Haruka Asahina is a 16 year old high school boy racing F4 cars while staying at Komaki Motors, an
auto-body shop in Shizuoka prefecture. Komaki Motors is a family-run shop that regularly competes in
F4 with the team comprised of: owner Futoshi Komaki who is also a mechanic, his son Kotarou Komaki,
and now Haruka Asahina. Because this is a family-run business, they receive no support usually from
any major manufacturers. Haruka Asahina boldly confronts the top teams head-on to get the attention of
these revered companies in hopes of making it to the podium himself.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Overtake is an anime about F4 racing team that's underdog, compared to their rival team, that has all the technology and money to win each time. The story that we can experience is very cliche and doesn't make you think a lot. It's all fairly linear, we learn about the story of main character, the only other story we learn about is of the photographer, everyone else is more or less unknown to us. In the last scene we get a reference to the MC (main character) story, but only a minor one that doesn't really have much impact. From the very first scene you can easily take a guess how the anime will end, there are no turnarounds or any moment where the story gets deeper. Characters are surface-level, no one besides photographer and MC matters, and they feel more like a filler than actual humans. If you removed every character besides two antagonists, and aforementioned two protagonists, the story wouldn't change it's heading. Visuals however are probably the best part of this anime, the character's faces are draw in a renewed and slightly unique way, they have a sprinkle of disney-ness in them. Where the visuals shine is the detail on the bolides which are looking exceptionally good. There's one scene where we get a 3d like movement, with each part of the scene turned into 2d image facing the camera, as it lunges forwards, which looks amazingly. When it comes to our audio experience, there's not a lot new in it, the race cars have engine sounds, we lack tire screech, gearbox sounds or wind. Music is okay, it doesn't interfere with the action, but isn't anything to remember when the anime ends. The flow of each episode is predictable, with first half being slow, story part where we have some conversations between characters or generally we have that part building up. The other half is meant for the actual action of racing, which in itself isn't that nerve wracking. The pacing itself is rather slow, there isn't a lot of action in the races. Next up is originality, the idea of car racing was already done in Initial D, and we also see someone going from a bad/new racer, to going to the top. What is something new is that it isn't street or touge racing, but an F4 team, which you'd think F1 is the next most exciting to pick, so it's not an obvious choice. Worldbuilding is mediocre at best, as stated in characters there's not a lot of story about why each character is in their current place, we don't get any explanation as to why they couldn't be in any other place. Emotional Impact is minimal, the only part where you can feel any emotions would be in photographers side story, main story is so linear and clearly defined you don't feel it exciting at all, and the progress feels non existant. - ## Story: `50` - ## Characters: `35` - ## Visuals: `70` - ## Audio: `50` - ## Pacing: `50` - ## Originality: `60` - ## Worldbuilding: `30` - ## Emotional Impact: `40`
Frankly my favorite seasonal of Fall 2023, by a mile. And that's saying something considering how great a show like Frieren is in Fall. I feel like prefacing this by saying this completely clear, yet somehow still ignored, fact. Overtake is NOT Initial D/MF Ghost, nor is it trying to be, and thus, it's not fair to compare them with each other, as both shows are completely different. How, you ask? Well, here are some examples I can list off of the top of my head: -Overtake's story is character driven, Initial D/MF Ghost's story is narrative driven, a very poor narrative, but a narrative nonetheless. -Characters in Overtake have nuance and a dynamic relationship between others, as well as inhibiting well written themes that are relevant to the story. Initial D/MF Ghost...has none of that, all the characters are static, and they only form relationships to satisfy the plot. Hell, it might not even satisfy that. -Overtake is focused on open wheel circuit racing. Initial D/MF Ghost is mountain road street racing. -Overtake is realistic, Initial D/MF Ghost isn't. -Overtake is sponsored by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the governing body for all European motorsports, F1 included), Initial D/MF Ghost is the machinations of someone who thinks what racing is. -Overtake's artstyle is well drawn. Initial D/MF Ghost has an artstyle that is stuck in the 80s and modern animators have to work hard to make it not ugly. -And lastly Initial D/MF Ghost has Eurobeat, and Overtake doesn't. So I suppose that's the dealbreaker for why they prefer those two shows compared to Overtake. I'd honestly go far as to say Overtake is what a proper racing anime should be. A narrative driven and executed by characters with their own personal motivations, goals, fears, troubles and developments. With some good old racing on the side, which I think is great, even if somewhat limited in the CG animation and music. But more than that, it's the first modern anime to depict not only realistic racing, but how racing works outside the track. The protagonists and their cast of side characters constantly have to struggle with the financial side of motorsports and how the sport itself is a bottomless money pit that can only be filled if: A) You git gud enough to win. B) Get sponsors to help you fill that pit enough to support yourself for an entire season. Contrast that to the team of the antagonists, Belsorisso, who have enough money to run in other racing categories, fully equipped and trained teams to keep the cars running and maintained, as well as a driver's program, and you can see clearly in the first few episodes how the odds are stacked against the protagonists. It has moments that are realistic in racing, and for that, I applaud it for. I also applaud it for how it doesn't indulge in the racing unlike other contemporaries. It takes the risk of letting us know the characters and their own motivations, beliefs, and goals and I think it does that pretty well. It's genuinely thrilling and relatable stuff, and it makes all the moments that they do race hit that much harder. Haruka isn't a generational prodigy that drove to deliver tofu. He's a kid motivated to see what his father saw in racing with friends that knew him. And all the other characters have that kind of level of nuance and depth added that makes it compelling to watch even further. Along with themes I mentioned previously about how hard it is to get to motorsports without good financial backing, you deal with themes like loss, trauma and how it affects someone's passion/profession, the pressure added by others, and the need to prove yourself of greatness. It's all rather compelling and it's pretty amazing on how it manages to be on a well paced story of 12 episodes. Would I recommend this to someone though? For a fan of racing and a good story, of course. But to your average weeb who might not/won't be interested in racing? I don't know, it's a hard sell. To it's credit, the show does an amazing job of conveying racing lingo and knowledge to someone who doesn't know it. Hell, one of the two protagonists is basically that, an absolute clueless guy who doesn't know the first thing about racing. But it's honestly hard still to recommend it, especially when it's not something like Initial D. And it's a seasonal, so if it's not popular like Frieren, Bocchi The Rock, or Dress Up Darling, it'll get forgotten, as is the nature of most seasonals. Still though. For me, this is the best seasonal for Fall 2023, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This won my heart from the moment it was teased, and if this somehow opens the door for more racing anime, fictional or grounded in realism, I'll be more than happy to say I was there when it first started. I just hope the animation teams come packing with money because I'm sure having all these sponsors and licenses cost a pretty penny, and that's not including the FIA's official sanctioning, which I'm sure put a hole in their budget.
~~~img420(https://ancdn.fancaps.net/26265168.jpg) ~~~ --- The note does not include my personal pleasure!! An anime so simple yet so authentic, it impresses even people like me who have limited knowledge about car racing. If, like me, you know little about the subject, don't feel disinterested in watching this work. It covers much more than racing and also teaches you a lot, as there is a character who knows nothing about racing. It’s true that this anime is not very well known because it mainly attracts fans of motorsports. Those who aren't interested in it would hardly give this work a chance. It's nice to know that "Overtake" is an original anime, highlighting the good work of the writers in crafting this great story. What makes it unique is its plot. The events throughout the anime are what make it special: a photographer who couldn't take photos due to a trauma developed after a tragedy, and a young boy who dreams of reaching the podium with a team without a sponsor are the main premises. Its story brings emotion to the viewer, and with each episode, you want to know what will happen next. **Animation: 9.6** The animation was very well done. The use of CGI has been much criticized in some animes, but here it was very well executed. The 3D race in the last episode was the cherry on top, very well done and executed, as were the other racing scenes in the anime, which were also very well done. I noticed a few moments when the animation quality dropped, but these were rare. **Characters: 9.8** The development of the main characters was very well done, allowing us to get to know each one's story. I saw a comment from someone complaining about the character development, saying there was a lack of depth in other characters, making it hard for them to connect with anyone. The anime focused on Haruka and Kouya, and that's a fact. But it wouldn't make much difference for the viewer and the story to know more about the Belsorriso drivers, for example. Knowing these two was enough to bring a good story. And even without exploring the secondary characters' stories deeply, they had good screen time and influenced the story. Kotarou and Arisu, for example, clearly he liked her, and he felt uncomfortable giving her advice about Satsuki. Even without the anime delving too much into them, it was very subtle. My only point is that I would have liked to see other teams explored beyond Belsorriso, at least to get to know other drivers. But this doesn't affect the experience. **Soundtrack and OP/ED: 8.6** Last but not least, the soundtrack was essential in some scenes but was so natural that it became almost unnoticeable. The opening was interesting and well done, as was the ending, and the music chosen for them was spot on. At the end of the first season, I felt there is definitely an opening for a continuation. I don't know how long it would take, since being an original anime, they would have to write the script. Let's see what happens. --- ~~~img420(https://ancdn.fancaps.net/26265176.jpg)~~~ Quero parabenizar toda equipe responsavel pela criação desse otimo anime.
____Not just a racing anime.____ Only read this when you finished the anime of course because its going to contain spoilers. I just finished Overtake! but first things first: The last time I cried was because of a game called Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain. (FAT SPOILES THAT ARE MARKED AS CORSSED OUT) ~~It was first during a scene where you have to mercy kill your own people followed by a scene where you bury them with a speech that was very touching.~~ Those were two powerful scenes back to back where the Game was playing around with human emotions and connections we build as humans. This anime did it aswell. With the story of a Cameraman Kyouka Madoka who couldn't take photos for a reason that was way more heartbreaking than it was initially made out to be (which is a smart move on the writing part). And then, the Episode I'm leading up to happend. With the little girl and the old man, I at least, quickly made a connection with them through just one line and a Photograph, freezing a very wholesome moment in time (and it of course didnt help that the girl was very cutely portrayed, being very shy but also very curious like real children are). What happend after was...well...incredibly tragic and the warning they gave us at the start when the flashback happend was actually quite the effectively blunt foreshadowing. It tried to prepare us for what was to come but...welp what happend exceeded my expectations for better or worse. With one Gigantic tragic event, what was previously wholesome, got drowned in the past which molded everything into this incredible scene that happend when Kyouka visited the old man again. The Photo that froze an incredibly wholesome moment in time and the same line our beloved old man spoke, both the Camera man and us viewers got thrown back in time for a brief moment. As a result Kyouka was of course crying but that quickly infected me aswell and only after the Epidsode ended I realized how incredible it was. One sentance and one Photo being enough to make me cry after one and a half years. I've seen my fair share of shit up to this point, in movies, series, artwork, from life experiences both from me or from someone else but this topped it with just one photo and "Keep taking lots of pictures, Photographer.", I'm impressed...very impressed and I will never forget this scene. But Overtake! is not about just this scene and Kyouka. It 3 other people who would fight their own demons in their own way and the build up and the payoff at the last Episode were giving me goosebumps, goosebumps id usually only get from anime. Not even Initial D gave me these goosebumps, that anime was just pure hype but this anime aswell. While Initial D for example had way more racing animations over time, evolving and giving us eye candy in very short succession, I rarely doubted that the main character would loose. In the final Episode of Overtake!, I wasn't sure. Eventhough it would make sense for the plot, I still wasnt sure because both the main character Haruka, and their oponents Satsuki and Toshiki, learned and overcame their demons and faced off after developing as characters. In the end, "Overtake!" isn't just a Racing anime like Initial D. It objectively doesn't even have as nearly good racing animations and scenes as Intial D, but it doesn't need to have that many racing scenes (especially if the few ones that exist are intense enough). Overtake! builds up its own intensity, not just through the race but through the hardships the characters go through. I was honestly way more invested in Kyouka, Haruka, Satsuki, Toshiki in Overtake! than in Takumi from initial D. This anime felt way more human aswell, and I bet that there is some human life experience sprinkled in there, especially with Kyouka, our beloved Cameraman.