Car Related Anime Series

Is there any other good car anime series other than Initial D and Wangan Midnight? Please help I need more.

09 Feb 2016

Is there any other good car anime series other than Initial D and Wangan Midnight? Please help I need more.

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Try Countach (manga)

It’s not been mentioned, but Future GPX Cyber Formula is an interesting racing anime series. It’s based on a future Formula One series where the cars are partially controlled by Cyber systems that help the drivers at high speed. It was created by Bandai and came about in the early 90s during the big Formula One fandom boom in Japan. A lot of Bandai series voice actors/actresses got their start in voice over work for Cyber Formula.

It’s an original series that didn’t come from a novel or manga (so Bandai had high hopes it would do well). The first season is a 37 episode TV series that proceeds a lot like a modern Speed Racer; it’s mostly various situations and hi-jinks the characters get into. A lot of it’s initial popularity was because of the Speed Racer-ish aspects. It’s hard for some people to get through the first season though because the animation quality is definitively TV-series 80’s-ish in nature.

After the initial success of the first season, more funding was allocated and the second series is a 6 episode OVA. The OVA and the 3 subsequent series that were released have a much higher production quality than the TV series. It is also more serious on the racing aspect of the series so each episode follows the races throughout the season. Three more seasons would be created, with each season representing a new year for the series.

Part of the allure also is that each driver and car has a signature special move or ability. It’s kind of like watching Dragon Ball in racing form. The main character Hayato Kazami develops a lot of various racing techniques. One of the drivers is also based off of Michael Schumacher, Knight Schumacher, who the creators chose at the time (in 1991 during production) because “Schumacher” sounded like the name of a fast driver.

My personal favorites are the fourth season, Saga, and the fifth season, Sin. Sin in particular gets into some rather dark aspects of racing rivalries and the ups and downs drivers go through.