Where to Begin...

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

The Human Race is the last volume of Battle Athletes Victory and ups the episode content to four episodes, including "Day of Resurrection," "Cultural Catastrophe," "Oh God! The Evil Trap of the Nerilians," and "Goal!"

"Day of Resurrection" explains exactly what was going on at Tomoe's grave with the explosion and the flying saucer. In short order, we discover that the Cosmos Beauty competition has been designed to provide athletes who can combat an evil alien race known as the Nerilians, who challenge other species to sporting events for control of their planets. We also learn that Mr. Miracle is Akari's father, and that the Headmaster is over 3,000 years old (yikes!). A Nerilian scout apparently caused the disaster that resulted in the shifting of Earth's poles in 2015. Now, in the year 4999, the main Nerilian force has arrived and they have challenged the Earth to a seven on seven athletic competition in one month. Akari assembles a team with herself, Itchan, Kris, Tanya, Lharri, Mylandha, and Jessie (with Anna as the cook/alternate!).

"Cultural Catastrophe" shows this group retreating to a secret training area under Mr. Miracle's charge. This episode is pretty humorous, both because of the training activities undertaken by the girls and because of the banter between Itchan and Kris over Akari. There are some awfully tender moments here as well, since Akari is now trying to do her best to relate to a father she has never known. The end of the episode shows the enormous (on the order of three or four astronomical units) Nerilian mother ship arriving in the solar system, and Akari and Co. flying out to meet them. We get our first look at the Nerilian queen, which for some reason reminds me of a Zora from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The Queen wastes no time in starting what has been dubbed the "Mega Competition," the first event of which is a race between Jessie and some sort of bizarre combination of a hot rod and a Nerilian. This thing is kind of like a centaur, except it is half-car instead of half-horse. Thanks to some well-timed engine trouble, Jessie manages to pull through.

"Oh God! The Evil Trap of the Nerilians," besides having my vote for the best title for an anime episode ever, shows more battles between the Earth team and the Nerilian Queen's technologically enhanced freak show. Itchan manages to win a swimming match against an outboard-powered foe. Tanya, Kris, Lharri, and Mylandha also manage to overcome their opponents, but Akari manages to lose her match. As a result of these victories, the team breaks for lunch with a comfortable lead over the Nerilians.  However, the Queen has a nasty surprise in store for the Earth team at the beginning of the afternoon session. The Queen's newest addition to the Nerilian team is none other than Tomoe Midoh, resurrected by Nerilian technology! Tomoe has, unfortunately, had all her memories erased and is completely under the control of the Queen. Mr. Miracle is very pessimistic about this development, describing Tomoe as a "Supergenious" (kind of like Wyle Coyote, I guess). This pessimism seems to be well founded, as in short order Tomoe erases Earth's lead and injures Lharri with a sonic shockwave in a race. The score is now even with only one event left, a 4000 meter relay race that Tomoe will run all by herself. Right before the event, Mr. Miracle collapses and it is revealed that Eric, Mr. Miracle's personal physician, is really an agent working for the Nerilians.

"Goal" thus begins somewhat bleakly. Although normally one person running against four in a relay race would be no contest, Tomoe is a Supergenious and that makes her more than a match for the Earth team. Itchan, Jessie, Kris, and Akari are chosen to run the race, and, with a little finagling on the part of the Headmaster, Akari is made the anchor. Naturally, the Earth team takes a beating during the first three legs of the race. Akari actually decides to run despite counsel from Mr. Miracle that victory is impossible. In an upset victory, Akari defeats her own mother and saves the world! The series ends with a charming domestic scene, where Mr. Miracle and the revived Tomoe live with Akari in her house is Japan.

Whew! In reality, the above barely begins to scratch the surface of all the revelations made in these four episodes. As I mentioned in my review of volume 7, it honestly seemed like this series could have ended with that disc. I had some reservations that these episodes might have a superfluous feel to them, but honestly, they work in with the show quite well. All of the plot twists and revelations have been alluded to in earlier episodes, and the conclusion of the series really seems to wrap things up nicely for Akari and Co.

Once again, there is a little bit of funny stuff happening with the dub. The Priest especially ends up saying a lot more about Jessie in the dub than he does in the subtitles. In this case, however, the extra material actually aided my understanding of the series, which I think is a definite bonus.

Conclusion (Spoiler Free!)

These four episodes are essentially a self-contained story arc. Despite my fears to the contrary, this story arc does not seem to "tacked on" in any way, but rather ties up most of the series' loose ends nicely and concludes the story strongly. In my estimation these four episodes have elevated Battle Athletes Victory from a good series to a great series. Volume 8 is just as wacky, fun, and heartwarming as the rest of the series, and will not disappoint you!

By Andy Rucker