Lots of sports anime have an exclamation point (or several), but not all of them earn it. Ovartake! definitely does. I’m not sure how or why this of all series would get a decent budget (which it clearly has), but it’s unmistakable that this show has passion behind it. Cynics may scoff but when you’ve watched as much anime as I have, you can always tell. Tell when a show has key staff who give a damn, vs. just punching the clock and doing what they’re told. There’s a lot of personal investment behind this project, and it absolutely shows.
As such, Kouya really is the right protagonist. His background is still a bit of a mystery – though we now have confirmation of his past with Sae-can (ex-wife – I guessed ex-lover last week but close enough). We still don’t know the cause of his photo PTSD, though it seems to involve having photographed a tragedy. But like Billy Mumphrey he’s by nature driven by unbridled enthusiasm – a “rollercoaster” is how he refers to himself. My question last week was how a guy like him could sponsor a racing team, and we got our answer – he can’t. Kouya was just going off half-cocked – which is obviously his usual M.O..
I like the fact that stuff which isn’t acknowledged right away but stands out – like Kouya not being a logical sponsor or the dubious ethics of that candid photo he snapped of Haruka – is acknowledged later. Things make sense in Ovetake!, a very underrated quality in a series. Haruka has a right to be angry over being captured in that moment (I suspect he’s going to be even angrier soon based on the post-credits scene). And he has a right to be dismissive of Kouya’s ability to actually help Komaki Motors. But Kouya seems to be a bit of a tireless terrier, someone who doesn’t give up once he gets the bit in his teeth.
Of course all this talk of costs and sponsorship brought me right back to Capeta, but that’s fine – actually good, in fact. That’s racing – it’s crazy expensive. And Capeta is the platinum standard for racing manga, especially in terms of realism. As Kouya’s pal tells him, F4 is actually cheap (11 million Yen annually for privateers, 18 million for a big corporate team like his) by racing standards because it’s an equal conditions sport. Kouya not only can’t help out financially, but he’s so ignorant about racing that he can’t immediately help out in other ways either. But because of who he is, he’s determined to figure it out anyway.
Kouya as a middle-aged burnout inspired to embrace life again by the youthful passion of Haruka is a bit old hat, sure, but it’s a rock-solid basis for a mentor relationship in a sports anime. He’s ready to embrace the challenge, finding sponsors who do have the financial wherewithal to make a difference. But getting them to commit to a team with no track record of success and a schoolboy driver is no mean feat. Even scaling it down to the local mom and pop businesses, the best this unlikely pair can manage is an armful of guilt offerings and a “Raceman” sticker. But obviously Kouya isn’t the sort to give up.
Another element I really liked here was the development of the relationship between Haruka and Futoshi. He’s kind of a stealth character, initially looking like a background figure, but he’s really important. His bond with Haruka is grounded in something very real, and Haruka wants to do well as badly as he does in part because he wants to succeed for Futoshi’s sake. The Catch-22 of their situation is that they can’t attract sponsorship without on-track success, and they can’t succeed on the track without sponsorship money. “I don’t think it’s possible to succeed on enthusiasm and spirit alone” – Haruka’s own words tell the unhappy tale.
All this is a really good foundation on which to build a sports series. And it’s very clear that the will to make Overtake! a success is strong indeed. My concern is that while one-cour original series often work well, it’s very hard to tell this sort of story in 12 eps, even for an original – sports anime just don’t lend themselves to that sort of length. As ever it’s going to come down to the writing, but I’ve been thoroughly impressed by these first two episodes. This is a series with an interesting story to tell, and the ability to tell it in very winning fashion.
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