Alternative Title: 天晴爛漫！
↓ Spoilers Ahead ↓
「 A quote from this series 」
"Engineers are 1% brilliant ideas and 99% drive to bring them to life."
「 The Review 」SynopsisFascinated by the steamed-power ships he saw when he was young, an inventor named Appare Sorano has built one for himself, which then he turned into a racing car to enter the Trans America Wild Race.
StoryAt first glance from the pilot episode, you'll be filled with excitement by what this anime seemed to be offering to its audience -- a wild race between bizarre cars. But -- the downside was, it's actually less than that.
It's common for any anime to have other genres or themes along with its main subject. Here, there were comedy, slice of life, action and adventure -- something that's for me already enough. But, they added unnecessary brutality and too much drama, which I think didn't blend well.
Don't get me wrong though, it's still entertaining, but hardcore racing fans who expected to see more of the cars and their drivers might be turned off by multiple dramatic background stories.
The main supporting characters (Hototo and Kosame) for our protagonist here both have dark pasts, and for some reason, I just can't fully dive into it. Maybe because the anime has shown too many flashbacks related to it when it shouldn't have. As for the background story of the outlaws Dylan and TJ, they only had one episode for it, but it was written properly that it became enough for me to care about it.
In terms of character development, the show didn't fail to deliver, everyone had an obvious change in personality. Especially Kosame who always reminds Appare to drive safely, but in the climax of the race, he's the one who suggested a death-defying idea.
And finally, to our main character... I honestly taught he was a girl at first. Anyhow, he's the type of a cool dude who doesn't have time for nonsense and unnecessary arguments. He's talented when it comes to machinery, but in episode 7, the anime showed his flaw, which was his lack of basic knowledge or skills.
Episode one really set the standard so high so I was a bit disappointed in some of the episodes that didn't deliver much. But, episode 9 redeemed my love for this anime because of the excellent writing/storyboard.
Although in episode 10, the antagonist Gil the Butcher's heartless personality suddenly made me feel distressed.
But with all the episodes that featured him fighting, I gotta admit, the combat scenes were well-thought-out.
And this was just something I found annoying... the people in the background like to look a lot, take this scene for example:
It's like the person who thought of the idea, said: "Hey, let's add some realism." It's fine if the scene featured something that will make the people be concerned about, but to do it without any particular reason was just plain nonsense.
Mechanical designs were bizarre and interesting to look at. And the animation, especially during racing scenes, was excellent, that it will really make you feel the excitement of the race.
Music / SoundThe opening song for me was just okay, what I really loved was the ending -- which I hoped they used the full version for the finale.
The sound effects were awesome as well. I mean, layers of sounds for multiple cars, from the engine to the wheels, to the road they're driving on, etc.
BGM was quite amusing, there's a mixture of country, rap, and even ethnic music.
- 1 - Sunny, with Occasional Showers - 5
- 2 - In the Dark - 3.5
- 3 - DUEL - 5
- 4 - Let It Go - 5
- 5 - The Eve, and... - 4
- 6 - I Am Gil! - 4
- 7 - FAKE - 5
- 8 - HEAVY RAIN - 4
- 9 - Short Break - 5
- 10 - The Bridge to Hell - 3.5
- 11 - Rain in the Dark Night - 4
- 12 - We Will Stop You!! - 4.5
- 13 - Over the Moon - 4.5
PS: Hototo's background story was quite similar to Thorfinn from Vinland Saga.
Episode three has an added scene in the ending credits.
And if you want an anime with more racing action, I recommend Redline.
「 Series Rating 」
About the Author
An otaku since the mid-90's. I consider Evangelion as the most influential anime. My favorite classic films are Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away.
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