Let's face it, season 23 of Top Gear was dreadful, season 24 had it's good moments and it's dreadful and both were bound to draw comparisons to the original trio however, season 25 has found its groove and the presenters have found there chemistry, in this episode there were laughs, there was emotion and the cinematography and editing was second to none, the only thing negative would be to get Rory more involved but other then that: utterly breathtaking.
6 Reviews
Hitting the stride
reinisze15 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A really great episode. Matt and Chris goes to Japan to explore the car culture there with one common goal - to buy a legendary Japanese sports car for 1m yen (~7.5 Eur or 7k claimed in the episode).
I'd like to mention that I myself am a huge fan of Japanese car culture therefore this review is not exactly unbiased.
Episode kicks off with comparing a Lexus LC500 and the new Civic Type R. Whole clip is about a little over 10 minutes and this personally for me was the weakest part of the episode - kicked off great with Chris comparing both cars, saying the good and the bad and ended with a small race between him and Stig. What lacked for me was a personal comparison from Chris's side at the end of the race about how the cars feel apart from the outcome of the race.
What continued after that was amazing, Matt and Chris go to Japan, buy the cars at an auction that could only be described as a place most car guys only see in their wet dreams and then taking those cars for a spin through some sweet touge roads, a little race and a fun drifting event to end off with a run to an airfield where the first car to arrive would be shipped to UK. In between both hosts endure some unusual Japanese treats.
Between the main story Rory has a segment focusing on some of the many aspects on Japanese underground scenes such as crazy mods on classic Japanese muscle cars and the infamous so called "Japanese Lamborghini Mafia" (try looking up Lamborghini Bosozoku if you like this kind of stuff).
Overall there were great cinematics throughout the episode, good chemistry between Matt and Chris, jokes felt fairly unscripted (to a certain extent) and it felt a bit like old Top Gear in a way where three (or in this case two) guys are just having fun with cars. I would have liked to see Rory partaking as well in the main challenge as well as the side segment, but a great episode nonetheless. I honestly enjoyed this much more than any of the Grand Tour episodes I've seen this season, great watch!
I'd like to mention that I myself am a huge fan of Japanese car culture therefore this review is not exactly unbiased.
Episode kicks off with comparing a Lexus LC500 and the new Civic Type R. Whole clip is about a little over 10 minutes and this personally for me was the weakest part of the episode - kicked off great with Chris comparing both cars, saying the good and the bad and ended with a small race between him and Stig. What lacked for me was a personal comparison from Chris's side at the end of the race about how the cars feel apart from the outcome of the race.
What continued after that was amazing, Matt and Chris go to Japan, buy the cars at an auction that could only be described as a place most car guys only see in their wet dreams and then taking those cars for a spin through some sweet touge roads, a little race and a fun drifting event to end off with a run to an airfield where the first car to arrive would be shipped to UK. In between both hosts endure some unusual Japanese treats.
Between the main story Rory has a segment focusing on some of the many aspects on Japanese underground scenes such as crazy mods on classic Japanese muscle cars and the infamous so called "Japanese Lamborghini Mafia" (try looking up Lamborghini Bosozoku if you like this kind of stuff).
Overall there were great cinematics throughout the episode, good chemistry between Matt and Chris, jokes felt fairly unscripted (to a certain extent) and it felt a bit like old Top Gear in a way where three (or in this case two) guys are just having fun with cars. I would have liked to see Rory partaking as well in the main challenge as well as the side segment, but a great episode nonetheless. I honestly enjoyed this much more than any of the Grand Tour episodes I've seen this season, great watch!
Surprisingly good episode
sdewildt13 March 2018
Seems like Top Gear is finally finding its own identity without the original 3. Really enjoyed this episode. Fantastic videography. Glad the "put a star in a car" item was dropped in this episode. That is just painful to watch. Keep it like this and this show might have a future.
Missed opportunity
Pokyt26 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Honestly, I thought it was horrible. Considering the fact that they mention Hot Version and go to Gunsai, and the whole segment with Rory, they must have at least a surface-level knowledge of Japanese car culture. So why then do they feel the need to still be reliant on ninjas, samurai, and sumo wrestlers? They had a Honda Civic Type R going up against a rear-wheel-drive Toyota in Japan, and instead of throwing some Dr. Love on for the soundtrack and doing some cool Initial D-esque editing, they get "Ninja Stig" and have CGI Samurai and Ninjas everywhere to the point where you can't even see the race. They go to Gunsai touge and instead of getting Tsuchiya, Orido, and/or Taniguchi on for what would have been a really sweet crossover, they get sumo wrestlers to sit and do nothing. They go through Fukushima for no other reason than to depress you, then to add insult to injury two mint condition classic Japanese sports cars are ruined for the sake of some stupid gag. The drifting challenge could have been really fun, but it's just stupid.
There are glimpses of what could have been a top 10 of all-time episode here, and that's what really pisses me off about this episode in particular. The entire thing is just ruined by the constant use of what are essentially tropes of western media covering Japan. I got really excited during the touge race because I thought I heard the opening notes of the "Break In2 the Nite" by m.o.v.e. (Initial D's second opening), but it turned out just to be some stock dramatic music. I guess that represents my experience watching this pretty well. Uninteresting, uninspired, absolute drivel, that's only redeemed by the pretty awesome segment with Rory.
There are glimpses of what could have been a top 10 of all-time episode here, and that's what really pisses me off about this episode in particular. The entire thing is just ruined by the constant use of what are essentially tropes of western media covering Japan. I got really excited during the touge race because I thought I heard the opening notes of the "Break In2 the Nite" by m.o.v.e. (Initial D's second opening), but it turned out just to be some stock dramatic music. I guess that represents my experience watching this pretty well. Uninteresting, uninspired, absolute drivel, that's only redeemed by the pretty awesome segment with Rory.
cracking
blackberryphilskelly17 March 2018
Trashed 2 Perfect Cars, Cheesy Japanese Animation
scania223011 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was beyond bad. The Japanese animated clips felt really out of place and didn't belong in the episode and it kind of felt like they were making fun of the Japanese style. Then they move onto buying the cars at auction then road tripping to finish where they are to send the cars back to the UK to sell for profit. The episode starts improving and then they go and ruin it by carelessly trashing the 2 beautiful Japanese legendary cars a Nissan Skyline R34 GT-T and a Mazda RX-7 which was absolutely criminal. Only to bring the winning car back to the UK to not sell it? Absolutely appalling.
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