The story does not solely focus on Hikari's rise in the world of rhythmic gymnastics or sports. It also touches the thematics of growing up, overcoming the many obstacles on the path to the final goal, of love, rivalry and many other themes that pest any young individual.
The production is sweet, which is typical of many 80's anime of shojo genre, when the latter was most popular. The music stands out in particular, with piano inserts which range from very lively, positive themes, to starkingly touching melodies. The range of songs in OST is quite narrow, but compositions like Maihime and Yume Miru Koroni are simply beautiful.
There aren't many series out there quite so sweet and charming as Hikari no Densetsu. Therefore it is sad it's been cut from initially planned 26 episodes to just 19, since, despite high general popularity in Japan, the TV ratings were poor. It never reached US markets, because there wasn't any interest in the thematics the series portrays.
I'm very glad that atleast people here in Europe took a high liking to Hikari - especially in France and Italy, where the manga was also translated. The French have released it at least 3 times - the last time in a dual audio DVD release. But their dub can't compare to the Italian one which is really heart felt and on par with original Japanese voice acting.
Even though the anime was cut abruptly , the original manga continues well beyond and has a slightly different development in the love and coupling department. Hikari continues to Seoul 1988 Olympic games. Actually, if it wasn't for the latter, Hikari may have never reached the foreign markets. Tatsunoko Productions have decided to release it outside Japan, since there was great interest in rhytmic gymnastics at the time.
