MF Ghost is the most garbage seasonal anime of Fall 2023 and a disservice to not only the anime that came before it but racing in general. Heres why: The worldbuilding is as shallow as it gets. If the narrator didnt tell you that the automotive industry went fully electric and selfdriving at episode 1 you wouldnt have guessed it. The author makes no conscious effort to remind you of that fact and it gets forgotten the moment that it is mentioned. You might as well consider the setting as basically midlate 2010s Japan because thats basically all there is to it. I find it completely hilarious how the MFG race is one of the last bastions of fossil powered racing but motorsports like Rally and open wheel series like F3 are mentioned and the author makes no conscious effort to say that they are electric powered hell you can even see in a flashback that there is in fact an F4 car still powered by a combustion engine its a joke. The MFG race where most of the racing will come from is nothing but glorification of a 12 year old inner thoughts of Fast and Furious or the authors glorification of his shitbox 86 taken to the extremes. Rules that are just inane for no reason all to ham up the MC car against what are essentially supercars a ban against electric cars and the crippling handicap for hybrid cars and the fetishization of grid girls with the Angels and you essentially have what the author thinks is the good ol days of racing mentality and what I can only assume is a hatred for the modern innovations of the automotive industry a notion all too shared by car enthusiasts with a single braincell. But thats no surprise given the author hasnt learned a single thing about racing or how cars work from his time making Initial D and that he has no one to advise him about it this time. The characters are the worst offenders along with the story if you can hardly call it one. The MC is a total joke and a complete mary sue but thats to be expected the author couldnt write a compelling MC to save his life in Initial D an MC he crippled offscreen btw and he couldnt write one now. His main motivations of finding his parents in Japan are instantly forgotten in favor of just getting him to race and wipe the floor off of other drivers in cars that far exceed his in performance. But its okay because he can drift and therefore hes the fastest driver in the track. Yeah its that kind of show. Oh yeah how could I forget the other colorful cast of characters like: Forgettable racers with one personality trait Haughty racer with superiority complex meant to be an antagonist but is quickly forgotten by the first race Side character that falls in love with the MC for no other reason other than to fall in love with him Supportive cast of characters meant to help the MC and nothing else might be creeps on the side too. A racer with a creepy obsession over a grid girl that is a high schooler while said racer is at his 30s. Cameo characters from Initial D that serve nothing to the plot but make the audience go YOOOOO IS THAT HIM? THATS HIM HES THAT ONE GUY And last but not least: The rival character that dates underage girls or as he likes to correct others dating girls that are age 17...and then dumps them once they become of age because they become unlucky for him. Let that sink in for a moment. Credit where its due though. There are two characters that are siblings that coordinate each others driving but theyre quickly forgotten the moment the MC beats them. This caveat doesnt save it from the main takeaway that the author cant write characters at all. They are merely there as either obstacles for the MC or to help him and nothing more. Theyre not compelling theyre not even likeable and they dont serve any purpose to the story. I dont wanna lambast the show that much though. The animation and sound department did a good job trying to salvage this broken mess. The CG is phenomenal and as always one of the best when it comes to CG animation as a whole Ill always praise them for it and while Eurobeat is an overrated genre of music it serves the purpose of making the races watchable I mean entertaining well. Does it save the anime? Hell no. But at least it salvages the part where most people who come to watch this show are interested in even if the races themselves are unrealistic. We need to aim for better though. MF Ghost unfortunately isnt better.