Overtake! is an original anime series with a motorsports theme. It is one of the breakthrough anime of the fall season due to its expressive characters, realistic setting, and decent animation. It stars Haruka Asahina, a motorsports racer competing in Formula 4. He races for Komaki Motors, but does Haruka Asahina win the podium in Overtake?
Meet Haruka Asahina: Komaki Motors’ Lead Driver
Haruka Asahina had it rough in life. He may be a talented racer, but his life has never been smooth sailing due to the death of his parents.
At a young age, Haruka’s mother passed away due to a terminal illness. His father, Toru, died next, after he had a major accident during a race.
For the first few years, Haruka lived with his relatives, but at some point, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He walked into the garage of Komaki Futoshi, Toru’s friend and fellow driver, for two whole days!
Haruka declared that he wanted to be a racer like his father, and he even begged Futoshi to join the team.
But Futoshi had just quit the racing team, unbeknownst to Haruka. Even so, Haruka touched Futoshi’s heart, and since then, Komaki Motors has been founded.
Komaki Motors is a privateer, unlike Belsorriso or other major motorsports companies. This means that their budget is minuscule for an expensive sport. In fact, they don’t have any pit crews or even a car maintenance team.
Haruka even had to deliver newspapers in between practices just to earn money for the company.
Thankfully, Formula 4 (F4) is an easy category to enter. One just needs a Japanese class A license, an international class B license or lower, or a restricted Japanese class A license to join.
There are some other major requirements, but the biggest one is money. Komaki Motors needs about 11 million yen a year to spend on tires, engines, repair costs, replacement parts, oil, fuel, and many more.
Since Komaki Motors is a privateer, Haruka Asahina’s racing car has limitations. He may be a good driver, but he can’t drive his best with a car that can exit the grid every time he’s in the race.
What Komaki Motors needs is a sponsor that will provide the necessary upgrade for Haruka Asahina’s motorsports car.
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What Car Does Haruka Asahina Drive?
Haruka Asahina drives an all-white Formula 4 motorsports car with the number 80 on the side. It has an all-white color because Komaki Motors failed to receive sponsorship at the start of the series.
Later on, Haruka managed to get a sponsorship from Mikazuki Beverage thanks to Koya Madoka, who accidentally sent the wrong file to his ex-wife, Saeko, which contains a photograph of a crying Haruka.
Haruka’s picture touched the marketing team of Mikazuki Beverage, and they decided to sponsor him in exchange for shooting a commercial.
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Does Haruka Asahina Win in Overtake?
Haruka Asahina is expected to win the podium by the end of the Overtake! anime series, defeating Belsorisso’s lead driver, Harunaga Satsuki, as well as its second driver, Tokumaru Tosshiki.
Also known as Mr. Chicane, Haruka Asahina is a nuisance for the big guns in the race. No matter how hard he tries, the big teams don’t take him seriously due to their limited budget.
Despite this, Komaki Motors made a few adjustments to Haruka’s F4 car, which slowly helped them climb the leaderboard.
Even Futoshi feels that someday Haruka will be able to beat the big teams.
This kind of mindset enables them to do their best, especially Haruka, who reminds people of what it means to try their best.
Haruka continues to race, in spite of many obstacles, to achieve his goal of winning the podium one day.
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