The third volume of IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix takes its position on the starting line up. The vehicle has a body that’s been used many times before, occasionally to great success but in need of rejuvenation, making up the engine and parts are some stereotypical characters and plot, topped of with a few layers of CGI that fail to catch the eye and are sure to need dire maintenance in a short time.

Even having not seen the second volume of IGPX, it is quickly summarised in the first episode on this disk that Team Satomi lost to Velshtien, beat all other competitors they faced, Takashi is now dating Fantine, and River joined Team Sledge Mamma who Satomi are about to challenge once again. There are five episodes on volume three, episode nine sees Takashi and Fantine’s first date as they try to have a normal time whilst avoiding legions of fans, as well as thugs sent by Team Sledge Mamma. When the race against Team Sledge Mamma begins, it seems they haven’t taken any chances having placed a “worm” in Takashi’s machine it could malfunction at any time. Takashi tries to avoid fighting, but the hot-headed River goes in straight for the kill. Unless you’re incredibly naive then it is obvious that Satomi and Velshtien go up against each other once more…as would be the ultimate victor of that race.

It’s difficult to criticise a series like IGPX from the view of a mature anime fan when the series is clearly aimed at a younger audience. The poor pacing, archaic character design and excessive use of CGI, that isn’t going to stand the test of time, are things the target audience will overlook or not really care about. The series is easy to follow, not overly complicated, looks good and is probably going to be one of your favourite “cartoons”…if you’re younger than say ten that is. Yet even the more cynical will be hard pressed to honestly say that IGPX is awful, it doesn’t have the sophistication or style of other series, but it stays shy of becoming a complete pile of rubbish through likeable (although not very deep) characters and light humour.

If IGPX had ended with the last episode on this disc (episode thirteen) then the whole thing would come across looking far better. As it is volume three is only the half way point, but there isn’t anywhere for the series to really go as Team Satomi have seen off their competition and it is the end of the racing season. Surely coming back for season two is only going to bring more of the same, which quite frankly just won’t hold on it’s own for another thirteen episodes. Only the remaining volumes will tell.