thousand years in the future, interplanetary disputes are settled by regimented spaceship combats—not actual battles, where people might die, but contests where automatic teleporters ensure pilots make it to safety even if their ships are destroyed. But Terra's been doing badly in the competition for a long time, even though it has better ships than its immediate competitors, the Ness.
Then the engineering genius who designed those superior ships somehow decides that the best pilots will be found in the past. He begins taking trips to 1999 Japan, where he recruits precocious teenage girls to fight Terra's future battles. His fourth recruit, a smirking video-game addict named Yohko Yamamoto, finally turns the tide for Terra, whose team finally starts winning, much to the disgust of its high-strung leader, Madoka.
In the opening episode, Yohko arrives and immediately makes enemies of Ness' all-sister pilot team, the Red Snappers. In Episode 2, the Terra team and the Red Snappers all vacation simultaneously at an asteroid-belt-sized hot-springs resort, with explosive results leading to Yohko and Red Snapper leader Rouge facing off in a cosmic game of billiards that uses planets for balls. Episode 3 takes on a very different tone, as the Red Snappers seek out their mother's derelict ship to see if a science project involving roses was successful, but the runaway ship ends up on a crash course for Earth.
Episode 4 introduces the rogue pilot Sylvie Dread, who was rejected from Terra's pilot program, blames Yohko and demands a duel to prove who's the better pilot. In Episode 5, the Terra team and a member of the Snappers end up marooned on a strange planet where unseen strangers are convinced the girls are goddesses, and have weird plans to capitalize on that fact. Finally, in Episode 6, a rare Terra/Ness social gathering provides a chance for Yohko to play dress-up, show a new side of her character and answer a second challenge from Sylvie.
Relaxed flavor puts fans first
So far, Yohko Yamamoto has come to life in a TV series, a set of novels, three "drama CDs" and a veritable library of manga books, which may explain why these two three-episode OVA series (packaged two episodes per tape) feel more like an obligatory fan-service project than an independent series. (An early gratuitous shower scene, copious swimsuit scenes and a couple of hot-springs bathing trips certainly support the fan-service theory.) These episodes jump around wildly in mood, tone, animation
quality and character quality. Except in the first episode, they don't actually follow any of the interplanetary competitions, and they don't explore any of the interesting aspects of Yohko's existence as a time-traveling fighter pilot. The fact that she and her teammates live double lives, essentially as secret agents for the future, just doesn't seem to have much impact on their daily routines.
That said, Yohko herself is an intriguing and enjoyable character whose ability to take everything in stride without becoming overawed, acting excessively obnoxious or going soft is reasonably unique in anime. Cheerful, tomboyishly charming, casually self-absorbed and unselfconsciously arrogant, she resembles what Cowboy Bebop's Ed might be like if she reached adolescence, calmed down a mite and learned to speak in complete sentences. Her insult-laden competition with Madoka is actually supported by the animation, which takes pains to mock Madoka's wide, shiny forehead as often as Yohko does; their hilarious interaction, and the constantly evolving Red Snapper team, keep the character dynamics fresh.
The second OVA series is better animated than the first by a long shot; the series hits its stride in Episode 5, which toys with a dark, muted palette, stylish cuts, dynamic images and playful transitions. But the whole series is fun in a low-key, comic way. Yamamoto Yohko doesn't break any anime ground—in fact, it specifically covers some well-covered turf—but the standard stories are well executed, and the whole series has a pleasant, earnest, relaxed flavor that barely budges even during the most dramatic confrontations.
