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, Delfi Sound

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: Studio Comet

Source: Manga

Theme: Racing

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG - Children

Statistics

Score: 7.83¹ (scored by 10,790 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #837²

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

Popularity: #3901

Members: 24,049

Favorites: 265

External Links

Official Site, AnimeDB, AnimeNewsNetwork, Wikipedia

7.83

Ranked #837Popularity #3901Members 24,049

Fall 2005TVStudio Comet

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Episodes: /52

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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

More characters

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

Noriko, Hata

Supporting

Saitou, Maki
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yamakawa, Norio

Producer

Misawa, Shin

Director

Hamano, Kazuzou

Sound Director

Nigorikawa, Atsushi

Episode Director, Storyboard

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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)

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Reviews

May 26, 2008

52 of 52 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

lowell (All reviews)

49 people found this review helpful

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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Jun 19, 2021

52 of 52 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

DiogoT555 (All reviews)

16 people found this review helpful

This will be a very simple review as I don't want to say spoilers.
I first watched this incredible anime when I was a kid and recently i decided to rewatch it because I showed a race to a friend who never heard of this anime and we both got goosebumps.

Story: Capeta trys the Karts at a very young age and he decides to start racing as he loved it. Capeta as many challenges along the way but with is ability and his friends and family he overcomes those chalenges step by step race by race league by league as one of his dreams is to read more

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Aug 6, 2021

52 of 52 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

MrSpenfo (All reviews)

14 people found this review helpful

Capeta is a really good universe, and I don't mean that as some kind of lazy way of saying, "the writing was good" or something like that. No, I say it because of the characters that inhabit the world of this story; the majority of characters, regardless of how they are initially introduced, are easily defined as being good-natured, and more so, there is no one that I would define as intentionally evil to any degree.

Story: 8, The ironic thing about Capeta is that even though it's a racing anime, and more specifically a sports anime, ya know, the type of genre that gets dominated by man vs man conflict types? Yeah, but instead, Capeta has primarily man vs nature conflicts, which is an ironic way to describe it, seeing as a car isn't part of nature, but hear me out... Capeta (the character) isn't constantly struggling to beat another racer, he's constantly struggling to beat another racer while driving a much worse vehicle. This is why I say that the core of the conflict is man vs nature, as the primary conflicts are, the cart is damaged, we are too poor, etc. He's attempting to overcome the very nature of the racing world. Most of these conflicts are overcome by Capeta (the character) learning to adapt and in most cases, using the fact that he's driving a worse car to his advantage by changing his own driving style to match the unique characteristics of the vehicle. The core thought behind every obstacle Capeta (the character) comes to face with isn't, "how do I beat this guy?" it's, "how can I drive this car even faster?".

Art: 9, The art style is a pretty subjective one, and personally I think part of the reason I like it so much is because its very reminiscent of Hajime no Ippo, which I really enjoyed. Additionally, the art style really matches the hard-working nature of this show. Lastly, some of the scenes towards the end of the series are animated really beautifully.

Sound: 9, All of the OSTs fit the scenes they're put in perfectly, and the OP and EDs fit the core nature of the anime just as well. Most of the voice acting was spot on as well, really the only thing that held this back from a 10 in sound was the voice acting specifically for the little kid characters. Most of them are pretty annoying in my opinion, with Monami hands down earning most annoying, but I will say that this is probably compounded by the fact that I find Monami to also be the hands down most annoying character even without taking her voice into consideration.

Character: 9, The beautiful thing about almost every character in this anime is, regardless of their level of importance, every character is typically introduced in a heavily flat manner, or to be more specific; they are introduced in a manner that specifically makes them seem like a very flat, very troupe-driven character, however, that is anything but what that character actually is. Its a level of hidden ingenuity in this anime; instead of trying to blow you away with an amazing character right out the gate, the writer intentionally made his characters seem flat, so that their progression as round, dynamic characters would be both surprising and enjoyable. Naomi is probably the character that this rings truest for, as he is very much introduced as just some stereotypical douche, but I'd be shocked if you said you watched all 52 episodes and still felt that way about him.
There is a single character that holds this anime back from being a 10/10 in character, and that is hands down Monami, or at least that's what I would have said at the beginning of the anime. While I do like her a lot more by the end, I think a lot of her character is just straight up obnoxious, to the point that I literally had to skip over certain scenes in the beginning because she single-handedly made me want to stop watching. Regardless, there is still one other negative I see in character, and that's a result of the fact that the anime kinda gets tunnel vision a lot, and to explain what I mean; The anime has a habit of becoming too focused on its core narrative, and while I think other shows could learn a thing or two from it, at the same time, this anime gets tunnel-vision to the point of you asking, "so whatever happened to that one guy?" and even if they do pop-up again we really never learn why they faded into irrelevance for the series.

Enjoyment: 9, Part of the enjoyment of Capeta is that Capeta (the character) doesn't win every race, and they take a very realistic approach by not having him win every race (especially considering that basically everyone else is racing top of the line machines with dedicated mechanics, and Capeta (the character) is racing a trash-kart made by his complete amateur of a father (also, not dissing his dad, its just the truth)). However, foreshadowing is like the most abused story mechanic in Capeta, and it made some things a little overly predictable at times.

Overall: 9, By halfway through the first episode, I had already fallen in love with this anime, and I'm glad to say that I never lost that feeling throughout the watching experience. However, reaching the end was a truly bittersweet moment simply because it felt that it came too fast. Capeta has several time skips in it that honestly feel like a shame simply because I really wanted to be able to follow Capeta's entire journey from karts all the way to F1. Additionally, while it is teased at the end that they do eventually make it to the F1 level, its never shown directly in the anime (not sure if the anime covers everything that the manga did), and I definitely thought we were gonna get to the F1 level, so I'm a bit disappointed in that.

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May 15, 2015

52 of 52 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

DennaOrDianne (All reviews)

33 people found this review helpful

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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