IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix Volume 3

IGPX is the international sport of Immortal Grand Prix, a combination of racing and in-race battles popular in the lavish future societies of this anime by the same name.

The rules are as such: two teams of professional racers and combatants take to the circuit in their mechs, with each team consisting of a defender, midfielder and forward. The aim of the event is to garner more points than the other team by finishing in different positions; first place is worth fifteen points, second seven, third five, fourth three, fifth two and sixth one, whereas not finishing the race at all ensures a pilot zero points. Fighting is allowed and expected, but isn’t necessary to win a race, where finishing in specific positions is the only way to gain points, which are then added to those of the other team members to determine the winning team.

Following Team Satomi, a trio of rookies who have miraculously become championship contenders almost overnight, the first two episodes focus on the training for, and battle with Team Sledge Mamma, former champions and host of a new forward, ex-Satomi member Raine. Takeshi, forward for Team Satomi and main character, then has to go head-to-head with his old partner Raine, but corruption is afoot, as Takeshi is attacked before the race, and discovers his mech has been sabotaged. Episodes eleven through thirteen then form the end of the first season (thirteen episodes), with Team Satomi facing the current champions, Team Velshtein, in an extended final race.

Like Beyblade and other similar series, the show is divided into two parts, that which is spent actually playing the sport (which is naturally the most popular in the fictional world), and that which is spent at grass-root level with the pilots. The latter is almost exclusively dedicated to instilling values in a new generation of viewers, however, as the characters offer typically heroic and often glamorous opinions on values such as confidence, dedication and sportsmanship. If you don’t mind the series’ attempts to lecture and build character in its audience, then you might find enough to like in among everything else.

The series benefits from a strong combination of a good dub, consistently high-quality animation, and a broad range of inoffensive characters. The races are handled in a separate, CGI rendered aesthetic, though, which is, above all else, very shiny, but also manages to convey the sense of speed necessary for the battles. Some might dislike the obvious transitions between the CGI races and the traditional anime outside of them, but this is made a little easier to swallow by the frequent inclusion of screens displaying battles off the track.

In Summary

IGPX is a slightly more mature Beyblade or Pokemon, but with the same neurotic emphasis on obsessing over yet another fictional sport that has taken the world by storm. If that sounds like your idea of fun, then sure enough, it will probably meet your expectations, but if you’re not interested in racing, or anime about racing, then it’s a little harder to justify.