History YMMV / ObanStarRacers

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: What does Canaletto mean with his rhetoric of "a world of purity"? He states all life is flawed, but is he referring to his own xenophobic worldview or the idea that life as a whole is amoral and ungrateful of the Avatar's protection? It should also be noted that he chose ''Eva'' of all pilots as a means to achieve his plan. Considering how humans are apparently seen as the weakest species, it's possible Canaletto on some level related to Eva's anger at her own perceived helplessness. His desire for an unchanging world may also suggest he experienced loss and tragedy ''himself'' in the past, and [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery wants to create a new world where that can't happen.]]

* EvilIsSexy:
** Ning and Skun, two gorgeous and rowdy [[CuteMonsterGirl alien girl]] bikers with FemmeFatalons and shark-like teeth. [[AntiVillain Well, depending on your definition of "evil".]]
** The Crogs are a ''whole race'' of super buff aliens with builds like tanks and deep voices. If that's your thing, you might be excited when they come to invade earth.
** Canaletto may be an utterly irredeemable monster, but his voice can be quite soft and pleasant to hear, and a piece of concept art shows he's got quite a well-toned physique underneath that robe.

* CultClassic: While not as mainstream or well-known as other shows from the era, Oban still has a devoted fanbase and is attracting a larger audience nowadays.

* HilariousInHindsight: At the beginning, when Satis welcomes the Earth Team, Don Wei says he didn't expect the Avatar. The real Avatar? [[spoiler: It's not like it's hard to guess or anything.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Don Wei makes some pretty poor life decisions:
** In the past, following his wife Maya's death in a race, Don feels he's not fit to take care of his Daughter Eva since he's still reeling from the trauma of her crash.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Don Wei would send her to live with surviving family, or failing that, find a descent boarding school and be sure to keep her in contact so she'd know he still cares.\\
'''Instead:''' He drops her off at the aptly named [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Stern Boarding School]] and makes no attempt at ''all'' to contact her.\\
'''As a consequence:''' Eva's relationship with her father is fractured, and when she eventually reveals who she is, she flat out lays into him how horrible his decision was.
** In the first race on Planet Alwas, Rick Thunderbolt, the Earth Team's pilot is severely injured on the first race with [[MechanicalLifeforms Groor.]] The team scrambles to find a replacement.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Don Wei to realize the entire Earth is at stake, put aside any reservations about female pilots, and hire Molly/Eva, who happens to be the ''only'' other member with pilot experience.\\
'''Instead:''' Don is so adamantly against Molly piloting that he puts Jordan in the drivers' seat, even though Jordan has a terrible track record with flying.\\
'''As a consequence:''' Jordan nearly crashes the ''Whizzing Arrow'' on his first test-flight. Don is almost ready to fly the thing ''himself'' before Eva jumps into the cockpit and proves a worthy replacement.
** Rick Thunderbolt is starting to recover in time for the second race.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Don to have Rick given a ''thorough'' examination before he's allowed in the cockpit again.\\
'''Instead:''' Don once again pushes Eva to the side, and eagerly puts Rick behind the wheel. Unfortunately, Rick has suffered crippling nerve damage from his crash that triggers paralysis at high speeds.\\
'''As a consequence:''' Rick freezes up in his race against Ceres, nearly getting himself and Jordan killed. It's only through Eva jumping in and taking the controls that they're able to win.
** In ''Agile Like Aikka,'' Eva strikes a deal with the Nourasian Prince Aikka that in their next race, they won't use weapons to even the odds. She tells the Earth Team of this plan, but they ridicule this strategy out of distrust for the Nourasians. Come the race, Eva shuts down the ''Arrow''s turret, preventing Jordan from firing. Aikka in turn keeps his word.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Don Wei or Jordan would notice that Eva's plan is ''working''. Aikka wields mystically charged arrows that deal heavy blows, and as Eva points out,if they were to attack him,that would provoke him to fire back and make the course more risky than it needs to be.\\
'''Instead:''' Don Wei has Stan and Koji turn the turret back on out of anger at Eva's disobedience. Jordan then blasts away giddily at Aikka mere moments before they reach the finish line, who disables the ship with an arrow, costing them the match. Aikka feels betrayed and Eva lambasts Jordan for not trusting her.\\
'''Even Worse:''' Jordan and Don Wei [[NeverMyFault blame Eva for not sticking to the plan.]]

** Ning and Skun, two gorgeous and rowdy [[CuteMonsterGirl alien girl]] [[BikerBabe bikers]] with FemmeFatalons and shark-like teeth. [[AntiVillain Well, depending on your definition of "evil".]]

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/ColinMurdock mostly does voice work for lighthearted children's fare, such as the title character in the 2015 series of ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder'' and Wiggles the Alligator of ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012''. He was also the hammy Texas accented Quickstrike in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersBeastWars''. Here he's the dead-serious, malevolent Canaletto, and his performance is absolutely ''spine-chilling.''

* OlderThanTheyThink: The show appears to be the concept of "[[StarWars Podracing]]" spun out into an anime series, right down to the designs of several of the racers. However, Oban's racers were developed in 1997, two years before ''The Phantom Menace'' came out.

WhatAnIdiot: Don Wei makes some pretty poor life decisions:

** President McMullen's response to finding out the true "Ultimate Prize". He tells Don Wei to keep Eva in the race so she can become a human avatar, meaning he intends to force a ''15-year old child'' to become a being of pure power and use her as a weapon for human supremacy. His dismissal of Don Wei fearing for his daughter is especially callous. If that isn't enough, he later has Earth's armies violate a ceasefire and nearly plunges humanity into war with the Crogs again, all out of sheer paranoia and pride.

* EvilIsCool: [[TheAntiGod Canaletto]],[[ProudWarriorRace The Crogs]], and any of the more outright antagonistic alien racers who aren't [[HarmlessVillain Lord Furter]] or [[HateSink Groor.]]

** President

* HarsherInHindsight: The passing of Creator/UnshoIshizuka, Don Wei's Japanese voice actor, is this. One of the most important plotlines of the original series is about Molly/Eva's relationship with her father, but his Japanese voice actor passed away over a year after the announcement of a sequel series potentially being in development.