In the not too distant future, a new sport is taking the world by storm, known as "Neo Pro Wrestling." It is a sport fought by men and women wearing armored enhancements simply called "Metal Suits." Donning these ability-enhancing Metal Suits, the so-called Metal Fighters compete in teams of four, hoping at least one of them is able to achieve the rank of Queen and dethrone Aquamarine, the legendary Neo Pro Wrestler Queen of the Japanese Women's Metal Fighter League.

The story focuses on the "Pretty Four," a newly formed Neo Pro Wrestling team backed by a small company known as the TWP. The Pretty Four consist of Sayaka, Ginko, Nana, and Miku. Sayaka is essentially the "upper class" girl of the four - beautiful, elegant, and graceful. Ginko is the tomboy of the four, but the strongest fighter; her voice is even done by the wonderful Ai Orikasa. Nana is the short, cute, but agile member of the group. And last, but certainly not least, comes Pretty Miku, the "star of the beauties" and leader of the Pretty Four. These four have been brought together as Neo Pro Wrestlers and singing idols by Harajuku, the man behind the TWP, whose rivalry with a fellow known as Shibano serves as a big focal point of the plot. Aiding the Pretty Four is a boy named Kinta, who serves as their mechanic. He takes care of the Metal Suits while the Pretty Four trains under the harsh, almost cruel hand of Eiichi Suo, a cold, bitter man whose best friend is a bottle of liquor. However, Suo is also the man who made Aquamarine the star she has become, giving the Pretty Four an edge no other team has.

Miku and the Pretty Four endure many trials testing their friendship and trust in one another, as well as their sportsmanship and love of wrestling, summing up into an altogether heartwarming tale. This is most certainly not any ordinary thirteen-episode martial arts/comedy TV series. Its science fiction edge gives it a level of originality not before seen in martial arts anime. Additionally, the character designs by Susumu Honda give the series a fresh look and feel.

Metal Fighter Miku's soundtrack only helps heighten the mood in each scene, from comedic moments to the most intense fight scenes. It perfectly sets the atmosphere of each match. The opening song, "Being A Wind," sounded a bit odd to me the first time I heard it. But, it quickly grew on me, as it captures the real emotion behind the series. The ending, "Eyes of 1000 Carats," is also an enjoyable piece - admittedly it is sugary jpop, but not sickeningly sugary. Get used to hearing it though: if you skip past the end credits, you'll skip past the preview for the next episode as well. So, you'll have to sit through the end credits each time if you're someone who enjoys watching the previews.

The animation quality is somewhat dated, but not horribly so. It's perfect for otaku nostalgists who appreciate those gems from the early 90's. The fight scenes are very enjoyable as well. For those who are only familiar with wrestling based on the crap we consider "pro wrestling" on the American airwaves, however, throw away all your preconceived notions. Nobody goes around screaming random threats, nor does anybody get a chair broken over them at any point. And for those of you who might be thinking, "Whoa, girls wrestling, hot!"...you'll be disappointed, too, as the fighting style really follows the martial arts paradigm. The best way to describe the fight scenes is simply that they're martial arts with strong wrestling influences, a dash of SF with the Metal Suits, and magical girl-esque transformation sequences at the beginning of each fight! Who could ask for more? Besides, what other series has moves like "Miku-chan's Chicken Typhoon"?

Looking at the DVD itself, the animation has not been particularly cleaned up by Animeworks in the video transfer, but that doesn't reduce the enjoyability of this series. The series was originally released stateside back in the 90's by Software Sculptors, and it seems the original translation has not been edited either. In watching it, I noticed a number of minor typos that could have been fixed before the final DVD release. Despite a lack of any real extras, Animeworks has still made this a worthy series to purchase on DVD: all thirteen episodes come together in a 2 DVD set, priced at a mere forty dollars.

Bottom line: I highly recommend Metal Fighter Miku. It's a real diamond in the rough in the world of martial arts and sports anime. The animation is nostalgic; the music is wonderful; the humor and overall atmosphere is certainly smile producing; and the story itself shines out wonderfully, despite the fact that it stems from a fairly basic sports cliche. This is a very enjoyable series, and it's a shame it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves.

Distributor: Anime Works
Creator: JVC / TV Tokyo
Released: 1994

Plot: A
Character Design: A
Animation Quality: B
Music: A
Overall: A