10 racing anime to watch, from Overtake! to MF Ghost

Haruka races in Japanese Formula 4 for tiny Komaki Motors. When photographer Kouya tries to help, enthusiasm quickly meets the cost of keeping a car on track.

Why try it: the work behind the race. Kouya's sponsorship plan and Haruka's awkward publicity duties make support feel practical, personal and sometimes funny.

What sets it apart: the photographer gets as much emotional space as the driver. Choose these 12 episodes for friendship and trust alongside the racing thrills.

A father builds his son a kart from discarded parts. Its bent frame and limited engine turn Capeta's first laps into problems that talent alone cannot solve.

Why try it: resourcefulness and technique grow together: Capeta compensates with his weight, then experiments with where to lift off the accelerator.

What sets it apart: childhood discovery comes first. Family and friends help keep the kart running, making this a natural next stop for Overtake!'s small-team spirit. Start with the 2005 TV anime.

Takumi's routine tofu deliveries have taught him Mount Akina in his father's Toyota AE86. Local racers discover that an ordinary-looking car can be an unexpectedly difficult opponent.

Why try it: road knowledge upsets the apparent balance of power. Each downhill challenge asks what the driver can extract from familiar corners and modest machinery.

What sets it apart: Eurobeat and mountain-road duels give the original Japanese version its identity. Begin with the 1998 First Stage; the later Legend films retell its opening.

Kanata arrives from Britain to enter MFG's near-future public-road championship. His Toyota 86 shares the entry list with supercars, while finding his father gives him another reason to stay.

Why try it: the terrain keeps changing the problem: season one's opening qualifying run moves through climbs, descents and Hakone fog.

What sets it apart: qualifying and a larger field replace Initial D's early one-on-one challenges. Start with season 1; romance and sexualised race-hostess scenes also occupy its attention.

Explore MF Ghost's first episode

Akio finds an old Nissan S30 Z in a scrapyard and wants it restored, despite instructions that it should be destroyed. The car's disturbing reputation only deepens his fascination.

Why try it: obsession with a particular machine. Drivers and tuners keep returning to what the Z might do on Tokyo's expressways.

What sets it apart: attachment and modification matter as much as rivalry. Choose the 2007 TV anime for late-night highway racing and the people who cannot leave their cars alone.

Hayato accidentally becomes the registered driver of Asurada, an AI-equipped racing car. Extraordinary technology still leaves a young newcomer struggling with cornering, physical forces and advice he resists.

Why try it: the machine can argue back. Learning to race also means learning to work with a partner whose judgement is not his own.

What sets it apart: it bridges team-based sports drama and science fiction. Begin with the original 37-episode 1991 TV series before its separately named OVA sequels.

JP takes a customised Trans-Am into an interplanetary race where rivals carry weapons and the host planet threatens military intervention. Takeshi Koike's film embraces the absurd scale of that challenge.

Why try it: elastic speed: distorted machinery, extreme angles and saturated colour make acceleration an event of its own.

What sets it apart: this is a standalone science-fiction spectacle with a romance between races. Expect graphic violence and nudity; choose it for visual invention rather than grounded motorsport.

Explore Madhouse's Redline introduction

Inventor Appare and anxious samurai Kosame become stranded in America. A Los Angeles-to-New York race offers money to get home, if their homemade steam-powered vehicle can compete.

Why try it: building and bickering. Appare's curiosity and Kosame's practicality turn engineering problems into an odd-couple adventure.

What sets it apart: the race crosses a fanciful late-nineteenth-century world rather than following a conventional championship. Some designs use broad cultural stereotypes, but invention and the mismatched partnership provide its particular draw.

The Mach 5 is more than a fast car: its seven special functions carry a young driver into adventures around the world. Racing meets suspense and romance in Tatsunoko's original series.

Why try it: a recognisable machine with an outsize personality. The car's inventions turn the question from simply going faster to escaping the next extraordinary situation.

What sets it apart: start with the 1967 anime, known in Japan as Mach GoGoGo. This is racing as adventure, distinct from the 1997 remake and 2008 live-action film.

An injury ended Rin's ballet ambitions; now she is a rookie in NEX Race, a futuristic championship powered by new technology. Her desert-circuit debut turns eagerness into a struggle with nerves.

Why try it: a fresh start among established competitors. Rin joins fellow newcomers who are equally keen to challenge the reigning champion.

What sets it apart: choose it for a female-led rookie story and imagined circuit racing. Its opening follows a much less prepared competitor than Overtake!'s experienced Haruka; speed and racecraft are different lessons.