Well, that certainly got pretty heavy there. When you look at the history of sports anime – most of which are based on manga, though not all – Overtake! is pretty unusual. Kouya’s arc is what really sets this series apart. The auto racing stuff is good, and would be enough on it’s own to make Overtake an entertaining show. But Kouya’s backstory is quite complicated and dark, and it’s well-integrated with the sports side (effectively Haruka’s arc). It’s a nice combination and not one you see very often in this genre.
First off, though, there’s Satsuki – who was left off in rather a perilous state last week. His crash certainly justifies Haru’s decision to pack it in, and by extension Kouya’s entreaties to convince him. It also calls into question why formula races are allowed to continue in the rain, but that’s a larger problem this series probably isn’t keen to tackle. Satsuki is indeed injured pretty seriously – broken ribs and a broken leg, apparently. But Koutarou is right, it could have been worse (as all the Komaki Motors team knows too well).
Satsuki is soon enough back to his old tricks in the hospital (much to Arisu’s dismay), but he’s overcompensating here, pretty clearly. Not racing is going to be tough on Satsuki, and you never know how a 17 year-old driver is going to react to his first crash once he’s back in the driver’s seat. Arisu is desperate to talk to him, and despite pining for Arisu himself Koutaou gives her a push in the right direction. Meanwhile Tokumaru takes over the Belsorriso’s lead driver and easily wins his first race. But it’s clear he’s going to approach the role of team leader very differently than Satsuki did.
The main event here, though, is Kouya’s descent (back) into crisis. It starts with that dispute in the pits with Haruka and the photo of Satsuki, but the real trouble starts when the corporate sponsor declares they’re pulling out. Why? Because social media put two and two together and figured out that this was the same guy who took “that” photo in Touhoku. And Japanese corporations are as spineless as they come. Rather than risk bad publicity they’re cutting off Komaki Motors entirely, which leaves them in a bind that Kouya obviously blames himself for.
What exactly happens next isn’t absolutely clear, but it’s obvious that Kouya goes to a very bad place inside. He cuts off Haruka (not even reading his messages), and Saeko hears nothing from him. This in turn leads Haru down the path of guilt – first, for clashing with Kouya over the rainy day race, and for not being sensitive enough to just how badly traumatized Kouya has been by the social media blacklisting. Koutarou – who was about to discuss his own frustrations at dealing with the new-old cash poor reality – sends Haruka off to Kouya’s apartment in Tokyo to mend fences.
Haruka really is a good kid. He’s a little awkward but a straight shooter whose heart is always in the right place. His dismay over losing Kouya from his life is pretty moving stuff, and it plays up just how powerful the bond between them has become. Thee problem is that Kouya doesn’t seem to be in his apartment and even worse, the door is unlocked and the mail is stacking up. One could be forgiven for thinking the worst here, but I imagine he’s out there somewhere trying to reconcile himself with what he’s been running away from. There’s a hint of another impending crisis too, as Ena-san from Belsorriso seems to be thinking about recruiting Haruka – and wouldn’t that be an extremely Capeta-like moment…
Scampi
November 14, 2023 at 1:04 amThink Ena-san is more musing at the missing Mikazuki Beverage label on Haruka’s car and wondering if anything happened to Kouya. He was the one who gave Kouya the 101 on F4 costs and sponsorships and introduced him to potential sponsors after. Tokumaru had clashed so many times with Haru that I doubt Ena-san hasn’t caught wind of it and knows it’ll just mess up both drivers if he puts them together.
Guardian Enzo
November 14, 2023 at 7:07 amMaybe, though I think his offering Haru a Belsorriso spot would be a logical dramatic turn. It would force Futoshi to ask himself if he’s holding Haru back, and Haru to decide what his true priorities are.
Nicc
November 14, 2023 at 8:11 amWe get to the aftermath of the crash and it’s a rough time for a lot of the characters. Indeed, I like how much care the show is putting on the human side of the equation and for a show that still showcases cars and the racing.
The good news for Satsuki is that his life wasn’t in danger and suffered a few broken bones. However, he’s probably going to miss the rest of the racing season for recovery and rehab. The red flag should have thrown out as soon as the the weather took a turn for the worse. You mentioned the lack of the HANS device in the cars, and I see that they also don’t have halos. It looks like F2 may be behind when it comes to safety. He did seem cheerful on the outside when Arisu came to visit, though his fangirls were able to figure out where he’s at before she did. He seems to be his cheerful self on the outside, but there’s more to it than at first glance.
And, then there’s Kouya. He learns that their sponsor has pulled out of supporting Komaki Motors and it’s because of that photo. They didn’t figure it out until now because it seems like he took Saeko’s name when they were married. Komaki Motors is cut off and, yep, Kouya blames himself for that. So, it’s been radio silence from Kouya since then. He’s either ignoring the calls or messages or has shut off his phone.
That means that Komaki Motors are back to square one without that sponsorship money. Haruka struggles in the next race as Toshiki makes his debut as the new lead driver for Belsorriso. Toshiki wins handily, but seems to be restrained about it. It’s not shown if Satsuki was watching from the race on TV from the hospital, but he knows that Toshiki won and his insecurities about returning start to crack his façade. Arisu notices his shaking hands.
Now, it’s Haruka is feeling guilt over what has transpired too. In a short time, Kouya has already become an important person in his life. Koutaru sends him off to find Kouya and apologize. He makes it Kouya’s apartment and gives a heart-felt apology. Unfortunately, Kouya wasn’t there to hear it and seems to have abandoned his apartment. It also does appear that Toshiki is looking for a better No. 2 while also thinking about moving up from F4. There’s still plenty to cover yet with the remaining episodes.
Joshua
November 19, 2023 at 11:19 pmAs much as I’m really loving this series, I do wonder if the reason this isn’t jiving with others is because there’s supposedly no “emotional catharsis” to be found here. A friend of mine said that this show utterly wasted its one moment it had regarding Kouya on the photo he took after the marathon (where Futoshi is hugging Haru) and it completely undercut his whole character arc because he had promised that he’d take Haru’s photo on the podium (which to him meant that it would be the one big moment that defined the show and completed his arc). Which because of that, he has no reason to actually care about these characters or their drama because it cannot seem to let go of that one photo Kouya took on 3/11.
To me, that photo was clearly meant to be him being more confident about taking photos (having a photo of Haru that others can approve of compared to the one Haru crying photo that got him in hot water in the premiere), until the PTSD caught up to him following Satsuki’s accident. And now, Kouya’s tainted reputation caught up with him too, which I suspect he’s going to try to repair by going back to that place and making amends.