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If I were to summarize this show with a single word, that word would be "Ridiculous". I did a fair amount of laughing while watching it, but whether humor was intended at those particular moments was often unclear. This show really needed to take itself less seriously, and if it had it might have been pretty damn good. As it is, concepts like a gigantic subterranean base of operations concealed beneath the Etiquette Club meeting room, or the rich, pampered heiress who comes to school each day in her personal spacecraft (with extendable red carpet, no less), simply cannot be taken seriously. Not enough humor was included, which is surprising considering that the tape jacket boasts that Battle Skipper is "By the director of The Slayers!". Perhaps problems with the translation had something to do with this--the credits mention an "English rewrite". I watched a copy which was "for screening purposes only" and included several untranslated ads for what appeared to be remote controlled Battle Skipper toys, so this movie may have been somewhat more popular back in Japan. Then again, the entire movie may have been intended as a 90-minute ad for the toys, since the company that made them (TOMY) was credited with producing the "original story". I like to think of myself as a person who is hard to disappoint when Anime is concerned, so I'll say that this movie did have it's moments. I liked the outlandish motto of the "Exstars" (the girls of the Etiquette Club): "Eyes that pierce the fiery blaze! A pounding heart gunning for battle! (etc...)". They board their Battle Skippers by sliding down long tubes, in the course of which they are somehow stripped of their school uniforms and go through a several stage long nudie clothing change--it reminded me of a sort of animated fashion show. There is also the usual brief shower scene, but no profanity whatsoever. At one point it was suggested that the leaders of the two rival clubs are in fact somehow related to each other, and their battle is more of a game than a struggle for global domination, and this was a lot easier to believe (I don't think anybody got killed or seriously injured in the entire course of the movie). Apparently the girl's parents are observing them from a distance to make sure they obey certain "rules". "The game is just beginning!" swears the Debutante Club leader at the end, after her scheme has been thwarted--I wonder if there were any sequels? Not that I intend to exert much effort to track them down, mind you. 7/03 Last updated Thursday, March 18 2004. Created Saturday, July 12 2003. | ||||||||
