Overtake!

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 havenuance 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.

Overtake your greatest enemy, that's you and your own fears and trauma. Overtake have an very different and unique, F4 racing, TROYCA this time choosed to use a lot of real life contents, on Re:Creators they use a lot of real life places, without using an alternative and generic name to them, and this feature made the anime get some incredible immersion and create something that could be a real life story. The narrative is very consistent, the middle of the show works a lot with the moral of the characters and the society judging them about certain past events from one of the protagonists. The background isvery interesting with good explanations that can help people that don't know so much about F racings and cars, at same time can bring a good explanation to someone that know about the theme, unlike a lot of others sport animes that can't mix the reality of the real sport and a fictional story and fail with it. Only one thing that could get the anime score low was intersting to see, that's the 3D animations on the cars and how I can say, they made a nice work on this, we still can see that these cars are 3D models with anime textures, but the animation team made a amazing work with a good mix of the 2D background and the 3D models, the peak of course was on the last racing in the last episode that was perfect mixing of 2.5D enviroment and 3D models. I recommend this anime to anyone that likes F1, the roar of the machines was song to our ears.

"Overtake" is definitely a unique experience and adds its own unique twist to the genre. It's vastly interesting to see things from different viewpoints and it has deep emotions rooted in it also. The story is great and rather straightforward we follow the path of a photographer who happens to discover motor racing and wants to help the team and pilot. It's very refreshing and while you still get some good racing it's definitely not the focus here. The characters and interactions between them are really what's the most important thing here. The art is clean and the animation is decent. It's not the bestfor sure but racing is just one way for the author to convey his message. The animators still did a great job and we come across some good races and some nice moments. There are no flashy or jaw dropping moment but it for sure does the job well ! The opening song is absolutely great as i think the vibe is amazing and fits the anime really well. It's also really catchy as a stand alone too. The sound design is on point overall too with the sound of tires and engines being really realistic. It feels like a real race. The characters are the driving part of this show and really the main focus here. I woudn't say there's a lot of character development (especially for one of the main protagonist). However their interactions and bonds really makes you feel satisfied and feels very natural. It's like a life lesson but with racing as a medium and prism of focus. I found the show enjoyable as it was unique and really conveyed deep feelings and emotions. Also it's a breath of fresh hair from the shounen type hero racing. And more of a slice of life/mature vibes. The difference in age between the two protagonist also makes it feel like a great passing of knowledge of some sorts. And a way for both of them to get to know each other and move forward to the future while keeping their past in check. Overall it's been fabulous for an anime. I highly recommend it if you're here not just for the excitement of racing but for the real aspect around it and also the instrospection it gives us ! Give it a watch then !!!

Whew boy. This was a ride. Haha, get it? A great show. I found this on MAL before it was released and slapped it onto my PTW list not thinking much of it—thought it’d just be some short, sweet, but nothing special anime I would watch as the episodes came out—but oh man was I wrong. First off, it just oozes good vibes, and the animation is actually pretty well done. Not a single moment I can think of where the animation dropped in quality. It’s an overall positive and lighthearted narrative compared to numerous others. There’s no crazy superpowers, no insane special moves that the charactersdo in order to win—just a good, classic underdog story. The sport is secondary to the drama and emotional journeys of the characters, something that I am totally fine with. It actually got me crying during a few episodes that had to do with our photographer character, Koya. If you are a creative person yourself, perhaps you can relate to Koya’s struggles with trying to reignite a passion he lost years ago. As somebody who considers themselves as a creative individual, Koya’s story in particular struck close, even if I have never gone through anything like his situation before. The characters are all pretty lovable—and I absolutely adore how the relationships, most notably between Haruka and Kota, truly feel like loving bonds. They have small scenes together, and I feel like it truly paid off. It’s not a ground-breaking show, it’s not insanely hype, but it brought a warmth into my chest that very few animes lately have been able to do, and perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it so much.

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