By Jeff Swindoll Apr 23, 2008, 13:07 GMT
Mankind’s fate falls to the hands of a rag tag team of interstellar racers that at the last minute are asked to compete in a race of various species of the universe. Not only does young Molly have to deal with all the challenges of the race but has to come to terms with her father who is leader of the team and doesn’t know that she’s his daughter.
The year is 2082. Twenty-five years before a powerful race called the Crogs were near annihilating the Earth, just as suddenly as they appeared they vanished. Eva Wei has been relegated to a boarding school.
However, she’s smuggled a vital part for her rocket bike that the head of the school took away from her and soon she’s on her way to meet her father, Don Wei. Don is an owner of a racing company, but when she’s not recognized and yelled at by her father she adopts the alias of Molly. She’s able to fix a malfunctioning racer and earns an impromptu place on his team.
The President approaches Wei at his hanger and meets with him in private. It seems that as the Crog were about to make their ultimate strike that a mystical being called the Avatar appeared before the world council and said that the human race would be allowed to compete in the great Oban Star Race and that the Avatar will hold off the Crog if Earth consents to join the race.
Wei now has to assemble his team to compete in the race, which is to be held in another part of the galaxy. He brings in pilot Rick Thunderbolt, gunner Jordan Wilde, and mechanics Koji and Stan. Molly also accidentally ends up in the party.
The team finds itself on the planet of Alwas where 96 different aliens will compete until the last six competitors are left with the winner going for the ultimate prize.
Oban Star-Racers is a French and Japanese co-production that features some interesting characters and an even more interesting storyline. One of the Japanese animators talk about that the nose-less design of the characters seemed rather French, but I thought it just seemed like an anime convention to me.
The design does give the characters a cute, cuddly look but it doesn’t get in the way too much once you get used to it (how do they breath?). The racing aspect of the show puts a good plot device in each of the 22 minute shows and makes them stand alone better than the usual continuing story arcs.
There’s some good character development and conflict, as Molly has to come to terms with her father who is not the paternal figure that she imagines. These first thirteen episodes set up the next set of races and it’s exciting to see who’s going to be the winner (I bet you can guess though).
However, there’s the mystery behind the Avatar and the death of Molly’s mother to keep you watching along.
Oban Star-Racers is presented in fullscreen. Disc one features five Star Racer profiles (Molly and Jordan, Para-Dice, Ceres, Flint, and Groor) that run 30 seconds each. There is also some concept art.
Disc two has the 28 minute “Making of, Part 1: The Start of Production.” Next are more profiles (Prince Aikka, Spirit, Rush, Super Racer, and Toros). Finally there’s the 30-second trailer and a 1-minute preview of the second volume of the series.
Though the concept is from the French it still has the traditional anime feel to it and features a cast of interesting characters. The whole race aspect works in the episodic format that the show takes and will keep you watching until the winner is declared. I can’t wait for volume two.
Oban Star-Racers Vol 1: The Alwas Cycle is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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