In the next future, mankind has developed a new energy source called "HyPER"note , easily renewable and completely distilled from fossil fuel, which has since been used for practically anything. Yet, the most commonly used application of this energy source is through the futuristic racing cars partaking in the NEX Racing, capable of going up to 500 km/h (around ~315 mp/h) and is equipped with an advanced AI support system and the revolutionary "Revolburst" mechanism that yields a limited burst of speed.
Rin Rindo, a relative newcomer, is one such participant of NEX Racing. Having suffered a Career-Ending Injury that crushed her dream of being a ballet dancer and reduced her to being a NEET/gamer living in her grandmother's house as a result, she ends up thrown into the world of racing, one where she would further revolutionize the sport to new heights...
HIGHSPEED Étoile is a 3D CGI racing anime animated by Studio A-Cat and released on April 6, 2024 during the Spring 2024 season, being a gigantic collaboration between the Japanese Super Formula Championship
, Formula E's Tokyo ePrix and Formula One's Japan Grand Prix, not mention a wide assortment of Product Placement.
The anime also has an official tie-in promotional team, HIGHSPEED Étoile Racing in Japan, with the hope of supporting female drivers in motorsports. The two-woman team is planned to participate in three races in the 2024 season.
START YOUR ENGINES!!
- Achievements in Ignorance: Despite being an inexperienced driver who barely knows the competition rules, Rin's desperation to salvage something of her disastrous debut race lets her intuit a line that lets her pass a supposed "last place driver" trying to challenge her, when it was really her being lapped by the first place racer. For Rin, it was just an overtake, while everyone present recognizes the implications of a driver capable of finding a weakness in the reigning champion Lorenzo Salvatore, disqualification or not.
- As You Know: In the first episode, if exposition isn't being given through the race commentary or through a narrator, it's through characters with varying degrees of explaining things other characters should be familiar with.
- Automated Automobiles: Fully AI cars take part in the races as means to fill out rosters.
- Cool Car: All over the place. Apart from having sophisticated AI support systems and a sleek futuristic design that would make Asurada proud, its "Revolburst" mechanic allows any racers to effectively keep up the pace and even overtake the competition when used correctly.
- Epic Fail: Rin's debut race ends with her getting disqualified for overtaking Lorenzo while being a lap behind herself and in last place. She gets called out for her blatant disregard of rules by her team's manager over this maneuver, and demands Rin read the rules.
- The Faceless: Retired Badass Folk Ogura is depicted with an opaqued helmet, unlike the other racers. As he leaves the course after Passing the Torch to his teammates, the camera cuts away just before he takes off the helmet.
- Idol Singer: The Primastellas, Akari and Hikari, twin holographic idols who serve as race commentators on top of singing before the start of concerts.
- Loser Protagonist: Rin starts the anime combining this with an Idiot Hero, being an ignorant, below-par racer who's struggles to do well in her races at times in spite of herself. The flashes of potential and intuition she displays when put under stress and frustration are the rare signs of the racer she could be, though she has a long way to prove she's capable of it. As shown in episode 3, she also has a horrible case of Recognition Failure; as she barely knows any of her opponents and thinks Alice is just a racing fan and not one of the biggest names of the sport until they go in a simulator.
- Loyalty Mission: Richard serves as Alice's blocker, preventing anyone outside of Lorenzo from ever overtaking her. Whether it's due to Undying Loyalty like he claims, a payoff from either her or one of the teams, or if he's using it solely as an excuse to overtake them themselves when they least expect it is unknown.
- Product Placement: On top of it being a collaboration between racing leagues, a ton of real life product placement for various products like drawing software Clip Studio Paint and anti-energy drink Chill Out as well as companies like Honda and Takara Tomy are plastered over cars, the race track, and racer uniforms. King Records, Good Smile Company, and Yostar are also prominently featured due to their production cooperation. Even VRChat is in the mix.
- Regional Speciality: The Primastellas promote Mt. Fuji curry as a recommended local specialty at the start of the Neo Mt. Fuji race in episode 1, which is curry rice where the rice is shaped like a mountain, helped by unusually colored blue curry that helps the top of the rice mountain look snowcapped. And yes, it's real and existed before the anime.
