Overtake!

Ever since he published a picture that sparked a wave of online harassment, freelance photographer Kouya Madoka has lost everything: his wife Saeko Yukihira, his confidence, and his courage to photograph people. However, years later, a job offer introduces him to the exhilarating world of Formula 4 (F4). A single fierce battle between the amateur drivers in the junior category of open-wheel car racing becomes enough to make Madoka unable to put his camera down.

When Komaki Motors' Haruka Asahina bursts into tears on the track, Madoka manages to capture this vulnerable moment. This photo eventually leads Madoka to an impulsive decision: he will help sponsor both the Komaki team and Haruka himself. But the unreasonable costs of the sport quickly cause Madoka to reassess his ambitions, and he seeks different ways to support the severely underfunded F4 team. Despite the uphill battle, Madoka's determination for Haruka to succeed may be the trigger that can propel the young driver straight to the top.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Asahina, Haruka Main

Furuya, Anan Japanese

Madoka, Kouya Main

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Komaki, Koutarou Supporting

Hatanaka, Tasuku Japanese

Mitsuzawa, Arisu Supporting

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Harunaga, Satsuki Supporting

Kawanishi, Kengo Japanese

Yukihira, Saeko Supporting

Tsunematsu, Ayumi Japanese

Komaki, Futoshi Supporting

Sasa, Kenta Japanese

Tokumaru, Toshiki Supporting

Yashiro, Taku Japanese

Satou Supporting

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Ena, Noritsune Supporting

Katou, Masayuki Japanese

Yamashita, Shinpei Producer

Higashi, Mao Producer

Nishimae, Shuka Producer

Ueda, Kiyoka Producer

Reviews

Nov 26, 2024

Leopardonn

Recommended

Really enjoyed the similarities between two characters and Niki Lauda and James Hunt. The writer recreated their rivalry and the respect they had for eachother really well. The main character being outside of the sport is a great way to introduce viewers to the sport without bombarding them with information.
The characters don't feel shallow, though the main action revolves mainly around a few certain places it never feels boring or repeated. Every episode manages to deliver a nice experience for the viewer.
The anime is not perfect. There are many small issues like plot holes, exaggerations or various plot devices that make no sense.
Great watch ... even if you are not into any sort of motorsports.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 1, 2024

Reviewholic

Mixed Feelings

Half about a photographer's Japanese trauma, half about racing. Overtake! is pretty solid overall. There are some stretched interactions. Like why is the photographer uncle so obsessed with the racing boy? Kinda sus, no? Well, not everything action is reasonable. So we will let the uncle pass this far.

While the anime does talk a lot of technical stuffs about racing, like tires, parts and money, it does lack the heat in music and action. It's one of those anime that sets its theme on something popular like music band and sports, but ultimately spends most of its time developing characters. One anime that I ... begrudge doing this is Beck. There's more talking than music. Like... you gotta have at least 15% of the run time with stuff you advertised, you know? I wanna hear the sounds of engine rumbling constantly every episode. Funny enough, as I am writing this, there is a seasonal anime named High Speed Etoile, that does exactly this.

I guess racing is a boring sports. More boring that football, I dare say. You really need more anime gimmicks to spice it up. Like Meteor Jam! Emperor Time! Kansai Drifto! Revol Bursto! But Overtake! has an try-to-be-real and mature approach, so those cannot fly.

Try to be real, but not real enough. Try to be fun, but limited by real. Overtake! could not overtake itself. It never went full throttle.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 17, 2023

IlTossico

Not Recommended

I'll be short. This isn't a racing anime. There is no motosport or racing moment.

This anime is categorized as Racing Anime, but there is no race in this story, the point is: someone that generally want to watch a racing anime, is because he/she is a car lover, and want to see real or fantasy racing, depend on the theme of the anime, but generally want to hear stuff related to motosport, engine or driving technique and skill. Take Initial D for example, for sure there is love and other things involve, to create more emphasis, but 9 episodes on 10, are people racing on ... the street, with different animation of people driving, and a lot of talking about engine technicalities or about driver's skill.

This isn't a Racing Anime, this is a Drama anime, a good one, no doubt; the story is actually nice, a solid 6, drawing and audio are fine, CGI not that much, but it's a low series anime; a lot of drama, but not racing involved. If it was categorized as Drama only, it would be a solid 6 for me.

But, the fact is, i couldn't care less for the photographer, yes, bad things append, but where are the car's moment, engine take apart, driving situation etc? Engine parts lying around on the shop, Haruka and Koutarou taking things apart and setting up, Futoshi talking about driving tactics and planning tires to use, watching weather for conditions, etc.
If my desire was to see a drama anime, i would choose a drama anime! Like anyone.

I'm not giving a 4, because i actually see worse stuff this season, and this one is watchable and nice, but not in point with the theme.
There is no problem with people giving a higher vote, they just need to understand that this isn't a racing anime, because if someone is watching for new stuff and searching for a racing anime, something like Initial D, Wangan Midnight and came across this one, he/she would be a lot disappointed after few episodes, thinking it would be similar, reading good stuff on the review or seeing a high number vote.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Overtake! Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 17, 2023	78 replies	by ELuck42 »» Dec 5, 8:23 PM
	Poll: Overtake! Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Nov 26, 2023	81 replies	by ELuck42 »» Dec 2, 7:26 PM
	Poll: Overtake! Episode 4 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 22, 2023	49 replies	by ELuck42 »» Nov 25, 7:09 PM
	Poll: Overtake! Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 15, 2023	44 replies	by ELuck42 »» Nov 24, 1:18 PM
	Poll: Overtake! Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Nov 5, 2023	51 replies	by traed »» Aug 4, 10:38 PM