Redline: A Review – Glass Reflection

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Anime films have this bad habit of always taking a backseat to the more spotlight pieces of entertainment from regular television series. Unless your anime film is a sequel to a popular anime from a year ago or is directed by the supreme god of the universe that is Hayao Miyazaki, then no one is going to give a flying fuck. And this is perplexing to me, because I would have thought that – in this day and age of ADD and Michel Bay explosion addicts – shorter, more condensed anime films would have been given the chance to shine. Instead the reactions I get are, “Oh, yeah, that thing… well, I’ll watch it eventually. It’s just not high on my priority list.” Well, with that in mind, today we are looking at Redline, a 2009 film by Studio Madhouse that stands as a shining example of condensed entertainment for you and yours. Let’s jam.

The Setting

Redline takes place in a futuristic sci-fi universe full of unique and interesting aliens and cultures, most of which are either similar to animals or they are all just humans for the fanservice. And in this colourful universe is an intergalactic racing competition known as Redline, where the best racers in the galaxy come together and race for fame and fortune. Podracing? No, get that baby shit outta here! Redline is a man’s racing competition and as such utilises some of the most dangerous weapons known to man: missiles, harpoons, goldeneye lasers, and boobs. It’s like an over-sexualised version of Mario Kart on speed.

The Characters

One would assume that with a story about a deadly and dangerous racing tournament, its characters would be just as insane, and Redline does not disappoint. Starting off, there’s Sweet JP, our daredevil hero who looks like he grew up in the 1950s with what appears to be a sausage in his hair. Besides that, he lives by the rule of cool, and as such, most of his important dialogue consists of just, "Must go fastah!"

JP has a shady past given to him, involving his mechanic Frisbee and an intergalactic mob, with the hope (I would assume) of fleshing out his character more than just some dude who can press down on the gas petal really, really hard. He enters Redline with his trusty Trans AM car without any goal in mind other than to win. And by win, I refer not only to crossing the finish line first, but also to crossing into the panty line of the movie’s main heroine.

Next up is Cherry Boy Hunter Sonoshee McLaren, a name that anyone with a halfway competent knowledge about racing will recognize as a reference to the McLaren F1, one of the fastest cars of the 90’s. Sonoshee is obsessed with cars and racing. She’s been doing it since she was a little kid and that’s all she really knows. And really, that’s kind of it. Well, she’s also smoking hot.

Let’s be serious here, most of the characters in this film have little time to develop beyond some cookie cutter archetypes or maybe one character quirk. It’s not like any of them had their own side story episodes or something. Oh wait. But the lack of character development is not necessarily a bad thing and it makes the movie a lot more streamlined. However, it also means that I can quickly fire off a one-line of description for each Redline racer and that’s basically all you need to know. For example, the pair of walking tits.

The Story

So you have this big Redline race that’s taking place on a planet whose military considers the whole thing an insult and does everything in their power to stop the race. This means that not only are the racers trying to take each other out, but they also have to contend with an entire full-on military force that wants to blow them off this side of the galaxy. But let’s be honest, the story is not what you are watching this movie for, and both you and it knows it. However, the one major factor in favour of this plot is its simplicity. It’s easy enough for anyone to really understand without much thought, so you can focus on your mind being properly blown by the visuals instead. The plot really doesn’t kick in until after the first ten minutes of the movie, by which time the first race at Yellowline has significantly brought you into a state of orgasmic bliss that will make you really accept anything at that point.

The Animation

It should go without saying that the animation is by far the selling point of this picture. This film was in the works for nearly a decade, and it shows. Studio Madhouse is kind of known for the level of quality in their work, and that quality – especially in the theatrical film area – has been very prominent throughout the ages. For example, Madhouse has been responsible for films such as Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and the films of Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers) and Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars). The character designs deserve note as well, mainly because of how many non-traditional characters there are, from lizards to dogs, and a guy that looks like a freaking terminator.

Everything about this film has been meticulously and painstakingly animated, and I mean it when I say that. Every single frame of this movie from start to finish was hand drawn. No crappy CG cars, no blurry background art that puts emphasis on the foreground characters, just full-blown adrenaline popping animation that is, quite frankly, fucking awesome. TL;DR the whole thing could also be referred to as Star Wars on LSD.

The Sound

Redline’s soundtrack is the kind of soundtrack that I like to hear alongside an anime, whether it be a film or a series. It’s able to stand on its own, while at the same time knowing when to shut up when the film requires it. The soundtrack was composed by James Shimoji, who filled the whole thing with all the electronic beats that he could from this side of dubstep, which makes watching the racers head to the finish that much more exhilarating.

The English dub is a mixed bag depending on how you look at it. Bang Zoom’s approach to the translation and dialogue differs from that of the original Japanese, which is very evident if you watch the English with subtitles on. So if you have more of a purist mindset and anything that differs from the original Japanese is “heresy”, then it’s subtitles for you. Although, some people might end up watching it that way anyway.

The performances by anime dub regulars Patrick Seitz and Michelle Ruff – as well Tony Oliver and Liam O’Brien and Jamieson Price, to name a few – are definitely not below average. But they don’t particularly stand out either. The dub as a whole is still passable and if you’re a person that prefers dubs, then you’re not going to be disappointed and it’s not the kind of thing that will muddle your experience at all. It’s just not as great as it could have been, you know? It needed a little more pop! A little more boom!

Final Verdict

Redline is the kind of popcorn movie that we haven’t seen coming out of anime in a long time. Even at moments when you might start to get tired of the story and other narrative elements, it’s still enjoyable and you keep watching even if it’s only for the spectacle of it all.

Its accomplishments in animation are not something to be overlooked in any capacity, as even though it came out in 2009, I bet it’ll still be a good number of years until we get something that’ll surpass the amount of detail that this film provides. With that in mind, I have meticulously calculated values for the categories of story, characters, animation, sound, and my own personal enjoyment, which after tossing those values into a gas tank and watching it explode into a colourful masterpiece, leaves me awarding Redline with an overall rating of 8.46 out of 10 and a recommendation to buy this film and buy it soon.

At the time of this video, it is not available for internet streaming. However, you can pick it up in the States from Anchor Bay Entertainment, with releases from Manga and Madmen in Europe and Australia respectively. And as far as alternate anime recommendations go, hahahahaha, are you kidding me? There is really nothing else like Redline, so instead I’m recommending other great anime films such as Tokyo Godfathers and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, because they are both worthy of praise.

And that’s it from me. Until next time – ladies, gentlemen, and others – stay frosty.

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