Capeta

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: カペタ

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 52

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 4, 2005 to Sep 26, 2006

Premiered: Fall 2005

Broadcast: Tuesdays at 18:00 (JST)

Producers: TV Tokyo, Sotsu, Marvelous Entertainment, Delfi Sound

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: Studio Comet

Source: Manga

Genre: Sports

Theme: Racing

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG - Children

Statistics

Score: 7.83¹ (scored by 11,522 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #871²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4122

Members: 26,499

Favorites: 302

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Synopsis

After losing his mother at a very young age, elementary school student Capeta Taira is forced to become more independent to avoid his father worrying for him. Working in a paving company, his father is often busy and has to work overtime to make ends meet. However, no matter how tough he acts in front of his father, Capeta is ultimately just a lonely kid with a rough life. In addition to his typical house duties, he has to deal with the bully Nobu Andou which makes him feel worse, despite support from his classmate, Monami Suzuki.

One day, Capeta's father sees young go-kart drivers racing at high speeds and gets inspired by the scene. He then decides to collect scrapped parts available on the track and begins working on a gift for his son. Meanwhile, Capeta and Monami sneak into his workplace, suspecting that his father is up to something. Much to their surprise, they see a go-kart built from discarded parts—with Capeta's name attached to it! Although it lacks an engine and looks worn out, the kart is mostly complete and functional.

Despite the heavy rain, Capeta cannot resist the urge to try out this new machinery. As he drives the kart downhill on a wet road, an incident that is almost a dangerous accident instead becomes a thrilling obsession. No longer bored with life, the engine of Capeta's heart is ignited with a new passion as he journeys into the world of racing.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:

Capeta

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Characters & Voice Actors

Taira, Capeta

Main

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki
Japanese

Minamoto, Naomi

Main

Naitou, Ryou
Japanese

Andou, Nobu

Main

Kiyasu, Kohei
Japanese

Suzuki, Monami

Main

Kikuchi, Mika
Japanese

Minamoto, Nanako

Supporting

Daiki, Yuu
Japanese

Taira, Shigeo

Supporting

Kote, Shinya
Japanese

Noriko, Hata

Supporting

Saitou, Maki
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Sekiyama, Akihiro

Producer

Yamakawa, Norio

Producer

Misawa, Shin

Director

Hamano, Kazuzou

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "Never Ever" by Tsubasa Imai (eps 1-35)
	2: "Doukasen" by BAZRA (eps 36-52)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Bokura" by BAZRA (eps 1-14)
	2: "Nana Navigation" by Nanase Hoshii (eps 15-32)
	3: "Here we go" by Missile Innovation (eps 33-43)
	4: "My Star" by Mika Kikuchi (eps 44-52)

Reviews

May 26, 2008

lowell

Recommended

Capeta is a blue-collar, work your hands to the bone sort of sports anime about racing (mostly go karts). Personally, I'm not big on racing in real life, but I found it really fun and exciting here.

Story:
It's not an unfamiliar story: a humble working class kid (Capeta) with a natural aptitude for a sport struggles to climb to the top. Toss in the additional weight of a bunch of financial difficulties with his never-die attitude and you've basically got Rocky (or Hajime no Ippo) in a go kart. It starts with Capeta in elementary school and follows him through his mid-teens. ... It feels a little young and simple, but there's plenty of action and drama and excitement.

I'm kind of a sucker for this sort of story so I don't know how much you should trust me, but I found the story entertaining and heartwarming. It doesn't even come close to original or unique and it's pretty repetitive (how many obstacles and disadvantages does one kid have to face?!?!), but it's loaded with fighting spirit and nail-biting races.

Art:
I'm not a huge fan of the way the characters look, but it's fine. The character designs remind me a lot of Hajime no Ippo. The action of the races and the backgrounds are done well enough and I thought the general style was really appropriate to the atmosphere of the story.

Sound:
I thought the music was good and well-used. There was something about the song they used for the end credits (and for those "special" moments ;)) that appealed to me even though I can't put my finger on what it was. I also thought that they did a good job of putting the sound on the races: when to emphasize the shouts from the crowd, when to focus on the roar of the engines, the squeal of the tires. The sound of the races really added to the overall enjoyment and emotion of the moment for me.

Unfortunately, some of the voice acting got on my nerves. There were just one or two voices that really disagreed with me (especially the younger characters) and it annoyed me enough to reduce my overall enjoyment of the scenes they were in.

Character:
I think in any story like this, you need to really be able to buy into the main character. If you don't think he's admirable, charismatic and heroic, then the whole premise of the story doesn't work. Because of that, I think they really shove what a great, amazing guy Capeta is down your throat. I wouldn't be surprised if some people found it overbearing or hard to swallow. He's a little too perfect and it feels like he's more saint than man. Luckily, I was pretty willing to accept their characterization of him.

There was a point when I started feeling like everyone in Capeta's support system were getting a little silly: has there ever been a bunch of grown men who cried together more easily or more often? And some of the minor side characters (and their episodes) felt somewhat superfluous to me. But, generally, the supporting cast does a good job of narrating Capeta's struggles and voicing the audience's feelings.

Enjoyment:
For all it's flaws, I still really enjoy watching this series. I understand it's melodramatic and generic and somewhat heavy-handed, but I still get caught up in the tension and the drama of the races and Capeta's struggles to do his best no matter what the circumstances are. I didn't take the non-racing moments of the show too seriously and just had fun watching the show.

While I don't think that this is a must-see for people, I think that people who enjoy sports animes and like stories about rising to the challenge and overcoming the odds can have a good time with Capeta. It's just wholesome, good-natured fun. ^.^

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May 15, 2015

DennaOrDianne

Recommended

For a while now, I have been pondering how to best approach this review. See, I knew the minute I finished this anime that I would have to write one, even if for no other reason than to get it out of my system (so that I might somehow once again join the land of the living, and maybe even study for my impending finals).
But how do I go about convincing all of you nice folks that this is just about the best anime ever? My main problem lies in the fact that no matter what I write, this review will be subjective. The more ... I gush about the awesomeness of this anime, the higher rank I grant it, the more subjective this review will seem. I might as well pull out my chequered handkerchief right now and wave my credibility a jolly old good-bye (preferably in that invigorating manner seen in old cartoons).
But who cares, enough rambling. What is this anime about?
Well, this anime is about friendship and friendship through rivalry. It’s about how sharing a passion for something can bring people together. It’s about growing up, and learning that life is hard and unfair and always dealing you the shortest straw. It’s about fighting through all the crap that is thrown your way, because not fighting would mean giving up on something you love. Even if fighting means tears, sweat, blood and broken bones.
It’s about good people doing good things, because they see how hard you are trying, and because somewhere down the line, they wish someone had been kind to them too.
It’s about a single father working his ass off day and night in order to provide for his only son. It’s about a lonely kid who desperately wants his father to come home, but never admitting it because he knows his father is out there working hard for him. And it’s about this father sitting his son down in a kart, for no other reason than to see him smile, and then watching magic happen.
But mostly, it’s about a boy who loves cars, and who, when given the chance, would like nothing better than to keep on racing for the rest of his life. Even if he can’t say it out loud. Even if he can’t admit it to himself, because doing so would be the single most selfish thing he ever asked for.

To say that this anime has well-rounded characters would, (in-my-already-established-subjective-opinion), be an understatement. Instead I will say that the characters are immensely human and then leave it at that. (Otherwise I would most likely start rambling about the stereotypic-gender-based-characterization that seems to make up the basis of about 90% of all anime characters ever, and that's not a dissuasion any of us are ready for. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, but I'm sure it’s something.)
The anime sets a good pace all the way through its 52 episodes. Too often you find sports anime obsessing over a single match or game, *chough* Ookiku Furikabutte *chough*, and forgetting that there are viewers out there who didn’t just come for the sport, but for the characters and the underlying story. Capeta doesn’t really suffer from this, but neither does it rush. One of the most redeeming qualities this anime has is its ability to linger on the few truly peaceful moments in between all the worry and struggle, and then speed up its pace just enough to create the truly nerve-racking, heart-ponding moments that should always be required from a sports anime.
Likewise I believe a soundtrack can make or break a show, and here Capeta once again shines. The soundtrack used in this anime is nothing short of amazing.

If I had to fault this anime for anything, it would be the art. Nowadays enough panoramic idyll and glitzy sunsets can carry an anime through (even if the plot has the anatomy of a Swiss cheese. (Yes SAO, I am looking at you)). Capeta has none of this. And while I personally loved the art, a lot of people might initially be put out by the main character’s less than comely face. I urge you all to watch it anyway, because there is a simple, down-to earth honesty feel to the art that fits the show immensely well.
Before I finish off this ramble of a review, I will answer the question I probably should have started out with: Do you need to like sports anime to like this show?
The answer is no. I honestly don’t believe you do, not because there isn’t a focus on racing, but because story is about so much more than simply winning and becoming ‘stronger’. Nor do you need to be specifically into racing or go-carting to enjoy this anime, though I do believe a small amount of enthusiasm towards the sport as a whole adds to the experience.

Lastly, if there is anyone out there who made it through this review, I salute you, and I hope you go watch the anime, because it is certainly worth your time.

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Oct 18, 2021

katsucats

Mixed Feelings

Capeta is surprisingly watchable considering it was made in 2005, a decade when bad CGI in anime became rampant. Capeta escapes that since its art is basic, with simple settings and plain backgrounds that perhaps made static frames not as noticeable as its contemporaries. The character designs are oddly old school even for its time, with squarish faces and big round noses like it's Doug from Nickelodeon. This distracted me a bit since I know someone in real life that looks exactly like Capeta, who's as naive and a bit dull like he is (although the guy I know isn't a racing genius). It also ... uses a monkey, which is an old technique to use small animals introduce scenes or a bit of comedic relief.

Regardless of its artistic quirks, Capeta really capitalizes on the underdog sports genre, methodically introducing handicaps to stack all cards against Capeta, only to have him invent some brilliant technique on the spot to sweep us off our feet. The races are believable, especially since these techniques aren't without consequences -- Capeta often get injured for using his body weight to compensate for flaws in his cart. There are a number of sports anime that use this formula, but the races are still fun to watch without being too predictable. If I'm to enumerate the points of success, I would say it doesn't overly rely on bystander commentary (although it still does). It's also good at introducing disadvantages at random points. I know that something is about to happen, but Capeta works well to keep the suspense so that I couldn't tell exactly when it would happen. Although the side characters and cheerleaders have somewhat annoying and typical personalities, there are still wholesome moments that justify their existence. For example, the manager character Nobu seems like just a groupie with no personal goals at first, but eventually I can't help but be impressed by how hard he works.

However, like many other shounen protagonists, Capeta holds the typical stubborn disregard for process that make him seem to miss the point at times, or worse, appear insincere at others. It's a shounen convention to have the main character be brash and dimwitted, only to come through with genius and willpower without much calculation. Perhaps the calculation lies in the author's attempt to write sympathetic characters that don't appear to be scheming. That backfires here. Capeta turns down offers from professional teams with the resources to help him find success, arguing that his team must be with his friends and father. He's aloof to his friends and fellow competitors, never asking for help even when he really needs it. He neglects to practice outside of competitions in key situations when it would have been common sense to do so. All these oversights might have been disastrous if it weren't for Capeta's ability to improvise techniques based on the response from the cart. Write that off as him being a genius, but learning stick shift, down shifting during a race, and heel-and-toe all within a day? And more, not having practiced these things when a mistake would easily wreck the transmission -- a roughly $40,000 bill Capeta's father could not afford -- would be the crux of negligence, if he weren't constantly saved by plot armor. The amount of indiscretion Capeta and team commit almost becomes antagonistic at times.

Yes, he works hard at his part time job. Yes, he has to go to school at the same time. Yes, he practices hard when everything is handed to him. Yes, he's poor. But some of these seems like manufactured problems, and all the little things build up. Yes, the father works hard at two jobs and overtime to pay for Capeta's dream. But at the same time he's out of his mind for not helping Capeta understand the advantages of joining a team. He's driven stick for presumably his life, but he becomes silent as a mime when Capeta needs to learn how to shift.

The show does a great job covering for these flaws in the action. I forget about all these things during the races. Despite it looking dated, the dramatic timing is on point. But sometimes what's more important is what happens in between the action, and in these times, Capeta just couldn't rise above it's shounen conventional roots.

If you love racing, give Capeta a watch. It's a sometimes well executed, but very typical sports anime.

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