IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix Volume 5

This volume begins with Team Satomi in the midst of their race with Team Velshtein, and as ever, protagonist and forward, Takeshi, is called upon to pull his own weight and that of the team (like everyone else).

With their trainer Andrei (‘The Rocket’) as a replacement for the injured midfielder, Amy – who also happens to be a retired legend of the sport – Team Satomi manage to draw their match with Velshtein, but need to survive at least one more with their previously inactive coach. While his efforts do inspire the others, Takeshi is still essentially going through late puberty; struggling with his angst and inability to capitalise on his talents since winning the last championship, while trying to prove himself to others and meet his own expectations.

Finally seeming to get out of this slump (which took up most of the last volume and a half of this one), Takeshi is almost immediately hit by the burden of having to compete with the team of his girlfriend (for the past few volumes), Fantine, in the next race. But to add to his troubles, she decides to break up with him right before the match, and gives him a lot of other things to think about at the same time.

It’s a credit to the series how much it manages to deal with in each episode. After these two races and countless up and downs, there is still the saga of Amy’s recovery and Rain’s sprint for victory, after being told that he would be released from Team Sledge Mamma if they don’t win the championship under his guidance. And, of course, there are more ups and downs.

A part of the appeal of IGPX is this use of a well-worn formula, seen in many other anime, but most noticeably in series like Pokemon and Beyblade. Enough time is spent with the characters for them to earn our sympathy, while their personal conflicts add tensions brought to the foreground during the sport at its centre. IGPX is a well-directed, enjoyable and more grown up alternative to those series, applying the same principles and pursuing the same dramatic mode, whilst being backed up by its consistently good animation.

On the other hand, some of the greatest faults of the series arise out of these same virtues. The emphasis on adding tension to the races through strained outside relationships occasionally enters the realms of melodrama and cliché, where the dual-standard in animation (anime outside and CGI within the races) creates a disparity that some viewers may not like.

All-in-all however, IGPX is a series that just works well – it isn’t particularly original, and it clearly targets a certain kind of audience, but it’s still enjoyable, has a fairly rounded cast and does a good job of pulling everything together.

In Summary:

With drama, pacing, good use of music and every other imaginable virtue behind it, the series comes highly recommended for anyone who enjoys this kind of story, but falls just short of a higher rating for not being outwardly brilliant or unique. But it still makes a great soap-opera in my opinion.