yamaha Motor announces its collaboration with Netflix, one of the world's leading entertainment services, for the production of Tokyo Override, an original animated series streaming worldwide, exclusively on Netflix starting November 21, 2024.
Tokyo Override, directed by Yuske Fukada and Veerapatra Jinanavin, is set in Tokyo 100 years in the future, where AI has been integrated into everyday life and every aspect of urban life is automated. In this action-packed sci-fi anime series, specially designed motorcycles roar through the streets of Tokyo.
For this great collaboration opportunity, Yamaha Motor's Creative Center fully cooperated in the production of the series, providing 3D data and helping to record the sounds of the legendary Yamaha YZF-R1 and VMAX. Yamaha also collaborated on the storyline and design of an original future racing motorcycle, the Y/AI.
A “classic” YZF-R1 drives through the Tokyo of the future
The dynamic action of the motorcycle is undoubtedly one of the highlights of this animation. Yamaha cooperated and supervised various parts of the production process. For example, the characters ride through the streets of the city of the future on already legendary classics such as the Yamaha YZF-R1 and VMAX. In addition to providing the 3D design data and sound recordings of the real models, Yamaha designers and planners also actively participated in the production process of the series, imagining what motorcycle racing will be like in 100 years and the machines of the future.
"The process of creating scenarios, called World Building, that we carried out with the production team, was particularly interesting", remembers Satoshi Nakamura, from the Planning Design division. "We spent a lot of time discussing what Tokyo would be like in 100 years and compiled the results into a 'bible' to follow during production. The events and vehicles you see in the series, as well as the story itself, are all based on this 400-page bible."
Realism surpassing previous motorcycle cartoons
In the AI-powered society depicted in Tokyo Override, traffic accidents and other problems are much less likely to occur. But on the other hand, natural disasters are still beyond human control. To prepare for such disasters, the production team focused on the world of competition.
“In racing, unexpected accidents can always happen. The idea of using it as a way to identify risks and find routes to move to safety is very original and, with the inherent entertainment factor of racing, I felt there was a certain realism in considering it from a racing perspective in 100 years.”, explains Mr. Nakamura.
One of the star riders, Amarin, rides the Y/AI, a machine that relies on human capabilities. One of the highlights is that, for the sake of realism, the design of the future bike retains the same riding position as the YZR-M1 MotoGP machine, while the shape of the bike strikes a balance between advanced design and design. A full-scale concept model of the Y/AI has also been built and is expected to be unveiled at the Motor Expo 2024 in Thailand at the end of November.
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"The story is based on the social structures, technology, and values of people in the future that we imagined in the World Building Bible. If you watch the series while imagining how these things fit together, you might find it even more interesting.", Nakamura explains. "I don't know what the ending is yet. As a viewer, I would really like to immerse myself in this world and its story."