A Fresh Start

"A Fresh Start" is the pilot episode of the series Ōban Star-Racers.

Plot

Prologue

In the second quarter of the 21st century, the advent of sub-light transportation marked the beginning of an unprecedented wave of human expansion. Human explorers discovered new planetary systems and colonized them, traveling further and further into the unknown. In 2057, Earth's most aggressive neighbors, the Crogs, launched a treacherous surprise attack. Completely off guard, the Earth coalition put up a desperate defense. They forces held and the Crogs were narrowly defeated. Humans have since lived in peace with their neighbors... that is, until today.

Story

Eva, a 15-year-old girl is waiting by the phone, waiting for her father, Don Wei, to call for her birthday. She is in a strict boarding school, but she was still able to get a needed part for her rocket seat. She escapes the boarding school and goes to the big city to meet her dad. When she gets there, her dad doesn't recognize her, and even mistakes her for a boy. When the head mechanic doesn't show up, she decides to put matters into her own hands and fixes a racing vehicle seemingly without effort. When Wei decides to add Eva to the team, Eva doesn't seem too anxious for her dad to know who she is, so she blurts out "I'm Molly!" when she reads it off a poster. After that, the President of the Earth coalition comes to Wei, and tells him about the mysterious figure, the Avatar, and the great race of Ōban. Don gets the best pilot he has known, Rick Thunderbolt, and with the aid of bribery gets the Arrow 1 and 2 from a reluctant mechanic, as well as his assistants. He also gets an excellent gunner from the army. Later that night, Don Wei tells his elite group where they're going and why he chose them. When he notices "Molly" evesdropping, a Crog attacks, clearly wanting the earth team not to race. With the Arrow 1 and 2 in a truck, they manage to get to the Avatar's vessel and head towards the great race of Ōban…