Ōban Star-Racers

Ōban Star-Racers is an animated television series produced in English as a French-Japanese co-creation, developed by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel through his company Sav! The World Productions with several international partners. It began as a short film called *Molly, Star-Racer* before being expanded into a full series with help from Jetix Europe. The animation was handled by Hal Film Maker and Pumpkin 3D, with much of the work done in Tokyo, Japan. The show reached over 100 countries, including Japan, and in the United States it ran on the Jetix programming blocks of ABC Family and Toon Disney from June to December 2006. In Canada, it aired on Family Channel.

In 2021, a public event for the series’ 15th anniversary took place in Paris on December 4. The following February, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund a Blu-ray release in the original HD format and to support new Ōban-related projects. The campaign raised €377,056 (roughly $410,000 USD), and the Blu-rays shipped at the start of 2023.

The story is set in 2082. Eva Wei is a 15-year-old girl whose mother, Maya, died in a racing accident ten years earlier. After running away from boarding school, Eva seeks out her father, Don Wei, a famous race manager. He does not recognize her after their long separation, so she hides her identity by adopting the name “Molly” and works as his mechanic. Soon, Don’s team is chosen to represent Earth in the Great Race of Ōban, an intergalactic competition where the winner receives the Ultimate Prize—a wish-granting reward that could save Earth from the invading Crog Empire. When the team’s star pilot, Rick Thunderbolt, is sabotaged and cannot race, Molly takes his place as pilot of the ship Whizzing Arrow, alongside gunner Jordan Wilde. She becomes determined to win not only to protect Earth but also to bring her mother back to life.

Eva, or Molly, is a Chinese-American girl who often skips schoolwork to focus on mechanics. She lacks confidence and is intimidated by her father’s harshness, so she keeps her true identity secret. After modifying the Whizzing Arrow’s controls to work with her scooter, she becomes the team’s pilot. She develops a mutual attraction to Prince Aikka of Nourasia, though this complicates her relationships, especially with Jordan. Jordan is a 17-year-old soldier hired as the team’s gunner.