Overtake! – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Enthusiasm and Spirit

Episode 2 of Overtake! begins with Koya offering to help Komaki Motors by offering to become a sponsor. He arrives at their house to show them the picture he clicked of Haruka. Haruka arrives and is embarrassed to see a picture of him crying.

Later that day, they converse about the sponsorship in the garage. Koya expresses his admiration for Haruka’s work etiquette and the sport. Haruka reveals that it takes them about 11 million yen to keep the team racing, making him realize his 100 thousand yen sponsorship won’t cut the deal.

Later that day he has a conversation with Futoshi. Futoshi reveals that back in the day he was a part of an F4 team along with Haruka’s father. He has taken care of Haruka while his mother was unwell. Unfortunately, both of Haruka’s parents passed away while he was fairly young.

After taking Haruka under their wing, he requested them to let him become a racer like his father, after which they started their own race team. Futoshi tells Koya about Haruka’s resilience as he delivers newspapers to make some money for the team.

On the way back home, Koya gets a call from his ex-wife to offer him an opportunity to photograph Ena of Belsorriso. The next day, Koya arrives at the Belsorriso headquarters and heads for the garage along with Ena. Koya questions Ena about the cars and funding, trying to gain more information about the sport. Ena tells him about their budget, standardized cars, and drivers.

The same day, Koya returns to Futoshi with news about a potential sponsor. Koya informs Haruka that the investors will first see a live performance before signing up. Unfortunately, the investors are not pleased with Haruka’s performance and decline the offer.

Haruka returns home to find the room empty. Koya arrives, and the two have a conversation. Koya apologizes for barging in as an absolute newbie. He promises Haruka that he will take his time before making any decisions or finding a sponsor.

While leaving the house, Koya sees Futoshi with a customer who requests his logo on a car. Koya comes up with a plan to get sponsors by placing logos on the car and uniform. Koya takes Haruka along with him to visit businesses and look for sponsors.

They spend the day visiting multiple shops and are informed that they will consider the offer and revert. They also receive a gift from every business they visit.

Later that evening, Koya and Haruka rest at a park nearby reflecting on their day. Just then a kid recognizes Haruka from the races and claims he is like Raceman, a popular hero the kid is very fond of. This elevates Haruka’s spirit and Haruka looks forward to a better future.

The Episode Review

This episode focuses on Koya’s initial attempts to help the Komaki Motors team by attempting to bring in sponsors for the team. The chapter maintains strong ties with the sport by diving into details only an avid fan of the sport will be familiar with.

This episode is endearing and submerses viewers in the journey of a young lad limited by resources, yet bearing the courage to follow his dreams. It also establishes the legitimacy of the efforts with Koya, a complete newbie to the sport taking notice and stepping in to help, despite having very little to offer materialistically. This episode makes it clear. “Overtake!” isn’t just a racing anime.