In the first episode, I was heads over heels in it. I breathed, smelled and laughed with RideBack. That delirious-like state continued for a few more episodes, even intensified. I was sure right then that this is the best anime I have watched in a long time now. And then came the cold shower.
I should probably mention that I finished watching the last episode 5 minutes ago. So I might not be the most rational being at the moment. The promise and the letdown are the biggest two I have ever faced when watching basically anything up until now. The emotions portrayed as she stopped dancing, the feeling of pure joy and life as she discovers RideBack.. It was like I was watching a creation of universe. Immense, deep and indescribable. Ofcourse the story goes on, but the biggest disappointment for me were Rin's emotions, intentions and willpower. She is able to give up something she loves more than anything else just because circumstances changed. She hurt her leg. She managed to hurt someone else by some miracle. No, no, can't do. Let's stop. A nap sounds so much better. Bullshit.
So, she discards it all, never to do it again, then does it all over again for someone else's sake. Imagine this scenario in a different setting. You absolutely love playing basketball. Nothing else like it. A friend of yours manages to get hurt badly. And yes, it was caused by you, since he was coming to see you play and a car hit him. And now you decide never to play basketball again because it made someone you love get hurt. Wtf? Oh, I forgot to mention that even tho you swore never to play it again, you still do it in the end because that friend wants to see you play. So you play for him and not for yourself anymore, appearing saint-like. Not even allowing yourself to enjoy it as before. Seriously, there is not much more that could be piss me off than this whole charade. Bah.
As for other topics.. Animation is amazing. CGI fits in well, the scenes and background are simply amazing.
Story is mediocre, but it works. There are some untied ends, but it was enough to hold everything together without flinching.
Sound department I think lacked. The soundtrack could be amazing, but it was just something that goes along with everything..
Characters. You might have read my initial pissed-off complaints about some aspects, but I was generally happy with everyone. Else.
Also, I shoulfd mention, I would rate this by the end of first few episodes as almost 10. Judging purely by personal enjoyment. Then it just went downhill. The are freaking lucky that they had a scene with panties twice! Look, RideBack is like one sport at which your panties would be on display ALL THE TIME if you were doing it in skirt. Which Rin manages to do alot. But they always chose perspective that obscures them. The wind was also behaving non-windy. Really stupid details, but as they keep repeating over and over again, it gets to be really annoying. But there are two scenes in which they managed to give a split second pantie-shot. I am a pervert, sure, but here are the basic laws of physics being denied. The barely managed to get out of that spot by that maybe one second altogether. Meh. Btw, they are white and really plain looking. Enjoy your spoiler.
