Overtake! Episode 4 Review

Alice-chan Appreciation Post

Overtake! Episode 4 features the most Alice content of the series, so far. She’s been around in the background. But, she hasn’t played much of an active role. And, to be fair, she’s still not. However, I still want to talk about her.

Before this episode, we knew Alice had a connection to Komaki Motors. She was at their shop after the first race Kouya went to. Though, at that time, I’m not sure we knew how she was connected to them. It turns out, she and Koutarou are childhood friends.

They’ve been friends since at least kindergarten when Koutarou vowed to protect Alice. Koutarou doesn’t remember saying that, but Alice does, so it must have happened.

Despite her connection to Komaki Motors, though, Alice works for Belsorriso. And it’s a bit unclear to me what her role there is.

When we first met Alice, I thought she was a friend who hung out at Komaki Motors — which doesn’t seem incorrect. But, the next time we saw her, she was dressed up at the track with some other girls. So, I assumed she must actually be a “grid girl.”

But now, we’re told she’s on Belsorriso’s payroll. So, is she just one of their personal grid girls? What does she actually do there? We haven’t seen her doing anything other than standing around looking pretty. Though, to be fair, she does a great job of that.

Anyway, her job aside, Alice is a fun character because of her infatuation with Satsuki. He’s the reason she joined Belsorriso’s team. And she’s so obsessed with him that she’s at a loss for words when he acknowledges her existence. This is what I like about Alice. She’s just a girl in love; she’s cute.

Kouya Madoka’s Infamous Photograph

It’s taken four episodes to learn what made Kouya stop taking photographs of people. We had an idea of why. But, we didn’t know the details until now. So, before I go into what happened, let’s recap what we already knew.

We knew that Kouya took a picture of someone which led him to stop taking portraits. That much was obvious. We also knew it had something to do with the ocean. And, we knew the online hate he received afterward mentioned how he didn’t save someone.

With that information, I assumed someone fell from a boat while he was photographing them. And, if that was the case, then I don’t blame Kouya for what happened. That would be an accident and not his fault in any way. However, we now know that’s not what happened and the reality of the situation is more complicated.

What actually happened was that Kouya went to report on a disaster zone after an earthquake. The earthquake then caused a tsunami, which is where his flashbacks of raging waves come from. And, the photograph he took was of a girl being swept away by the tsunami.

So, is Kouya actually at fault? Should he have attempted to save the girl rather than taking a photograph of her final moments? If you weren’t there, it’s easy to say that’s what he should have done. But, I doubt he actually could have saved her even if he tried.

Still, even if everyone online acknowledged that he couldn’t save her, that wouldn’t be the end of it. There would still be the controversy surrounding whether it’s moral to take a photo like that. Should you document someone’s final moments without their knowledge? I don’t have the answer.

The Fatal Crash

Something else Episode 4 did was add another layer to the story of Haruka’s father’s death. Previously, all we knew was that he died in an F4 crash. And, to be fair, that’s all we really needed to know. It was a good enough backstory.

But now, we know that he died in a crash due to wet conditions. It was raining on the day of the crash. And, as far as we know, it was a single-vehicle crash. He didn’t crash into anyone and nobody else crashed into him.

Oh, and it was a very fiery crash, too.

All of those things combined remind me of another serious crash that happened in F1 in 1976. Back then, Niki Lauda had a serious and fiery crash in wet conditions at the Nürburgring. Lauda survived, but I’m pretty sure that’s the event this crash was supposed to remind viewers of.

Anyway, the conditions in which Haruka’s father’s crash happened are important. Before the race, Haruka cheered his father on and drew a picture of him standing on top of the podium. So, after the crash happened, Haruka blamed himself.

There’s no proof that what Haruka did led to the crash. But, in his mind, there’s a chance that it did. What if his father pushed extra hard in those conditions because he wanted to make Haruka proud?

But, why does any of that matter? It matters because it explains Haruka’s personality a bit.

Haruka is someone who races for himself and claims he doesn’t need other people. And the reason he claims that is because he believes cheering drivers on is a selfish act. In his mind, the person cheering on the driver is only adding to the pressure the driver is under.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Overtake! Episode 4? Are you expecting Alice to eventually move over to Komaki Motors? Should Kouya have released the photograph of the girl being swept away by the tsunami? And, did Haruka’s father’s crash immediately make you think of Lauda’s? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 5 is available now.