jazmyn20 - 2014-10-15 10:59:38

Ah, thepuberty. A time in which we obsess over teen idols, or get angry about nothing,but above all, a time where we want to be acknowledged. So how does one getacknowledged? The best way, of course, is to prove anyone to be the best insomething. After all, victors write history.

But it’slosers like Shinozaki Mikoto who are history.

Over Drivefollows the protagonist and his journey on the bike, alongside the othermembers of the Sakura Bicycle Club. Their big dream is to participate in theTour de France. But of course, it’s a long way until then – first, there are 11episodes about Shinozaki learning to ride a bike and swooning over his crushFukuzawa Yuki, introducing Yamato as well as the captain and Yuki’s brother Yousuke.Needless to say, it’s too long, and in my opinion a chore to watch. Once we getto the race – which is pretty much the rest of the show – the pace picks up,very slightly so though, because not only that the race is dragged on, thereare also flashbacks which make the race even longer. There’s even a meaninglessfiller which takes the entire second half of one episode, and that goes too farfor me.

The raceitself was pretty unrealistic in my eyes, especially when I take Shinozaki intoregard. In the first two episodes, he wasn’t able to ride a bike, and twenty episodeslater, he is suddenly able to win a checkpoint. What’s even worse is that it ismentioned in a flashback that Shinozaki used to ride a bike as child. Thatmakes the whole beginning part illogical. And how was he able to evolve into sucha good rider in such a short amount of time? There is only one thing I considerto be kind of realistic is the way the race ends for him – but that’d be a spoiler.

The otherracers are very generic character for a sports anime. We have Yousuke, who’s anarrogant captain who thinks he doesn’t need a team, and of course he changeshis ways over time. There’s Shinozaki’s friendly rival Yamato, who’s the usualcool and aloof character with, of course, the corresponding flashback.  There’s the inconsistently written crush Yukias well as the antagonist Hyoudou, who’s also pretty generic. And then there’sYousuke’s assistant Terao, who gets fleshed out and developed only in the verylast part of the show, and it’s truly a shame because by the time he does getfleshed out, we see that he isn’t really a generic assistant, albeit not uniqueeither. The whole cast and their interactions feel awkward, and by the time thecast is likeable, the show is over. At this point I can’t even determine whatthe worst part about Over Drive is, but the cast plays a big role in my lowenjoyment.

Thesoundtrack is not very good either, mostly because no tracks quite fit to themood, save the fiery guitar riffs that weren’t often played, sadly. Thesoundtrack sounds like it came straight from the 90s. 90’s sound is generallynot a bad thing, but if it’s a background music to something what’s supposed tobe a fiery battle, then it is a bad choice. The opening is well-done, theendings were alright as well, but what’s truly worth mentioning is somethingelse. In Yamato’s flashback, he is supposed to be in France and have languageproblems. In France, people speak French, right? Not in Over Drive, becausethey were all talking Japanese. So it made it look like Yamato has troubleprocessing what he hears or him simply being deaf. Needless to say, it was ridiculous,very much so. The other aspect that had poor budget was the animation. It wasfrom 2007 and the animation is aged, yes, but the CG still looks awkward andbad.

Myenjoyment level was, as previously mentioned, not the highest. The first elevenepiosdes were plain boring to me. The race was a tad more enjoyable and Igenuinely enjoyed the flashbacks between Yousuke and Terao. The theme of beingthe strongest and the desire to be acknowledged by friends and elders is notthe newest, not even to sports anime. The way it was presented was good attimes, but not very much for the most part.

Overall,Over Drive is a sports anime that sounds average in theory and sub par inpractice. The characters are generic and average at best for the most part,some developments simply unrealistic, and the sound not very fitting. Itsthemes are nothing new and the CG animation bad.  There are very little redeeming values tothis show, such as a tad more enjoyment in the race and some character developmentfor one character only as well as a nice opening. Should you watch Over Drive?No. There are better anime out there, and certainly better shows in this genre.Because sadly, even though losers are history, there’s a reason why they’reforgotten.

wyatt82 - 2013-06-23 20:05:19

Overdrive, when you read the synopsis you might not feel very attracted to this anime, like lots of people aren't attracted to watching the sport cycling, a lot of people find it boring and uninteresting to watch, but that all depends on the person. When I heard there was an anime of it I was excited, but also a bit wary. Can this be interesting? Because the show would have to appeal to more than cyclist fans to be a bit successful. And the answer is: Yes!, with a big explanation mark, for a slow sport as cycling, they made it very interesting while still keeping a lot of realism, it surprised me, no super powers, the sport itself, comedy and drama made this in one hell of an anime.The story closely follows our protagonist Shinozaki Mikoto, an unpopular and non-athletic student, who gets bullied by some guys from his school, this all ends when his love interest Fukazawa Yuki walks in the classroom and asks whether he wants to join the cycling club, he initially refuses, but later joins anyway. As a cycling fan myself, I was intrigued by the realism shown, it perfectly explained what kind of cyclist there are and in what part every character excels, while most cyclist don't especially are good in downhill, it didn't matter to me, those are the small details.The story could be divided in two parts, the introduction and Mikoto finding himself in the cycling world and the second part, a single race, while most people would be surprised that there is only one contest, it is not all that weird, races usually take between the 4 and 6 hours depending on the course. The first part has lots of comedy and drama attached to it while Mikoto learns cycling and regrets not being strong enough. While the second part is pure action as far as cycling goes, which entertained me a lot, the characters within the race, all the sprints and the helping each other to finish and possible victory.Lastly as a point of critique, this anime was set up to nicely for something long running, it had a good introduction, a slow build up towards the first race and the race was very nice itself, but just one race might be a bit low, not to cut the episodes for a race, but one was low and with that I want to say the dividing of episodes could have been better.As far as sound goes, this part is very strong, a catchy opening song, the soundtrack within the anime isn't overpowering and is perfect on the moments where it gets serious. Voice actors are all fairly well known, including the recently very active Kaji Yuki.Art is decent, the characters designs are nothing special and are good as they are. The animation is well done, although they could have done some more shots from scenery and not just looking at faces, but at the cyclists as a group, how they are cycling, could have been better.While Overdrive has a small cast, which isn't very detailed in MAL's character database, they keep the character entertaining and lots of development has the room for it to occur. The character include a normal, energetic and somewhat comical protagonist, a violent bossy bad-ass leader, a helpful kind and caring one, the rival of the protagonist who is silent and to himself, but slightly perverted. And the main girl who the protagonist is in love with, a girl who would be typical for this age, done very realistic. And the guy who seems unbeatable, who the main team have to overcome to win the race.Overall Overdrive was a very enjoyable anime, caused by its interesting characters and strong development of the protagonist, which left everybody with a smile when he accomplished something great.Strong points:- Realistic cycling made very enjoyable.- Strong characters which develop in a entertaining way.- A fitting soundtrack which matched the theme of the current situation.Weak points:- A story which might have had a too long introduction, 6 eps of introducing, 7 eps of the training and rival encountering, 12 eps of actual action and racing and 1 closing episode.- Lazy animation, which could have been more entertaining if it would have focused on the whole body of a cyclist.A small trivia, on the date of this review the Tour de France ended, which isn't completely coincidental, I started this anime because the Tour got a bit boring for me when my country's riders all retired. Although I didn't plan it, I thought it was a nice date for it. So if you are a sports fan or an anime fan who likes the sports genre, this is a must watch.Life lesson learnt: It is never too late to start doing something you want.