The biggest issue in my opinion lies in the shows lack of explaining the central plot. Basically, the story takes place in the future, where a military organization called the Global Government Plan, or GGP, is rapidly obtaining power, seemingly with a goal of ruling over the entire world. Romanov Kallenbach, the commander of the GGP, has decided to implement the use of new, military grade RideBacks as police units; but they prove to be nothing more than a heavy handed way for the GGP to display their dominance. Opposing the GGP is the Borderless Military Alliance, or BMA. This organizations goal of preserving the countries government and way of life puts them squarely in Kallenbach's crosshairs, and they're officially dubbed terrorists. A prominent(?) member of this group, a man known simply as Kiefer, along with Tenshiro Okakura, the head of Musashino University's Rideback Club, both have a past with Kallenbach as they created a special "RideBack Squad" when they worked together in the GGP before the group became what it currently is.
And that's about all I can say I'm absolutely certain of. Beyond that, the show doesn't make anything clear. For example, the show never makes Kallenbach's motives clear. Why is he going to all these extremes? It's clear that he doesn't have peoples safety in mind since the first time the new "White Rider" police RideBacks are put to use in the field, they murder a petty street gang member who willingly gave himself up. So maybe he's trying to set himself up for a coup to take control of the GGP himself? Nope; to the very end he follows his orders like a good soldier would. The only thing left to assume is that he just...takes his job really, really seriously, contrary to what his characters attitude and personality would suggest.
But the vagueness doesn't come close to ending there. We're never told exactly what the GGP's goals are. We can assume they want to rule the world, but it's never actually said; in fact events eventually start to hint heavily that that isn't their intention at all. In the end, I found the only real reason I saw the GGP as a bad organization was becuase the show simply presented them in that way, other than that, I really can't say with certainty that they're actually evil in any way. This in turn reinforces the idea that Kallenbach's regime, if you will, is something of a splinter group...but again, he follows orders from the top brass the whole time so... The BMA on the other hand is much more clear cut. They make it very clear that they're fighting to keep things the way they have been, the way the people want it. Unfortunately, were not told exactly who the BMA is fighting for. "Borderless" would imply they fight for the world, but they make no mention of that at all...rather than think too much on it, I just resigned to the assumption that borderless means they don't limit themselves to the borders of any one country.
Those are just a few parts of the plot that are left unclear though, as you watch you'll end up having tons of questions that just never get answered at all. It's truly unfortunate; the story bears many similarities of the ever popular Code Geass; a globe conquering, corrupt, military organization contested by a group of rebels who aim to keep things the way they are, and given the things the GGP put Rin, our lead, through she would have made an excellent champion of justice on the side of the BMA...sadly though, that doesn't happen.
Speaking of Rin; she's actually an extremely well done character. I'll even go so far as to say she's one of my favorite characters. Before the events of the show, we're shown her past as a famous ballet dancer. The daughter of a likewise famous ballerina, Rin is hailed as a prodigy, her future and success assured...until she sustains an injury in her leg while performing one night. Though she eventually recovers and should be able to get back on stage, she is left rattled and unsure of herself, effectively ruining her career. Succumbing to this fact, she decides to go to college, where she happens upon the schools RideBack club, and a unique RideBack called "Fuego". The club quickly realizes that Rin is a natural on the bike, displaying skill and control on it nearly on par with Tamayo, a fellow club member who also happens to be one of the best RideBack racers in the country.
If that seems pretty unlikely, you're right, it is. But what makes Rin such a good character is her acknowledgment of that fact. See, hers is a story of self discovery. She realizes right away that she somehow has a natural talent for these robot/motorcycle hyrids, despite not even knowing of their existence until she started classes at the school, and she can't figure out why that is. Why is it she can control Fuego, when Tamayo, one of the best riders there is, has so many problems with it she claims the machine to have terrible handling? Why is it she feels something akin to a connection between herself and this machine? Why does she get a feeling of excitement amidst chaos and danger when she's on Fuego? It's her quest to find these answers that is the main draw of this show. If you ask me, the plot would have been much better had they decided to focus on Rin's personal journey to get these answers. I get that they were sticking to the manga's story...but it's hard to ignore the potential that was missed here.
Unfortunately, the rest of the cast isn't nearly as well done. At all. The only other characters that get anything close to a backstory are Kiefer, Okakura, and Kallenbach, and even then, it's minimal. Once again, it's a shame as there was quite a bit of potential in all three of the aformentioned characters as well as in Tamayo and her brother, both the children of a prominent polititian...but again, they missed that opportunity.
Back on the bright side of things, the shows art and animation are superb. As is evidently the norm, it all bears a striking resemblance to the stuff Kyoto Animation puts out; it isn't quite as good as their stuff, but it's close, really close. What I do like is the shows avoidance of making the female characters ridiculously moe. They're much more...normal looking here, which is refreshing since all these studios seem to think the only way they can make a female is if they all look and sound 12 years old. Aside from that, environmental and lighting effects are well done and not over used, as are the use of camera effects, partcularly during the high-intensity scenes, which all look great as well.
Out of everything though, I was most impressed with the way they did the RideBacks themselves. A motorcycle that has arms sticking out where the handlebars should be sounds pretty wonky, and if you were to imagine it before seeing this show, you'd probably think it would look ridiculous, but they pulled it off flawlessly. Short of a couple of scenes, they addition of arms looks and feels completely natural, and by the end of the show, you could even say it looks pretty cool on most of the various models of the vehicle you see in the show. Even more impressive is their bi-pedal forms. The moment I first saw Rin and Fuego stand up, I was instantly reminded of Final Fantasy VI's Magitek Armors (more specifically, the rendition shown on the modern artwork for the games logo, look at Final Fantasy VI Advances box art to get what I'm saying), just with wheels.
Finally, the shows soundtrack is also very well done, particularly the opening and ending. The general theme is a very techno-ish sound during most of the action scenes, aside from the bouts between the GGP and BMA which take on a fitting military sound. The emotional scenes take a minimalistic tone generally sticking to a piano piece. All the other music is pretty run of the mill, but there's nothing that sounds bad.
Honestly, RideBack is a show I wouldn't recommend passing up. Despite the mess it made of it's plot and the general lack of character development, Rin's story and the art and animation manage to make this show rather memorable. Halfway through the show I realized that I could really care less what happened between the two opposing factions, and usually I'd say that makes a show a clear failure, but that wasn't the case here. I kept watching because I wanted to see how things would turn out for Rin. I wanted to see her get the answers to her many questions.
