is a two episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series produced by

Nikkatsu Corporation is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

and Rikuentai. It was originally released as an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA) in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1997 and was licensed for release in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

U.S. Manga Corps Central Park Media, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Central Park, hence ...

in 1998. It follows the story of a girl named Ayane Mitsui who wishes to become a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, but due to a series of events, she becomes a

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

instead.

Plot

Ayane Mitsui is a 17-year-old very athletic high school girl who wishes dearly to become a great professional wrestler like her idol Manami Toyota of the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling circuit. However, despite many auditions, she cannot qualify. A brilliant

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

coach, Kunimitsu, notices potential within the girl and persuades her to train with him. Ayane hates kickboxing and is very vocal about it, but happens to have a greater potential with the sport and sticks with it. Meanwhile, some of the less-savory teachers from her high school have become aware of her extracurricular activities and threaten to expel her if they get proof. And if that's not enough, another kickboxer, 21-year-old Sakurako Miyagawa, has taken notice of the girl and wants to fight her in the ring to be her enemy next morning when Ayane and Kayoko are still high school.

Media

''Ayane's High Kick'' was produced by Nikkatsu Corporation and Rikuentai, directed by Takahiro Okao, and written by Isao Shizuya. Originally planned to be six parts, only two episodes of the OVA series were released in Japan on January 21 and April 25, 1997. The anime was licensed in North America by

for VHS on April 7, 1998. The series was released on DVD for the first time on October 6, 1998. It received a second DVD release alongside another martial arts anime, ''

Baki the Grappler Baki ( ar, باقي) may refer to: Places * Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan ( az, Bakı) * Baki District of the Awdal region in Somalia *Baki town, Somaliland * Baki, Afghanistan * Baki, Sukoharjo, a subdistrict in Sukoharjo Regency, Jawa Tengah ...

'', on May 28, 2002. ''Ayane's High Kick'' aired on

AZN Television AZN Television (formerly called International Channel) was a cable TV channel which promoted itself as "the network for Asian America". It was run by International Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. The channel's programm ...

in August 2007. It also aired several times on AT-X in 2008. The music for ''Ayane's High Kick'' was composed by Nittoku Inoue. The anime features the opening theme "Fight for Yourself" by The Street Beats and the closing theme sung by Masako Miyamura. A CD

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

composed of 25 songs was released by Victor Entertainment in Japan on April 23, 1997. A

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by Ihara Hiroshi was serialized in

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

's ''Monthly Comic Nora'' from June to December 1997. Hiroshi self-published the collected chapters on August 16, 1998.

Voices

Reception

Martin Ouellette of ''

Protoculture Addicts ''Protoculture Addicts'' was a Canadian-based anime and manga themed magazine published by Protoculture Inc., an Anime News Network company. The term "Protoculture Addicts" was also used by the Zentradi (an alien race that appeared in the ''Macro ...

'' gave ''Ayane's High Kick'' a positive review, calling it "loads of fun, not complicated to follow, cute and completes its mission: entertaining the viewer". He noted that although the plot is

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

for a sports anime, it is executed very well, has "cool" character designs, simple yet dynamic animation, an appropriate soundtrack, and healthy mix of action and comedy. Mania.com's Chris Beveridge similarly noted a light story, copious amount of humor, fairly well defined stereotype characters, and decent artwork for its production period. Jason Bustard of THEM Anime Reviews summarized, "''Ayane's High Kick'' is a fun, charming, double episode pilot that like many others of its era, never managed to take off and become a full series. Fun characters and an interesting premise are marginalized by its short length and obnoxious cliches, but for what it's worth, it's a fun ride."

References

External links

* {{ann, anime, 515 1997 anime OVAs Central Park Media Comedy anime and manga Wrestling in anime and manga Shōnen manga