Forum - View topicREVIEW: MF Ghost Season 1 Anime Series Review
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WizardOfOss
 Posts: 98 Location: Oss, Netherlands |
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The racing segments are very exciting? Have we watched the same series?
My biggesty problem with this series is the complete absence of any form of realism in the racing. Such different cars (with apparently one single rule that doesn't make any sense), yet somehow not that fast cars can catch up and overtake much faster ones? Even when most of the racing is all flatout with high speed corners? And sure, the driver can make a difference, but only so much. Clearly most of these dudes don't belong in these races. And how many overtakes do we actually get to see? And several times it's mentioned they need to take care of their tires.....so the logical thing to do is go sideways through every single turn 
Also, why is this boring racing series even so popular, apparently even worldwide? And if it actually is, why aren't more capable cars and drivers competing? And apart from the racing, why did Ren want to become an Angel when clearly she had never seen their role in the races before? And sure, not everything needs to be realistic. I mean, Blue Lock is utter nonsense too when it comes to football, but it makes up for that with weird characters and sheer excitement. And not for a moment it pretends to be realistic. But MFG doesn't compensate it's complete lack of realism with anything. it almost seems like it just exists to troll its audience. I'm enough of a car enthusiast to give the second season another chance, but I can't say I'm hopeful... Last edited by WizardOfOss on Sun Sep 29, 2024 1:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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KrisPNatz
Posts: 49 |
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I am of the opinion that the only good thing to come out of MFG is the new eurobeat selection but even THAT pales in comparison to the HITS from ID. I watched MFG without having seen ID and after being curious to compare to the original mixed with a brand new fascination in the staple genre of classic DDR, I decided to watch all of ID as MFG season 1 aired which was honestly such a terrible decision cause it made MFG look even WORSE with every week that passed.
Aside from the fact that the whole rich elite racing vibe of MFG feels like such an antithesis to one of the core appeals of ID (who the hell wants sanitized corporate STREET racing?), what baffles me the most is how dated MFG feels compared to an anime that began airing in the late 90s. I consider myself a bit of a fanservice feminist (  ) so I generally dont have a problem with most objectification of women in anime (I would just like for that level of objectification to be levied at male characters just as much, where is the male genre of ecchi?) but I generally draw a line at female characters being visibly uncomfortable in their objectification particularly when said objectification is so blatantly uninspired and just a crop top with literal white panties in WINGS  . I went into ID expecting women holding countdown signs in miniskirts that fly up for panty shots every time the cars speed by, only to find this concept entirely absent. When they showed Ren picking her whole wedgie on national television I was in disbelief, even moreso that her parents are fine with this line of work for a high school girl (the mother is a whole other conversation I won't get into).
Truly just a baffling decision overall and yet still not as baffling as the whole "17 complex" character which made me - someone who regularly argues about anime characters being literally drawings with arbitrary ages - feel uncomfortable. Like what on EARTH was the thought process with that decision? Why is it necessary for this random racer who will end up as rival of the week and probably become a recurring character? Why 17...? I guess it's supposed to be funny but even the theoretical morals of it aside its execution just isn't. Even weirder when a whole subplot of the original was a girl engaging in enjo kosai which was framed as a bad thing... although after seeing this I wonder if the mangaka was framing it as bad because it was unethical or because it "prevented" Takumi from being with his love interest... .
I will be watching season 2 of MFG mostly for the new eurobeat selection (2 Love 4 Love has been on repeat since the latest trailer) but also because my favorite lonely driver Iketani and his drastically receding hairline was teased in promotions since season 1 so I'm lovingly awaiting his probably still pathetic return. If it weren't for that I would probably have dropped this as even the racing itself feels uninteresting, low risk and even lower reward since now its anime's street racing nascar, even Nascar Racers and those Hot Wheelz Acceleracers films of the 00s knew they had to do something MORE than just a regular, regulated race .
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1591 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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Love it, hate it, express apathy towards it, you gotta admit that making Mt. Fuji erupt for the purpose of justifying why a portion of the initial race course is covered in a perpetual fog is a hell of a worldbuilding choice.
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The_Daytona_500
 Posts: 108 |
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Unsurprisingly the eurobeat completely ruined this. They had already learned their lesson by using real music in the remake movies and it was so much better, I can't fathom why on Earth they went back. Maybe eurobeat album sales must be completely tanking and they need the promotion...?
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4671 |
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Towards the end, they do seem to acknowledge that the driver can only do so much to compensate for the differences in cars since they were modifying the otherwise unmodified car for the next race. Although even then, there is only so much they can do without changing vehicles. I think they do cover the tires thing reasonably enough. Kanata uses those turns to make up ground, but each time brings it closer to shredding them. We just haven't seen it happen yet. Ren's double life is odd. I kind of expected that there would be a reveal that everyone was just playing along for her sake, and maybe Kanata played along because he thought he was supposed to do that. But no, people genuinely seem fooled by a slightly lighter hair color and some makeup. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 14267 |
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I guess one could argue the outfit also distracts from looking at her too closely... |
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BalmungHHQ
Posts: 464 |
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I, for one, found MF Ghost to be a thoroughly enjoyable series and a suitable followup to Initial D that takes just enough from its predecessor while also doing enough different to give it its own identity.
Obviously the races are important, and MF Ghost distinguishes itself by focusing on larger organized group races through its MFG competition, rather than the underground one-on-ones of Initial D's story. And I think that makes a thorough difference in the vibe. But that's also where MF Ghost forges its own way. If Initial D is the night, then MF Ghost is the day. I think they compliment eachother well. Of course, the amazing eurobeat tracks to boost the hype of the races is the key point to inherit between the two, and I think MF Ghost does a wonderful job with its music selection. (Not to mention the epic Opening song I enjoy as a fan of both Yu Serizawa and Motsu.) Maybe my view is partly due to a kind of recency bias. I was never into Initial D back in the day, despite enjoying the music from it over the years. I only finally gave it a proper watch a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it as a classic of its era. But I don't really hold it up on a pedestal the way people who may carry true nostalgia for it do. And it's true for people like that, MF Ghost may not carry the same weight and come across as a letdown. But for someone like me, who enjoys seeing a contemporary story set in the same world as a classic anime I happened to watch recently, MF Ghost has been a real treat and a nice change of pace among the kinds of anime on air now. |
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WizardOfOss
Posts: 98 Location: Oss, Netherlands |
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Yeah, on tracks that seemingly are at least 95% flatout, they solve the issue with their massively underpowered car by....not doing anything about their biggest weakness. Makes sense
Now if this was all about illegal street racing, sure, I could see a talented race driver in a decent car win from some complete nitwit in a car way faster than he can handle. I mean, put me in a Ferrari against Max Verstappen in that GT86, and he'll utterly destroy me. But MFG is supposed to be this worldwide popular racing series for some reason. Is it weird to assume all of these competitors should at least have the most basic of racing skills? This is fiction, so some suspension of disbelief is to be expected. But there are limits.... |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4830 |
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I've been working my way through Initial D sporadically over the past year or two, and I just finished up Fourth Stage this past week. I've loved almost every bit of it so far, but everything I've heard about MF Ghost makes me want to stay far away. It's a shame too, because the original series is so good at what it does. The personalities are colorful, the races are high-stakes battles where anything can happen, and even the infamously janky CG work in the early seasons evolves into dynamic fast-paced action. (Seriously, there are shots in Fourth Stage that look better than CG work I've seen in modern shows.) Sure, you have to suspend your disbelief sometimes, like the basic idea that drifting around a tarmac course is in any way faster than maintaining grip, but everything is so much fun that it's easy to do. Shifting things to sanctioned big-money "street" races in the daytime doesn't have nearly the same appeal. And while Initial D had some...interesting uses of its relatively small female cast (absolutely no one is allowed to be in an ongoing relationship!), at the very least most of them had agency. Having your only notable female character be a grid girl for no good reason is just...ugh.
This is...certainly a take. The franchise's use of Eurobeat is almost universally beloved as far as I've seen; it's the first thing most people associate with the series. I know I had zero interest in those remake movies largely because they had a more conventional soundtrack. |
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sharkticon
Posts: 33 |
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The point I have made in a few other forums, and will continue to make, is that this series is not for the ANN crowd, and that is ok. By that I mean it is not made for general anime consumers. It is made to be car porn for car people. This series is for the gear heads who do not watch anime, but have been wearing Initial D shirts for over 20 years. It's for an entire different sub-culture that just happens to be touching ours in this instance. There are going to be people who you would have never marked as anime fans holding watch parties for season 2, and will be the reason it gets a season 3.
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WizardOfOss
Posts: 98 Location: Oss, Netherlands |
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Ah, that's where it went wrong for me....I'm a gear head AND an anime fan....
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Top Gun
Posts: 4830 |
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See I don't know if I buy that, because I can point to any number of series about niche interests that wound up being watched and loved by a bunch of people who knew little to nothing about those interests going in. How many times have you seen people say, "I don't watch sports, but I really love Sports Anime X"? Do you think that Haikyu got super-popular because most of its audience were avid volleyball fans? Are Mitsuru Adachi's manga so beloved just because people are invested in the intricacies of baseball? Look at Yuri on Ice, which wound up crossing its popularity over to real-life figure skaters and got a lot of its fans interested in the actual thing. Speaking personally, I knew little and cared less about ancient Japanese board games until being charmed by Hikaru no Go. This even applies to non-competitive hobbies with series like Laid-Back Camp or Encouragement of Climb. My point being that series aren't good based on what subject matter they cover, they're good because of their effective characterization and storytelling. Saying "this isn't FOR you" feels like a lame excuse for a show that has by most accounts failed at those fundamentals. I mean, look back at Initial D. It took me a ways into it to realize, but at its heart it's basically a tournament shounen, and a damn good one. It creates larger-than-life adversaries, sets Takumi up in the role of underdog, and sees him have to use his natural talent and penchant for improvisation to defeat superior opponents. The cars are obviously a huge part of the series, but if you took them away and replaced them with magical power levels or something, the core of the story would still shine through. You may come for the dodgy CG models and blasting Eurobeat, but you stay to watch Takumi grow from a disinterested kid to a driven racer. That's its beating heart. |
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