Race to Get Oban Star Racers

It’s lamentable that the 2006 American television broadcast of Sav! the World Productions and Hal Film Maker’s 26 episode Oban Star Racers animated series earned the respect of only a small cult following rather than the significant success and popularity it deserves. Now, hopefully, the release of the complete series on a pair of admirably crafted American DVD sets will bring more attention to this excellent show.

With Western and Japanese animation co-productions on the rise, Oban Star Racers stands as an example of the quality and integrity that all co-productions should aspire to. It’s also partially for that reason that animation fans should consider Oban Star Racers mandatory viewing – both as an example of a Western and Eastern co-production that elevates the work of both sides, and as a thrilling and addicting pleasure.

Saying too much about the plot of Oban Star Racers ruins part of the fun of anticipating the show’s twists and turns, and its unfolding narrative that gets better and better as it continues to develop. The sci-fi racing adventure series delivers satisfyingly on multiple fronts, and benefits from both its French and Japanese creative backgrounds. The character design is unique and instantly appealing with a simplicity that evokes warmth, and allows for a great deal of expression through movement and expression. The varied design of the show’s many alien races is wonderfully diverse. The integration of 3D CG and 2D hand drawn animation is handled especially well because the color design employed throughout the show aids in blending the two animation styles seemlessly. The show’s racing scenes are masterfully shot, using frequent tracking shots and cuts to create a sense of speed, danger, and excitement. Oban Star Racers’ racing scenes may be the best turned out by a Japanese studio since Initial D, making them better than anime including eX-Driver, Monkey Turn, and Wangan Midnight.

Unlike conventional episodic American cartoons, Oban Star Racer draws inspiration from anime by featuring a providing a progressively developing narrative. This linear continuity allows the show to introduce multiple simultaneous plot threads, and gives the show plenty of opportunity to gradually reveal its characters and allow them to face and overcome conflicts, personal tragedies, and both failures and successes. Oban Star Racers also draws inspiration from anime by treating both itself and its viewers with intelligence and respect. Like some of the best Japanese animation, Oban Star Racers is more accurately described as “suitable for all viewers” than “children’s animation.” The show creates dramatic empathy for its characters, and uses both dialogue and body language to establish individual characterizations for all of its characters – even supporting and background characters. Anime fans that are tired of rehashed romantic comedies, shows that pander to obsessive, cultish instincts, and programs that feel uninspired and unoriginal would be well served to spend some time watching Oban Star Racers.

Consumers that do decide to spend their money on this deserving show will be well rewarded. The entire series is delivered on two double-disc DVD sets. On my standard definition 36 inch television, the episodes sound robust, and look crisp, bright and flawless. While I’m personally somewhat disappointed that the American DVD release doesn’t include multiple, selectable dialogue languages such as the French and Japanese dialogue tracks, the English dialogue is performed believably, by actors that feel natural in their roles. Perhaps in an attempt to appeal to the anime market, the DVD release features the Japanese opening and ending animation sequences with English language credits rather than the English language theme song used during the original American television broadcast. While the original American “Never Say Never” theme wasn’t bad, the Yoko Kanno composed Japanese theme songs do a better job of evoking the show’s atmosphere.

Supplemental materials included on the American DVDs include fascinating monochrome image galleries of concept design art, character profiles, the show’s MIPCOM trade convention promotional trailer, and most importantly, an extensive, thorough, and revealing two-part “Making Of” featurette presented in its original French and Japanese language with permanent English subtitles. The behind-the-scenes shorts are a fantastic inclusion for anime fans because they provide a rare, thorough outsider’s perspective on the inner workings of a Japanese anime production studio – a view that most international anime fans will never see otherwise. The “making of” shorts also reveal the admirable philosophy that went into the production of the Oban Star Racers animation. It’s clear from listening to the annecdotes of the production staff that their priorities were on creativity, uniquness, and telling a compelling story rather than creating a cheap but profitable piece of pop culture kitsch. Unfortunately, however, the “making of” shorts appear to be direct conversions from the French PAL format Oban Star Racer DVDs rather than new NTSC format encodes because the image quality of the “making of” specials is noticably softer and granier than the sharp clarity of the animated episodes. Regrettably, the DVDs don’t include the original French CG animated “Molly Star Racer” conceptual animation short. The similarities and differences between the original “pilot” and the finished show are intriguing to compare and contrast, but ultimately the absence of the pilot video doesn’t diminish the quality of the material that is included.

Finally, the domestic DVDs feature attractive animated menus and menu transitions, gorgeous picture discs, and handsome double-sided DVD sleeves with colorful chapter list inlays. At a retail price of a mere $20 for 13 episodes plus bonus features on each DVD set, these releases are an absolute bargain!

Allowing the impression that Oban Star Racers is a kids’ show or not a full-fledged anime to discourage you from watching the series is a tremendous disservice. While Oban Star Racers never strays from being suitable for viewers of all ages, it delivers enough excitment, tension, character and story development to entertain any animation fan. Oban Star Racers easily matches and even surpasses the integrity and quality of many current anime titles. Oban Star Racers is a thoroughly appealing and satisfying sci-fi adventure series, and it handily earns my highest recommendation.