Redline

I actually remember when Redline first came out way back in whenever quite vividly. The anime bloggers that I followed on like blogspot at the time were all so hyped about this movie with it's hand drawn and comic book inspired art style.
But then; silence.

Every once in a while someone would mention it in passing and I'd make a mental note to actually watch it at some point. Well, that "some point" occurred a few days ago and let's just say that I understand why Redline has somewhat fallen into obscurity.

Yes the art is absolutely fantastic in every single way. I could take a screencap ... of any given moment, frame it and put it in my room.

But it's not like a nice art style can carry a movie all the way.

I found Redline to be boring quite frankly.

The first 10 minutes are great; all things you need to know about the races are presented effectively and I got really into it. It is just fantastic honestly.

But the next HOUR is just characters talking. In a movie about competitive car-race-gun fights. Mhmm.
Just let that sink in.
This is a 100 minute long movie.
60 of these minutes are spent talking about lore and politics.
Who gives a shit about why these robot dudes can't go to this planet because it is a refugee zone, when there's another literal robot that turns into a car and shoots people?

Apart from this really convoluted aforementioned robot-subplot (a big part of that is some kind of bio weapon the glows and screams, like it wants to be an EVA angel so bad) there's also also a mafia subplot and a childhood friend/romance subplot.
It is impossible to keep track of what's going on. What does this movie want me to care about?
I want to care about the actual race and ignore all of this other nonsense, but then the racing plot becomes dependent on the robot-subplot and it just makes it so hard to care when I have no idea of what's going on.

I actually fell asleep as I was watching it, can you believe that?
I had to binge eat an entire toblerone just to power through the last thirty minutes.
Redline deserved more than it got, for sure.

Redline is an odd film to think about. At its very well-presented surface there are racecars with rocket launchers that seem to fulfill a base desire for wanton destruction. But with such bombast in the film, it would be easy to assume the writing is shallow, isn’t great, or is even bad. That Redline actually has solid storytelling to go along with its senseless action is as much of a surprise to me is at might be to you.

But yes, the film does indeed have racecars/mechs/boats/whatever with rocket launchers as the first few minutes will prove. But the race the contestants are in isn’t the ... namesake, but a qualifying event called Yellowline. The story itself follows the exploits of JP, who lives and breathes racing, but unlike the other contestants his ride isn’t armed to the windshield. As Yellowline concludes, an unfortunate event causes him to lose the race, but as preparation for Redline starts, a string of coincidences give him another chance to compete in the race.

From there, most of the film spends its time building character relationships and motivations. I would say world building, but most if it is made on the spot for whatever would be cool to happen in that situation. The titular race is going to take place on Roboworld, a planet whose rulers really don’t want the race taking place there. Somehow, they’re obligated enough to let the racing committee set up shop for the race, but violent enough to attack the racers, whether at a diner or at the race itself. Said racing committee has rules about race rigging to protect its entrants, despite all of the racers being allowed to drive what are effectively war vehicles. Yeah. Really.

Don’t mistake my facetiousness for disdain though. There’s a certain charm in knowing that flirtatious twins who command a racing stripper mech...come from the royalty of a magical kingdom planet. And the incompetence of Roboworld’s rulers makes the thought of how they run the planet humorous. Very little of the setting from its rules on racing to eligibility for racing don’t align. The racing committee has rules in place to protect its entrants, but they don’t seem to mind letting a police officer and the convict he’s chasing compete. The only consistency here is how inconsistent everything is. It’s cool things for the sake of cool things.

But back to the characters, all of them are fairly archetypical. JP is the typical cool cat who lives for glory, Sonoshee the sexy love interest, and Frisbee the manager and friend who makes the tough decisions. There’s nothing else to say about them individually, but together their naturally connected backstories give a surprising amount of weight to their relationships. These backstories don’t say much, but they unfold in a deliberate pace to give an otherwise brash film a surprising amount of heart. It’s just a shame the main trio is held back by the film’s need to try and flesh out other characters.

But that doesn’t mean all of the other characters were poorly realized. Big Robot and Crybaby Robot (seriously, you won’t remember them by name) are naturally introduced as JP and his epic pompadour go around scouting out the competition. The other characters, not so much. They’re introduced in a brief way that makes sense, but at the same time it’s easy to spot that their only purpose will be an excuse to create explosions at the Redline race. If the film didn’t waste time to pretend it cares about its other characters, then that time could be used on the main trio to make them something more than solid.

Of course, watching this film for the deeper meaning of what it means to win or for a character study on JP would be missing the point. The reason to watch Redline is for its final act, where studio Madhouse delivers on the film’s tagline to ‘WITNESS THE FUTURE OF ANIMATION.’ Instead of seeing the visuals take shortcuts to give the illusion of speed, speed is seen as racers take shortcuts within the visuals. Every vibration from their engines shifts each vehicle ever so slightly as even their hair sways with each skid and drift. It’s smaller details on top of fast-swerving objects against gorgeous backdrops.

Part of what makes the backdrops—and characters—gorgeous is the artstyle of saturated contrast. Colors that are normally dull manage to shine, colors that normally shine are brilliant, and shadows don’t give colors varying shades, but are pure black and used to highlight details for stylistic effect. It’s an artstyle of extremes that creates subtlety to be appreciated during the slower moments of the film. And even when the film gains speed, the visuals never lose their radiance and detail.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is underwhelming—not bad—by comparison. The number of distinct pieces can be counted on one hand. They’re fun while they play during parts of each race, but the limited number of tracks makes the action slightly boring to hear (but it’s always fun to watch). I say slightly boring because character dialog thankfully picks up the musical slack, as the refreshing trash talk between contestants breaks the monotony of engines roaring. The non-action parts of the film especially rely on dialog to keeps things interesting, and for the most part it succeeds.

But it’s that non-action part of the film that I need to bring special attention to. Understandably, a film focused on spectacle still needs compelling enough characters to make the action worth caring about. And they ARE solid characters. At the same time, ‘solid’ might not be enough to hold everyone’s interest for most of the film, especially when it’s the animation—the action-packed animation—that’s the main draw of the film. For a story with characters who make split-second decisions, viewers will ironically need a small measure of patience.

Still, these faults aren’t enough to make Redline a bad or even average film. It’s uneventful moments are still energetic, the setting pulls off a casual disregard of consistency for coolness, and the character interaction believably builds backstory. Overall, no part of the film is ‘bad’ because even its weakest parts are still ‘good.’ With just enough human drama to accelerate the spectacle of racecars with rocket launchers, Redline will leave you at the edge of your driver’s seat.

I'v been wanting to watch this for a while now,needless to say it was worth the wait.In a universe with all manner of alian creatures exist the most arduous,trecheruos,nerve recking racing tournament in the galaxy,Redline.The story takes place with a guy called JB who is a professoinal racer but due to his 'shady' past is forced to compete in underground match fixing .He is force to compete at redline in order to pay for his debt, but his situation gets even more complicated as there are those who hate redline and will stop at nothing to see it destroyed .

Firstly i love the animation ... which is a combination of what you'll see in dead leaves,invader zim and a barbie commercial.the sound is great and the characters are all interesting with none of them being anything close to normal.The weirdness of the characters is surpassed only by the competing cars themselves.If you think speed racers mach 5 is cool,wait till you check out these rides.The diologue is also great,a lot of funny insults and humour.A truely great peace of work and must see.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t26m_Q6ENo
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So, let's talk about Redline!
I watched this film (English Dub) last night, and I have to say it is the best motherfucking anime movie I had seen in so goddamn long. I can't shit out enough profanity to express how many assess Redline kicks! A masterpiece that took seven years to construct, consisting of nothing but authentic, hand-drawn, comicbook-styled animation from the pumps of the high heals to the feathered hair of a pompadour, with an enthralling soundtrack written to compliment every single frame, not to mention the excitable yet simply delicious plot, Redline screams of exuberance and and adrenaline. An ingenious production birthed only ... by a crew seeking to spin the wheels of anime offroad, against the traffic of the industry's current and monotonous trends in story and style, animation and action.

Redline is more than just shounen-inspired work with an heavy injection of adulthood. The entire movie is a wild ride to the finish line, decorated with alien dogs, babes, badasses, bioweapon, pop-culture references, explosions and more vividly designed cars than your dad's Hot Wheel collection could ever hope to boast. Perfect from start to end, Redline does more than justice to the word's definition; "the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate." I can't wait to re-watch (Japanese Dub w/ Subs) such a great example of what anime was, is, and can be.

If you would like to know more about Redline, then check out the following links OR just hurry up and watch the fuck out of that movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redline_(2009_film)
http://myanimelist.net/anime/6675/Redline
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6456

what a rush , just caught this as the "Featured Anime ' on otaku center and I am still pumped an hour later.

This is one of those fast paced,( don't have almost anytime to breathe) old time epics , that will have u glued to the seat of your chair .The action is fast and furious ,the sound superb , the graphics are granted a bit dated but still rock solid and you cant help but root for our boy.Even a bit ... of romance to sweeten the whole thing.

I normally don't like this type of anmie or manga but this had me hooked from the get go. a must see.

Einstein was misquoted when defining insanity. I now believe what he originally said was “Insanity: watching Redline over and over again and expecting it to make sense”. But then Redline doesn’t have to make sense, or be smart, or even be amazingly animated for that matter. It needs to be awesome, and on that requirement, Redline fulfils in bucketloads.

The story isn’t much: an illegal road race where only the bravest can compete, opposed by a corrupt leadership, and surrounded by gambling and drugs. The story of a racer and his ambition to win the world’s greatest competition isn’t new, but Redline is this concept at ... its best – fabulously over the top, and always maintaining its high pace. Given the 100 minutes running time, I unexpectedly found myself appreciating not only the racing, but how well every mini-story is tied together. Redline provides a large cast of both the story-driving characters and the fun ones that bring fun and life into the hectic action. JP is our classic good guy in a bad situation, with a talent for racing but surrounded by a history of race-fixing. He’s the loveable underdog who’s easy to root for, simple and good with the ladies. It’s cheesy and clichéd in the best sense of the words. The focus is not just on JP though, and we have a wonderful supporting cast with their own distinct styles and eccentricities – most notably Sonoshee, JP’s instant love-interest and a talented racer with an endearing backstory of her own. In truth, each member of the Redline race is given the screen-time to be a character in their own right, and the only aspect of the plot and pacing I would criticise in Redline is that given the film’s length, arguably too much time is spent focusing on the side characters. As a result though, each character manages to have a distinct flavouring to them, such that, when your gaze is thrust on the side characters, it’s a cause to celebrate and revel in each character’s individual wackiness. Wacky really is the best way to describe every character.

Whether you like the actual over the top art style is a matter of personal opinion (JP’s hair is undeniably a thing of beauty though). On the animation side however, it cannot be said Redline does not look sublime, and the greatest benefit of the film’s limited running time is that every scene manages looks amazing. The slum-like conditions and environments are drawn with an attention to detail that entirely justifies Redline’s five-year development hell. Nothing could be act as a better debut for the talents of Takeshi Koike, whom I’m hoping to see much more of in the future.

Musically Redline is never invasive, but there are tracks that stick out during the races. The best thing to say about the soundtrack is that it’s incredibly easy to enjoy when you just want to take in the awesome music, and when you want to enjoy the action, the music is there to kick start the adrenaline rush, but never to flood out the neverending chorus of explosions.

Redline is familiar without feeling overly so. Most of all though, it embraces the concept of sensory overload and expresses this style down to the smallest details. It’s ridiculous, but wonderfully enjoyable, and I think the best way to summarise Redline is by enjoying the experience of plunging your head into a washing machine infested with fresh cheese for 1 hour and 42 minutes.

Well If i was to describe Reline in a phrase(sentences overrated), id say "Eye Candy". Redline Is not something you watch for the plot, but for the epic animation; its fluid moves, Its epic turns, and most of all when the nitro kicks in and we all got to plaid (space-balls anyone?). Well im going cut this review short. Well because its only a 1 hour 42 min movie that some how has found its way on my Ipod (by legal Means).

Story:7/10 Average, not something for the plot. Its about intergalactic Racing deal with it.(all i can say is the disrespect).(NO SPOILERS ... IN MY REVIEWS, NOT EVEN A HINT. YOU'LL GET MORE FROM THE SITE SUMMERY THAN ILL EVERY GIVE)

Art:10/10 Hand drawn over 7 years, hands down the best art ive seen in anime thus far (but not art direction). Everything is frame by frame 30 fps, full movie quality with epic moves that send shivers down your spine.Ill say it again its, "eye Candy".

Sound:9/10: Its second Best part is the song, which seems to go in time with the animation so well it makes everything look cool. To describe the sound all I can say is UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ(look up Yellow line if you want).

Character 8/10: The Characters have virtually no development(its a 1 hour 42 min movie, what you expect?). Basically the characters are as they are presented. Yet, these Characters are so well drawn and unique that you cant help but to somewhat like them. Redline throws us a pot with a funky Universe and a dash of weird Aliens and Machines . That with stellar Character Design paves the way for the movie. Its this Varied Colorful cast of intergalactic racers that give the Characters 8/10

Personal Enjoyment:9/10 im a person for the plot so that hurt a little, but the Visuals and the epic moments just drew me in, Id recommend this to anyone, because almost anyone can like it. If you wanna spend a good 102 min well. Then look no further than Redline.

Redline Review

Story (7/10) Good

The Story for Redline good and simple and some for a movie like this I don't really need and super deep story especially when you know the what the entire plot is. It isn't anything deep but like I said it doesn't have to be for a racing anime movie I thought it was good enough.


Art and Animation (10/10) Outstanding

The is probably the best thing about this movie, the art style and animation are outstanding some of the most unique and best I've ever seen. Everything is so damn colorful, vibrant and full of life. How everything movie was ... so unrealistically amazing.


Sound (10/10) Outstanding

For sound effects along I have to give this a 10, I watched it in english dub and the voice actor was very good nothing to complain about and not BGM music really stood out and I'm not saying just because it didn't stand out it's bad. I think it's because the sound effects on literally everything in the movie was so damn good it overpowered everything else when it came to enjoyment and authenticity on how a vehicle sounds and the fictional sound effects on the alien effects to the explosions everything sound effects related blew my mind.


Characters (9/10) Great

For an anime movie with only 1 hour and 42 minutes it really made me enjoy majority of the characters in the movie from the main character JP to the side characters just acting like fools in the background. It probably had something to do with the way they presented all of the characters they were going to be racing in Redline it gave me this Wacky Races feeling and I haven't felt that feeling since that classic show. This anime movie definitely captured that essence perfectly if that's what it was going for and the characters benefited from it.


Enjoyment (9/10) Great

This anime movie knows what it wanted to be not focusing on anything other than the main things it should have and needed to focus on and that's the world they live in and how crazy and over the top the racing in the movie can be. They start you off with the crazy race of Yellow Line the basically the rest of the movie is hyping up the race that is Redline itself and from an outside perspective it sounds simple which is probably when it came to story I only gave it a 7 but it as far as execution of that story I don't think they could have done a better job. No censorship in the version I was watching either I'm glad the held no punched blood, guys, nudity it was all there and I was actually surprised by it, I just didn't see it coming is all. The movie like I said earlier hypes of the final race that is Redline itself and I think the payoff was worth it as it was one of the if not the craziest race I've ever seen. Fast and Furious ain't got shit on this.


Overall (9/10) Great

Man I have no clue what took me so long to watch this movie and usually I like to go in blind not knowing anything about an anime movie before I hop in there so that might be the reason. But I was recommended this movie years back and finally sat down and got taken for a ride. This movie was great. The animation director Takeshi Koike and everyone else at Madhouse did their thing with this one I was blown away by it's hype and animation alone.

Redline is a good choice for you if you're for good animation but you don't really care about anything else in terms of pretty much everything.

Have you watched any sort of western movie about racing, not necesarily car racing but like, any sort of racing, that also does have some corrupt gambling angle to it. Chances are, you've already witnessed a story of this kind then and let me tell you what's different. There's aliens. There's space colonies and shit. And the cars are pretty wacky. (In an alien Wacky Racers kind of way) That's pretty much the key 3 differences between this animated ... movie and any of those western movies.

Anyway, for those that don't know what I'm talking about, this is what I mean: Start with a race or something hype to deleniate what to expect from this movie in terms of action. Spend the rest of time pre-final showdown to develop things in order for them to come through well in the final showdown. Then bring the final showdown.

The problem with Redline is that it doesn't really make you care about anyone and anything that's happening and it chooses to explore reasons to showcase amazing visuals over focusing on developing a reason for us to invest in any of these characters, at the very least not in a way that doesn't seem superficial. You see as far as the main characters go they're two, arguably three. The main character, sweet JP, who is known for not putting any weapons on his car because that's not true racing, had a tragic childhood where racing was his only solace, the romantic interest, Sonoshee, who races because daddy and wants to win because daddy. Also has known JP in the past but doesn't remember. And the arguable third is someone who became corrupted by the world.

How do we come to know this? Flashes, not flashbacks, some flashed pictures for a couple of frames and also some implying. You see, the story tries to convey the information about the main characters in as little time as possible mostly to present the world because animation and it focuses on implying some romantic desire between the two important characters prerace. Otherwise the time is spent on some really forgettable side characters with not much for a premise. The only character that is noteworthy in the span of the movie is a guy that fuses with his car as he is the best racer (known as) and he gave the reasoning he is the best is not because he is with his machine, but rather because he is the machine. It's less interesting than it sounds, honestly.

Otherwise the only other memorable characters as far as the span of the movie is two idol racers which basically race as a gig to sell their album and are used as an excuse to bring some fanservicey shit on the screen. This also seems as good as time as any to mention that sometimes the movie does bring some unnecesary nudity or otherwise fanservice. This could bother some or maybe you don't care, but personally as someone that is generally like "why would you, ugh?" whenever something of the sort happens, the nudity although pointless is just a girl that came to sit on her couch and watch the TV after a shower which, isn't sexual and only brings in some realism. How many people give a shit about being topless while alone in their home and watching TV on the couch? While in the case of the idols, you can see it as a gag to attract fans to sell their albums which for me pretty excused all of it, but maybe you have low tolerance for this type of shit so I'm just gonna get it out there.

But the worst and most pointless part of this movie is putting time in a space country which doesn't want to allow a race to be organized on their planet so it's organized illegally instead and... why would you focus on them the only thing they bring is some obstacles. I guess you want us to see them as villains or something but they didn't do anything outrageously cruel. They just had something illegal on their planet that they had to hide. Compared to the racers who are there because fuck you, they have more of a reason to stop the race than the racers have to go into the race. What's adrenaline's value over preserving war secrets? I suppose they're there in the spotlight as focus as to not make the racers feel as such hoodlums for trespassing on the planet to have a race, but even so, putting so much focus on them when we know they have an illegal war secret and then doing nothing with the race itself other than use them for obstacles for the racers is fucking dull. There's unlimited ways to develop obstacles for racers on a foreign planet and focusing on a clandestine race and doing nothing to them as characters while using them only to establish obstacles is quite pointless to keep them in the spotlight as much as you did.

With the time spent on the space cunt alien species you could've focused more on the two characters you're trying to establish as desiring each other and make the final moments of the movie feel more natural.

Anyway, why is all of this a problem. It's just some dumb racing movie, you should expect wacky racers and be satisfied right? Well, the problem with the final race is chaotic. We have no idea about the route the racers should take and from what point should they go towards to the point they should end the race. In the first race it works because we just assume it's a normal race with wacky cars but here there's not even a real road. Where are they even going? What frame of comparison do I have who is better and who is not without even knowing the route? The spots they took in the race? That's fucking boring. But hey, maybe the cars are wacky enough to bring entertainment right? Not really, honestly. They don't really have any noteworthy gimmicks, most of the cars are space cars with weapons and there's very little stuff to impress you beyond your expectations of such a concept with pretty much what you'd expect. Yes, everything is animated and looks well, but there's no urgency because you won't care about the characters, there's hardly any entertainment because you probably won't because you've already seen this type of action before, and because there's only two races, if you've seen the first one you'll know exactly how the second one there's gonna go so it can be fan pleasing so again, less urgency and less entertainment as a result of that.

I was arguing in my head when I watched this whether or not I should consider this as a fine experience due to the animation and how much time I know there's been put into this movie, but fact of the matter is, it failed to get me invested in the characters since most of them are presented rather than explored with some information to imply or let you add information for yourself to build your own story while focusing on showing you wacky designs and animations, which yeah, are genuinely good, while also the climax of the movie is a race without much gimmick, a chaotic ffa survival car race fight thing where you can throw even more good animation into it without too much thought into what is actually going on. Coupled with the fact that the ending is done in the most fanpleasing way possible with little exploration into how people have gotten where they've had gotten emotionally, talking about the 3 characters, and mostly guesswork and implying, as such the movie left me quite unsatisfied. Basically, if you aren't impressionable by just animation you'll probably not be impressed by anything that's going and the length of the movie doesn't help that since you can only get used to the standard it sets over time.

In all honesty, I think this movie's biggest problem is its animation. There's a bunch of scenes that are there without moving the plot in any direction, with them just being there to look good and present some designs and stuff like that. For instance, as an example, I'll use this refugee planet they're on. You see the anti-race planet where they want to take the race is a refugee planet the space country has given some people. Who are these aliens? They're aliens. With most aliens looking very different from each other with not very many aliens sharing race. Is this because the refugees were of a different race and were mixed races brought there because of a grander reason, is it because a lot of aliens gathered there to witness the race or etc. You can come up with plenty of explanations yourself since you won't be given one but the real reason there's so many different races with barely any aliens of the same race is actually because the team wanted different unique designs to be showcased. And yes, they look great, yes, the animation in general looks great, but if there isn't really a point to what we're watching, entertainment value or story or anything, why show it to us? It's a movie, you should focus on narrative structure or on the thing you brought us in, the racing, develop the stakes and path and create unique action bits to be remembered rather than typical yet great looking scenes. Most of the movie is an excuse to show off how great animation is, and that won't keep me entertained for 100 minutes. Most technical aspects are well put together, typical structure for a racing movie, art style looks great, sound is placed together fine, but none of the focus is into impressing the viewer with what is actually going on and it's mostly put into "if it's well animated, it's also gonna be entertaining."

There are some odds that I might be too harsh on the story of the movie because I just witnessed this type of movie so many times, although it's probably not just me, and perhaps maybe if you haven't seen this type of story, you might be far more entertained than me but you need to care to invest yourself in the movie and about half the movie, probably more, is not the racing and the final race is just as described, exactly within the expectations of what was build up without really anything to catch you offguard. I found the movie boring but I can see some reasons to appreciate it, like its animation and a lot of technicalities, but it didn't have good entertainment value and that dissapoiints me since it's dumb space car racing and I was hyped for that.

What I ultimately think about Redline is that it's a typical movie with good animation that blundered to the finishline. It looks good, you might get some entertainment from that, but if you already experienced anything of the sort, well, good luck not getting bored after the first 20 minutes if the animation is not Jesus Christ, your lord and saviour.

Before I write my review, I guess it would be fair to inform that I am a sucker for racing movies. Cars is my passion and hobby which I place even above my passion for anime. That being said I was biased in my ratings because I felt the movie deserves higher score than it currently does however I will try to be fair in my review and give my actual scores throughout.

Plot-
Simply put Redline was a blast. The story couldnt have been more fun and enjoyable. The plot was simple enough, taking place in a universe were space ships and travel through the ... air is the main means of travel there is league of over the top metal heads who aspire to the glory of winning the Redline, a huge spectator race done on wheels. Amidst the mixed species of racers are two humans a woman and a man who have a dream of winning said race. The male mc nicknamed sweet JP who is very entertaining to watch. He reminds you of that old school rocker who underneath it all is a big softy and actually quite mature. Our main heroine is also very appealing. She is hardcore racer on the outside but still very much a girl on the inside. The movie is filled with many pleasant moments such as calm interactions between characters smoking cigarettes, self meditations/evaluations. In fact if you stop to think there is only really 2 huge race scenes in the entire movie. Granted the last race takes a huge chunk of time but youll realize that all the quiet moments are enjoyable too. The races themselves will be everything you expect it to be, with huge over the top action and adrenaline filled with sometimes bizarre but fun moments. There is some romance although its not really present for most of the show but its done very well. Again it was simple and not complicated and ended quite nicely. Some things to note about Redline is that it tries to steer clear of a lot of the present day anime tropes. The main characters are adults not over-dramatic school boys/girls. There isnt any over bearing fanservice, there is a scene of nudity but its innocent enough. All in all I would rate Redlines story with a solid 8/10.

Art-
Here is where there shouldn't be any dispute. Redlines production time took several years and a good chunk of it was spent on the art. I may be wrong here but everything was hand drawn and it turned out perfect. The art was beautiful, very fluid and bright and pleasant to look at. If anything everyone should watch Redline to appreciate the art. 10/10

Music-
This another area that Redline excelled at tremendaously. The music was brilliant. Everything from the fast paced races to the calm and quiet scenes was amazing. When it needed to get you excited and pumped the music did its job. When it needed you to soak in the situation it did. It really was true bliss and will have you listening to the sound track later. 10/10

Characters-
Ive already briefly described the characters so I wont go into to much detail here but like I said the characters were very enjoyable to watch. There wasnt huge leaps of character development but this show wasnt intended to do that anyway. The characters do their job and will be quite memorable for you. 8/10

Enjoyment-
Do I have to say anything here? 10/10

Overall-
At the end of the day Redline is just one of those movies youll leave with a huge smile on your face. It doesnt leave anything more desired. As the credits start to role you may be like me and try to get your freinds to watch it just for an excuse to re-watch it yourself. I seriously doubt anyone can watch this movie and leave less than satisfied. Its a very innocent and charming experience that I would recommend for any anime lover. 9/10

Well, welcome to this review, sorry if my English is not very good, it is not my native language.

And, review in Spanish at the end..

Well, now if, let's start:

The history is the "loose" of this film, it's pretty simple and looks that is not very well done in this aspect, but works, and within its simplicity, manages to be something pretty decent. The truth is that neither the concept of a futuristic interspace race with ships, cars of the future, etc. is very original(cofcoff-zerocofcof), so the film loses much in this aspect. 6/10

The characters are walking cliches, but they are charismatic, interesting and arrive to ... sympathize with them. At the same time, these designs are very strange and peculiar, especially the "non-humans". 7/10

The Animation is to make it an altar to the Madhouse, is perfect and combined with that much of the film is energetic and veery crazy, aid to be film/anime series with the best animation I have ever seen. 10/10.

The music is one of the strongs points of the film, full of energetic electronic beats that stick very well with the energy and crazy that is the film. 10/10.

The voice acting is very good, each of the seiyuus brilliantly playing his characters, accompanied by many many cries that much in addition to energy, crazy and fun is this movie. 10/10

Finally, one of the best psychedelic trips that I have experienced, although with faults, 9/10.

Redline, a must watch, is like the 8th wonder of the world. It's got a terrible incoherent story, boring cringey dialogue, and cliche characters, yet somehow manages to blow our minds regardless, one frame at a time.

Those familiar with my reviews know I have a soft spot in my heart for strong, creative, clever stories/dialogue, and think very little of mediums that fail to pull me in throughout the course of its plot. (and Redline's story/dialogue is none of those things) It's one of the reasons I didn't really think too highly of Kotonoha no Niwa (Garden of Words), a Makoto Shinkai short that ... many consider to be a classic masterpiece for its stunning art and creative adult themes. Redline is similar in some ways, albeit with vastly different themes. Kotonoha no Niwa, however, at least had a coherent story. This much cannot even be said of Redline.

The story is a complete mess. The plot was supposed to be about racing. And when it was about racing, it was simple and sweet, and hid a lot of the creator's weaknesses. But not long into the movie, the plot began jumping between various conflicts that have nothing to do with the main story. Conflicts that the main characters don't seem the care about, and the audience certainly and definitively do not care about. And it only gets worse and worse. Throw in the constant barrage of unnecessary fan service, and I got a headache from rolling my eyes too hard. I feel cliche just saying this, but Redline tried to do too much, and the added weight sunk their story. It wasn't just the needlessly complicated filler plot, every line of dialogue in this movie was complete garbage, and could have been written by a 5 year old.

For example, romance movies in the modern age succeeds because of creativity - the main character never gets the girl (or guy) until he figures out a creative way to woo her. Instead, Redline seems content to regurgitate cliches in the most awkward and un-creative ways, of no fault to the voice actors, who did a great job (Japanese and English). The way the two romantic interests fall in love is fine, maybe even realistic for our modern world. But the mechanics are poorly executed, making the romance portions of the movie extremely cringe-worthy, which is a great word to describe all the dialogue in this movie, actually. Seriously, try to watch the movie and not cringe, I dare you. Also, try to watch this movie and not fall asleep midway through the final race when the movie suddenly turns into Battle Los Angeles (another movie with a terrible plot).

Then there's the horrible cliche characters. If any of you have seen Johnny Bravo, you will know exactly who JP, our protagonist, is. However, whereas JB is a satirical parody, JP tries to pass off a clown for a prince. Some words of advice to all you aspiring screen writers out there - characters who think they are cool, and tries to be cool... are not cool. Characters who are called cool in the movie... are not cool. That's screenwriting 101, folks.

One thing I did like about the story is that they didn't go indepth into character backstories. I actually LOVE this. Because honestly, do we need to waste yet another 30 minutes watching a sob story about some cool guy who grew up without parents because his parents were killed, or his parents were killed, or his parents were killed? Because apparently you can't be cool if you have parents. The story doesn't really tell us this, but it's not a stretch to imagine that JP's parents were killed. And that's enough. That's efficiency.

The rest of the characters are, likewise, minimally fleshed out, and that's for the best. It's not just because it distracts from the main course action, but even in a non-action story, writers try too hard to make us care about their characters using their past rather than their present, and I hate that. It's cheap and uncreative. Every person under the age of 40 in the modern world has ADHD, nobody's got time for that. Anyways, my point is that Redline is efficient in its characterizations. In fact, Redline's hyper-efficient unsaturated sucker-punch (another movie with a terrible plot) way of characterization was by far it's strongest story-telling aspect, and it is the one reason the movie had moments that were so sweet. That, and well, the art and music, which brings me to my next point.

Up till this point, all I've done is bash this movie. Yet, I scored it an 8 out of 10. You must be wondering why. Well, the answer to that question is better shown than told. And humble reviewer like myself is not equipped do it justice. The only way is to watch it for yourself. My bet is that it won't take you even 5 seconds into the film to realize why this movie is so great, as every frame is meticulously hand-drawn over the course of nearly a decade to make this movie. Needless to say, the art is absolutely gorgeous, and definitely not the level of detail we're use to seeing from anime. I personally have never seen anything like it, and I've seen hundreds of animes, movies, and TV shows. The art was enough to overpower the terrible story and dialogue. That, and the fast-paced dub-step arcade music and background effects that knows when the shut up, really helps the movie hit home.

All in all, watching this movie is like watching the Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa doesn't talk to you. She just smiles. And that's enough.

Story: 6
Art: 10+
Sound: 10
Characters: 6
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8

It's sad when you think about it. Redline had been in development for a few years, and for reasons I don't remember had been constantly pushed back. There were rumors that it was eventually being scrapped. It's very unfortunate this gem almost didn't see the light of day, when one takes under consideration the usual unimaginative tripe that for some reason not only finds an actual release but also numerous re-releases. Thankfully, there are production companies out there such as Studio Madhouse that still kick out decent to above average anime titles once in awhile. Redline directed by Takeshi Koike, is a sci-fi racer that ... for the most part is style over substance, but it's actually done right in delivering a high-octane, fast paced, and exhilarating anime experience. Titles like these make being an anime fan worthwhile.

Koike has indeed been around the block, most notably working around Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City,Cyber City) and it does show. Redline bares many different influences but it has its own unique flair to it. I really don't like using this line, but I really haven't seen anything quite like it before. This anime is indeed something different in terms of style. It doesn't even feel like traditional anime, and for some of the more well rounded fans that will be a bad thing, but I doubt the fans who go ga-ga over everything anime will even notice it.

The production values are the talk here for sure; the animation which appears to be hand-drawn and completely free from CG has a very beautiful, yet zany look that kind of reminds me of Dead Leaves. The character designs possess a detailed variety you don't normally see in anime. There are literally thousands of different species from aliens to anthropomorphic animals, with very little reuse of character designs and they are well integrated into the backgrounds with a good amount of movements. The only human looking characters would be the two leads, Sweet JP and Sonoshee. JP's retro look is also one of the cooler features as his beefed up Trans-Am reflects his personality. The animation can probably best be described as chaotic-awesomeness. The races and battle scenes are so incredible and they're moving at a break neck speed with great fluidity. It's like watching a cross between F-Zero and Wipeout. This anime is exploding with so much style I can't even think of anymore words to describe it. The techno-dance soundtrack compliments the madness perfectly, and I was gripped from the very beginning when these super-powered monstrosities for cars were first introduced. I also have to give credit to the voice acting for the English cast which I enjoyed the most. The small amount of profanity tossed out there meshed very well with the personality of the anime.

I found the initial story that sets off the chain of events to be interesting in regards to the brazen sponsors of the Redline race. Completely without permission, they're broadcasting the race on the authoritarian military planet of Roboworld, despite the President's promise that if they race there he's going to blow them away. The plot is rather thin but not as bare-bones as some would have you believe. It seems to focus a lot more on character development, and Koike tries to develop too many characters in which I think he does succeed; along the way, he also fits in the usual government conspiracy in regards to Roboworlds president whom is hiding a weapon of mass destruction. The character interactions, development, a couple of brief fights, and superb visuals makes the plot fairly easy to digest in preparation for the next race. The movie only has two real races, and when looking at the length and just how good they are, I believe two was enough. The only real issue I can think of is this being kind of predictable.

Redline has its share of fan-service that never gets out of hand. It manages to maintain a consistent tone, which isn't the least bit serious. This anime was put together to be exciting and fun, and in that regard it doesn't fail. The years of experience gained working around other heavyweights indeed worked to Koike's benefit. I hope to see more from him later on.

Highs: Production values, an all around great time

Lows: Plot may feel weak to some, somewhat predictable

Redline, an animated production by Madhouse Studio, is nothing short of breathtaking. Beautifully hand-drawn, every frame masterfully composed, every character full of life and movement. This movie defines adrenaline fueled action; it will totally engross you with its style and wild, unthrottled momentum. I can easily recommend this to anyone. Even though this is far from perfect, if all you’re looking for is a recommendation, then this is it: go and watch it now. But even though it may be the most beautifully animated movie I’ve seen in quite a long time, there is so much “mehhh” that may keep me from watching it again ... soon.

watch any given ten minutes from this movie and you’ll see why it deserves its score. The animation is fluid, the drawing shows amazing attention to detail, and the overall sound design is top-notch. The animation itself, not just the scenario and setting, has a sense of internal-logic. There are visual motifs that present themselves at times, and a sense of movement in everything. I’ve heard complaints that it’s too much, but I think that just adds to the charm and gives astute viewers something to look for on later viewings. But watch it all the way through, and you’ll be rolling your eyes whenever there isn’t racing going on. The plot is paper-thin, all of the characters are static and frankly, boring. The only character that changes at all throughout the film is probably the most boring. And while this obviously doesn’t keep it from being enjoyable, I really can’t tell if the studio had actual literary aspiration, or if they simply needed to pad out a 50 minute film.

We follow JP as he prepares for, and eventually races in Redline, a semi-underground race with no rules. He meets and befriends another racer, Sonoshee McLaren, who is the only other racer worth remembering. The others at best are silly and fun, and at worst completely forgettable. The film opens with the Yellowline race, and the final 50ish minutes are of the Redline race. The creators filled the rest in with so much and fleshed out so little, it makes me wonder if they had a plan at all.

We have a love story… between people who the audience barely knows.

We have a story of what inspired JP to race…that is cryptic and doesn’t add much substance to the movie.

We have an evil government… that is a simple antagonist that doesn’t have any meta-commentary or anything else of note to offer.

We have some smaller side-stories… that are as forgettable as the characters that populate them.

The only story that really hit home was that of JP's crooked Frisbee. It did a great job of portraying a man in a tough position who, above all else is most concerned about his friend.

But in total, it is less than the sum of its parts. The sheer amount of pure adrenaline being pushed through the screen is undeniable. A beautiful atmosphere, at times visually oppressive, that is hampered not by a premise that is bad per se, but can be described best as half-hearted. This could have been a much better film if these parts were either expanded or cut, but as it stands, it just leaves the audience rolling their eyes. It’s like Gurren Lagann, but the story is sacrificed for more awesome animation and situations. It’s almost wrong to criticize this movie for that reason, and if it didn’t try to set up these sub-plots in the first place, there wouldn’t be anything to criticize. But because it attempts, and ultimately fails, to grasp the audience on a “deeper” level than the visual and visceral level at which it excels, it lessens the experience. So while it is unfortunately just short of a great movie, it is still a really, really good movie.

SUMMARY:Good visuals, bad plot.
Before anything i need to say that i came with high expectations at the moment of see this movie,and when I saw the first minutes I was amazed, those visuals, the music, those incredible action scenes, everything was great, after that the movie loses a lot ,
a cliche story with things that are there for no apparent reason, at the end it seems that it will be as good as in the beginning, but unfortunately it doesn't, and I really trust you that there are too many things in this movie that happen with no reason, I wish it had only been ... the first 10 minutes.

Resumen: Excelentes visuales, mala historia.
Antes que nada tengo que aclarar que yo venía con altas expectativas al ver esta película, y al ver los minutos iniciales me quede maravillado, esos visuales, la música, esas increíbles escenas de acción, todo era grandioso, después de eso la película pierde mucho,
una historia cliche y con cosas que estan ahí sin razón aparente, ya en el final parece que volvera ser buena como en el principio, pero lamentablemente no lo logra, y de verdad les juro que hay demasiadas cosas en esta película que pasan solo porque si, ojalá hubieran sido solo los primeros 10 minutos.

Redline is pretty much the wacky races shipped with nascar, but on a cocktail of speed and tobasco sauce.

It's a simple enough story, boy drives car good, gets to drive more gooder in the Mario Flower Cup - or the Red Line, and there are no rules except come first. Where everyone uses an enormous amount of weaponry. Also, it's on a hostile planet of robots. Where the start of the race is getting dropped from orbit. And the boy drives a friggin Pontiac Firebird, from space, against flying spacecrafts and transformable robot cars. It's a bit of an underdog story.

Saying this is a mile ... a minute film is slowing it down to a crawl. You won't have time to get bored, the writing keeps the pace quick and you won't be able to wipe the smirk off your face. Special mention to the "nascar" commentators that narrate the events of the race here, they're an especially nice touch. There's a lot of things played for laughs here, from the promotional work the bigger sponsored racers do, to the amount of effort the robot president puts into wiping those racing scum off his planet, most of which is quite subtle. Up until the last quarter mile anyway, from there, all bets are off.

Even with all those things going on, it never feels unbalanced, it's always about the race. The characters can be a little strange, but they're very human, even the aliens. The boy wants to win the race, the shady mafia boss wants to make money on bets, the robot president of the invaded race planet wants to protect his borders, so ya know, it's sort of relatable stuff.
Hell, it even has a side romance story that isn't shoved down your throat and doesn't feel shoehorned in, how many shows can say that? Don't you wanna see an underdog get the girl and win the race, while everything blows up around him?

You can show this film to Anyone, it doesn't matter if they've seen every anime or none at all. I use this as a newbie breaker if someone asks me about getting into series, and it's in regular rotation for film nights. The first time I saw this I stood up and clapped at the end. It always feels really organic. C'mon, what else are you gonna do in 102 minutes? Just sit back and let the ride take you

Pretty good anime film. The story itself it's ok, but the animation and movement is awesome. The action scenes are so intense and epic, you just get really pumped up!
I wil recomend this film to people who like car races or good and colorfull animation, because the story it self, as I said before, it's simple, but the races and action scenes are pure hype! Not really anything more to say about it, I watched it because I saw an AMV and it was so impressive that I needed to go check it out!

This anime movie can be explain by just one word 'awesome'. This movie has every thing that gets viewer pumped up. It has a feeling of awesomeness. Eventhough it has the feeling of awesomeness, it is not the perfect masterpiece. The story has the most holes in my opinion. The story feels too much on to the point without giving enough time to viewer to grasp the story. At first the most confusing thing of the story was the redline races. We as a viewer don't get enough information on the race. The character development is good enough so that viewer doesn't get confused over ... it. The character development is mainly done on the maincharcter which is good for the movie because too much background story, and too much focus on one character can destory the whole feel of the movie. Overall I would say this is badass movie with on to the point storyline and I like the races done in the story. In the end I would recommend this movie to anyone who feels like watching a badass movie with great heart pumping racing sequels.

Sensory. Overload.

Redline follows the story of Sweet JP, a reckless race car driver in the distant future. The Redline race is the galaxy's biggest, most notorious, most violent race in all the galaxy...and JP has gotta win it. Redline was totally, unabashedly entertaining. There has been absolutely nothing I've seen that has been as over the top as Redline. It was just plain ridiculous, over the top fun. The animation only aids the insanity on screen. Animated by MADHOUSE (The Wolf Children, Summer Wars), Redline is colorful, vibrant, and truly exciting. There is certain level of kinetic energy rarely seen in animation, and Redline ... totally defines a new level of racing action throughout this chaotic adventure.

Speaking of which, the action is just amazing in Redline. Furiously entertaining and loud, Redline is extremely fun. The racing sequences are hilariously fun, and the rest of the film takes place as a build up to the finale, which is fittingly silly and recklessly mad in the best way possible. The cheeky writing and surprising English dubs make the energy all the more exciting. The characters are thin, but fun and quite memorable, especially Sweet JP. The story is amusing and keeps things mysterious until the end, but it's not necessarily ground-breaking. What is surprising is the world that Redline creates. It's a fun cyberpunk (with heavy emphasis on the punk) universe that has a good sense of location and originality. Its biggest flaw is it's hurried conclusion. There isn't any resolution after the epic finale, and it left me wanting more.

Redline is awesome. No question. It won't appeal to everyone, and that's ok. It's a loud, insane, and ridiculous action film that rarely lets up. Anime film goers will love it, but American film goers be warned: this is in no way a good entry point for action Japanese animation. But for those who know what they are getting themselves into, you will no doubt be entertained. Redline is freakishly enjoyable from beginning to end. There's nothing else quite like the insanity on screen, and its fresh twists on racing film tropes is reason enough to give Redline a watch.

I really don't know what to say. It's spectacular!
This movie makes no sense and blends so many genres that people will always find things they love and hate about it. From the gore-filled violence to a completely original and atomic art style. All of it's elements are very different compared to other anime but they are right where they should be in the best way possible. Even where it doesn't shine as bright I would say it's way past average. If I had to make a recommendation for this I wouldn't know where to start. When you recommend something you almost always look for something ... with the same genre. In this case the overall focus is "spaceracing," I would recommend Redline itself already at this point because there really isn't anything quite like it. Or maybe Cowboy bebop is similar because it takes place in space and has quite high ratings, much like this one. The main character Spike is kind of similar to JP except for his dark background story and militarised job description. So there we have it. If you enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, go to Redline. I kind of lost the seriousness in this review but just shortly, I'll say something worth reading. Don't watch it because the genres add up with what you usually enjoy. Watch it because 1.40 minutes of your life are worth it and are given priceless at "gogoanime.tv"
Did I enjoy watching Redline? Yes, this is the type of anime where you will spend more time looking for something just as good than the runtime of the movie.
I give Redline a strong 8.5/10 and close my review.