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 (Getter Robo Āḥ, Transformers: Energon), directed by Keitaro Motonaga (School Days, Digimon Adventure tri.) 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!!
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The series is set at a point where AI-assisted cars are the norm.
- 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 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. Rin doesn't achieve anything like this again, with her highest placement being fifth and only barely passing the AI racers the rest of the time.
- As You Know: In the first episode, if exposition isn't given through race commentary or 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 a 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. "Your Driving" adds classic cars to the mix, as Rin is given a Toyota 2000GT to practice in.
- 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 to 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, alongside another pair of commentators, on top of singing before the start of concerts.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Akin to The Last Starfighter and Gran Turismo (2023), Rin is recruited into driving for Martial Arts Racing after they see her skills in VR racing. As they soon learn, being an injured shut-in who only plays video games doesn't yeld the best results, as Rin loses every race she's in and gets disqualified on her very first.
- Loser Protagonist: Rin starts the anime by combining this with an Idiot Hero, an ignorant, below-par racer who struggles to do well in her races at times despite herself and her general incompetence both on and off the track, sometimes just being unable to stand on her own two feet. 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; she barely knows any of her opponents besides her high school pals and thinks Alice is just a fan and not one of the sport's biggest names until they go in a simulator. As Episode 4 shows, she is slowly improving her driving and social skills.
- 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.
- Metaphysical Fuel: HyPER is an easily renewable energy source completely distilled from fossil fuel, which is used in the setting for practically everything, but the most relevant to the series' concept is NEX Racing.
- Mysterious Past: A lot of the details regarding Rin's past, including her ballet injury, or the specific reasons as to why she was chosen to race are currently unknown.
- Once per Episode: Capping off each episode is brief information on the various HyPER-installed race cars.
- 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.
- Wham Episode:
- "Listen Carefully" has Rin place within the top 10, taking fifth and briefly ending her consistent streak of placing last.
- "The Goddess of Luck" features Rin spinning out and crashing her car, forcing her team to sit out for the rest of the season as a result.
