éX-Driver

éX-Driver is an anime created by Fujishima Kousuke that takes place in a dystopian reality where self-driving cars are so widespread they are the dominant form of transportation.
Horrifying, I know, but more so than that…some cars just…go crazy sometimes. For reasons unknown, they will just stop following orders. For those situations, a group of specialists who still know how to drive cars come in to stop those cars: the éX-Drivers.
If you’re wondering why the cars go crazy…well, you’ll never know.

The initial OVA has a very impressive chase scene in the first episode…and that’s the height of the entire franchise.
Taking the whole OVA, I think that it’s good overall, though that chase scene really is as good as it gets. I think it would have served as a good foundation for a future series…which, well, doesn’t exist, so that’s a shame.
All the cars are animated in 2D, which is very very nice.
Now, what I’d like to point out which I found…odd, is the implication behind AI cars going rogue. The OVA hints at the fact that nobody knows why this happens and, well, an entire organization was created which is dedicated to stopping those cars when they go rogue…and all AI cars move out of the way for that organization when a rogue car is detected. This all implies that it’s a known defect that nobody can solve for whatever reason. Why isn’t anyone trying to solve it? Why isn’t the OVA focused on figuring out the truth behind this mystery? It’s just…never addressed, which is odd.
Especially odd is something I noticed later. Self-driving cars have been a thing in this world for a lot longer than it may first appear. My guess is a minimum of 30-40 years.^A) But note that that’s the minimum required for them being wide-spread, which means they must have been around for longer. Though with how the self-driving system actually works, it’s unlikely to have been implemented gradually, and had to have been implemented ‘suddenly’.

The movie is serviceable but it really isn’t that great. I think the plot was a bit…off, though I don’t remember why. Yeah, those notes of mine don’t exist at all for this, so I don’t remember much. I just remember thinking ‘well, that happened’ and, animation-wise, nothing reaches that episode 1 chase scene.

My notes…wait, note, says that this is better than the movie. I think, now I think, this is because the story is better. But I don’t remember how. I’ll need to re-watch, I guess…
Though this OVA is a flashback to when one of the workers at the base and a one-off character from the initial OVA worked as éX-Drivers themselves.

• aniDB
• AniList
• The dynamic of the main characters reappears, in a way, in Taihou Shichauzou.