OverDrive
Short Synopsis: A typical loser gets to learn to ride a bicycle.
Good: Decent enough music.
Bad: Yawn… err, where was I?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 3/10
Sports-anime have never really been my thing. Strangely enough, I never really had a good reason to avoid them. Finally, OverDrive gave me one. God, that was awful. The main bad point about this anime isn’t really that it’s bad, but the whole thing is just so incredibly boring. I felt myself nearly fall asleep after the first few minutes. Oh and the main character is a fourteen year-old loser who’s never ridden a bicycle before and will somehow end up as the best cyclist ever without having to practice hard like everyone else does. I definitely do not hope that all sports-anime are as bad as this one.
Fuyu no Semi
Short Synopsis: Quite an interesting setting: Ezo. Two guys who want to open up Japan to the rest of the world fall in love with each other (yes: guys).
Good: Nice historical backgrounds.
Bad: A tad boring, but that may have been because I watched this right after OverDrive.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6,5/10
I was quite surprised to see Ezo as the main setting in this OVA. It takes place perhaps a few years after Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, but without the magic and supernatural elements. What was even more surprising that I heard the name of one of the main characters: Akizuki. After a while, it appears that this wasn’t Youjirou, but Keiichirou. Brothers? Anyway, the episode self didn’t make me too enthusiastic. It does have some interesting historical elements, but most of the episode looked like some strange version of a dating-sim.
Saint Beast
Short Synopsis: I’ve been wondering this myself.
Good: Nice OP and ED, I guess, albeit a bit cheesy.
Bad: Oh god the Engrish… the horrible, horrible Engrish!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 4/10
My impression of Saint Beast can be described in one word: forgettable. Yet again, nothing of the episode caught my interest. Heck, now that I’m writing this, I can hardly remember what this anime was about anyway. I believe it was about six bishounen-angels who live happily in a mountain-cottage, until they get summoned by a Greek God-ish type of guy. I can hardly imagine recommending this one.]]>
Some quick first impressions: OverDrive, Fuyu no Semi and Saint Beast
Oh god, the first few minutes of saint Beast killed me… Some nasally Engrish fit to kill human ears.
You know what, if you’re going to give overviews and comments on anime, etc Overdrive, rather than saying how crap it is and how boring it is, why don’t u detail what aspects made it boring and crap?
All you do is repeat the same thing over and over. If you were in my English class, i’d give you 1/20. Try to be more informative if you’re going to give reviews.
I indeed see that that wasn’t one of my better reviews, but I think that’s because I wrote it right after watching the series, aka half asleep. The thing is, all Overdrive does is follow the life of a typical loser, who actually is very kind-hearted and who will somehow get close to the girl and become the best cyclist ever. Predictability, anyone? I’m not lying when I say that this anime nearly put me to sleep while watching.
Well, there really isn’t much to say if the show is crap, right? The “talent” premise pretty much exaplins that, especially since it’s situated in the context of competitive cycling. (These guys train so hard!)
LOL, 1/20? I’d definitely give you extra points for spelling out your U’s.
OverDrive is only into its 3rd episode and you’re judging it based on the 1st episode? It’d be more justified if you can be more specific as pointed out by moomoo.
And you’re speculating that he’d be the best based on the first 1 min of the whole series? Not even having known the process and claiming that “the main character is a fourteen year-old loser who’s never ridden a bicycle before and will somehow end up as the best cyclist ever without having to practice hard like everyone else does.” is totally crap.
Justify please.
Well, you could call these speculations sortof intuition. The main character is a wuss, nobody likes him except for one childhood friend, who just happens to be a very cute girl. The “best cyclist ever” was sortof sarcasm. Of course I don’t know which kind of championship he’ll end up in, but it’ll be extremely unlikely that he doesn’t win it in the end. When you compare him to his rivals, who’ve been training hard for almost their entire lives (and also look a lot older than the guy, by the way), you’re beginning to wonder how on earth he’ll be able to do this.
I also admit that I forgot to mention one major turn-off for me: one particular scene in the OP, where you can see a close-up of all the four main characters on their bikes, with a peloton behind them and with triumphant smiles on their faces. That scene makes me cringe, even when I think about it. It seems to suggest that winning a cycling campionship is just another walk in the park for this main character, and it blatantly places this guy above all other characters. That’s the main reason I made that prediction.
Sure, the series might turn out good, but after this first episode, I really don’t have any motivation to watch any more. When a series comes with so many different series, some will have to be dropped, which is why I drop them based on the potential of these series. Overdrive, in my opinion, has almost nothing of this. I’d rather much watch a good show that most people never check out because it looks strange or scary.
ummm …i think you should watch the whole anime because now you’ll see how did the nerd could ride a byke very well within few months.you have to be pacient.i have to admit that th e first ep were quite boring but now is very exciting and
in my opinion is a very nice anime.
about overdrive… yes one has to admit the first episode is a bore
BUT! give an anime at least 5 episodes before judging it, like seriously, cause overdrive isn’t quite as horrible as you describe it.
and you say “will somehow end up as the best cyclist ever without having to practice hard like everyone else does” psgels, that’s not technically really true. he trains hard. very hard….. only a bit too hard.
yup, i like overdrive… slow people like shinozaki are hilarious!
Actually, the child hood friend.. is NOT a child hood friend. She doesn’t like him and is only really using him to earn funds from her brother. Also.. he works himself until exhaustion cycling… and still sucks bad (by 9th episode) its shapping up to be a pretty decent show actually.
i would say your review is crap not overdrive 1st u know the anime is actually funny and not boring 2nd the main chara had an accident on his bike when he was small(he has forgotten this ) 3rd he trained very hard for his first race nearly to death -.- 4th he is not a loser he has the spirit to keep going and he wants to protect his club btw that guy is an awesome artist ^^ and the story itself isn´t boring either …… anyway i think that u should watch more than 1 ep to judge about the anime -.-
first few episodes of overdrive i agree, sucked major ass, but ive really got into it now, exspecially as i like cycling. but yea the latest episodes are nice.
dun judge a book by it’s cover…esp not the 1st epi..!!!! overdrive in my opinion..is so freaking nice and exciting…!! watch it to believe it…and prove urself wrong!
Overdrive is an Awesome anime, dont know what you are talking about, ya retard…………]:P
I didn’t think it was boring at all.
I’ve watched up to episode 8 and I thought he DID work really hard, harder than anybody else to become decent, but even so he still behind the rest, Determination, and endurance, and heart are traits of any type of sports, and this Anime shows it very well.
you know i agree with the ppl that commented. you judge way to early on over drive. You think why he’s so good just in a couple of days? well, it’ll give u some flashbacks about his past and WHY he can ride so well so quick in later episodes. so instead of opening your mouth and calling it crap so soon, watch all of it then comment. i mean ALL of us are even putting the effort to type this to disagree with you. it just shows that YOU may like it later on as well.
Sports-anime have never really been my thing. i think that very first line is enough to convince me how much should i even read about your critique. there are 4 levels of criticism and you are barely out of lvl 1.
Hanamichi Sakuragi is another noob that doesn’t know anything about basketball but look at what happened to Slamdunk.
just so many ppl writing in to refute your claims come on you gotta admit there’re some problems somewhere.
Okay, I was wrong with this first impression. I’m not sure whether I’ll check out the rest of the series at some point, it’ll depend on whether I find enough time for it (to give an indication, I’ve also been forced to drop Lovely Complex because of this, even though it’s a perfectly fine show), but based your comments, I’m beginning to see that this is one of these series where first impressions are wrong. I just saw the first episode, and it bored me like no other, so I wrote an impression, based on that. ^^;
By the way, Teo: you’ve made me curious. What are these four levels of criticism? I’m always open for improvement. 🙂
Actually, if you ever watched a sports anime. the characters rarely ever win in the end. They get all the way to the final game/event/whatever, and lose. Thats the point of sports anime. They make you feel good and happy about a sport, they get you interested in it, and try to show that the important thing, in the end, isn’t winning or losing. Its the journey getting there. Its cliche and blah blah blah. But rarely do they ever win. Case in point, Princess Nine, one of the best sports anime in the last decade. Lost. Prince of Tennis, who knows, it ended before the last match. Eyeshield, Lost. Hikaru No Go, Lost. Seeing a pattern here ?
hey man stop dissing overdrive its tight and the OP has a real good beat so stop judging the show and by the way when he was little he used to be faster than any one else until an accident occured and he never rode again so in reality he actually has talent and he does try hard
after browsing through the comments after reading your little expose on Overdrive.. i feel i need to comment myself. As a critic.. you jumped the gun. and horribly critized and reviewed to the point of falicy. Overdrive is about a young man who although akward and slow finds a meaning and purpose in his life. There are those who are born knowing why they exsist, there are those who find it through events as they develop in thier teenage years and there are those who find it late in adulthood afer wandering through exsistence haphazardly.. this is a story about a teenager who was born to ride .. but didnt figure it out until he met a certain group of people.. It revolves around his development .. examines his ambitions and motivation while bringing in some good old-fashion teenage anticts. Without giving away the rest of the show .. i think watching painstakingly until your 7th or 8th episode .. would be a wise choice should you feel the need to rip this anime a new one.
some things.. you are wrong about the nothing to number one with no effort. should you watch .. there is are several episodes that revolves around his effort… it starts in episode 3.. and i dont know about you but i dont think many teenagers in real life can push themselves to potential overnight like he did.. however.. what the story is saying is.. you can. if you want it bad enough with some work.. anything is possible… there is extreme depth in sports anime .. more should give them credit for inspiring youth… even if youth doesnt see it as inspiration.
Next… although it might not be action packed.. it is far from boring… the main character and his supporting characters give details to which watching half asleep you miss.
Like the passion spirit and strength lying dormant within this slow useless adolecent boy.
like the sparks and explosions in his cycling development when they surface from the depths within him self..
and the change within himself as well as outwardly for the world to see as he is realizing more and more what his desires are bring to fruitation.
this anime is full of .. ‘take note’ type blurbs.. but if you watch it thinking its going to diappoint.. it will… you dont pay attention to the anime .. its meaning.. its message.. or anything that is pertainate to it its entertainment value…
that being said… since you watched and commented so hastily.. i think it wise to rewatch so you dont continue to look like a pompus critic .. who knows nothing about what he critizes.. in otherwords..
an unintellegent windbag.
like it hate it.. makes no difference to me.. i am not even saying give it a chance.. i am saying .. if you are going to give your opinion on something.. do it right. dont just grab stuff out of the air and turn it into correct truthful critizism.. its an embarrassment, and its grossly unfair to those who read your commentary looking for guidence.. as you are (especially after reading the commantary) lying to them… Flat out.. lying… that is just simply wrong.
I felt the need to inspire you to correct your mistake and pay more attention to future endevors should you decide to voice your opinion at least from now on .. so as not to make the same mistake you did .. on Overdrive.
Nekokitty: believe me, I regret posting that review. It’s been nearly half a year and comments still keep coming in about how I was wrong back then.
Basically, what happened is that I watch the first episode of every new show that’s airing. I do this with a reason: there are so many unknown gems out there that you can only find in this way. Unfortunately, there’s also a bad point about this, since I can’t keep watching every single show for more than one episode.
So basically, I watched the first episode after it aired, didn’t like it and posted that rather biased review. It’s a bit different from lying though: I really didn’t have any hopes for it back then, mostly due to my bias and the fact that it looked so similar to so many other shows. The result, well, you can see it here. It turned even more extreme with Kaze no Stigma.
haha understood…
^.^
a
Well, case is closed now.
Overdrive is shaping up to be a good sports anime. In the end, the main character didn’t even make a time despite giving his all.
Very interesting, yes. And yeah, I was surpirsed to read that you gave it such and underrated score; but it’s all settled now I believe. =)
I didn’t even have to read through all your reviews to see if they were good or bad. Just the first one about OverDrive says everything about your reviews. Personally, I found OverDrive as an amazing anime series that had a lot of detail put into it.
You also talk about how the first few minutes bored you. I think you just have bad taste.
Overdrive is a nice anime btw