is an original Japanese

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 ...

television series produced by

P.A. Works is a Japanese animation studio founded on November 10, 2000, in Nanto, Toyama. The company's founder and president Kenji Horikawa once worked for Tatsunoko Production, Production I.G, and Bee Train Production, before forming P.A. Works Corporat ...

, and directed by Masakazu Hashimoto. The series aired from April to September 2020. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation by Ahndongshik was serialized in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

's ''

Young Ace is a monthly ''seinen'' manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 2009. A spin-off web manga magazine titled ''Young Ace UP'' began publication in December 2015. Series ''Young Ace'' *''Akuma no Ikenie'' ('' Devil's Sacr ...

'' magazine from April 2020 to January 2022.

Plot

Set around the start of the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, an eccentric inventor and second son of a respected merchant family, Appare Sorano, decides one day to set off on an adventure. However, the samurai Kosame Isshiki is tasked with keeping Appare's eccentric behavior in check. While trying to drag Appare back to Japan, Kosame accidentally strands them both at sea, until they are saved at the last moment by a passing American steamship. Now stuck in

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, ...

with no money and no easy way to return to Japan, Appare and Kosame decide to enter the "Trans-America Wild Race," where Appare gets the chance to build a custom automobile and Kosame gets the opportunity to earn enough money to return home. The two of them will have to work together while fighting off other rival racers, bandits, and other challenges as they try to win the race.

Characters

; : :The second son of the Sorano merchant family. Much to his family's dismay, Appare does not care much for social norms or inheriting the family business, instead spending his time inventing new gadgets and studying various scientific texts. He was inspired from a very young age when he got a copy of the

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

novel ''

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' () is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil War society of weapons enthusiasts, and their attempts to build an en ...

''. He decides to enter Trans-America Wild Race in his own steam-powered vehicle. ; : :The head instructor of his family's dojo and a samurai under Lord Kuroda. Kosame was tasked by his Lord with keeping Appare under control, but was dragged with him to America after a series of accidents. Despite being a strong samurai, he has

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

from an incident in his past and has trouble attacking another person. ; : :A Native American boy from a northeastern tribe whose father was killed and family displaced by a man with a snake tattoo on his neck. After being rescued from thugs in Los Angeles, he joins Appare and Kosame while hoping to hunt down his father's killer. ; : :A

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

general assistant for an auto-racing team who dreams of becoming a racer, only to be denied due to prejudice against women. She secretly drives the team's cars at night and befriends Appare and Kosame. After an altercation with the team driver, she earns the owner's grudging respect and he provides her with an old car to enter the Trans-America Wild Race herself. ; : :A wealthy European (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in the English dub) from the family that owns one of the three B.I.G. Boss auto companies, Bright New Works (BNW). He seeks to win the Trans-America Wild Race to prove to his family that he should be the heir to the company. ; : :Al's self-proclaimed "chaperone" and assistant whose mother serves as a domestic maid to Al's family. ; : :An engineer for Great Motors (GM) and an organizer of the Trans-America Wild Race, with ambitions of running the company. ; : :A top racer driving for GM in the Trans-America Wild Race and a skilled gunman. One of the legendary "Thousand Three" outlaws known as "Dylan the Hero." ; : :Known as Crazy TJ, he is another of the legendary Thousand Three outlaws who is hired by the Iron Motor Company to drive the Trans-America Wild Race. ; : :Driver for Tlaloc. While he begins the race under the identity of Gil T. Cigar, he later reveals he is actually Tristan of the Bad Brothers and that he impersonated Gil at the organizer's request. ; : :Partner and brother of Tristan. ; / : :A competitor who drives his car, the GT3. He is later revealed to be Gil the Butcher, the leader of the legendary Thousand Three outlaws. He is hired by a railroad magnate to sabotage the race but decides to use the opportunity to make a profit by holding the train and passengers for a ransom.

Production and release

On October 12, 2019,

announced that they were producing the 13-episode original

television series directed and written by Masakazu Hashimoto. Yurie Oohigashi designed the characters based on the original designs by Ahndongshik, with Shiho Takeuchi handling mechanical designs, and

Evan Call Evan Call (born June 29, 1988) is an American composer and arranger working in Japan. He has composed music for multiple anime series, such as '' Violet Evergarden'', ''Muv-Luv Alternative'' and '' Frieren: Beyond Journey's End''. Call is affil ...

composing the series' music. Mia Regina performed the series' opening theme song "I got it!" while the ending song was performed by

Showtaro Morikubo is a Japanese voice actor and singer who has voiced characters in anime, drama CDs, and video games. He was formerly affiliated with I'm Enterprise, Sigma Seven and VIMS. His most notable roles were Shikamaru Nara from ''Naruto'', Souji Okit ...

. It aired from April 10 to September 25, 2020, on AT-X and other networks. On April 17, 2020, it was announced that airings of episode 4 and onward were delayed due to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On June 9, 2020, it was announced that the anime would restart on July 3, 2020, and the fourth episode premiered on July 24, 2020.

Episodes

Manga adaptation

A manga adaptation by Ahndongshik was serialized in

's ''

'' magazine from April 3, 2020, to January 4, 2022. It has been collected in three volumes. At

Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual four-day anime convention held during August at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga Li ...

2022,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

announced that they licensed the manga for English publication.

Volumes

Notes

References

External links

Anime official website
* {{P.A. Works Animated television series about auto racing Anime and manga set in Japan Anime and manga set in Los Angeles Anime and manga set in the United States Anime postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Anime productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Anime with original screenplays AT-X (TV network) original programming Crunchyroll anime Fictional motorsports in anime and manga Funimation Kadokawa Shoten manga P.A.Works Seinen manga Television series set in the 20th century Yen Press titles