Ayane's High Kick

When I did my research on AnimeNewsNetwork about this short OVA I wasn't expecting much. This show received mediocre reviews from the audience who took the time to rate it. To say the least, the reviews may have been a little off in my opinion. I found that this show had a pretty decent story.

The whole show is about a girl who wants to become a professional wrestle and gets tricked into becoming a kick boxer after she completely fails her wrestling audition. The coach she has trains her because of her ability to perform the "Golden High Kick" (Hence the title Ayane's High Kick).

What made this show so easy to watch was that they didn't put a tonne of elements into it making the story watery or messy. It was pretty clear for the most part. The only real criticism that I have of this show is that I wish they had put some more fight scenes into it. Since the OVA was only 2 episodes there wasn't a great deal of elaboration on back story and it doesn't present the feeling that the story is concluded. It would have been nice if they had drawn this out into a short 12-13 episode series. It really had the potential to carry the story line further. Much of the feeling is the same as in Hajime No Ippo; a student is striving to become an excellent tournament fighter. Although I don't believe that both this and Hajime No Ippo are of the same caliber (Hajime No Ippo was much better) I do believe that the potential to be an above average series was still present.

In terms of the character voices and music, its pretty typical of any North American dubbed Anime from the mid-90's. Almost every character from every series has the same/similar voice. I really liked the animation style of this series. The characters have the same drawing style as the Slayer's series. Ayane has a striking resemblance to Lina Inverse of Slayers. I have always been a fan of this animation style which is probably what contributed to my desire to want to watch more of this show.

My final thought on this short OVA is that it is worth the hour to watch. If you are interested in a short fight film that isn't totally over the top but still has some cool moves, then check this one out.