rhodanum | [rho recs] » oban star racers

I promised that I would do a canon rec for one of my favorite shows and here it is – why I think you should watch Ōban Star-Racers (or OSR, for short), a French-Japanese co-production, with an excellent English track (both the French and English audio tracks were recorded simultaneously, by the original production team). This is a rec predominantly for people who enjoy animation with a strong narrative and character focus, such as Voltron Legendary Defender, Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.

SUMMARY:

Once every ten thousand years, the Avatar, protector of the Milky Way Galaxy, organizes the Great Race on the legendary planet Ōban, at the very center of the galaxy. It is a competition between ninety-six chosen sentient species, with the mysterious Ultimate Prize at the very end. Wild rumors and speculation abounds, with some claiming that the Ultimate Prize entitles the victor to wipe entire planets off the face of the galaxy, while others say that the winner of the race may see the fulfillment of any wish, even the return of a loved one from the dead.

But that’s not how our story starts. Our story begins with teenage schoolgirl Eva Wei, a talented mechanic and pilot, desperately lonely and dreaming of reuniting with her estranged father and of having a normal family once more. Her wish sees her embroiled in the machinations of both the Great Race of Ōban and the politics of the Earth Team, with her own father failing to recognize her and her team-mates initially treating her as little more than an unwanted stowaway. Against the odds, Eva has to prove herself and fight for her dream of family, while navigating the treacherous and often life-threatening competition. Not realizing that an ancient, malevolent force awaits in the wings, spinning its webs and slowly bringing its grand design to fruition.

REASONS TO WATCH:

genuinely complex, multi-faceted, flawed main characters, who grow and change and make mistakes as the series goes on, who hurt themselves and others with their actions, yet who also strive to do the best they can in the situation. Someone seems like an asshole and nothing more? Strap in and get ready for the character-development roller-coaster!
a female heroine who isn’t exempt from the above complexity, capable of great selfishness and terrifying inner darkness, yet also transcendental courage and kindness
a diverse human cast, with the Earth Team being an openly multi-racial affair
gorgeous animation, particularly the lush, alien backgrounds and the racing scenes
equally gorgeous music, courtesy of the famous Japanese composer Taku Iwasaki, with some of the tracks sending chills down the listener’s spine
the emotional core of the show is, beyond grand efforts to win an intergalactic competition and save the world, a teenage girl’s determined efforts to reconnect with her estranged father and have a family once more
extremely creative and varied alien designs, with individuals ranging from bipedal orc-like creatures covered in black fur all the way to sentient crustacean-like beings, who can communicate through telepathy
the show avoids demonizing any of the main characters or most of their opponents, who are presented as equally complex individuals, with personal motivations that range from selfish to utterly selfless.
tightly-plotted, able to achieve its goals and tell an engaging, emotional story in 26 episodes

Watch on YouTube

MAIN CHARACTERS:

Eva “Molly” Wei – the main protagonist of the series. An ambitious 15-year-old Earth girl who often ignores her studies to improve her mechanical and piloting skills. Upon escaping from her harsh boarding school, she travels to find her estranged father, Don Wei, the most successful racing manager on Earth. But when he doesn’t recognize her, she ends up landing a job as a mechanic for his company. Lacking in self-confidence and intimidated by his harsh demeanor, Eva is unable to tell Don Wei who she really is, and assumes the name “Molly” after reading it on a pin-up poster. She soon becomes embroiled, along with the her father, in the Great Race of Ōban, a competition that could be the key to Eva’s dreams of once more having a loving family.

Don Wei – Eva’s father and owner of Wei Race, a successful Earth corporation that manufactures vehicles and sponsors star-racing pilots. A driven workaholic, both respected and feared by his teams, Don Wei is a man whose work is his great escape from a tragic past. The death of his beloved wife Maya in a race completely destroyed him, to the point where he fell into a spiral of drinking and depression. Unable to care for his daughter Eva in that state, Don enrolled her in a boarding school and completely dropped off the grid. A chance meeting with the genius rookie pilot Rick Thunderbolt pulled him out of his paralyzing despair and gave him the chance of a new life. But the ghosts of the past aren’t so easily silenced and Don finds himself in the middle of an escalating nightmare, forced to risk the life of a teenage girl that reminds him far too much of his own daughter, in a competition where the safety of the Earth itself is on the line.

Jordan C. Wilde– a 17-year-old rambunctious army cadet who is hired by Don Wei to be the gunner for his racing vehicle, during the Great Race of Ōban. Jordan harbors a deep distrust of aliens and an outright hatred toward the war-like inhabitants of the Crog Imperium, who attacked Earth's colonies and the Earth itself three decades before the start of the series. Jordan’s own grandfather was involved in the fighting and the young man still carries his dog-tags, like a good-luck charm.

Prince Aikka – the heir to the throne of the alien planet-kingdom of Nourasia, Aikka is a noble and chivalrous young man, skilled in martial arts and the use of Nurasian magic, through his bow and arrows. One of the competitors and rivals of the Earth Team during the Great Race of Ōban, Aikka develops a mutual friendship with “Molly”. The Prince’s life is complicated by Nourasia’s status as de-facto vassals of the Crog Empire, with the Crogs forcing the young heir’s hand during the competition and making him go against his creed, for their benefit.

Rick Thunderbolt – a Minor League Racing Champion and one of the best star-pilots on Earth, Rick is chosen to accompany Don Wei as the Earth Team’s original pilot…. until an unforeseen event takes him out of the race. Proud and arrogant, Rick nevertheless hides a kind and perceptive personality under his star-pilot persona, revealing it to those he trusts and cares for. Rick shares a genuine (if complicated) friendship with Don and he also serves as a mentor and close friend to “Molly”, in terms of both racing and of helping her navigate her thorny personal problems.

Stan & Koji – the mechanics of the Earth Team, Stan and Koji are hired because they are the best in their individual fields of expertise. Koji is the team’s electronics specialist. Shy and non-combative by nature, he prefers to avoid conflicts, but his quick thinking saves the Earth Team on several occasions. The polar opposite of his fellow mechanic, Stan is the team’s hardware specialist. Direct and no-nonsense, he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind, especially when the safety of a teammate is at stake.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES:

WHERE CAN I WATCH / BUY?
Amazon Prime Video – Volume I (The Alwas Cycle) + Volume II (The Ōban Cycle)

Most online versions are extremely low-quality TV rips and they also suffer from having the very generic ‘Never Say Never’ US English opening theme, instead of the brilliant Japanese-English / Japanese-French one, ‘Chance to Shine’, composed by Yoko Kanno and sung by AKINO, that was used for the Europe and Asia releases of the show.