Normally I do not like comparing adaptations to their source material or to what came before it, preferring to usually go into something as blind as possible and judging it on its own merits. However, there are a few times I compare things to help add context to what I am trying to convey in G-Views. This is one of those few cases as we take a look at the “Next generation” sequel to Battle Athletes Victory, Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART!
Alternate Title: Battle Athletess Daiundokai ReSTART! (Japanese)
Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Sports, Yuri
Themes: Olympic games
Number of Episodes: 12
G-Rating: 8/10 (Favoritism), 7/10 (Overall)
Plot Summary: Set in the year 5100, elite athletes from around the solar system compete to become Cosmo Beauty, the champion of a huge athletic tournament. The story follows Kanata Akehoshi. A farm girl whose life was forever changed when she met a girl from a crashed escape pod who had one request, become the Cosmo Beauty.
Like the original ReSTART! is mainly a sports anime set in the distant future though this time with events being a mix of what one would expect to see in the Olympics and more sci-fi like competitions such as an anti-gravity dodgeball like sport that may remind Final Fantasy fans of Blitzball. The competitions themselves, with the allotted screen time are fun to watch despite some of them getting brief glimpses.
When it comes to the stakes the original was for the most part about athletes wanting to become the best. In ReSTART that remains true but it is treated secondary compared to the heroines’ true motivations. Goals that could only be achieved with the authoritative power given to the Cosmo Beauty and the planet they represented. Think Miss Universe but with far greater power to the winner. This is tied to the main drama of the show. While not super deep each character has valid reason to give their all to win along with getting into heated arguments with other competitors before coming to a mutual understanding.
Thus we come to the other big difference. While there were some politics involved in the original it took a backseat to the competition and character drama. In ReSTART the political stuff was given equal amount of screen time to the characters and events. The events kind of felt secondary because of it. The bright side was it didn’t take away from the characters and their development as they were tied to most of their arcs, meaning they were connected. The other bright side is the politics are pretty simple. Heck the villains are “cartoonishly” evil (Though considering this anime came out in 2021 and the kind of political bigwigs we have…I would not call them unrealistic). Basically despite there being more political stuff than one would like it does not take away from the character development at all. The story is a straightforward one, for a sci-fi sports show anyway. I know others that are a bit more complicated than the Battle Athletes series.
The simplest way to show off the animation in ReSTART is by comparing the OG’s booty with Kanata’s. As we can see the animators used their talents where it mattered most. The rest of the show can be described as giving classic characters a modern coat of paint similar to the Cutie Honey and Nurse Witch Komugi reboots for example. The soundtrack felt nostalgic with the background music along with the OP and ED reminding me of the original and even OVA series.
Best way to describe the yuri in ReSTART is something between the first half and second halves of Victory and the OVA. It is not as subtle as in the first half/Earth Qualifier Saga but not as blatant as the second/University Satellite Saga or in the OVA, meaning seasoned yuri viewers can tell most of our heroines are gay but they are not “gung ho” about it. Some of the girls do their surname proud while others such as Lydia really surprised me in the best way possible. I did not expect to like someone in her family lineage as much as her. Basically I gave the show a personal 8 because I liked the main heroines very much.
Overall Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART! may not be one of the more touted reboots/long awaited sequels like Inuyasha Jr and Higurashi S4 but like Cutie Honey Universe and Nurse Witch Komugi R I am glad it was made. It is a solid space sports anime show that despite the political side (or to be more specific the “backstage politics” stuff) getting a bit more focus than one would like the sporting events were decent and the main cast were great. The animation had a nice “modern classic” look and the soundtrack a nostalgic vibe. The yuri is not as strong as the second half of the original series or the OVA but still quite obvious. Worth checking out for the main ladies and some side-characters.
PS: There are references to the original series.
The Yuri Empire 
The politics dragged it down too much for me. When it wasn’t about cartoonishy evil villains and the massive drama they caused, it was very enjoyable. But it ruined the ball event (seriously…it was just way too full of anger and just wasn’t fun to watch at all…), and the final race felt like an afterthought really. But the final episode itself was nice.
I also have a complaint that they kinda sidelined Shelley and Kanata in favor of Eva and Kanata. Really reminded me of how a certain show with a mayonnaise loving MC did things. And it wasn’t good. They also didn’t keep up any other pairing the best after Eva was saved. It was like the writers just forgot about them. You’d think in the final episode there’d be a much better scene between the supposed couples, but nah. You get Lydia and Yana standing side by side, and that’s all you get.
Course, Lydia did everything she could to help Yana and her people out (and was VERY successful in doing so), so there was that. But Lydia was best girl, so it’s expected of her to outperform everyone else 🙂
I really feel like the show would have been 10x better if the “trinity of evil” were not as successful at what they were doing, and they kept them comical. Just because whoever was writing the story clearly had no idea how to write a serious plot about that stuff. The serious parts about the MCs and their struggles/etc, was actually handled pretty well. But once the trinity of evil came into play, then it just dragged everything down.
I have never seen a battle athletes anything till this. It doesn’t give the strongest hope that I’d want to watch the earlier one. And that final scene with the grandma meant nothing to me outside “this was someone who was famous once”
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As I said the original and OVAs are far less political and more sports dramas. Oh well. Series may not be for you then.
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At the end of episode 12, we got a cameo of the principal and her trainer. Is her trainer, Akari because she resembles her, or could that be Akari great granddaughter?
Also, will you be doing a review on episode 12?
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I usually don’t cover a season or series finale. The show is over so I reviewed it as a whole.
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until the last episode, i’d been wondering who that mystery person Eva was trying to reach was. In retrospect, it should’ve been obvious that it’d be Akari. Decent tie-in to the original series.
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If you saw the OG show you’d have a strong hunch Kanata’s grandma would be Akari, which I think you did too.
As good as the OG show was it took me a while to like most of the girls, except Kris. Kris was obviously awesome. The ReSTART girls I liked all of them pretty quick.
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yes to thinking Akari being Kanata’s grandma part. that’s doubly why i’m kicking myself for not realizing much sooner that young Eva was trying to reach her (until it dawned on me at the very beginning of the last episode) 😀
And agree too that ReSTART girls are all very likable, especially Lydia.
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P.S. kangaroo family got a node too
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Pretty cool to see her again.
Lydia left a very strong impression, yes. Hopefully Yana and her go on dates when they have free time. Same for Kanata and Shelley.
Yes. I got Roger Jr vibes.
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I never saw the original so there was no nostalgia value for me but rather I simply watched for the yuri. I was pretty pleased with the amount we got through the series but them all going their separate ways at the end kinda sucked. The plot was kinda….but whatever it was enjoyable enough.
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The show comes out around the same time as 86, Vivy, and Shadow House, which are all solid, and the more fun Slime, plus Precure. Since I watch all those one after the other Battle Athletes feels like a low point even though I genuinely enjoyed and looked forward to the episodes, I liked seeing the characters. Although I feel the sports scenes could use a bit more “hype” animation, make it more action-y.
I’d give it a 6.5, rounded to 7/10.
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I don’t use decimals anymore myself but yeah, somewhere around that rating.
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