Highspeed Etoile

Highspeed Étoile - Studios utilising full-on 3DCG with dense stories always (and obviously) never end up doing well...but somehow, this show did, and surprisingly, did not crash and burn. 3DCG in anime is always criticised in one form or another, from the intentional (i.e. last Spring's Kaminaki Sekai no Kamisama Katsudou a.k.a KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World) to the outright bad (i.e. 2021's abominations of Winter's Ex-Arm and Fall's Tesla Note, and the like). For one such studio by the name of Studio A-CAT, this is their bread and butter for producing the projects that they've been given, and from bad animation toeven worse implementation of 3DCG, you can already tell that if a work gets animated by the studio, there's NO chance that it'll do well with lower-than-average scores. Even if the stats don't lie, however, I find myself in a rather conflicted position to tell you that the studio's newest work of the full-on 3DCG show that is Highspeed Étoile...is actually decent, colour me surprised. The show, being an abode to the domestic Japanese Super Formula Championship's 50th anniversary (the 2nd fastest facing series in the world behind Formula 1), tells a plot of a futuristic Japan where race cars are injected with the Hybrid Performance Exceed Reactor (HyPER) technology to reach incredible speeds, and are qualified for the said NEX Race that puts the technology pedal to the metal that's enhanced by AI. Racers from all walks of life compete in this enthralling race...except one: Rin Rindo, the rookie newcomer who came out of nowhere being a failed ballerina of a dancer, and seemingly having been thrown into the fire into becoming a full-fledged racer. And despite her complete lack of knowledge about racing, her skills will be the story of her life as she threads down the numerous tracks of speed. Let's get the elephant out of the room: you CANNOT do the ever-illusive 3-episode rule on this show. It's the catharsis for being a snail's pace of a slow-moving race from the get-go, where, rather than bringing the audience into the series, it instead does the complete opposite to draw you out of the experience...that is, until the titular MC Rin shows up as a tour de force in the making, being the beginner who's racing knowledge is no more than playing racing simulator games. If you intend to truly have a decent time with the show, my answer to you is to be patient with it, and let it run its wheels to define its own version of greatness. As much as Rin Rindo is kind of a klutz from the get-go, this show is her entire oyster, evolving from the dream of a dancer into a racer of her own style. And together with her fellow racers, I wouldn't say that this is the most fleshed-out character cast, but it certainly makes for interesting races whilst Rin goes from zero to hero over time, it gets addicting to see her journey manifest into an entirely different being and, for the better, for the other racers to cheer her on towards the finishing line. Being entirely in 3DCG, I've already said my piece about Studio A-CAT and their approach towards CGI in anime. And even after a few years of getting used to the studio's style, I can't say that I like it; I can only get used to it as time passes. Most particularly for this show, it's still quite janky, but surprisingly, it does its job rather decently, so I can say that it actually isn't all that bad. The music does its job as well, though it's rather underwhelming and is just like any 3rd-rate anime project work. Nana Mizuki's OP surprisingly slaps like the usual, and it's an addictive banger of a song that truly fits the adrenaline theme of the show. Scandal's ED works...as white noise, unfortunately. I'm not saying that Highspeed Étoile is good, but it's a matter of it being a rather tough show to sit through its paces, plus with the 3DCG, it's an instant switch off where people just give this the crap treatment like all CGI anime naturally fall into. If you're willing to sit through it however, as they say: the grass is greener on the other side, that perfectly sums up Highspeed Étoile as a whole, it grows from being down bad, to actual decency. Try if you so wish, I can promise that if you stick all the way to the end, it will not disappoint.

Highspeed etoile is an anime i never would've found if it wasnt for the mcs voice actor Izumi Fuuka,but damn well it was a great ride,animes that you start for something you like but end up finishing for a completly different reason will never not be good. Plot: New technology , HyPER allows high speed races,one man staying at the top Lorenzo M. Salvatore.The plot is easy to follow ,you have your mc Rin Rindou, a past dancer who finds herself in the racing world because of a video game record,starting off weak but taking the spotlight by simply not knowing the rules. Characters: The characters are likeableaand enjoyable, its not the uma musume pretty derby kind where any character can become your favorite,which is understandable, but you can still fan over any of the characters and hope theyll shine in a possible future season 2 Animation: O boy how much i love the cgi animation, really similar to girls band cry i hope more animes will choose to adopt this kind of style,the characters move in a silly way and the expressions are nothing to ignore,the characters are filled with life Designs and music: The characters designs are great,every character looks unique and are easy to differentiate,but the cars are just splendid ,the futuristic look is sharp and the interiors look like youre Tony Stark in the iron suit,the music isnt bad nor good,the op and ed are average I think anyone can enjoy Highspeed etoile,even a non racer fan,i hope this gets a season 2

I watched all of it and as a racing game fan I liked it it's a good story just 12 episodes too little to tell the full story. I hope if it gets a second season but it's not like it will get it in the near future... But enough about my feelings. About the characters it's like not all the characters are elaborated because the anime after all just 12 episodes long but if it gets more time to run it will be better ... So the characters reaction and feelings it's a racing anime it's products the same feelings as a formula 1race or any kind of race Most people not going to enjoy the series because it's like an anime to car guys and gamers so anybody who wanted a slice of life anime don't go with this P.S.: why everyone is crying about the 3DCG? It's good and also all of you guys and girls using it in games so why don't you just watch it and try to get a feeling about the anime and not about the animation

Personally, this was a nice quick evening watch, but if i was watching this show when it was airing i would've dropped so quick. Some of the episodes are a waste of time, and you can tell the writers we're really trying to stretch it, but in the worst ways possible. We could've got more races instead of recaps for example, but no here's an episode with half filler! Other than that, the plot was fairly standard, and the races that we saw in full were exciting, but not the crazy shounen level we're used too. If you need something quick and faiirly enjoyable topass time, you will enjoy this, if you're looking for peak anime, unfortunately, this is not it.

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