[ ♪ "Yellow Line" ♪ ]
♪ Redline ♪
Directed by Takeshi Koike
[music fades]
Anime films have this bad habit of always taking a backseat
to the more spotlighted pieces of anime entertainment that is the regular television series.
Unless your anime film is a sequel to a popular anime from like maybe a year ago,
or it was directed by the supreme God of the Universe that is Hayao Miyazaki,
No one's going to give a flying [beep].
And this is perplexing to me, because I would have fought in this day and age of A.D.D. and Michael Bay explosion addicts, that
shorter, more condensed anime films would have been given the chance to shine.
Instead the reactions I get are:
[heavy accent] "Oh. Yeah, that, that thing.
"What I... I'll watch eventually, but is, is not high, on, on my priority list.
"Yeah."
[normal voice] Ugh!
Well, with that in mind, today we're 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!
[ ♪ "Europass" ♪ ]
"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're just all humans for the fanservice,
and in this colorful universe is an intergalactic racing competition known as "Redline,"
where the best racers in the Galaxy come together and race for fame and fortune!
Anakin: Now this is Podracing!
[ airhorn ]
Arkada: Podracing? Get that baby shit out of here!
"Redline" is a man's racing competition,
and as such utilizes some of the most dangerous weapons known to man:
missiles, harpoons, "Goldeneye" lasers, and boobs.
It's like an oversexualized version of "Mario Kart" on speed!
[ ♪ "Kare No Shift Wa Bun Bun Bun" ♪ ]
One would assume that, with a story about a deadly and dangerous racing tournament,
that its characters would be just as insane, and "Redline" does not disappoint,
starting off with "Sweet" JP, our daredevil hero who looks like he grew up in the 1950s with what appears to be a sausage in his hair.
JP lives by the rule of cool and as such most of his dialogue consists of just,
"Must! Go! Faster!"
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 the gas pedal 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 crossing into the panty line of our 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 90s.
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.
But 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 and maybe one character quirk.
It's not like any of them have their own side story episodes or something.
Oh, wait.
But the lack of character development is not a bad thing, and it makes the movie a lot more streamlined.
But it also means that I can quickly fire off a one-line description of each "Redline" racer
and that's basically all you need to know.
For example, the pair of walking tits.
[ ♪ "MachineHead" ♪ ]
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.
Meaning 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 the side of the galaxy.
Let's be honest, the story is now were you watching this movie for, and both you and it knows it.
However, the one major factor in favor 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 10 minutes of the movie,
by which time the first race at "Yellowline" has significantly brought you into a state of orgasmic bliss
that'll make you really accept anything at that point.
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 and Mamoru Hosoda.
The character designs of "Redline" 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 freakin' Terminator.
Everything about this film has been metriculously 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, [beep] awesome.
The whole thing could also be referred to as "Star Wars on LSD."
"Redline's" soundtrack is the kind of soundtrack that I like to hear alongside an anime, whether it be film or 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 find 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 gave 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 be watching it that way anyway.
The performances by anime dub regulars Patrick Seitz and Michelle Ruff,
as well as Tony Oliver, Liam O'Brien, and Jameson Price to name a few,
are definitely not below average, but they don't particularly stand out either.
The dub as a whole is passable, and if you're a person that prefers dubs,
you're not going to be disappointed, and it's not the kind of thing that'll muddle your experience at all.
But it's not as great as it could have been, you know?
You just needed a little more pop,
a little more BOOM!
[ ♪ "Yellow Line" ♪ ]
"Redline" is the kind of movie that we haven't seen coming out of anime in a long time.
Even at moments when you start to get tired of the story or 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's still going to be a good number of years until we get something
that will surpass the amount of detail that this film provides
With that in mind, I have metriculously 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 colorful 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, "Redline" 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 the UK and Australia respectively.
And as far as alternate anime recommendations go,
[laughs] are you kidding me? There's really nothing else like "Redline," so instead,
I'm going to recommend 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 for me. Until next time, ladies, gentlemen, and others,
stay frosty.
[ ♪ "Yellow Line" ♪ ]