I think Overtake! is my first series this season to be half-over (not counting Houkago Shounen Hanaku-kun, at four episodes). And that’s a real shame too, because it feels as if the plot here is just getting started. It’s probably a miracle that it got produced at all these days in a Kadokawa-ized anime industry, so no sense in complaining that it’s not going to get the three of four cours a series like this would have once. But any sports anime that’s going for authenticity and real depth in the character arcs is going to struggle with a 12-episode run.
Overtake is also yet another fall series that deserves way more attention than it’s getting. Last week was largely a throwaway ep, with a couple of important moments at the very end. But as if to make up for that this week’s effort is seriously intense. It combines the racing and character sides of the story more effectively than any episode to date, giving both Haruka and Kouya the chance to reveal a lot about themselves. I know Kouya isn’t Haruka’s dad (even Futoshi technically isn’t) but I was really feeling him here. If I had a kid I don’t think there’s any way I could let him or her race cars – the stress would be unbearable.
As we saw at the end of Episode 5 Kouya seemed to have finally broken through his personal barricade with that photo of Futoshi hugging Haruka. He’s able to do a photo shoot with a model without too much trouble (once he gets started). His battle with his personal demons seems to have inspired Haruka too, giving him new resolve to fight his way to the podium for his own reasons and no one else’s. It’s nice to see these two inspiring each other in a mutually beneficial way, but that’s going to lead to some problems on the next race day.
The track this time is Suzuka, Home of Formula One’s Japanese Grand Prix and one of Japan’s most dangerous circuits. Haruka is still on a high and qualifies fourth for the race, only one car between he and the Belsorriso brothers. All signs point to “yes” and Kouya is snapping photos of drivers all over the place, but everything changes once the rain clouds move in. Having read up on the crash involving Haruka’s father, Kouya flat-out tells him he doesn’t want him to race. There’s zero chance Haru is going along with that of course, and the next round of debate turns to the question of tires.
I get where Kouya is coming from here, as I said. But you can’t stand in the pits and tell a driver he shouldn’t be racing – that’s bad form, planting negative thoughts in his head. Haru, in fact, doesn’t want to change out his slicks for rain tires (Belsorriso is doing the same). Competitively it makes sense, but it drives Kouya’s (and Futoshi’s) anxiety levels through the roof. In the world of F-4 with its short races where a pit stop is a ticket to certain defeat, whether to swap out slicks for rain tires is make or break – you can’t correct for a bad decision later.
Should formula races even continue in the rain? That’s certainly a debate, but they do. Haruka pushes the envelope, does very well. But eventually Kouya’s words start to mess with him. And one spin-out later, Haaruka rethinks the wisdom of what he’s doing and returns to the pits (much to the relief of Futoshi, whose hands are shaking from the tension). The Belsorriso boys stay out there, and eventually Satsuki makes contact with a lapped car and spins out. With heavy rain like that formula cars throw so much spray that visibility falls close to zero, which also contributes to Satsuki being T-boned by a trailing car unaware of what’s happened.
We’ll see how serious this turns out to be – as others have noted, the drivers in Overtake are not wearing HANS devices. But the look in Satsuki’s eyes brings all the demons rushing back in for Kouya, seemingly depositing him right back at square one. It’s a tough and brutal business, auto racing, one where death is an occupational hazard and no amount of bravado can change that fact. It’s no place for a photographer with the sort of traumas Kouya is carrying with him, truth be told. This is the sort of intensity most sports anime never achieve, with stakes to match.
Raikou
November 6, 2023 at 11:18 pmI know something big is gonna happen in this episode (it’s the half way point of the season), but this is unexpected for me.
Reminded me of movie Rush (well maybe the story were supposed to reference that incident).
Keep this up and Overtake will be my top 5 in this year.
dev
November 7, 2023 at 1:57 amAt this level of quality, and being such an outlier in the overall anime landscape these days, I was surprised you only gave this a B+ in your Fall check-in. Did this episode move the needle for you? It’s hands-down my favourite show this season.
Guardian Enzo
November 7, 2023 at 8:49 amI think I’d still be right around there. This ep was certainly an A, but last week was more a C+. I consider B+ to be a pretty good arbitrary score, so that’s no slight. Let’s see how the last half goes.
Nicc
November 7, 2023 at 9:35 amWe get back to automobile racing this episode after last week’s foot race. Indeed, things are looking up for both lads. Kouya works in a photo shoot with a human subject for the first time since that incident. He still hesitates on taking the first shot, but then things go smoothly from there. On the track, Haruka qualifies in fourth in the next race, his best showing at qualifying yet. It really does look like they are inspiring each other. As usual, the Belsorriso duo take up the top two spots.
It’s good to see that Kouya has learned all of various terms and lexicons for racing and that he also learned about the race accident involving Haruka’s father. And, then here comes the rain. Race conditions aren’t always ideal and are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Kouya does flat out tell Haruka he doesn’t want him to race. They’re not related, but I still understood the concern. Haruka still wants to go and up next is tire strategy.
The show gave a good explanation between slicks and wets. Slicks have either no tread or a couple of grooves. Wets are more similiar to what we’re driving in our passenger cars and have treads. Not mentioned are intermediates, which are in-between the slicks and the wets. It’s a roll of the dice to decide on which ones to pick because we just don’t know how the weather is going to turn out. Haruka and the Belsorriso duo decide to stick to the slicks as the race starts with a wet track and still raining.
The gamble seems to pay off as the weather clears and track starts to dry off, which allows Haruka to take 3rd place. Then, the rain returns with a vengeance and now the drivers have to contend with poor visibility along with a very wet track. I do think that the red flag should have been thrown out earlier, but the race goes on. A few other cars have already crashed and Haruka spins out. It does seem that Kouya’s words got to him and he heads back to the pits to retire from the race. Futoshi’s shaking hands reveal his concerns about Haruka too. The Belsorriso duo keep on racing, but then Satsuki makes contact with another car and spins out, which leads to him being hit by another car.
Kouya sees this happening and the look in Satsuki’s eyes brings back his PTSD. Satsuki looks like he’ll be fine, but he may not be racing for a while. He was talking about luck in the previous episode, but wasn’t with him that day. However, one’s misfortune is another’s… If Satsuki is going to be out for a while, then Toshiki is elevated to the No. 1 driver for the time being. If they’re looking for a new No. 2, well… You mentioned in an earlier episode review that Belsorriso may try to poach Haruka and that could be a possibility now.
Guardian Enzo
November 7, 2023 at 11:08 amWell, they did ask for the restraint device and that was a hell of a hard hit. Without some sort of HANS device these guys are in more jeopardy of serious neck injuries.
Snowball
November 7, 2023 at 4:40 pmApart from being an excellent episode, I thought it was a good call and brave of Haruka to drop the race when he did.
leongsh
November 7, 2023 at 9:12 pm1976 Japanese Grand Prix. Niki Lauda pulled out from the race due to the heavy rain. James Hunt didn’t and managed to secure 3rd place and win the Championship by a point from Niki Lauda. Niki Lauda learned the hard way as he was involved in a major crash at the West German Grand Prix at Nurburgring. He barely survived with major burn scars. He doggedly recovered and missed only 2 races. The last race of the Championship was the Japan Grand Prix. He valued his life more than racing in those conditions. “My life is worth more than a title.”” – Nilk Lauda.
One must be smart enough to know where to draw the line. That spin was the wake-up call for Haruka. You live to fight another day.
Guardian Enzo
November 7, 2023 at 9:56 pmAnd Hunt is Satsuki’s favorite driver.
Hunt and Lauda were good friends as well as rivals, and Niki came out on top more often than James did. He may have felt less pressure to come out on top at any cost. The real question for me is why a race wouldn’t be red-flagged in conditions that would cause the greatest driver of his era to retire and give up a points title.