sense of disbelief when I see enormous colonies in Jupiter's moons supposedly only 70 years from now.

As with the other discs in this release, the video and sound quality is above average, but there are no extras whatsoever. I would be happy with anything! Give me a textless opening or closing, or maybe a few trailers! But alas...

Conclusion (Spoiler Free!)

Overall, these episodes have been a bit lighter than the previous few. They reveal a lot of new characters and settings to the viewer, but it will take a few more episodes to really make sense of all the new material. This series has quickly gone from strange to bizarre, but the characters only become more endearing and the show more entertaining because of it. This series seems to be only getting better with each new disc!

By Andy Rucker