Real Drive depicts a series of episodic and storyline-driven cases where a group of cyber divers are tasked with diving into the cybernetic network known as the Metal when delving into any cybernetic-related cases. Throughout the series, each case tends to vary from the mundane to the serious which can involve anything from Minamo's school life to more serious cases that require physical work from Souta and Holon. It also serves to explore various implementations of how the Metal can affect the lives of the island residents for legitimate and illegal activity, in the same vain the Ghost in the Shell franchise explores how thelines between being human or machine are blurred with the cyborg members of Section 9. Essentially, Shirow Masamune is the creator of this series and his heavy dabbling into sci-fi and philosophical elements are all over this series.

Yet for as nicely told as Real Drive's story elements are, it still suffers similar weaknesses as Ghost in the Shell in that Masamune gets too immersed into dabbling into his story and themes at the expense of developing the characters of his work. This is especially apparent with the more mundane stories that Real Drive often explores compared to Ghost in the Shell, as Real Drive doesn't take the time to thoroughly explore and develop its characters. While getting some background exploration, the characters mostly exist in advancing the plots for each case explored and Minami makes for a rather weak protagonist as she mostly contributes little to the advancement of the anime's plot beyond the series showing off her naiveté.

On the visual end, Real Drive is above average for a 2008 anime sporting clean details, realistic character designs, and gorgeous scenic shots. Animation is quite fluid for the most part without loss of detail and offers some variety in what the series can show off that include fighting scenes, net-diving into the Metal, roller skating, and swimming.

Overall, I suppose you could think of Real Drive as a somewhat lighter and more mundane take on Ghost in the Shell as it dabbles into somewhat similar themes as Ghost in the Shell with man's relationship with technology and how it affects us in various aspects. The limited character exploration does hamper the series somewhat and is more apparent than Ghost in the Shell. Still if you crave another sci-fi title dabbling into philosophical themes like Shirow Masamune's classic cyberpunk series, Real Drive offers an engaging and more mundane focus on such storytelling.