Oban Star-Racers

(Gulp...My first review! Here I go!)

Story: At first I was reluctant to see what the show was about, seeing as the story was actually made in France, but then all that changed when I accidentally turned on the TV to catch the beginning of the first episode. The story is marvelous, full of everything a young girl could experience at that age. The constant secrets, conflicts, hinted love interests keep you on the edge of your seat. Not to mention the refreshing new concept of what the future could hold. What's more, the original languages it was made in were English and French so you ... don't have to worry about anything being edited or changed. With that I give the story a 10.

Art: At first the art might seem strange, the main thing that would catch your eye would be the absence of noses, but once you get over the initial shock you just can't help but grow fond of the style. It deserves an 8.

Sound: Absolutely amazing! The opening and ending convey the right mood for the actual show ( Both being in Japanese with either English or French added). The soundtrack during the various scenes couln't have been more accurate ranging from the fast paced races to the hidden plans of Kanaletto and the Krogs. I was pleasantly surprised that during all of the 26 episodes very few times was the same sound used. This is especially true with the races, each of them having their own unique soundtrack. Sound gets a 9.

Character: Everything you want, they have. In addition to the predictable pace of each of the characters development, many times you will find yourself with your eyes wide open and your mouth gaping thinking 'OMG!Will he seriously do that?!' or 'SHE WHAT?!' Each of the characters have a unique personality from the sarcastic/comic Jordan to the well-mannered/secretive Aikka. They fit into the strory so well, nothing being given away too early that it might seem rushed or too late, when you might think the story is boring. They all deserve a 10.

Overall: If you like to be glued to the television, anticipating what's going to happen next then this is the anime for you.I love how the show implements the truths of life such as friendship, betreyal, deciet, loss, pain and the ultimate question of choice as an everyday person faces all of this somewhere in their lives. I don't regret watching and rewatching this series as it is definitely something to remember. A perfect 10.

I am going to be honest and say when I started to watch this show the idea of earth being saved by winning a race seemed kind of lame and I was only watching it for the futuristic alien racing action. I figured the show would have some cool races, a bad guy to focus my hatred at, and O look the earth hasn't been destroyed at the end. However I found my self pleasantly surprised to find a solid story and a great lead character.

I have already stated that I wasn't going into the show expecting much from the story; soon after getting ... into the show I realized that there was a lot more here then I thought. First thing to note is that it is not so simple as if the earth team wins the “Oban Race” the earth is saved and if they lose the earth is doomed. The race is to decide who gets the “Ultimate Prize”, the thing is no one on the earth team knows exactly what the “Ultimate Prize” is. Information on it is given out as the show goes on but when the group first starts out they know next to nothing. Also there maybe more to this race than meets the eye, as a few mysterious things end up happening. There is also Molly who is the abandoned daughter of the earth team's manger(Don Wei) who ends up getting on the earth team by chance. The thing is Don Wei doesn't realize she is his daughter and Molly is trying to get him to notice her. Throw in a little intergalactic politics and you have the basics of the story.

The overall storyline dealing with the “Ultimate Prize” moves very slowly. Luckily every race is its only little mini story, and there is more than enough going on with these to keep your interest well the main storyline takes it's time. The apposing pilots are usually given some kind of back story or development before or during the race. Some pilots are bad, others are good guys that the earth team just happens to be racing against. Although later on the races are group races, when the show first starts out they are all one on one. I actually like the one on one more than the group races, so I think the later races are not as good as the early ones. For those like me looking for some futuristic alien racing action you will not be disappointed. Almost every show has a race and a race will probably take up 1/3 to 1/2 the show. The show manages to keep the races interesting. The aliens and their ships are very creative. There are the usual technologically advanced ships, a guy that rides a giant flying beetle and shoots magical arrows, and a species that actually transforms into the racer itself. Special rules come up now and again that changes the way the race is held. The earth team also loses enough that I could not always guess how the race was going to end. There are crashes and people do shoot at one another but no one ever dies from these crashes and if the pilot does get hurt they are always up and about in an episode or two.

Now we come to my favorite part of the show, MOLLY. Molly's real name is Eva but her dad(Don Wei) didn't recognize she was his daughter so she lied. She is strong willed and self reliant with just the right amount of venerability to her, and has great growth and back story to her. Don Wei also has a great growth and back story (well Molly and Don Wei have the same back story), he is kind of a jerk but you also empathize with him at times. Unfortunately the rest of the cast does not get any were near the development of Molly and Don Wei. That isn't to say they have poor development. Jordan (Molly partner), Rick (a member of the earth team), and Prince Aikka (a opposing pilot) are examples of characters that have good personalities and do get development of the the course of the show. It is just kind of sad to see something that is done so well with the main character and then done only just good enough with the rest of the cast. I love Molly and even though I wanted a little more from other members of the cast they are still good.

The animation does a great job of combining 2D and 3D. The 2D and 3D do a good job of complementing one another and not just trying to out do one another like I think happens all to often. I will have to note that none of the characters have noses. This annoyed the hell out of me, I did get use to it but I never grew to like it. One complaint aside I like the animation.

In closing I should probably point out one more thing before ending. Some people will most likely be turned off by the less mature nature of the show. An 8 year old could follow the story and even when people crash their ships into little tiny pieces the pilot never walks away with more than a few scratches. Please don't let that scare you away, there is enough substance here to keep a much older audience interested. It has a nice story, good cast, Molly is a strong lead female character that other shows should strive for, and the races are fast paced and exciting.

Oban is a criminally underrated and unknown series, which is sad since it's basically what you'd get if Miyazaki was French.

The show was about eight years in the making before it was finally put into production(which means it was well underway before Star Wars episode 1), and was created through the tireless efforts of four French artists. So it should strike a cord with all you indie artists with great aspirations out there, and the two dirt-cheap DVDs come with a great "making of" featurette.

But yeah, this series is amazing. The characters have depth and originality, the animation and CGI are seamless and amazing ... to look at (adding upon the unique art style), the OP/ED are by Yoko Kanno, and the rest of the OST is just fantastic. The story is well paced and full of good twists and developments, and the competition that the story focuses on is about as real as it can get. Often our heroes will be faced with opponents they have no business going up against, and in the latter half of the show they almost die nearly every episode. Speaking of our heroes, Molly is just great. She's one of a small handful of good, endearing female protagonists in this medium. The rest of the cast pulls their weight too, as mentioned before the main characters are conflicted and well-characterized, their interactions being entertaining and very human. All the main people have an opinion of each other, causing rifts and closeness between them. The minor/non-recurring characters and opponents are always fun and different, making you wish they were more recurring.

tldr: Beautiful show. Great music. Writing that's a step above most anime. Was made well before Pod Racing came about. The whole series can be bought for less than $10 on Amazon or something. The torrents are sucky TV rips. Go for it.

Story: The story was absolutely grand. Devoid of plot holes and captivating, the story is a wonderful mix between drama and racing. Of course, it does start out slow, taking about 6 episodes to get interesting and another 4 or 5 to become as captivating as it did, but once you get interested, there'll be no putting it down. The story is great, it deserves itself a 9, just shy of a ten due to the starting slowness.

Art: The Style is definitely unique. Oban uses a mix between 2D and 3D visuals and while it works wonderfully, the 2D animation is where it seems ... to fall slightly in. The animation itself, while crisp, seems somewhat lazy, the human characters don't even have noses, and are the whiskers on Jordan's face supposed to be peach fuzz? But where the 2D animation may lack, the 3D animation makes up for, being smooth and entertaining. The racing scenes seemed particularly entrancing. Overall, a good 7.

Sound: The sound quality was absolutely wonderful. The racing scenes sounded realistic and made the star-racers come to life, the sounds of the environment were very well done, so then why do I give this an 8 instead of perfect 10? Well, the answer would be the voice acting. Living in the U.S. it was hard to find the original Japanese, so I got an English version, so remember that this is strictly based on the English voice acting which was somewhat unbelievable, and not in a good way. Starting off, the voice acting sounded somewhat forced and unrealistic. Given, as it went on the voice acting got better but there were still some off-episodes. So due to this, I give the sound a good 8 for having outstanding sound effects but underwhelming voice acting.

Character: The characters are full of life. Their personalities written well and their relationships with each other are even better. The only reason for myself docking a point is due to one certain character's unbelievable folly that no good real life version would make even under the circumstances he was in. But, aside from that, the characters are vivid, have great stories, even better relationships and deserve a good 9.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed this anime very much. I first saw this as a child of 8 years old when it first aired and I heavily enjoyed it then, just for the racing parts. Now that I'm older and able to understand everything, I must say I had an even more enjoyable experience this time around. Of course, as I've stated before, it was a bit slow to start, not enough to drop it by any means but still a bit slow, but it makes up for that with everything that happens after episode 6 and for that it deserves a 9

Overall: To conclude, the anime was very well made and it's very disappointing that not many people know about it since Jetix changed to Disney XD. This anime was a childhood favorite and still a favorite now as a young adult. I'm very happy i decided to rewatch it and experience the characters, story, and amazing races that I (barely) remember watching as a child. Overall, this is a good 8 and i would recommend it to anyone who likes racing anime or drama.

Here’s a hidden gem for you, Oban Star-Racers, an anime with a mixed country of origin production with France. “Yet another racing anime” might sound like a boring idea, but this series is anything but, don’t miss this one!

Plot: 9
What can I say? The plot isn’t all that complicated, there’s a race and for 22 out of 26 episodes, half the focus is on winning the race and the other half is on building character relations, backstory, or setting. The first two episodes don’t concentrate on racing and neither do the last two, but for just about every other episode, you can expect a race. ... That’s not to say the races feel like boring filler either, the creativity in the racers, whose vehicles range from a cat face with a DDR style control pad to a giant flying bug, make every race interesting because you’re not just watching two standard cars or spacecraft squaring off all the time. Not to mention that opponents can attack each other and sometimes races have special goals in mind other than “finish first”. When the story does veer off from just watching a race, it’s still good and tends to focus on Molly and why she wants to win the race. As simple as the premise might be, it still comes together to be more than the sum of its parts. It can, however, be a tad predictable at times. Usually not the races, which keep you guessing from start to finish, but the half of the episode that deals with the plot progression and character development can be a tad easy to guess at at times. It shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it though, it’s still told really well.

Characters: 8
The characters are quite good, a lot of the one shot opponents are going to be best remembered for the interesting race they give us, but a few linger on a bit longer and all have interesting customs which might surprise our mains a bit at times. The characters really go hand in hand with the plot here though as everything somehow gets connected through racing, but watching them develop is still great. I think the romance aspect came in a tad forced though, like it got switched on during one episode at tad too suddenly for me. If you like being on the fence for ___X___ pairings, you'll be getting some of that here too by the end.

Presentation: 10
This series easily has the best blending of CGI and 2D animation I’ve seen before or since. It’s only obvious a very few times that there’s any CGI at all, CGI is usually on screen more than half the time and I couldn’t usually tell. Character designs though take a bit of getting used to and may be slightly off-putting. Music is a big plus though, the composer for the OP and ED is none other than Yoko Kanno and the series composer is Taku Iwasaki, who would later do equally great music for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Sound effects are great too, they went all out, each and every vehicle has a distinct sound all its own made from blending other sounds.

Overall: 9
It’s a great series, even if the excellent sound and visuals don’t bring it up to a 10 for me, but it’s still worth checking out to learn how to properly mix “of the week” with an overall continuing story plot. There’s not much else quite like it, racing, sure, girl who’s a semi-orphan main, sure, but the way the story is told more than makes this worth checking out.

Perhaps not many of you have heard of this amazingly captivating anime show which in fact is a wonderful collaboration between Japan and french studio Sav! The World Productions. And those who have surely remember it from Jetix which was a children television programme. It was..because apparently Disney Channel replaced it as stated on the WIkipedia article about Jetix. I have gathered a few pieces of information regarding this series:

First aired between 5 June 2006 – 11 December 2006 this 1 season anime contains 26 thrilling episodes. In the year 2082, the Earth has been asked to compete in the great intergallactic race of Oban ... by no other than the Avatar, a mysterious powerful entity who appears to be in control of the Universe. He stops the attacks of an alien race, the Crogs, on Earth in exchange for their participation in the race. Eva Wei, an Earth student escapes her boarding school in order to find her father, Don Wei, the best racing manager in the world. Having left his own daughter into a boarding school for so long he cannot recognize Eva as his child. Eva feels unable to tell the truth about herself and pretends to be a mechanic named Molly. Don Wei will accept her into the team right before the goverment asks him to represent the Earth in the great race of Oban. Eva and the team are taken to a far away planet where the first part of the race will take place. During the first race the Whizzing Arrow, the Earth team ship crashes and its pilot, Rick Thunderbolt, becomes unable to race. Seeing as no one else can do it, Molly the mechanic ( Eva Wei) steals the ship and enters the next race. Don Wei slowly accepts her as the new pilot. Emotionally wounded by the death of her mother and the cold reunion with her father, Eva decides to do her best in winning the great race of Oban hoping that one day she could have her family back.

And my personal opinion.. Well i have seen loads of anime, of different sizes and genres,of different styles and times and i have to say that Oban is most likely one of the best for me for a great number of reasons. It managed to captivate me as a child and after 7 years it still manages to make me eagerly consume the 26 episodes in just two days and completely engulf me in its magical and fantastical atmosphere. I am pleasently surprised by this effect as i often find certain old titles to not stir my interest as much as before. But Oban is different and let me tell you why..

First of all it has one of the most complete plots i have ever came across. Its flow is naturally ongoing throughout the episodes and nothing ever feels out of place or out of context. It is somewhat predictable in the way us the watchers can intuitively determine the outcome of certain events. However, the twists of the plot and the mysterious factor of facts yet not revealed will keep the watcher with its eyes on the screen til the end. I could also speak about the somewhat monotone repeatance and ceremony that in other animes is abundant. Watching Oban i was actually amazed that I found no such thing! Every single race is different and moderately detailed in such a way they can hardly bring boredom as well as every single race brings more and more details and shape to the relationships between characters. And this fact brings me to the genre.Oban is an appropriate mix of action dough,filled with adventure and 1/3 cups of drama,sprinkled generously with romance. Best served with a pint of light hearted comical moments. Attention! It will be so tasty your eyes are going to drool!

Characters

Since it all happens somewhere in the center of the Galaxy everything changes drastically. What should you expect of course are aliens! What not to expect is that they come only in the shape of a green humanoid with disproportioned body and large sized light bulb shaped head. Instead prepare to admire the variety of alien races of the Universe and meet their technology’s most powerful ships. Thinking you will not enjoy this particular part of the anime ? Fear not for even these concepts will spark your interest whether you aren’t into mechanics stuff like Stan and Koji, the two mechanics of Earth Team. Returning to the characters i must say that they are really well chosen and structured. The protagonist, young lady Eva Wei, is a really hyper 15 years old who will make sure to entertain you with her ambitions and character. She is a very determined girl and pretty intelligent, being able to craft her own floating motorcycle and drive it really well, too well. Dear readers i suggest you not to take this series lightly and pay attention well to the details at every step which prove to have more importance as the plot goes on. The fun part about this is also that you can never know enough about the characters as their actions and words continue to surprise throughout time and yet nothing will feel out of character. Apart from dear Molly you shall meet up with Jordan Wilde, the gunner. He is a man whose aim is extremly good,he is loud and almost always cheerful. As the story goes one you will learn that he is a caring person and that he is a also faithful to Eva and the team. And this all because he makes an excellent friend which will never ‘abandon ship’ even when he learns of Eva’s true identity. This is also where sweet sweet romance comes in but not too fast and not so cheesy as one might fear. This particular part will be covered in amusing situations involving more characters such as Don Wei, Eva’s father. Speaking of him, this man might come in as a cold and heartless man. He is the most successful racing manager on Earth and the key to his success might be his ever serious and strict character or may not be just like that. But i promise not to ruin the fun by revealing too many details and not dissapoint by telling you that the surprise element when it comes to characters won’t stop here. There are far more personalities to meet in Oban and they are sure to impress. I really feel this review kind of text is getting quite long so i can’t afford to bore you for longer.

Phew almost to the end of this!

Dear readers you have my word that this touching story will be worth a try despite whether a bad first impression or the art of this show which to some of you might seem a little too old. I am really pleased i rediscovered it and decided to write this article of sort to share this with people that love a good anime show. I am certainly dissapointed with some new titles as their only strong points are the vividly colored scenes of fan service. Oban is not like that! It is totally different and worth watching till the end.

For those not in the know, Oban Star Racers was a collaboration between animation studios in France and Japan which combines two-dimensional and CG animation. In terms of animation, the series looks great for the most part featuring a diverse number of vast settings to look at with a decent amount of detail from alien towns to temples to arctic tundras. Racer ship designs are diverse in design with nothing looking alike and are well-rendered in CG animation, mostly being bright in color and having a good amount of detail. Racing scenes are great on the eyes featuring fluid movement with the occasional intense moment ... as racers clash with one another and damage is inflicted onto the ships. Even with such movement onscreen from Star Racers, I couldn't find any noticeable drop in the quality of the CG rendering used for the ships. The only low point I found with visuals was that character designs looked rather simple as details on characters were minimal and the absence of noses being noticeable on many characters throughout the series.

For music, Yoko Kanno composed the OP and ED Japanese musical tracks used for the series and they fit in rather well with the carefree and free-spirited mood Oban Star Racers gives off in many of its episodes. The insert tracks retain this same feel during said scenes while having the occasional tense and dramatic selections during the occasional intense moments in this series.

In terms of plotting, Oban Star Racers is solid for the most part as the series introduces a diverse number of alien characters whom Eva and the Earth Team either befriend, race or get into hostilities with. Many of the characters are fleshed out as you get to know their reasons for why they are competing in the Great Race of Oban, though some can be quite shallow such as those representing the Crogs.

The prominent elements of the series focused on however are unveiling more about the true nature of the Great Race and the tensions concerning the rift between Eva and her estranged father, Don Wei. The latter proved to be one of the high points of Oban Star Racers for me as it explored some rather touchy subjects for a series geared for younger audiences in the form of parental loss and abandonment. Throughout the series, Eva has to put up with trying to get her father to acknowledge her despite the latter being oblivious to his daughter being in front of him due to having been apart for years and having much of his focus on trying to win the Great Race for Earth. The rift between the two makes for some solid tension as Eva often gets frustrated with her father's strict and uptight demeanor while Don Wei's character slowly softens throughout the series as he comes to trust Eva and comes to realize that the girl is his long lost daughter.

The exploration of the Great Race's true nature is a bit of a mixed bag in its exploration. There are hints dropped throughout the series over the purpose of the race and a powerful evil attempting to manipulate events behind the scenes with the former serving as motivation for Eva to pilot in the race as she believed it would help mend her family's rift and adding to the development of her character. Yet in regards to the great evil, the reasons concerning his actions when revealed are quite contrived and poorly laid out compared to how events were going with the race itself.

Oban Star Racers made for a surprisingly solid series for me to check out with its slick visuals, decent soundtrack, mostly fleshed-out characters and a good story involving the rift between father and daughter. While some of the title's elements are a bit contrived, this is a hidden gem of a series that is worth checking out for all audiences.

I’m not to clear on the storyline much, though it is rather original to a point. It’s about a girl trying to get her father to recognize her when she was pretty much forgotten. The story is actually rather strong, even creating an ending that someone wouldn’t suspect. It’s rather deep and meaningful for a child’s show.

Eva is strong headed and rather pushy, yet she always thinks with her heart and not her head when things should be rather technical. She also seems to be hot tempered as any little thing seems to send her off her seat. Probably because of the Daddy problems. ... She is a lot like Luke from Star Wars in that she has problems with it. She also has a little Yoda character in Satis. He shows up whenever he wishes and gives some good advice.

Unlike a lot of these shows, this one doesn’t have everything go smoothly all the time which means you never really know what is going to happen mostly. It can keep you on the edge of your seat when it happens. Normally in Race type shows, the main character wins without any really big problems or problems he can overcome right away.

I don’t much like racing shows and was about to put this on the dropped folder after about three shows but this did get much better. I urge those who don’t really like sports or racing shows to at least try it out. I think it was after the 5th I felt more like I was watching it for the show and not just to review it.

The artwork is a bit off in a sense, making the characters look like they have no nose even when in profile view. The characters also have very large ears with no detail in them at all. They feel like they are rather flat. Characters pretty much have all spiky hair. I’m not sure where Eva got all the marks on her face, a star and a line. It just doesn’t look right and is rather distracting. The backgrounds aren’t even that well textured. This show is low on artwork but it makes up slightly for it in that it’s original. The racers feel a lot like from Star Wars including the sounds as well. The track also looks like it’s from Star Wars and I can’t get the feeling that I will be seeing Skywalker at any time. Strangely, the artwork and the 3D art work perfectly together.

The English voices are alright though not really standing out to me. They all feel just a little flat. I cringed a little at Eva’s voice, a rather raspy version of a child’s voice. She also seems like she has a small lisp. The jokes make some of this feel a little hard to get into more. The opening on the other hand is actually rather cool sounding in the English dub though I know it’s not the original.

At first, I was a little wary of this show. I hadn't seen much by way of racing anime before, but what I had seen had pretty much been along the lines of "adrenaline adrenaline who-cares-about-plotline-anyway adrenaline". However, it just happened to be on TV one day when there was nothing else on, so why not?
Little did I know that this would be one of my all-time favourite shows.
The characters are all really well brought to life. Every racer has it's own reasons for competing, from aiding their planet's conquest, to helping their people to rebuild, to bringing a loved one back to life. This ... is what makes the story more believable: you can actually see why the race is so important to these people. Molly/Eva is a really well rounded character. She grows tremendously as a character over the course of the series. You really understand her pain, you want her to succeed. Jordan becomes much more than mister impulsive as the series goes on, and even Don Wei becomes likeable as the series progresses.

This show has some of the most amazing artwork I have seen. The character design is very different from most anime, but it works well all the same. The show mixes 2D and 3D very well, and this helps to make the races look incredible. As far as the settings go, I like the Alwas ark (it reminds me a lot of Tatooine from Star Wars :D), but it's when you get to the Oban ark that you start to see just how much work went into the show. Every race is set in vastly different and beautiful locations, from vast forests to deep canyons to oceans of pure acid! Overall, the art is as unique and beautiful as I have seen in an anime, a definite 10 :)

The music is as close to perfect as it gets. As far as openings and endings go, I don't really have any complaints with the American or Japanese OPs, but just prefer the ED, "Waratteta", over both of them. Just a matter of taste I guess :D Voice acting wise, I can't find it subbed online so I don't know what it's like in Japanese, but the English voice acting is pretty good. Molly's voice annoyed me a little at first, but it gets a lot better later on. The script can be a little stiff sometimes, but it doesn't take away from the storyline or characters so I don't mind :D

Overall, this series is really enjoyable. The races are engaging, the characters are well-rounded and likeable, and the story really pulls you in and leaves you wanting more. Fans of racing anime will like this as much as non-racing fans, a definite 10/10 :D


p.s. this was my first review, criticism welcome :)

In greece, the tv chanels rarely broadcast anime. The only anime that I knew they were broadcasting were; YUGIOH,POKEMON,PITSI PITSI PITCH (i hate you >:( ),this and JEWELPETS.
And this anime was the very first I ever saw in my life and the only anime that hooked me from the begining to the end.And for good reason!

STORY: 9/10
The story is literally like a black hole,from the first minute it sucks you in.I can assure you that.And you will have a great feeling after you finish watching it.Only for that reason it deserves a 9/10.

... ART:7/10
Despite the intriguing storyline the art has mixed feelings on me.This anime has great landscapes
and great effects for it's time.On the other hand the designs are really...cheasy,especially the human's designs.But it was good if only for the designs.

SOUND:9/10 (in sub) 8/10 (in dub)
The music is really good in both versions as well as the voice acting, but the reason why the sub version is superior is the opening's music.The music in the opening is one of my favorite.But the dub puts a different song FAR inferior!

CHARACTERS 8/10
The characters are really memorable in a good way, but unfortunately I can't describe their personalities on the grounds that I will spoil their part in the story,and no one likes spoilers am I right.Sorry,but I can't spoil them.

ENJOYMENT 10/10
I can recall the fun I had back then,and to show you how much I enjoyed it I will say this: in order to find this anime I looked for it at the anime list title per title just to find it!

OVERALL 9/10
A great anime that you really should give it a watch.

P.S: sorry for the last review wrong anime |;D

I wanted to give this anime a perfect score. It deserves a perfect score, and if this were purely based on personal opinion, nostalgia, and the warmth and melancholy you feel after a show as cared for by its creator finishes, it would get my perfect score.

Oban Star Racers is an oddity for sure, and a very charming oddity. This could be due to the french influence of Sav! The World Productions, or the sheer number of years it took Savin Yeatman-Eiffel to gain financing for the production and undoubtedly hone the vision of work, or the shows vintage in the present day.

For whichever ... reason, much is different about this series to other anime of both its time and the present. Many tiresome anime tropes, which I've personally grown accustomed to, are non-existent in this series. It's a tournament based anime, which I personally have always found tremendously exciting, but may not suit all, if not for the characters leading the story. So I'll see if I can provide some con-crit, in spite of my own emotional bias.

Whereas many anime series have a habit of meandering along their principle plots, becoming sidetracked or in worst case, overextending themselves, Oban Star Racers doesn't diverge for a single second away from what it principly is. Half of almost every episode is a race, with the other half either showing preparation for said race, or the aftermath thereof.

Additionally, the series moves its plot along independently and almost strictly, each episode often feeling self-contained and rarely allowing their contents to indrude into the ones following. As a result the series paces completely different from a standard japanese style-show, the only similar exmple I know from my watch list being Avatar: The Last Airbender, which also was made by a western company.

This creates an effect that's either beneficial or detrimental, depending on personal views: because of the speed and strictness of the plot's progression, it often feels touch and go, especially with its more emotional moments, of which they are many. Their benefit however, can be seen in the races, as the fast pace makes the races feel like proper races at fast speeds.

The only real negative I have about the pot is its finale, which feels rushed and poorly developed, due to storytelling keeping it's crux hidden for all until near the very end, with only obscure hints to indicate there may be something more dire behind the race; but it is still satisfying and still fulfills what the original goal of the plot was to achieve.

All races in the series incorporate 3D models, animation and CGI for their tracks and the ships which fly on them, meanwhile almost all off race graphic is done in conventional 2D animation. This visual aesthetic choice produces some very high-octane visuals and motion that 2D animation would struggle to convey and there is tremendous variety, creativity and zaniness and surprising naturalism to be found in every course's layout and it's gimmicks.

It remains a beauty to look at, even with the tremendous graphical appeal of newer shows, and often offsets the otherwise repetitive nature of the episode's structure so it's barely noticeable. This same visual impressivenes carries over to the character designs.

The racers are the standout in design, especially true in the later part of the series. You see nearly 20 different alien races and racers, each one managing to be uniquely distinctive and the same zaniness can be seen in their designs and also the design of their racers, which match their owners own character brilliantly.

Eva/Molly, being the show's frontrunner gal is represented beautifully as a character who's experienced loss and rejection at a young age, but harbours tremendous passion and drive, and even a couple of personal quirks. Her take over as the Earth Team's pilot feels believable given the plot's confines and so do her continual struggles, failures and successes she experiences in the role. The show doesn't shy away from making her lose, something many other anime protangonists can't say the same for, and her victories are believable.

Her relationships with the other leads are also believable: her realtionship with Jordan is one of close trusting partnership; her feelings for Prince Aikka mix affection with mutual respect as racers, and the continual frustration she and Don Wey feel with each other can be understood by their own backstories.

Most of the other racers serve as adversaries to the earth team, normally with a particular episode showing the adversary racer deliberately opposing the earth team's success, which does admittedly grow tiresome on occasion, but the benefit of this is allowing each additional racer at least one episode to really show their stuff as both characters and racers. The Krog racers are merciless and arrogant, and fulfill the role of an effective end antagonist, at least until the last few episodes, Groor is aggressive and bullish, Rush is high spirited and supportive, Spirit and O are intimidating and mysterious, Sul stands as this indomitable powerful racer to revere, as well as one of the few racers whose wider plot relevence goes beyond being an adversary. Some of the racers do get additional episodes or screen time, namely Rush and several of the later racers in the second half, where their drives and reasons for seeking Oban's Ultimate Prize are explained. Similarly these racers also can be considered the stand out characters alongside the Earth team.

The only final word to add in way of characters is that there does exist a larger antagonist in the series, whose identity and actions shall remain anonymous for the sake of avoiding spoilers, who only becomes prominent in the final episodes and is otherwise unknown by the racing teams. Not much to say, other than he succeeds at least in seeming sinister and ancient in his powers.

And that's about it. I'll let the show do the rest of the talking. Depending on if you're watching it in Japanese or English, you'll be greeted either with the song Chance to Shine, which is how I managed to find the series again to rewatch it more than a decade after seeing only a couple of its episodes, or Never say Never, which has grown on me episode by episode and I think may fit the show better than Chance to Shine, at least in the way of the race aspect, whereas Chance to Shine is more about Eva herself. If they don't do it for you, see what the episodes do for you. It only gets better as you go along.

Good racing to you all, and enjoy this beautiful story.

This is one of the series ive actually always had in mind, like a sentence you always had on your tongue for years without knowing what to call it. But on the 5'th February 2019, i got the name "Oban" in my mind and that's how i found out about this long-lost anime/kid-show i watched when i was 6-7 years old.

I've always missed seeing a futuristic adventure turn into a small romantic trip down to memory lane while at the same time, not being able to remember anything other than awesome looking race/star-ships.

I really enjoyed this series for its style and story, but im sure ... im not just here for all that but more or less down to memory lane to remember what i missed as a child. Im not sure this will make much sense, but i hope this review gives a little "hint" or "preview" of my experience that ive had watching it.

That is all,- John / MultiGamerClub(XD)

I remember when first came out, I watch it when ever it was in TV. Then I lost it but found it again and it was even better then what I remembered. The races are like the pod racing in star wars the graphics are so cool!! Also wish it could have had a OVA of 2 Eps just to see what happen after the main story.It took me 10 years to finish this show but it was all worth it!! I wish more were like it but you can't clone a masterpiece. It's does get confusing a few times but then the story is ... able help you understand and make it simple. Each Episode will get your heart pumping to 1,000 and each time you think wow how can they top that well they raze the bar. In my opinion this one the best anime shows of the 2000s hands down!.

***This is a spoiler free review***

Ōban Star-Racers is an anime that at first I passed over on many occasions. When I ran out of well-known anime to watch, this show popped into my “Shows you might like” category on Netflix. After thinking it over I decided to give it a go since Funimation has a great track record of English dubbed anime.

Story: 5/10

Ōban Star-Racers at first is unexpectedly interesting and fun to watch. Our main character Molly escapes boarding school to find her father who has become a complete tool. He is asked to gather a team to race for humanities safety in a tournament ... taking place on a faraway planet. The whole show has a Pod Racer feel and look that somehow works (unlike in the prequels of Star Wars). This sounds farfetched but the whole tourney style racing thing actually works very well in keeping the excitement up every episode of the first arc (first half of the series). This hype however does not last the entire show. The second part of the show is to be put honestly not as exciting as the first. We lose a major character that played a critical part of showing Molly how to mature as a person and a racer. All the wacky and interesting characters from the first arc practically disappear from the show and we are forced to accept new ones for the remainder of the show. The openness of the world that the tournament’s first round is held is completely ditched for the final round. The planet the final round takes place on has no crowds and is not inhabited by other people. It just feels plain and no amount of cool racing moments makes up for it.

Animation: 6/10

This is going to be a hit or miss for a lot of people as the animation is very simplistic (no noses lol). The moving scenes of the races are for the most part well done but there are some weird parts where the show tries to mix 3D animation with traditional 2D style and it comes out very bland and unattractive. Character models are well done but like I said this show looks like a cross between western cartoons and early 00’s anime.

Sound: 8/10

NOTE: THIS IS REVIEWED ON WATCHING THE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION OF THE ANIME, NOT THE ORIGINAL JAP. AUDIO.

The sound of Ōban Star-Racers is captured very well as the ambient soundtrack mixed with the English dub are one of the best combinations I have experienced to this day. The music fits perfectly with the basic scenes as well as the action ones. English voice acting is so good that when listening to the original dub, I found the English one far superior in overall emersion.

Characters: 7.5/10

The main cast, for the most part, are pretty original and you eventually become attached. Molly is head strong and wants to do anything to please her father. Her father, Don Wei is a typical jacka$$ that puts results before feelings any day. Jordan I never really felt anything towards but becomes Molly’s comrade fairly early on in the show. My favorite character, Rick Thunderbolt is a headstrong racer that at first comes off as a showoff only in it for the fame, however we learn later on there is a lot more to Rick and he becomes a major part of making Molly ready for future races. The supporting cast are very likable and help move forward the story.

Overall: 6.6/10

If I were to rate this show only for the first half of its story, it would no doubt receive something decent. It however receives a 6.6 because it lacked the excitement from the first half in the final episodes. The show however for what it’s worth warrants a watch. It does have a very kidish feel to it but overall you will have a blast watching it. Very well done show just wish it was more interesting all the way through.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Thanks for reading my review! If you liked my writing style, would like to see some other reviews, or just want to talk, please stop by my page!

Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer

A little bit too long but I recommend this if you want to watch something very different from what Japanese productions usually deliver. This in summary is a an anime made by a half Japanese, half french production about a star ship racing championship that will lead to an ultimate prize. The aliens, ships and art style is very unique and well thought and although the main plot gets boring quickly and the main villain is kind of generic the suspense is interesting enough to keep you going and the deliver at the end is quite better than I expected.