Ōban Star-Racers

*Ōban Star-Racers*
Ōban Star-Racers
	Promotional poster. Clockwise from top: Molly, Jordan, Don Wei, Prince Aikka, Satis
Created by	Savin Yeatman-Eiffel
Starring	Gabrielle Jéru; Thomas Guitard
Opening theme	"A Chance to Shine" by Akino; "Never Say Never" by After Midnight Project
Ending theme	"Waratteta" by Sukoshi
Country of origin	France and Japan
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Original release
Network	France 3, Jetix
Release	April 12, 2006 –; Present

Ōban Star-Racers is a French/Japanese animated television series created by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel of "Sav! The World Productions". Twenty-six episodes have been set for release on France 3. In the US, it made its official premiere on the Toon Disney Jetix block in June 2006. Ōban Star-Racers starts on Jetix UK on October 21st. It will be starting in Japan in "Fall 2006".

Presentation

Oban Star-Racers is a rare case of co-production between the West and Japan. The creative team behind the project (Paris based indie company Sav! The World Productions) moved to Tokyo and worked hand in hand with the teams of anime studio Hal Film Maker for almost three years.

Originally planned as an all-French, all-CGI production, the animation is mixed-media, with 2D Japanese-animated characters and sets produced in Japan by the aformentioned Hal Film Maker, and with 3D French-animated ships and races produced by "Pumpkin-3D".

Oban Star-Racers is an ambitious production with an epic story line, which develops sequentially over 26 episodes and a rich graphical universe. The quality of the soundtrack is also very impressive, featuring:

opening and ending theme songs by Yoko Kanno (of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop fame)
a "symphonic" musical score by Taku Iwasaki

In the US broadcast, the opening theme song was replaced by an original rock oriented theme song entitled "Never Say Never". The closing song had also been replaced during the first broadcasts, but now features "Waratteta", the original closing song composed by Yoko Kanno.

Synopsis

It is the year 2082. Earth has been invited to compete in the Great Race of Ōban, an intergalactic race whose victor can be granted any wish in the world - even bringing back a loved one. The invitation comes from the Avatar, a mysterious entity who ends hostilities between Earth and the sinister race of the Crogs - in return for Earth's entry into the race. Eva, an earth student, escapes boarding school to find her father, Don Wei, president of Wei Racing. Having left his daughter in the care of the boarding school for many years without ever visiting, Don Wei does not seem to recognize Eva as his daughter. Unable to tell her father who she really is, she lands a job as a mechanic in his team under the name "Molly", a name chosen from a convinient crate in the hangar. When Wei Racing is ordered by the government to represent Earth at Ōban, Molly stows away as they are taken to a far-off planet. During the first race, the Whizzing Arrow, the Earth Star-Racer ship, crashes, a victim of sabotage and its star pilot, Rick, becomes unable to race. After finding that the gunner, Jordan, makes a miserable pilot, Molly steal the ship and enters the next race. Don Wei grudginly decides that the only one who can replace Rick is Molly. Haunted by the death of her mother - a famous star-racer - and the harsh "reunion" (such as it was) with her father, Molly is determined to win so she can be with her parents once again.

Ōban Star-Racers is a coming of age story, featuring incredible Japanese-style 2D characters immersed in a breathtaking 3D computer animated environment. It combines action, mystery, suspence, sci-fi racing and battle sequences, as well as deep character driven story-lines.

Characters

Template:Spoiler

Main Characters

Eva Wei (aka Molly) - An ambitious 15 year-old Earth girl who often subverts her school studies to improve her mechanical skills. Upon escaping from her harsh boarding school, she travels to find her father, Don Wei, and subsequently lands a job as a mechanic for his company. Lacking in self-confidence and intimidated by his harsh demeanor, Eva is unable to tell Don Wei who she really is, and assumes the name "Molly" after reading it on a poster. Eva soon becomes the lead pilot for the Earth Team after their star, Rick Thunderbolt, is injured during the first race. Her life soon becomes more complicated when she learns that the reward for winning Ōban is any wish her heart desires, including bringing her dead mother back to life.

Don Wei - Eva's father and owner of Wei Racing, a successful Earth corporation that manufactures vehicles and sponsors races. Uptight and arrogant, he often hides his true feelings through formalities, as well as pride. When his daughter finds him, not only does he not recognize her - he even mistakes her for a boy at first. However, he does remember having a family, and it appears that the death of his wife resulted in his current personality.

Jordan - A 17 year-old rambunctious, army soldier who is hired as the gunner for Don Wei's racing vehicle. He is a good shot, although he tends to overdo it. Jordan is very protective of his teammate, Molly, and will often rush to her defense even at the expense of his own safety. He doesn't approve of Molly's interest in Prince Aikka, as the Nourasians are apparently in league with the Crogs, but it seems he has a soft spot for her.

Aikka - Prince and Knight of Nourasia, and pilot of a giant flying beetle which acts as his vehicle for races. Noble, chivalrous and skilled in martial arts, he is a rival of Molly's, but also a close friend - plus Molly finds him cute. After racing each other, though, Aikka felt his trust was betrayed and felt as if humans have no honor. However recent events have shown that Aikka still cares for Molly and would even come to her defense if he felt she was threatened, such as her race against Spirit.

Maya Wei - Molly's mother and Don's wife, one of the best racers on Earth who was lost in a race ten years before the start of the series, her death may or may not be the reason for Don Wei's current behavior. It appeared that Spirit, one of the pilots racing on Alwas, caused her to crash. This has recently been proven false and that the crash was caused by Maya's ship leaking fuel right above the engine causing it to explode. Molly(Eva) is determined to win The Great Race of Ōban in order to bring Maya back to life and reunite her family.

Other Characters

Rick Thunderbolt	Amateur League Champion and one of the best racers on Earth, Rick is chosen to accompany Don Wei as pilot of the Arrow. He is seriously injured in the team's first race of the competition, and is later told that he can never race again. Cool and confident, he seems to appreciate Molly's enthusiasm, and affectionately calls her "Little Mouse." He eventually becomes Molly's personal "coach." During Molly's race against Spirit, he discovers Molly's true identity as Don Wei's daughter but doesn't reveal her secret. After the team qualifies for the Grand Finals on Ōban, Rick returns to Earth.
Koji	A skilled mechanic working for Don Wei. He's the team's hardware specialist.
Stan	A skilled mechanic working for Don Wei. He's the team's electronics specialist. It was his development of the 'clustered turbine' hyperdrive that allowed the team's new racer, the Whizzing Arrow 3, to be a far faster racer than their previous ships.
The Avatar	An enigmatic, seemingly omnipotent entity who organizes the "Great Race of Ōban" every 10,000 years, and grants the winner their wish.
Satis	Faithful servant of the Avatar and host of the Earth team. He mysteriously appears whenever Molly needs some encouragement, or when things aren't going her way. He also has a second persona: Super Racer, and races against her in the playoffs on Alwas.
Flint	A pilot from Alwas, the host planet of the Great Race's preliminary matches. Somewhat arrogant and not quite as good as he seems; the judges fix the races for him, since he's the home-town favorite. He and his gunner, Marcel, later confront Stan and Koji, who are looking for spare parts, and shows them the location of a star-racer 'boneyard'. Flint's reasons that if he can help the Earth Team reach Ōban, then he will have lost to the best team in the galaxy and this would 'restore' him in the eyes of his fans.
Groor	A biomechanical racer who, along with his ship, seems to run predominantly on steam power. Violent and quick to anger, he does not suffer losing gracefully.
Ceres	The last surviving member of the Mong, a very ancient people of the galaxy. Resembles a hieroglyphic carving come to life, and his ship is a bizarre unaerodynamic tangle of pipes that apparently functions via planetary gravitation. He could use this gravitation to send enemy attacks back at them and also used a flute to create hallucinations.
Ull	A monk with telekinetic super-powers that seem to equal those of the Avatar himself.
Ning and Skun	Two very proud Inna warriors.
Paradice	A cat-like 12-year old hacker prodigy. Trickery and sabotage are her main strategies, but she won't hesitate to blast an opponent off the course either. She controls her ship via a dynamic footpad, which resembles a Dance Dance Revolution platform. She sees the Great Race as nothing more than a game. It was Paradice that reveals the 'true nature' of the Ultimate Prize to Molly during their race.
Rush	A giant, Viking-like racer who, despite his intimidating appearance, is a very friendly, good natured person. He saves Molly from drowning after she becomes trapped inside flooding ruins. It was recently revealed that he wanted to use the Ultimate Prize to restore his homeworld, Byrus, back to its paradise-like state. Unfortunately, Rush was eliminated from the finals by Toros.
Lord Furter	Captain of a space-galleon, as bad-tempered as he is egocentric.
Spirit	Ambassador of the Fihls; mysterious, shadowy beings. Ten years earlier he raced against Molly’s mother, Maya. Near the end of the race Maya’s ship crashed and exploded. Molly and her father since that day have believed that Spirit had intentionally killed Maya. During a race against Molly that ended in Molly crashing her ship trying to kill Spirit, Spirit showed an unconscious Molly what really happened to her mother. Spirit then left to finish the race, but not before shedding a tear down his face. He is eliminated at the end of the playoffs by Prince Aikka.
Toros	Colonel of the Crog Imperium and younger brother of the Crog leader. The Crogs are the sinister alien race that threatens to destroy Earth. Determined to obtain the Ultimate Prize in order to enslave all other races in the galaxy under Crog rule. Toros was also the leader of the Crog force that decimated Rush's homeworld of Byrus, transforming it from a paradise into a polluted wasteland. Seemingly unbeatable, he is finally handed a defeat during his rematch against Molly, but still advances to the Grand Finals.
"The Timeless One"	A dark, sinister being that first appears as a shadow with flaming red eyes. It is unknown what his intentions are, but it appears that he was behind the sabotaging of the Arrow I. His mark, a spider-like crest that looks remarkable similar to the Avatar's crest, was seen on a millennia-old carving of an ancient 'star-race'. In 'The Will to Win', he finally reveals his name as Canaleto and that he intents to destroy the 'old ways'.

Music

Opening Themes

"A Chance to Shine" by Akino

"Never Say Never"(US theme)

Ending Themes

"Waratteta" by Sukoshi

Cast

French language version

Thomas Guitard, Alexandre Coadour and Rémi Caillebot are actors of the French dubbing association Gotohwan. Gabrielle Jeru and Sarah Bouché de Vitray joined it after working on Ōban.

Gabrielle Jeru ... as Molly
Thomas Guitard ... as Jordan
Alexandre Coadour ... as Rick
Jérôme Keen ... as Don Wei
Mathieu Barbier ... as Toros / Avatar
Nicolas Mead ... as Stan / Satis
Rémi Caillebot ... as Prince Aikka
Vincent Latorre ... as Koji
Sarah Bouché de Vitray ... as Maya
Laurent Maurel ... as Flint
Omar Yami ... as Groor

English language version

The English voices were recorded by Airwaves Sound Design in Vancouver, Canada.

Chiara Zanni ... as Molly
Alessandro Juliani ... as Koji
Dexter Bell ... as Stan
Kirby Morrow ... as Prince Aikka
Michael Dobson ... as Rick
Paul Dobson ... as Avatar
Ron Halder ... as Don Wei
Sam Vincent ... as Jordan

Voice director for the series is Michael Donovan.

Trivia

None of the characters in this show have a nose
In 1997, the project's original title was Ōban Racers, although it was changed in 2001 for the trailer to Molly, Star-Racer. It has since become a mix of both names.
Sav! The World released a trailer in 2001 set to a Y&Co. remix of Ayumi Hamasaki songs, which gained wide popularity on the Internet. The trailer already showed a mix of 3D and 2D though at the time 3D was still predominant. It was officially removed sometime afterward since the rights to the songs could not be acquired.
Wanting to avoid stereotypical voices, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel chose mostly fresh newcomers for the original French cast (it was Gabrielle Jeru's first voice recording experience), and personally directed them. He then travelled to Canada to supervise the English dub.
Determined to remain true to his original vision of the project, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel created his own company, "Sav! The World Productions" in his one bedroom apartment.
The search for financing was a long process since Yeatman-Eiffel refused to negotiate with a party that would have more control than that of the creator (including, but not limited to the option of changing the main character into a boy). In the end it took him a total of nine long years to complete the series (the concept was created in 1997, with actual production having begun in 2000).
Savin Yeatman-Eiffel is the great-grandson of Gustave Eiffel, the original designer of Paris' famous Eiffel Tower. This is why the tower appears in the logo for Sav! The World Productions.
The logo for Yeatman-Eiffel's production company may remind some of the logo for the long-defunct American motion picture studio RKO Radio Pictures.
Prince Aikka's name may be a play on the Japanese word "aika", meaning a sad song, elegy, or dirge.
The closing theme song, Waratteta, retains its original Japanese lyrics. It is the first Jetix series (in the United States) ever to do so.
While this is Sav! The World's first TV series, the company has previously existed as a maker of various short films (including the aforementioned Molly, Star Racer).
Beginning with episode 3, each English title of each episode uses an "adjective Like name" structure (Grave Like Groor, Treacherous Like Toros, etc). Episodes 12, 13, and 14 are exceptions, but the structure later returns beginning with episode 15.

External links