Series synopsis
Real Drive, also known as RD 潜脳調査室 is a Japanese animation action & adventure sci-fi & fantasy crime television series that premiered on Nippon TV on April 9, 2008. It ended on October 1, 2008. It stars Kanae Oki, Hiroki Takahashi, Katsuji Mori and Keiji Fujiwara.
The story takes place in 2061, 50 years after humanity developed the "Net society" that depended on information networks despite their security issues. To improve security, a new network called Meta Real Network — or "Metal" for short — was developed. People's personal memories are reduced to information and placed within "protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves" called bubble shells online. The result was a virtual "explosion" of creative freedom as people felt safe enough to explo ...
Premise
The story takes place in 2061, 50 years after humanity developed the "Net society" that depended on information networks despite their security issues. To improve security, a new network called Meta Real Network — or "Metal" for short — was developed. People's personal memories are reduced to information and placed within "protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves" called bubble shells online. The result was a virtual "explosion" of creative freedom as people felt safe enough to explore instincts and desires on Metal that they would not otherwise explore in real life. This "friction" between the Metal's alluring lack of restrictions and rules-bound reality led to trouble and incidents that investigators known as "cyber divers" must handle. Masamichi Haru is one such cyber diver.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Kanae Oki as Minamo Aoi (voice)
- Hiroki Takahashi as Sota Aoi (voice)
- Katsuji Mori as Masamichi Haru (voice)
- Keiji Fujiwara as Eiichiro Kushima (voice)
- Hiromi Tsuru as Erica Patricia Takanami (voice)
- Ai Nonaka as Yukino (voice)
- Ayako Kawasumi as Holon (voice)
- Akeno Watanabe as Sayaka (voice)
Episodes
This series spans 1 season with 26 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 26 | April 9, 2008 | October 1, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Underwater Island Drive Construction of an artificial island is disrupted by an unexplained phenomenon known as "burning sea". Masamichi Haru is injured by burning sea during a test of early Meta-Real technology, leaving him comatose for fifty years. Now elderly and wheelchair-bound, he still hopes to solve the mystery of burning sea. His friend Eichiro Kushima now hopes to use the Meta-Real, also known as the Metal, to research the burning sea phenomenon. |
April 9, 2008 |
| 2 |
Girl Aoi Minamo is hired to be Haru's assistant. When burning sea causes a power outage that threatens life support systems on the artificial island, Minamo rushes to the electrical substation, while Haru uses his cyberbrain to dive into the Metal Network. |
April 16, 2008 |
| 3 |
Re-dive Haru struggles to become proficient enough at Metal diving to help Kushima's research. During his final test, he experiences braindown. |
April 23, 2008 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Nippon TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 9, 2008 |
| Last aired | October 1, 2008 |
| Runtime | 23 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Wednesday |