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AYANE'S HIGH KICK

Aight, sit your butts down and listen closely because I have a story to share. What I have to share today is a story of the fading glory of the anime OVA of the 1990s, women's fighting entertainment, and what to do when customs takes your package hostage and demands a RADEC form.

For those not in the know, Ayane's High Kick was a two episode OVA project from 1997 about women's kick boxing. Rather than bore you with the long winded details about that anime, I would rather refer you to Kyoto Video. They have an excellent video you can watch on Youtube that goes over all the staff members, the production, and how that OVA failed to turn into a series.

All you need to know is that OVAs are falling out of favor in the 90s. Some industry workers get together, start a studio, and make a kick boxing anime about a high school girl. It's not a particularly great watch, and I can't exactly recommend it unless you love obscure old anime or love women's fighting entertainment. It's goofy, it's slapstick, and doesn't really boast noteworthy production quality. (Although, I will say that the laser disk artwork really slaps)

The only thing more obscure than a 90's OVA about shoujo kick boxing is that there's also a manga adaption. A manga that is well drawn, hard hitting, more serious in tone, and in basically every way, superior to the original anime.

Very few people are as nutty as I am when it comes to women's fighting entertainment. I have spent the past two years hunting down every Japanese manga that revolves around wrestling, boxing, sumo, and kick boxing. I've scanned and archived comics, doujins, magazines, and plenty more. I'm here to tell ya that Ayane's High Kick is one of the rarest things out there.

When I say that the manga is rare, it's kind of a weird story. Believe it or not, volume 1 has already been archived. I forget who it was, but someone already scanned it. You can't find it online unless you have backdoor connections. If you wanna get your hands on the physical edition, it's fairly easy to find. Right now you can get volume 1 for 20$ on Yahoo Auction.

That's all well and good except for the part that volume 2 couldn't be found. I'm not joking when I say that there was no information available to prove that there was a second volume. If memory serves right, there might've been some really crappy phone screen shots floating around. We're talking decades of archiving and knowledge sharing, but nobody knew a thing about it. Imagine my shock when I'm browsing on Yahoo Auction and come across volume 2 of Ayane's High Kick.

I couldn't believe my eyes at first. I'm looking through the item information, analyzing the pictures, and slowly realize that it's legit. I claim the winning bid and finalize the shipping order to get it delivered to my house. That's when trouble struck.

I pray none of you have to go through the same bull shit I did with Buyee, Fedex, and Oakland California's customs department. In case you're not familiar with Buyee, they are an intermediary shipping service that assists in overseas transactions of Japanese market items. Basically they handle your payment and allow you to purchase from auction sites and other market retailers in Japan. I'm not going to get into tarrif prices and how their website works because that's another can of worms. All you need to know is that I've been using Buyee for three years and never had any problems with importing packages.

December 23rd of last year, I get an email from Buyee/Yahoo auction explaining to me that my package will be held at customs and require a radiation form. I don't know if you've ever been subjected to your package being held hostage at customs, but it's not fun. I've never heard of a so called RADEC form nor did I understand why my package was being held up because of it.

Buyee provides me with a filled out RADEC form along with a blank copy. They don't clearly specify whether or not I need to provide this filled out one to Fedex. They just tell me to give Fedex a RADEC form. That same day Fedex reaches out to me and says, "hey your package is currently being held hostage in Oakland California, and customs needs a RADEC form. If you do not comply by January 1st, your package will either be trashed or returned back to Japan" I respond politely explaining that I don't really know what's going on and I provide them the filled out Japanese RADEC form.

That Friday there's no update or official response from Fedex. I give their customer service a jingle and explain the deal to them. Fedex tells me that they have the form and it has been forwarded on to customs. I hang tight and wait till next week where I find that there has been no progress on my package. Two more phone calls with Fedex leads nowhere and I don't have any update on my package except that Customs is working on it.

One phone call with a Fedex representative led to a startling discovery. The whole reason my package was being held up was because the content description was listed with a dvd player. I explained that unless I was mistaken, there was no such dvd player. The contents were literally a comic, a blu-ray, and a few laser disks. There was no electronic hardware in that package. Even more concerning was when the help desk asked about my RADEC form and who ABC Machine Japan is.

I googled ABC Machine Japan and they do not exist. All of that company information on that RADEC form provided to me by Buyee is made up.

December 31st, I get an email from Buyee/Yahoo Auction saying that because I did not respond to them with an update on the status of my package they were going to forcibly recall it back to their warehouse. At this point I really started panicking. I had no idea what was going on or if I provided customs with the right information. I call Fedex one last time and explain the whole deal to them again. I pleaded and begged for them not to recall my package and return it to Japan.

Somehow someway Fedex pulled through and got my package passed through customs. The package arrived on my doorstep in early January, safe and sound. With all of that out of the way and Ayane's High Kick safely in my hands, was it worth all the trouble and torment? Surprisingly……….ABSOLUTELY YES!

The second volume is a full scale tournament arc that throws Ayane into the gauntlet. She has to overcome a wave of contenders before she can reach the top and face off against her fated rival. It's hard hitting, it's emotional, and the climatic battle against Sakurako Miyagawa is incredibly satisfying.

In the anime OVA, the final fight is kind of a joke. The match ends with a referee stop when Sakurako accidentally suffers a bleeding cut on her forehead. In the manga version, these two gals go freaking ham on each other. It's hard hitting, it's endearing, and it ends on a beautiful note that shows these two rivals accepting one another as friends. (and maybe lovers)

Before I forget, I think I now know why volume 2 was almost forever lost. I've pieced together some information and I found out that volume 2 was a doujinshi. Something happened after volume 1's release where the publisher dropped the project. Ihara Yuji, the mangaka held onto it, and over several years finished the story's conclusion. If I'm understanding it correctly, volume 2 released in 2004 undisclosed at a comic event. That's why no one knew anything about it and why it couldn't be purchased.

Happy to be a part of this amazing Zine! Check out my Art for it here 🫶 ! And check everyone else out, too! This huge Zine has a ton of brilliant Artist! Thank you @0tacat for bringing this to life!

Gonna try out posting my artwork here.

Hello! I’m Otacat! I’m a 40 year old retro anime artist. I love anime from the 80s/90s the most, and Ranma 1/2 is my favorite anime of all time.

I’m a freelance artist, so I’m available for personal and commercial commission work.

You can also find me at the following places:

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INPRNT

I am moving early July! Would like to meet my goal and need help with moving costs~ Commission orders appreciated! https://ko-fi.com/otacat 💖