This Fall season Crunchyroll has started releasing episodes for MF Ghost and Overtake! The Man Who Races, giving audiences not one but two racing anime shows after years without them. The genre hasn’t had much representation in recent years, so it would be a waste to skip out on either while they’re airing. This may be the best chance to watch racing anime and understand the allure of cars in animation.
It’s been nearly a decade since Initial D’s last season was broadcast, and since then car shows have been a minority and out of sight. It’s, therefore, surprising to have two different racing shows turn up this season. But this only means there is no better opportunity to see what the genre has to offer to new audiences. Crunchyroll steps up and delivers two racing anime shows that will surely pique the interest of fans.
MF Ghost and Overtake! Offer More Than Loud Spectacle
Despite both shows being about cars going fast, MF Ghost and Overtake! are very different beasts. MF Ghost is delightfully old-school; in fact, it was also written by Initial D’s creator, Shuuichi Shigeno. While it’s a far cry from the days of semi-legal mountain racing, Shigeno’s familiar fingerprints shine with drama by couching Kanata’s driving ambitions in a search for his missing father. Overtake, meanwhile, has a more restrained focus when it explores the managerial aspects of F4 racing and the behind-the-scenes work that pushes a whole team to success, perhaps exemplified by its deuteragonist, a photographer turned team sponsor.
Whether one watches either or both, the two shows have wildly different perspectives that provide plenty of options for viewers. If one wants classic pedal-pounding action and roaring engines, MF Ghost is the way to go. The first episode even ends with the opening notes of a Eurobeat track, promising that the show will be a true successor to Initial D, whose last episode ran in 2014. Overtake!, meanwhile, is interested in the world of racing as a whole: the photographer Koya provides a broader perspective on the stress and passion racing inspires in everyone, not just the driver.
Nonetheless, despite their differences, they both have the same appeal all racing anime have: stories about underdogs who rise to the challenge and prove that anyone can be a winner. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be much interest in sports cars and hot rods these days, save as window dressing, not unlike MF Ghost’s bemoaned future that belongs to self-driving electric cars. Still, just like the drivers of the MFG, racing isn’t dead yet, nor is anime about them. Thanks to Crunchyroll, fans get to see what MF Ghost and Overtake! have to offer, and celebrate this unsung genre.
MF Ghost and Overtake! The Man Who Races are currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
