Metal Fighter Miku

Yo, brudder! How would you like to watch something of a mix between pro wrestling and Power Rangers? SAY WHAT?! Yup, pro wrestling + Power Rangers = Metal Fighter Miku! Heh. At least that was the perception I get when I watched this retro anime. I don’t know, the last wrestling anime that was about a pet store crazy dude was funny enough and the one before that was just fanservice scream fest disguised as one. So I guess it’s time to go back to 1994 and see how much wrestling has come a long way. Oh, who am I kidding? I was just curious about seeing how female wrestlers in metal-like armour suits do all their wrestling stuffs in the ring. Raw is war!!! Yeah!!!

Episode 1
Tokichiro Harajuku is stressed out. Just when he has landed his girls a recording label, one them, Miku is missing. Turns out that she made her way to a neo pro wrestling match to watch a fight between her favourite wrestler, Aquamarine and Mad Kong. No prizes to guess who won. Of course when she gets back, Tokichiro lectures her about this. Masayo who was a former pro wrestler and Tokichiro’s wife, has Miku clean the gym as penalty. Meanwhile Yoko Shibano who is the daughter of Kouzou, the president of his own international conglomerate, is perplexed why his daughter wants to enter this neo pro wrestling business. She claims it is a booming business that can make a profit. Even more so a guy who started a talent agency with pop star singer-cum-wrestlers. Seems Kouzou knows who this guy is and wants all rivals eliminated. Because they must be the only number 1. He will give Yoko a chance to prove herself of her business skills. Kinta Markukome is a mechanic as he creates a special metal suit for Miku to try out. As they train, Yoko comes to talk to Tokichiro and Masayo. She wants his team to join the JWMF Championship that is a tournament open to all leagues. Tokichiro rejects since his team will be the only one in TWP league. They are already champions and don’t need to fight in other leagues! HUH?! Yoko claims he is scared and by refusing, this will reflect badly on his reputation. Say what she will but he will not take the bait. Masayo thought he should’ve talked with the girls first but he thinks it is unnecessary since the next match will be Miku’s debut. And we see the Pretty Four (consisting of Miku, Sayaka, Nana and Ginko) take on the Devil Sisters. Are these evil bat ladies or something?! Here’s your neo pro wrestling action for this episode. Suddenly the match is interrupted by a group of weirdoes. The Moonlight Jewels, huh? Yeah, WTF the leader is riding a camel?! They accuse Pretty Four of being too afraid to do real wrestling. With the crowd egging them to fight, Miku will not take this lightly and accepts their challenge.

Episode 2
The registration for JWWF is havoc. Since how the heck did it descend into a free for all? Yeah, Tokichiro thinks he was right not to bring his girls to this mess. Yeah, he’s really scared to see all the hooligan stuffs. How the f*ck can he be in the wrestling business if he isn’t up for this violence?! The press interviews Yoko that if her Sapphire wins, it will be a title rematch with Aquamarine. She replies this tournament is to prove that she is the true champion and that she will win the rematch. Pretty Four will get a new coach and he is Eiichi Suo. You mean this drunkard is going to train them? Since he is a bit rude and mocks their dreams, the girls take on him but cannot best him. Then he tells them to fall 2000 times if they even think of wanting to become the best. They don’t accept him as his coach but on the contrary, he hasn’t accepted the job yet until they can prove their skills. So are they quitting? You bet not. They don their suits and drop 2000 times till their ass hurts. When done, he doesn’t even look at the data. Kinta then heard his mom talking how Eiichi used to train Aquamarine before she went to America. This gives the girls some hope to train under him. Yeah. 3000 squats, please! Don’t lose now! After completing their Spartan training, Eiichi has them rest before their first match. So when match day is here, they feel their body is lighter. Yup, it all pays off. Their first round opponent is Crushers. You mean this construction themed gorillas? Whatever. As you can see the fruits of their training paying off with Pretty Four easily taking on the chunky opponents and win it in a jiffy.

Episode 3
We see Sapphire and her Moonlight Jewels beating up their bunny babe counterparts. No contest. What a damn brutal win. When Pretty Four return, it seems Eiichi isn’t happy. He chides for not knowing how to use their metal suits. You mean it is not for speed and strength? Can’t blame the girls for laughing at him when he claims it is to look good. Because if it was for speed and strength, then they should have done it with their bare bodies. This is not what neo pro wrestling is about. The way they are using makes them look ugly and unsightly. Miku won’t give up and wants to know a way to properly use them. Eiichi lets the girls train using weights. This muscle gear will help them correct their balance. Yeah, they’ll have to wear them until their next match. That’s like a week! Get used to it. We see lots of imbalance and clumsiness. Even the public is laughing at their strange training. But don’t give up. Then Kinta relays the news that Eiichi has quit. The girls feel relieved and don’t have to follow his orders anymore. But Miku feels it is a shame that since they’ve got used to the weights, they can’t just stop now. So they just continue to train with them. As Yoko revels in the success of her tournament, Kouzou reminds her that TWP is still a threat. She brushes off their beginner’s luck so dad chides her for being naïve. He warns her he must not underestimate them. Masayo talks to Eiichi about him quitting. Whatever excuse he gives, Masayo knows that Miku reminds him of Aquamarine when she was young and something happened that made him have bad memories of it. Since Masayo is disappointed with his outlook, Eiichi has a change of heart. He’ll do it his way or the highway. They return in time because looks like some ninja babes are attacking Pretty Four! Hey, is this legal outside the ring?! You bet it gives some great scoop. Pretty Four ditch the weights and dress their metal suit in time. Then they fight in the streets. Streets of rage! Until Miku does her finishing kick on one of them, that those ninja babes retreat. Miku thanking Eiichi that the weights worked and their movements are now more fluid. I’m sure he is happy even if he doesn’t show it. Oh well, time to pose for the press.

Episode 4
Pretty Four fighting against Maskers. So generic that I can’t even make out their theme. Yeah, Pretty Four is the fan favourites so you bet they win this one easily. As Kouzou can’t stand to see yet another Pretty Four win, he blames his son, Nagoya for not finishing them off despite using those ninja babes. But looks like he has another devilish plan. Masayo introduces a new trainee, Maki who is a big fan of Pretty Four. We see the girls train and laugh together although Eiichi isn’t impressed and warns Pretty Four to be wary of this newbie. Then an incident as Maki is almost electrocuted by the dryer. Turns out somebody cut the wire with a knife. Then Sayaka burnt her finger in the shower and looks like somebody has tampered with the temperature. Well, the series doesn’t even try to hide the culprit, probably all of us have already guessed. Yup, you can see Maki’s evil smirk. And then Ginko and Nana’s metal suit go haywire and they have to shut down the mains before they get crushed. Then Eiichi calls for a meeting. It seems all this is more than a mere accident. Sabotage. While it may look like one of the Pretty Four is doing the sabotage because if Miku gets into the main team, one of them has to retire. Miku looks like the culprit because she is the only one who didn’t get hurt. Eiichi then has all the girls enter the ring and fight a battle royale. The first one to lose is the culprit. WTF? Everybody targets Miku at first. This is part of Eiichi’s plan to show her weakness. Basically, from the last match, Miku was so nice and didn’t even finish her opponent, this serves as a good lesson about survival of the fittest. She returns to the ring to fight. Just then, Kajiwara who is a reporter for the neo pro wrestling magazine and Eiichi’s best friend, returns. He recognizes Maki as a staff under Shibano. No use hiding it anymore as Maki shows her true colours and admits she is a spy sent to test their abilities. Miku fights her and defeats her. However Miku enjoyed that fight and hopes they can fight again in front of a full crowd. Yoko chides Kouzou for the unauthorized use of the lady ninjas and now Maki. Speaking of her, she has resigned and won’t come back! Dad remains silent and sweating… Tokichiro telling the girls of his bad blood with Kouzou. They go all the way back to school but 10 years ago, Kouzou tried to develop this place but Tokichiro was against it. It was a fight Tokichiro won fair and square so you can tell why Kouzou still has a grudge against him. Definitely the next match will be settled via wrestling, right?

Episode 5
We’re going for a training camp. Damn, Ginko and Sayaka teasing Kinta x Miku, causing him to almost steer the bus off the cliff! But the hardest hit is Miku as she looks like she has a bad bump although she brushes it off. Indeed, her shoulder is bruised and despite how much she tries to hide it, she can’t. The doctor diagnoses it as nothing serious but she cannot be doing wrestling and must rest. Kinta blames himself for this. So the rest will continue training while Miku rests. I guess she can’t sit still and helps the inn manager catch his chicken! As Kajiwara is here, he talks to Eiichi about the Shibano side having their own secret training in the hotel nearby. His team wasn’t allowed to even enter. This has Kinta tried to go spy on them but damn, they have sharp eagle eye and spot him? He is thrown back to them all bruised up. So they let him live, huh? Kinta feeling guilty and wanted to make it up to Pretty Four. They remain positive they don’t need any cheats and will win tomorrow’s match. So their next opponents are Beauties Of Nature. This nature themed samurai babes? Whatever. It seems Pretty Four is doing well and they think Miku won’t need to fight. Until the final opponent’s turn, that is. She claims that was all a show and now the real fight starts. Yeah, the rest get beaten by her secret weapon. Some cloth that binds them and zaps electricity? Ginko bears the greatest brunt. She doesn’t want Miku to enter but seeing how hurt Ginko is, look at those fire in her eyes!!! Miku jumps in to fight. Better still, she uses the lessons she learnt from catching the chicken! OMFG! She becomes the chicken to defeat her opponent!!! Unbelievable! You bet Yoko is disappointed with her team’s loss and is now on fire! That’s what happen when you underestimate Pretty Four. Yeah, let that fire aura of disappointment burn, baby!

Episode 6
As Ginko recuperates in hospital, a handsome man, Kazuma Nikaido comes to see her. Did he get the wrong room? Meanwhile the other girls are having a day out and they spot Nagoya being threatened by thugs. They unleash a few wrestling moves to take them out. Nagoya so grateful to them that he wants to repay them with lunch. But WTF, he only takes Miku?! No wonder the rest looking disappointed. Miku dines in a fancy restaurant for the first time as Nagoya instils in her head that a girl her age should be enjoying her youth. Miku returns home, feeling good and all but it also leaves her in a dilemma. Because of that, she becomes clumsy and not herself doing training. You bet Eiichi is going to blow his top over her sloppiness. Miku asks the rest if girls their age shouldn’t be doing wrestling. Yeah, they don’t want to answer her. When Ginko is discharged and ready to get back to some training, Eiichi forbids and ignores her. She heard about Miku’s date too but nobody wants to tell her anything. Then she hears Eiichi talking to Masayo about forming a plan for the next match without Ginko. This has her think back about Kazuma who is the chief manager from United Battle Agency. He offers her to come to America and sees potential in her. She needed some time to think but he is trying to egg her to take the offer and mentions about how she is being mistreated. She deserves better. So today’s episode isn’t going to see Pretty Four in the ring. Hence we see Moonlight Jewels against this ugly bunch of Amazons. Yeah, no prizes to guess who’ll get their ass handed to them. Sapphire doing some killer Bruce Lee move! OMFG… Only Sayaka and Nana watch the match. Brutal. Ginko pondering she should be taking the deal while Miku is out on another date with Nagoya. He wants her to quit wrestling as it doesn’t suit her. She is meant to live the romantic dreams.

Episode 7
Nagoya thinks his plan to make Pretty Four fall apart is going well. Miku will be head over heels for him and Ginko will be heading to America in a non-existent league. Kinta getting distraught hearing about Miku’s date and Ginko isn’t impressed that the magazine ranks Miku as the top while herself at #19. Hence the duo are not in the right mood for training. Kinta then tails Miku on her date with Nagoya but nothing comes out of it. Miku is confused about everything so he suggests they take a trip. As Ginko makes the call, Nagoya is happy to accept her defecting to America. But only 1 problem: Because of that poll, HQ needs proof that she is the best so in her next match, she must win it alone. Their next opponent is Star Wolves. You mean this bunch of galactic pirate babes? Whatever. Eiichi doesn’t even care about the line-up because he can tell they’re going to lose. So Ginko goes first and impresses. Until her metal suit is at its limit, she refuses to tag out and continues wrestling. Then she really cannot go on, Nana tags with her and does Ginko’s move. This is proof that Nana admires her. Ginko realizes she has been a fool. Seeing her teammates with such passion, Miku is now clear in her mind. I love wrestling! Goodbye Nagoya. Miku tags in and finishes the job. Pretty Four reconcile as a team and their friendship back intact. Eiichi’s prediction wrong for the first time? I guess it beats devastated Nagoya. Plan just fell apart like that. Power of friendship > love!

Episode 8
Yoko chides Kouzou again for interfering, especially with Nagoya’s failed tactics. She managed to keep this scandal from being leaked to the press. She warns him about interfering again. Or else. We see Pretty Four doing a simulation fighting against Sapphire. No matter how, they cannot beat her! Damn, how they know her specs?! Did they put the difficulty level to extreme?! Cue for Eiichi to tell them no matter they do even if Kinta maximizes their suit’s performance, they still won’t beat her. The only one who can do so is Aquamarine. Since the metal suits won’t be able to beat Sapphire, they need that extra edge. What is it? Figure it out yourself! I take it, he doesn’t know the answer! Then we see Pretty Four recording a song. They’re horrible! They should just stick to wrestling. Then WTF Miku just runs away? Yeah, her mind so preoccupied on what Eiichi meant, she just started running?! Kajiwara passes by and looks like it’s good timing to pick her up to see Moonlight Jewels’ exhibition match. Yup, Sapphire singlehandedly owning her other teammates. Did Miku get scared and run away again? On her way back, she stumbles into this lady who claims she is a friend of Masayo. She wants Miku to take her to her. They talk about wrestling and stuffs. Upon reaching the building, the moment she sees Eiichi, she changes her mind and leaves. Send Masayo my regards. At that moment, her side profile looks like Aquamarine… Miku gets so motivated she talked to her wrestling idol, she starts training more intensively. Even giving her teammates about all they need to do is train and don’t care whatever that cutting edge thingy Eiichi told them to think about. Yeah. Fire in her eyes! Holy sh*t! THE VOLCANO!!! YEAH!!! So they train more and this time their singing is much better! Uh huh. They’re going to need it as their next opponent is of course, you’ve guessed it, Moonlight Jewels.

Episode 9
Pretty Four vs Moonlight Jewels might be the finals of the tournament but whoever wins this fight will get the right to face Aquamarine. So we see both sides go all out and they’re evenly match until their last wrestler. Yup. Miku vs Sapphire. In the meantime, Eiichi and Aquamarine talk to each other. Still rekindling old times? They blame the other but ultimately themselves for what happened. So, did something romantic happen between them? And was that why Eiichi quit being her coach? Also something about something that was bugging her and hence tore her apart. That wall is still there. Back then, he couldn’t see what it was. Now he knows. Tell us! Oh, because he isn’t her coach anymore, she’ll only get her answer if she fights Miku. Damn, this guy sure got an excuse to escape! Back to the fight, Miku does her special chicken move but Sapphire gets the better of her and does her trademark killer pile driver. Damn, Miku’s strong arms sure saved her a one way trip to hell! Just as Miku is going to bounce back, her suit runs out of juice. This means Sapphire pins her down for the count and wins it for Moonlight Jewels! Oh no. Say it isn’t so! But what’s this? Nagoya suddenly coming down and he looks fraught with guilt? He saw Miku in action and realizes the truth about wrestling. Yeah, so what? Sapphire is quick on the take. Because Nagoya hints that father instructed him to tamper with Miku’s suit! Dad damn old geezer again! Sapphire then hijacks the announcement. She claims this match is null and void because of that foul play. Her pride will not allow her to accept this win and hence there will be another rematch!

Episode 10
Holy sh*t! Am I watching the wrong anime!? WTF this dystopian future with human soldiers getting owned by some discount Terminator robot?! Meanwhile Yoko has had it for the last time over his father’s interference. But looks like the old man isn’t going to stop as he puts his faith in his son to continue his meddling. Though, he still blames him that had he not interfere, Sapphire would’ve won. Because had they lost, people will lose faith in their metal suits. But Nagoya isn’t going to be his obedient dog anymore. He is going to Europe to do some honest business. Bye. Hence Kouzou hires some shady mercenary to take out Pretty Four. As long as they don’t get in the ring again… But hey, isn’t the rematch only Miku vs Sapphire? So why the heck does this mercenary have to take out Ginko, Sayaka and Nana? Oh well, have to REALLY make sure… With news of these girls injured, you bet Yoko is not happy and is looking for dad. Yup, hiding underneath his table. Coward. Understandably, Miku is scared and confused. She doesn’t want to fight Sapphire. She already lost, so what’s the point? Eiichi slaps her and tells her that her opponent is Aquamarine. Don’t think. Just fight. To show his resolve, he will quit drinking and will not take up the bottle again until she defeats Aquamarine. Wow. Can he? Can she? And then a robot attacks the place. WTF?! After putting a hole in the wall, just to show a hologram pic of Ginko being held hostage at some abandoned building?! WTF???!!! This is of course bait and trap to lure Miku to save her pal. More WTF because Miku steals a cop’s bike! OMFG!!! I know it’s badass but it’s ILLEGAL, GIRL!!! Upon reaching the place, Miku fights the robot. Of course she is no match. Then Sapphire comes to her aid. Even both girls in their metal suits can’t do much. Oh yeah? Make it triple threat with Aquamarine joining in! She shows her might as her punch sends the robot flying through the building!!! In the end, they win and they realize an old man from the military piloting this robot. So this is the future potential of these metal suits, huh? With Sapphire explaining she wants a fair fight with Miku and hence why she helped her, Miku is now motivated to settle their score in the ring. Oh, somebody please help Ginko down…

Episode 11
Now it’s Kouzou’s turn to be mad and looking for Yoko. I guess it’s to get back at him. For all his interference, she has run away from home! In your face, old geezer! Just in time for Kouzou to witness Sapphire in a brutal training match with dangerous robots! Can she survive? Yes she can. And that’s why Yoko tells him to have faith in her. Sapphire will not fail. As Miku undergoes training with Eiichi, she stumbles into a nun who is doing some farming. Uhm, does she need some inner peace lesson thingy? I think so. She’ll need all the help she can get. So empty your mind and channel your energy through… The big rematch is here. Woah! A floating ring in the sky! Gotta make your money’s worth. So both wrestlers enter the ring and start pounding each other. Use all you’ve got! Sapphire takes enough damage that her helmet cracks and reveals… YOKO! OMG. Everybody shocked. Even Kouzou! You mean nobody actually knew it was here?! Only me?! Hell yeah I wasn’t the least bit surprised! Anyway, the brutal match continues as both sides continue to take on damage. Yeah, Kouzou looking pretty scared now knowing his daughter is fighting. Oh baby, please be safe! You know things won’t bode well for Yoko when her pet camel is moaning in anxiety! Oh damn! Eventually, Miku’s metal arm fall apart but ironically it is that super punch of her natural hand that knocks out Yoko and wins it. Miku also collapses after being declared the winner. To show true sportsmanship, both ladies shake hands and congratulate each other for the awesome match. And I hope Kouzou has learnt his lesson as he punches himself as atonement for knowing about Yoko’s dreams to become a wrestler but didn’t allow her. Will that be enough? Yeah, treat your daughter better next time. Some things money just can’t buy!

Episode 12
Looks like Miku’s training is taken up the next level. Uh huh. Not only underwater training, but she must face off with sharks too! Oh, but you can’t hurt them! No cruelty to animals! This is going to be tough. After a near brush with death, Miku quits because she thinks this is ridiculous. Eiichi wants to take the training further but Miku has really had it. She really quits! Meanwhile Aquamarine does her own training as she thinks back the time Eiichi was her coach. She was happy when he gave her a metal suit. However it broke because she was too aggressive. Then the blame game began. She blamed his alcoholism and the likes. Now she realizes that wasn’t the kind of fight she was seeking and will have to beat Miku to find her answer. Miku goes back home but visits Yoko in hospital. Oh damn, she’s got some surgery on her spine? Yeah, it’s not Miku’s fault for the record. Miku talks about how she doesn’t want to fight Aquamarine. She idolizes her but never wanted to fight her. She doesn’t care about next week’s match then. Cue for Yoko to tell her that the doctor told her she might never walk again but she’s going to defy that. Since young, her dream was to become a wrestler but father forbade her. Hence she disguised as Sapphire and lived out her dreams. Yeah, amazing nobody found out. If Miku’s dream is to become Aquamarine, then she has to face and fight her. It’s that simple. This has Miku think deep. She realizes how fortunate her position is. More snippets of her flashbacks of her love for wrestling and you bet she’s going back to her training. She finds Eiichi and now pleads for him to train her. She has her own reasons to beat Aquamarine. Well, Eiichi isn’t forcing her. He’ll find someone else to do it in her place. So he is already drinking because Miku gave up? Thank goodness it is just tea disguised as alcohol! So the promise is still intact. Okay then. Training’s coming up. But of course we skip all that boring part and go straight to the final match.

Episode 13
Woah. Did Yoko give Miku her camel?! Anyway, for the finals, definitely we need some flashy entrance. Yoko jumps in via her teammates pulling her from a jet ski. Aquamarine? She’s riding a whale!!! OMFG! So epic a final that you can see everyone’s camera flashing nonstop! The fight begins. You bet this is going to add to the epic drama as the weather changes into of a storm! More power punches and throws until… Miku loses and falls into the sea?! Is it over?! Then she thinks back about everyone’s words. Yup, time to get back up and reborn. However this time she shocks everyone as she easily fights back against Aquamarine without her metal suit! This is when Aquamarine realizes the answer that Eiichi wanted to tell her. Although the suits originally were meant to enhance the wrestler’s ability, over time as it develops, humans have been forced to adapt to its limits, thus limiting their own development and becoming dependent on it. Hence to true fighters like them, the metal suits are actually a hindrance. This was the reason why Aquamarine hit a wall. She became dependent on the suit and sacrificed nurturing her own strength. Now that she has seen the truth, Aquamarine also takes off her suit as the ladies now wrestle bare naked. And I mean with their clothes on but without the metal suits, duh! Never knew such wrestling can be as exciting, huh? In the end, we don’t even get to see Miku’s winning move as we see the press hounding her in an interview as she has become the new wrestling queen! Boy, do we feel cheated? Yeah, Miku still in shock and so unreal of her win. Well, at least good news for Eiichi. He gets to drink again at some bar. Kajiwara looks for him and wants to know his next plan. Will he train Miku further? Miku doesn’t need him anymore. Will he train someone else to beat Miku then? No comment. Aquamarine congratulates Miku on her win but advises her not to get cocky since this could be beginner’s luck. Then Yoko jumps in and wants a match with Aquamarine. The winner gets to fight Miku. To show she is healed, she’s back in her own (sexy) wrestling suit. She’s not retiring yet. Miku then accepts this challenge as she realizes how much she loves wrestling. She’ll accept any challenge from anybody. Bring it on!

Metal Slugfest: Wanna Be The Strongest In The League!
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Miku achieving her dreams to fight and defeat Aquamarine to be the new wrestling league’s champion. All in line of the script as her being the main character! HAHAHA!!! Oops. But what else more can I say, this wasn’t the most mind blowing anime nor this is the most boring or even the most ridiculously absurd anime ever (although there are such elements in it) but it set out to do what it intend to do: Entertain us. Hey, isn’t that what most pro wrestling shows are supposed to be? Entertaining us even though it is fake!!! Oops, did I say a taboo word that touch the nerve of you wrestling mania fanatics?

So now that Eiichi’s so called challenge and gift to the neo pro wrestling world is that having fighters fight without their metal suits, one just have to wonder, uhm, doesn’t this make their wrestling league the same as other normal wrestling? I mean, this category of neo pro wrestling isn’t called metal fighters for nothing, you know. The appeal (supposedly) is that wrestlers don some seemingly hi-tech (but crappy) metal suits that is all part of the attraction and gimmick. So now that they might suggest doing it away, what will become of the sport? Oh well, I think it will also do well because you know, guys can now look at those beautiful natural skin of our female wrestlers instead of some blocky shiny metal. Yeah, still win-win for us guys! Wohoo! I guess that makes Kinta’s job redundant now, huh? Oh, what he said about making a metal suit that is back to basics? How basic can he make such a suit without all that technology sh*t?!

The story isn’t much and is quite straightforward and simple. A group of neo pro wrestling girls fighting other groups of neo pro wrestling girls. It’s just that simple. Of course the ‘villain’ trying to get in their way and sabotage is all part of the drama as we also see the girls train and not give up under this drunk Spartan coach. Just like a feel good script it follows, everything ends well. Overall, the thing that actually entertained me are the tons of overly exaggerated effects and drama. I believe without them, the series itself would have been so boring and very ordinary. But with these, the series is pretty much enjoyable to watch. I mean, from the clichés of fire burning in Miku’s eyes right down to Yoko’s camel who somehow became a mainstay and pet mascot in the final stretch, there are a lot of WTF and dumb moments (oh f*ck, Miku stealing the cops bike may have taken the cake) but remember, it is all part of entertainment. It’s not just confined to the wrestling, you know. Are we not entertained?!

And of course in most episodes, the wrestling action. Well, I have to admit that I am not really a big wrestling fan although in my younger days I do watch some American wrestling (because there was nothing else to do and there was no internet!). Of course when you have these metal fighters wearing their elaborated chunky suits, they have to up all the exaggerated drama as we see them flying and dropping while some using their so called special equipment to assist in the attack. So if you’re not impressed with the story or the characters, perhaps the minimal this series can do is entertain you with the weird wrestling or rather metal fighter action. Yeah, it’s a weird tag team game since they try to make it look hi-tech and all with the team’s stamina stats or something. Uh huh. Hard to make out that screen that sees their bars fluctuating and even more volatile than an electrocardiogram machine! Yeah, seriously. Can you actually make head and tail what’s going on?! And when a player’s power runs out, you’re supposed to tag some ball to your next teammate? Weird. Oh well, got to remember this is back in 1994 when all futuristic technology seems so hi-tech then but in retrospect, so outdated. Uh huh. Seeing Kinta and his tinkering and typing into his computers, ooohhh, so hi-tech and specialized (what kind of f*cking software and programme was that?!). Now it all looks like BS crap.

Oddly, despite Pretty Four mainly as wrestlers, they also double as idols. Which is hardly something we see them doing as. Well, only once just to remind us that this is their other job. I think that the lack of idol songs throughout the series is good because it won’t distract us from the main wrestling action. I mean, personally it already feels odd that you have a group of girls to have very clashing professions. It would be even more bizarre if they start to break into song during the fight inside the ring! This is not a Disney show!!! So yeah, having this idol thing feels like a gimmick and a minor side distraction perhaps to show that Pretty Four isn’t just tough like men but have the feminine touch too by singing. After all, we’re here to see them in exaggerated slugging action and not some singing idol contest, right?

As for the characters, they aren’t anything that deep. Even if there are, it’s just probably Miku as she is the titular character. The rest are pretty basic even for her teammates. I mean, what else do you need to know about them? Ginko the tomboyish one, Sayaka the feminine one and Nana the petite one. So that leaves us with Miku as the main character one. Hahaha! Even Tokichiro and Masayo feel pretty redundant but I guess we need some sort of boss who is a worrywart while his strong wife being an ex-wrestler as some sort of pillar of support. The same for Kinta and I think his character also serves as some sort of unimportant side romance with Miku because this dude definitely has a crush on her. Not so much from him but the other girls keep teasing him so. Yeah, do we need some sort of pseudo romance here?! Wrestling is supposed to the first love, people!

Miku, just like every main character needs to go through, needs to do some sort of soul searching before she really powers up and does what she needs to do. Of course she can’t do it without the help and guidance of a teacher-like character and Eiichi plays that role. He could be one of the most badass coaches in anime history since he continues to be a drunk and imposes his tough love and training on the girls. No regrets. I mean, if you’re in this business, you can’t be a wuss. No losers needed. His methods might be questionable but he gets the job done. Can you imagine if he was such a nice guy and a pacifist? Definitely Pretty Four will not be the making of champions as they are now. So yeah, got to hand it to Eiichi and give him some credit that because of his badass stance, Pretty Four grows in many ways. He’s seen a lot so I suppose his booze is his only pal he can rely on. And I guess that is what being consistent is all about, huh?

Even in wrestling gigs, there must be a villain, right? I’m not saying the Shibano side played a good job nor are they the worst kind of ‘antagonists’ but I suppose somebody needs to play that role. Especially that rivalry between Kouzou and Tokichiro, it felt like nothing burger once we get to know their bad blood between them. So it’s like they have their teams to settle it? Not like it mattered anyway. So it wasn’t so much of a rivalry between these old geezers that it got down into as Kouzou just became obsessed with eliminating his rivals so that his business could boom. Read that as, greedy for more money. But eventually when he learns his own daughter is behind the wrestling mask, he becomes like a normal father again, worrying about the safety of his little girl. How sweet. But still that doesn’t cleanse him from all the stupid sabotage he tried to do. Same goes for Nagoya. It’s a good thing he opened his eyes in the end. Ironically the ploy to seduce Miku, instead Miku’s wrestling seduced him to see the right way.

Yoko, what can I say? She’s more like the villain turned ally in this case. Happy ending for her too because instead of being forced into retirement for her injury, she brushes it off and gets back into the ring. After all, women in wrestling are literally strong, right? Aquamarine feels like the final boss of the series. Her past with Eiichi tries to keep the mystery going but of course, this isn’t that kind of anime. So when the final episode’s answer came out, it felt so easy but was blindsided by all the drama. Who’d knew that the main thing for the sport became the biggest and actual obstacle, huh? It could be just me that I think they were also trying to troll some sort of romance between Eiichi and Aquamarine but I could be that their relation is just purely master and student. Because at the end of the day, it’s like saying that strong women don’t need men. Sorry Kinta, sorry Kouzou, sorry Eiichi, these strong wrestling queens only need to take on each other. Sh*t, shouldn’t have slammed modern day woke feminism in this retro piece that is supposedly non-existent!

Art and animation reeks 90’s style animation and looking back in hindsight, it does feel a lot dated and a show that came from that era. Of course I want to nit-pick on some of the metal fighters’ design themes but I just remembered that Eiichi said something that they are just for show. Hence I can’t ‘criticize’ how clumsy and clunky those chunks of metal are when they put them on. Is it me or do I notice that those ugly ‘manly’ women will often wear chunky armour while those who are more slender and slim would have their outfit to be sexier? I mean, just look at the Crushers or Maskers compared to those lady ninjas and Moonlight Jewels. Some are in between like Star Wolves, uhm, are they dressed as aliens or something? Are they Star Wolf of Star Fox fame or something? Got to remember, wrestling is like showbiz. Still got to look good and put on a show somehow. Although this anime is done by veteran studio J.C. Staff, what is more interesting to note that this is their first ever anime production. Well, you’ve got to start from somewhere. Look how far they’ve come along now.

Voice acting is pretty fine. Didn’t really recognize anybody except Shinichiro Miki as Kinta. At first I didn’t know it was him because he sounded a little different. I mean, those were his younger days, right? Uh huh. Nowadays it is hard for me to picture him voicing a younger character since he too has come a very long way and still active in this industry. I only managed to find out thanks to the ending credits. Yup, I watched licensed version and that means, credits are all rewritten in English. F*ck hell, they even misspelled his name. Who the f*ck is Shinichiro Maki?! For the record, I think they spelled a few other names wrongly too. Who the hell is Michiko Naya? Oh, you mean Michiko Neya (voice of Sayaka). I also didn’t realize the late Keiji Fujiwara was behind Nagoya’s voice. Perhaps sounding different when you’re younger? Both the opening and ending themes are sung by Kayoko Momoda.

The opener Kaze Ni Naru Made sounds like your typical retro anime rock while the bossanova-like Hitomi Wa 1000 Carat as the ending theme also has this retro styled tune to it. While many of the BGMs sound fitting for a fighting game, there is one that caught my attention. When Pretty Four go into their lengthy transformation sequence, the BGM reminded me so much of one of the tracks in Sonic 3D Blast! Did the Sonic game take inspiration from here? Or it’s all just purely coincidence. I’m sure it’s the latter.

Overall, this series quite straightforward and simple. If you aren’t good with twisted plots or characters that run so deep like the Pacific Ocean, then a bit of over the top exaggerated wrestling garbage action would do well in providing some decent entertainment. It doesn’t matter what kind of gimmick you latch on to your sport and call it whatever title or name, so long as it does its job in giving the audience a good time, that’s all that matters. At least, that is what this series was aiming for. But unfortunately for this series too, it’s just that for the short term. I doubt it would be memorable by the time the next season rolls in. With no sequel or follow up (hey, this was an original anime), it retired early and Miku can keep her queen title for eternity. I guess weird futuristic sports type isn’t the in-thing these days. More traditional sports to rake in the masses? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe, say, beach volleyball?!