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 :)
