When we last left our heroine Eva, she and the rest of the human team just barely qualified to make it to the final round of the great star races being held on the planet Ōban. While the pilots faced a great deal of backstabbing, attempted rigging and a number of near fatal accidents, Eva herself still had to deal with the fact that her manager is her father (also an asshole) and he doesn’t even know it (I’m sure he’s aware that he’s an asshole though). They faced a lot of shit during the Alwas Cycle, but it barely prepares them for the competition left on Ōban. 

To be fair, the first few episodes are more of the same from the first half, but there is a lot more focus on the characters and their motivations in this half where it was only touched on in the first. Prince Aikka whom Eva befriended in the first half and even lost a race to also qualified, however his ties and alliance with Colonel Toros of the Crog Imperium (a race hell-bent on destroying humans, and need the “ultimate prize” to aid them in doing so) becomes more apparent to Eva and Jordan making them question the only ally that they have. The secondary contestants in the contest are more developed now that there are fewer of them. Don Wei discovers that his pilot Molly really is his daughter Eva, and an ultimate sacrifice is made by a loved one in an awesome climax that could have been mundane and predictable.  

In comparison with the first volume, and looking back at that review that I wrote without knowing the conclusion to the story, I think I actually enjoyed the second volume a bit more. While the racing is just as intense in those scenes, the characters are given more of a limelight and knowing the motivations make the races that much more intense, despite knowing full well that a show like Ōban Star-Racers which is essentially made for early teens is going to have the humans come out on top. 

The last six episodes are particular favorites, which is after almost all of the character motivations have been exposed and finally the “ultimate prize” gets revealed for what it really is, and how the reality of it all has been buried waaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the fine print. It isn’t difficult to telegraph that there is a catch to winning it, but I admit that I didn’t expect the gravity of the situation to go the way it did. 

Having now seen the whole series, I can confidently recommend the series to any interested parties. My time watching it has whizzed by. The series has great characters, good dialogue, surprisingly deep drama without becoming overly convoluted or self-indulgent with very, very pretty animation.  

Presentation
Please allow me to copy word-for-word my own review of the first volume’s presentation, as this is just more of the same and applies equally… 

Ōban Star-Racers is brought to you on DVD in GLORIOUS 1.33:1. Remember that ratio? Yep, it’s standard frame as originally broadcasted. The great news is that the transfer is pretty aces. As a new(er) show, the animation is sharp and detailed and the transfer doesn’t show any noticeable compression artifacts to blemish the experience. Audio, on the other hand, I have to gripe about. See, the show is a joint French-Japanese production, right? So, why is it that I am only hearing this in English? I don’t know which would have been the “original” but I would have rather heard that with some subs (by the way – no subtitle tracks) than the English dialogue. I’m sure at least something got lost in the translation.  

Extras

MIPCOM Presentation – (2:52)
The promo video to push the series at the annual Cannes convention (not afraid to admit I had to Google MIPCOM). If I saw this as the trailer over the one on the first volume, I would have been sold immediately.  

Concept Art
There are about 20 premiminary pieces of art used for production. The funny thing is these look more like finished project than you can imagine. They are not the stuff of animatics or rough storyboards. All in all, it’s a better gallery than I’m used to seeing. 

Star-Racer Profiles
Continuing the feature series from the first volume, this feature spread across both discs has profiles for Lord Furter, Ondai, Muir, Ning & Skun, O, Sul & Kross. Kross is a rat bastard, by the way. Each of these run under 30 seconds and look to have been commercial bumpers during the show’s television run. 

The Making of Ōban Star-Racers - Part Two – The Cycle of the Post-production – (40:15)
Much like the featurette on the first volume, this continuation provides an interesting look into the closing of the project, how the animators grew into their craft over the series and the emphasis on music. I especially liked the interviews with the French voice actors which I COULDN’T LISTEN TO BECAUSE I ONLY HAVE THE ENGLISH DUB! 

Extended Opening Title Sequence – (1:38)
I dug the sequence that was used, and this one is much longer with some alternate animation used to accommodate the length. Don’t know what the point is of having two different intros, unless some markets needed to expand the run-time. Your guess is as good as mine. Still though, this was pretty cool. 

The Bottom Line
Want to know if you’re in the market for the second volume of Ōban Star-Racers? That’s an easy question to answer. If you bought the first, then you need this. If you didn’t, common sense should dictate where you should start. While the ending did get the light beer equivalent of Evangelion’s ending, it does fit more inline with the actual story, and the characters and their motivations are a lot more interesting and multilayered than I thought they would be. Ōban Star-Racers is worth a look.