Oh anime, how I love you. Sometimes you don’t even have to make sense; and I dig that. So Redlinehuh? How about that movie?
Redline is fast paced and rapid–just like almost all of the characters in this racing anime. The main character, JP, has a monster of a yellow car and a specific, yet unapparent need for speed. Everyone else in the race? Well, they drive anything from a hover craft to a giant pink woman robot with the two drivers controlling it from its boobs. Did I mention there’s a lot of boobs? Hold it in guys I’ll get to that.
The movie starts out pretty good. You see a crowd chatting and all these weird alien–mostly dog-like creatures talking amongst themselves and an alien child and his father with a camera excitedly waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a commotion starts from far away. vehicles zooming and vrooming about in the distance while the announcer talks and the crowd cheers. JP, with an extremely high Fonzy bouffant, is in last place (but not for long). His maintenance man Frisbee, a weird half blue half human alien-like creature with horns and claws, sits on a couch and talks business with what seems to be a really important client? Anyways, without spoiling it lets get to the good stuff, the drawing style.
It’s bright, it’s colorful, and its way way waaaaay over-dramatized. Meaning sometimes the characters almost pulsate; but I do realized that is to add to the intensity of the scene. I could complain that this is not my favorite drawing style and that I think it is a cop out, but I know that is not necessarily true. A lot of work is put into making things look weird in animes. This one had a lot of work put into it.
I will admit, I am not a racing car fanatic, but if you like unnecessarily fast speeds to the point of tears and blood pouring out of all the character’s orifices, then this is definitely for you. I personally think the storyline had too many subplots. We got a love here, a shady friend there, a crazy old alien with 4 arms who orders parts here, the background story of every single driver there. It’s almost too much to keep up with, and the movie is only an hour and 40 minutes long.
If I could name one cool thing I learned it would be about what the title means. look what I found while perusing the Internet about Redline thanks to Wikipedia:
Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an engine depends on various factors such as stroke, mass of the components, displacement, composition of components, and balance of components.
Now it makes sense! All that snot dripping, lip flapping speed has a point. Well not really.
What can I say, I like actions. I like romances. I like nice looking cars. However, when an anime ends with the words “LOVE” written out after all that happened in the movie, I’m a little bit confused when the credits start rolling. Though I have to say, I did want to know what was going to happen next. If you like that type of outlandish anime style, that heart pumping as my friend deemed it, “The movie Crank” style anime, then you’ll love Redline. If you want something with a little more substance, then I’d say stay clear. It’s never going to happen.
Oh yeah, for you guys who read the entire article just for me to talk about boobs again, here you go: One topless scene and two chicks who can’t keep their clothes on. If that is worth you watching Redline, then enjoy.
