is an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

series planned, drafted and designed by

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

Kōsuke Fujishima is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He has created several manga series, the best known of which are ''You're Under Arrest (manga), You're Under Arrest!'' and ''Oh My Goddess!.'' Fujishima is known for his love of automobiles and ...

. It is produced by

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

Dentsu , simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in ...

Genco is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as '' Honey and Clover'', '' Nodame Cantabile'', ...

, Faith and

Actas is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1998. It is currently a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks, which in turn is a subsidiary to Bandai Namco Holdings. History Actas was founded on July 6, 1998, by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba, who pr ...

. The anime series spanned 6 episodes, as well as a feature movie, entitled ''éX-Driver: The Movie''. The complete anime series, including the movie, were broadcast by the anime television network,

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

, across its respective networks around the world, including

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Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and other regions.

Overview

In the distant future people no longer drive cars themselves, instead relying on AI (

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

) computers to drive their cars for them. But when these AI systems start losing control and running wild somebody has to stop them. éX-Drivers are the people who are able to operate the older mechanical non-AI dependent cars who chase down the AI cars and stop them. A good amount of future and near future technology is featured throughout the series, including automated highway systems and A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) technology. Automated highway systems have been proposed as a solution to the traffic congestion problems. In the series, anybody, regardless of age, can be an éX-Driver as long as they possess the required skills. For example, one of the main characters is only 13 years old and drives. The premise of the show is that there are éX-Drivers all over the world but the focus is on the team operating in Japan. Cars used by éX-Drivers are marked with an éX-D decal. Typically an éX-Driver car would be an older mechanical type car and almost always would be rear-wheel drive with the exception of an AWD (4WD)

Subaru Impreza WRC The Subaru Impreza WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Subaru Impreza road car. It was used by Subaru World Rally Team, Subaru's factory team, and replaced the Subaru Legacy RS in 1993. The car was debuted at 1993 Rally Finland and won a to ...

since éX-Drivers usually employ techniques such as drifting when bringing down runaway cars, which is much more difficult with front wheel drive (FWD) cars and in an all wheel drive (AWD) car.

Characters

; :Japanese voice actor: Yōko Asada :English voice actor:

Philece Sampler Debra Philece Sampler (July 16, 1953 – July 1, 2021) was an American actress. She began her career on the soap operas '' Days of Our Lives'' as Renée DuMonde and '' Another World'' as Donna Love Hudson. In addition to her acting career, Sa ...

:Lisa's éx-Driver partner. She is a good-hearted girl who drives a

Lotus Europa The Lotus Europa name is used on two distinct mid-engine GT cars built by British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars. The original Europa and its variants comprise the Lotus Types 46, 47, 54, 65 and 74, and were produced between 1966 and 1975. ...

. She also tries to keep the team together when Sōichi and Lisa have an initial tense relationship. She maintains a good relationship between them. In relationship to Sōichi, she acts like a sister. ; :Japanese voice actor:

Miki Nagasawa is a Japanese voice actress. She was raised in Fukushima. Formerly affiliated for Haikyo, she is affiliated with Atomic Monkey. On anime roles, she voiced the eponymous character in ''Vampire Princess Miyu'', Wedy in ''Death Note'' and Ma ...

:English voice actor:

Lia Sargent Lia Sargent is an American voice actress. She is known for extensive anime and video game voice work and has also done ADR directing and script writing for Animaze.. iNC. She is the daughter of movie and TV director Joseph Sargent and actr ...

:Lorna's éx-Driver partner. She drives a

in the first episode, but it is wrecked and has to be replaced with a

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...

specification

Lancia Stratos HF The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rallying, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. It was highly successful in competition, winning the World Rally Championship in 1974 ...

from the second episode onwards. She has a tense relationship with Sōichi when he is selected to lead the team and also when he beats her in race. However, Lisa accepts him as the series progresses. ; :Japanese voice actor:

Yumiko Kobayashi is a freelance Japanese voice actress from Chiba Prefecture. She was formerly affiliated with Arts Vision until August 2007. She made her voice acting debut as Mita in '' Kirara'' while still in college in 1998, and her first lead role was as K ...

:English voice actor:

Joshua Seth Joshua Seth Freedman is an American voice actor, comedian, motivational speaker, and author. Biography Seth was born in Kent, Ohio to Barbara Freedman (née Zapiler), a therapist. After graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1987, ...

:An extremely talented 12-year-old. He drives a Caterham Super Seven JPE, though he drives a modified Daihatsu Midget II on a racetrack. He soon becomes the team's leader. He initially has a tense relationship with Lisa, but they begin to gain their trust as the series progresses.

OVA

The OVA series consists of 6 episodes which are - except the last two - independent from each other. # ''AI vs RECIPRO'' # ''On And On'' # ''No Problem'' # ''Regulations of Love'' (éX-Rider) # ''Crossroads'' # ''The Last Mile''

Movie

The ''éX-Driver'' anime series was also adapted into an anime movie

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, entitled ''éX-Driver The Movie'', which follows the adventures of Lisa, Lorna and Souichi as they participate in an international éX-Driver race held at

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The movie also consisted of a special

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the series, entitled, ''éX-Driver - Nina & Rei Danger Zone'', which served as the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

for the movie, centering on the adventures of two of the former éX-Drivers, Nina Thunder and Rei Kazama. Three short bonus shorts were also featured with the movie, featuring Lisa, Lorna and Souichi in events set just before where the movie takes off. These bonus shorts are done in comedic style, mainly with camera pans and zooms on still images: #''Onsen''—set in a

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

#''Race Queen''—set in the éX-Driver Base #''Airport''—set in the Airport on their way to Los Angeles

Staff

*Planning, original creator, original character concept:

*Series composition and script: Shinjo Fujita *éX-Car design: Shunji Murata *Mecha design: Takeshi Takakura, Hidefumi Kimura (ep.1) *Music:

JAM Project JAM Project ("JAM" standing for "Japan Animationsong Makers") are a Japanese Music in Japanese animation, anison band founded on July 19, 2000, by anison singer Ichirou Mizuki. The band is composed of many vocal artists well known in the anime mu ...

Hikaru Nanase is a Japanese unisex given name meaning "light" or "radiance". Written forms Hikaru can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 光, "light" * 輝, "radiance" The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana. It is more ...

*Director: Jun Kawagoe

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:EX-Driver 2000 anime OVAs 2002 anime films 2002 films 2002 anime OVAs Japanese auto racing films Animated films about auto racing Actas Anime with original screenplays Anime Works Bandai Namco franchises Geneon USA Kōsuke Fujishima Fictional motorsports in anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Films directed by Akira Nishimori