Overtake! Episode 3 Review

Komaki Motors’ First Sponsor

Overtake! Episode 3 was the best episode, so far. This was the first episode that focused on a race, which is the most exciting part of the series. Sure, Episode 1 also included a race. But, it was more about introducing the characters.

This is also the first race in which Komaki Motors has a sponsor. The team’s new sponsor is Mikazuki, a drink company. At first, I thought the drink was water. But, at the end of the episode, we see Madoka and Haruka shaking it up and spraying it. So, I guess it’s carbonated.

Anyway, how did the team get this sponsor? After all, Madoka and Haruka weren’t successful in Episode 2. Well, between episodes, Madoka made a deal with Mikazuki to have Haruka appear in a commercial. They saw the picture of him crying and I guess thought that was good for their product.

Madoka, for his part, understood that Haruka wouldn’t want to be in a commercial. If Madoka asked Haruka before setting up the deal, Haruka would have shot it down. But, of course, this is all just part of motorsports.

For a team to be successful, it needs money. To get money, it needs sponsors. And to get sponsors, the drivers often have to do things they don’t want to do, like be in commercials. This is a completely normal part of being a racing driver. The driver is the marketable part of the team.

At this point, I’m assuming Komaki Motors will continue to gain sponsors. And as they gain sponsors. Haruka will get closer and closer to winning a race. And, my hope is that we’ll get to a point when the Komaki Motors car isn’t mostly white. Though, that probably won’t happen.

Haruka’s Personal Best

With their new sponsor on board, Komaki Motors was able to afford additional sets of tires. With those extra tires, Haruka was able to get more practice in. And, thanks to that extra practice, Haruka was able to achieve his personal best finish in the race.

Now, he’s still never finished on the podium (top 3), but he made it from 8th up to 4th in this race. For a team that’s considered one of the backmarkers, that’s a very good finish. But, Haruka doesn’t believe it’s worth celebrating.

This is one of the problems holding Haruka back. He needs to realize that celebrating all the small wins is important. If you don’t do that, it’s easy to get discouraged. You may start feeling like you’ll never get the win you want. But, if you celebrate the small victories, it makes it easier to see your progress.

The other major problem Haruka has is his insistence that he doesn’t need anyone else. He believes that he can race on his own. Though, I don’t think he actually believes that. However, whether he believes it or not isn’t important. The important part is how that affects the team.

Naturally, as the series progresses, we’re going to see Haruka become more of a team player. But, on the other side, we have Toshiki Tokumaru of Belsorriso. His character is progressing in the opposite direction. While he acts the part of a team player for now, it’s not what he wants.

Toshiki believes he should be the number one driver of the team. At this point, he’s willing to risk points for the team if there’s a possibility that he can win. And, of course, there’s his rivalry with Haruka. Toshiki’s the villain the story needed.

The Other Half

During filming for the commercial, Haruka had to answer a few interview questions. One of those questions was why he raced and if it was because of his father. At first, Haruka answered yes, that he does race for his father.

But, he quickly changed his answer to clarify that his father is only half of the reason. We then had to wait until the end of the episode to find out what the other half was. And, it turns out that the other half of his motivation is to make it onto the podium himself.

Now, that doesn’t seem like a very interesting motivation at first glance. I mean, every driver wants to make it onto the podium and win a race. That’s a given. Winning is an implied motivation that shouldn’t need saying.

However, there’s more to this other half of Haruka’s motivation than just winning. He’s been on the F4 podium once before in his life and it was when his father won a race. So now, Haruka wants to make it onto the podium as a driver himself.

You could argue that this motivation isn’t much different than racing for his father. But, it actually is. He got into racing because of his father. He continues racing because he wants to achieve something for himself. It’s not like he feels that he needs to win for or because of his father.

Hopefully, we’ll also learn about the motivations of some of the other drivers. Though, if we do, I have a feeling it’s only going to be for Toshiki Tokumaru and Satsuki Harunaga. After all, those are the only other two drivers we’ve met. And it doesn’t seem like the rest matter.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Overtake! Episode 3? Were you expecting Komaki Motors to get their first sponsor so soon? How many more episodes do you think it will be before Haruka gets his first podium? And, what do you think Toshiki’s motivations for racing are? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 4 is available now.