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On the one hand it exemplifies everything I dislike about many anime films, and on the other… it's just plain awesome. The entire climax is essentially a beautifully orchestrated exercise in controlled mayhem, and again, while certain plot details come across as muddled and undercooked, the sheer fun of the race more than makes up for any shortcomings in the script. The various alien characters are all quite memorable as well, and truly feel otherworldly, and extremely weird.
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Character designs are exaggerated and stylized without sacrificing emotion, and vehicles and backgrounds feature lots of cool, intricate details. The racing scene that opens the film perfectly sets the stage for what follows with a hyper-kinetic jolt to the senses. The animation style is fluid and fast paced, with lots of action packed sequences that absolutely wow with visual delights. His romance with Sonoshee is particularly successful and the pair's relationship lends a legitimately sweet air to the proceedings, finding some genuine heart in the chaos. JP's growing internal dilemmas actually work pretty well, fueling the drama. Despite all this glorious insanity, there are some surprisingly effective quiet moments too. Just when you think the writers have taken the concept to the limits of lunacy, they push things one step further, and suddenly you have a vehicle turning into a big chested robot, a magical princess casting spells, a bad guy who gets stronger the more he cries, and giant bio weapons that run amok. An extremely bizarre and goofy sense of humor floods the work, making it clear that the filmmakers are aware of all the inherent madness on display. Some flashbacks are also thrown in for good measure, fleshing out JP's motivations and desires. Though many of the contestants are glossed over, they all get at least one brief moment to shine and leave an impression, exemplifying their eccentric charm. The characters are all given distinct, charismatic identities, and each racer gets their own elaborate back story that's briefly addressed through newsreel footage interspersed throughout. The real emphasis is on action, personality, and pure fun, and on that front the movie delivers in spades. The script is over-bloated, nonsensical, and at times downright incomprehensible, but somehow it doesn't seem to matter. When the competition finally starts, JP must not only compete against the other contestants, but the entire Roboworld army with his very life on the line. If that wasn't enough, JP's mechanic, an alien named Frisbee (Tadanobu Asano), tries to pressure him into throwing the match for money.
#Redline anime movie english sub driver
As the race approaches, JP starts to develop feelings for his toughest competition, a determined female driver named Sonoshee (Yu Aoi). The Roboworld government isn't too keen on the race, however, and plots to thwart the event with military action. We follow racer JP (Takuya Kimura) as he prepares for the final leg of the competition that's being held on a planet called Roboworld. The crazy plot focuses on a dangerous, intergalactic racing tournament. My brain wants to criticize it, but my eyes and ears are too busy being bombarded by pure awesomeness.
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Dumb, loud, and just plain cool, it embraces its own insanity wholeheartedly, giving audiences a visceral experience of pure adrenaline. A nonstop thrill-ride packed with insane visuals and eye-catching hand drawn animation, the film is pure entertainment. This brings us to 'Redline,' a 2009 sci-fi anime from Takeshi Koike that happens to be everything I just described.
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Though often filled with cool, high concepts, at their worst some anime stories can become a jumbled mess of vague ideas and muddled plot points that emphasize style over coherent substance. Sure, I enjoy a title here and there, but for the most part, I find the majority of the genre's plotlines to be disjointed and undercooked. While I admire the style and creativity of the art form, I can't really say I'm much of an anime fan.
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