If you thought professional wrestling was popular in America, you haven't been to Japan, where the popularity of professional wrestling is only matched by the popularity of Anime. It seems only natural to combine the two great art forms into one exciting show everyone can enjoy and relate to.

     Ayane's High Kick is a wonderful anime filled with classic humor, an excellent story and some pretty good action to boot. Ayane Mitsui is a high school student who dreams of becoming a professional wrestler. Women's wrestling is tremendously popular in Japan and Mitsui hopes to be one of these stars. Unfortunately for her, she fails miserably in her tryout and may be forced to realize that some dreams do not come true.

     Then Kunimitsu Tangay comes into her life, offering her an opportunity to make it big. However, he neglects to tell her what sport he wants to train her in. Mitsui has skill and determination, but it's her awesome high kick that makes her a natural for...kickboxing. Yep, Mitsui may not like it, but her trainer has entered her in kickboxing matches.

     Now, she isn't the only one to hate kickboxing because her vice-principal of her high school absolutely hates the fact that one of the students is taking part in such a violent sport. He plans to have her expelled from the school and through a deal, will do so if she loses one fight. Mitsui is a raw talent, but her anger and desire to be a winner snaps her out of a daze and helps her pull out the victory in the end. And although she can quit at any time, Mitsui keeps going on from match to match. While she may hate the sport, her desire to win at anything she competes in, has Mitsui kicking her way into the spotlight. In the back of her mind, she is aware that she will be a professional wrestler and will go through any path, no matter how difficult, to get there.

     High Kick has only one tape out as far as I know, but it is one tape worth owning. It demonstrates the power women do possess, especially due to the fact that women in such sports as wrestling and boxing, is commonplace in Japan. While showcasing this aspect of women, the show also maintains a sense of humor often shown in anime where young high school students have fun lives outside of their academic reality. Even with the humor, Mitsui maintains her strong character, while also showcasing vulnerability when it comes to the emotions of failure. She is a well-rounded character that draws you into the two episodes tape.

     The story allows women to enjoy the power they can possess, but the action and fight scenes allow men to enjoy the show as well. In fact, everyone should watch this wonderfully animated, well-written story that is an inspiration in so many ways. We all have dreams and we all need to take certain roads to get there. Sometimes those roads seem to diverge from our goals, but they actually don't. Everything we do strengthens us and allows us to achieve whatever we hope to. After watching this show, there is no doubt in my mind that Ayane Mitsui will one day be a wrestler thanks to her kickboxing skills and determination it took to get there.

     Enjoy the show, watch it over and over again and realize that no dream is unreachable. It just takes a high kick in the ass to get you there. Send your comments and or questions about this article to Blackhart@ybfree.com.