‘Overtake!’ review: Kouya confronts “The Day of the Disaster”

It’s time for us to step out of the car for a very special episode of Overtake! this week. Kouya officially returns in “The Day of the Disaster” and it’s well worth the wait. Haruka finally tracks down Kouya to Touhoku, the location of the earthquake ten years ago, with the objective of getting him back home. It’s not his only goal, though, and because of that, we get a masterpiece of an episode. 

It’s no surprise to anyone that Kouya goes back to the Touhoku, but his reasoning might come as one. Instead of going there to perhaps apologize to the family of Momo, the little girl in the photo, he goes there to see her grandfather, Shouzou; before he passes on. Shouzou is someone that Kouya became friends with when he was in Touhoku to document the city all those years ago and also the person who pushed Kouya to publish the photo so that people knew that Momo lived. 

Of course, we finally get the full context behind the photo and the real reason why Kouya stopped taking pictures of people — and it’s much more tragic than I would have ever thought. His guilt over not being able to save Momo combined with accidentally taking the picture at the time is devastating. We learn that he watched her through the viewfinder to track her journey to safety, only for that not to happen. The narrative choices made in these scenes are absolutely brilliant. When you combine it with the soundtrack, it’s a recipe to make anyone cry over it. 

Haruka’s emotional intelligence is something that the writers have been hinting at for the last couple of episodes. We first see it in “Underexposure” when his guilt pushes him to search for Kouya after their argument. Then in “Birds of a Feather,” we see again when he’s talking to the Koutarou about driving with Belssorriso so as not to hurt his friend and trusted mechanic. Finally, in “The Day of the Disaster” it comes full circle. He admits to thinking he knew Kouya better than he does which, in turn, made him realize that he still has a long way to go in maturing. But, it also helped push him into wanting to help Kouya. That’s the whole reason he comes to Touhoku. 

Throughout “The Day of the Disaster,” Haruka takes his time with pressing Kouya to tell him more about himself, the photograph, and the reason why he can’t take pictures of other people. For someone so young, he manages to pick up on cues that others might not. Haruka doesn’t push Kouya to tell him, but allows him to tell him the truth throughout the night and the next day. It shows that he wants to know more about Kouya without overstepping or assuming. It’s almost strange to see someone so young be so mature in a sports anime. 

In a particularly plot-heavy episode, the much-needed lighthearted moments sprinkled within shine throughout. The day after Haruka arrives, Kouya takes him out to a seafood restaurant for breakfast, only to overfeed him and take him on a ferry around town. Another scene in particular is with Haruka and Kouya go-karting. Haruka makes a bet with Kouya to a race, going so far as to give Kouya a three-lap handicap so he would agree. The results of the race are obvious, but seeing the two having fun is a triumph. These moments might be small in the grand scheme of the episode, but they’re necessary for our main characters both on an individual level and as a pair. 

The relationship between Haruka and Kouya is interesting, to say the least. Kouya is a man without any children while Haruka is a boy without a father, and yet, they get along similar to what we could consider a family. I wouldn’t go so far as to say their relationship is on the same level as a father/son bond, but it’s definitely close to a young adult and mentor or even an older older that you look up to. The two of them came to a much deeper understanding of each other in “The Day of the Disaster” which will only strengthen their bond — both as a photographer and muse and as friends —  in future episodes. 

“The Day of the Disaster” is possibly the best episode of Overtake! yet. The narrative storytelling throughout the episode was done so perfectly that we quite literally see Haruka and Kouya change before our eyes in such a short amount of time. I’m not afraid to admit that this episode had me tearing up, because it’s true. It’s an emotional episode that truly reveals Kouya’s motivations, how mature Haruka is for his age, and just how much the two of them care for each other. “The Day of the Disaster” is everything the series has worked toward when it comes to Kouya in particular and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.  

Overtake! is available now on Crunchyroll

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Featured image ©KADOKAWA・TROYCA/Overtake！Production committee