Review of Redline

*SLIGHT SPOLIER WARNING* Animation: 10/10 Let’s get the most obvious factor of Redline out of the way. This show has astonishing animation, it’s porn to the eyes of someone like me who loves animation and drools over anything beautifully animated (I had to clean my face and desk afterwards...). All thescenes were perfectly done; the fight scenes (yes there’s fight scenes in a racing move), the racing and any moment in the show as there’s not one scene that lacked or felt lazy. At the start of the movie when there’s a dogman eating, and you see the shells falling beside his leg, even THAT looked amazing and you’re basically watching the aftermath of someone's lunch. If that fact alone doesn’t hook you knowing, there’s even more to come I don’t know what will. And then I go on to my personal favourite scene of the movie which is when the military fire their massive cannon and destroy their own modified weapon. The fluidity of this scene is splendid and couldn’t have been done any better, as this happens more towards the end of the movie they really gave me what I wanted, and I couldn’t be happier with what they pulled off. Now I could go on and on about how the animation is complete god tier, but this review would be me just bathing in my galore of how I died witnessing this animation (in a good way of course) so I’ll move on.

Art: 10/10
The art is another one that shouldn’t be snuffed at, as it contrasts with the animation so perfectly and doesn’t ruin anything to the movie and adds tons more. It’s beautifully hand drawn all the way through and you can see all the effort Madhouse has put into every drawing in this show, spending 7 years dedicating themselves to make it all look fantastic and you instantly notice this throughout all of Redline. Another thing is just how unique and fresh it looks, it isn’t some trashy show that picks up a certain art style of another show. Madhouse used all their backbone to create this art style that can be classed as unique and contrast very well with the animation.

Plot: 5/10
Now after all that dick sucking I come to the plot of Redline, which is just... average. There isn’t much story to Redline. In a nutshell it’s just everyone wants to win the Redline race as we focus on the two main characters JP and Sonoshee, the protagonist being JP. And what ties these two characters is JP's gentlemen like feats to Sonoshee and their similar motivations since childhood which is to be the champion of the Redline race. And the main problem for me is how this is done in the movie, which after we finish the qualifying match at the start we have about 30-40 minutes of backstory of JP and Sonoshee (which felt cliché and mediocre at best) and how the military of the planet want to defend a certain weapon that the racers will pass. Which I personally think didn’t add anything to the story it was more of an excuse to add an amazing looking monster arise and spawn sexy animation and explosions. As well as help the two main characters connect to each other as that scene allowed them to realise they have a lot in common. So, Redline's story really isn't its strong point.

Music and sound effects: 8/10
First of all, the music, which is very good. The multiple OSTs used in Redline really help hype the races and build up even more adrenaline than there already is from all the animation. However, the only problem is that they aren’t very memorable, the sole purpose of them is just to make the races more epic than they already are, as I’ve already forgotten the music that was played. But saying that the sound effects are another godlike feature in this movie. Everything from the high scale explosions to just the simple stuff like the mechanics fixing cars feels so real and make the scenes a lot more compelling. There isn’t one moment where the sound effects feel off or just sound terrible, this really helps Redline as sound effects in racing anime are very important, they help portray the true feel of a race and it makes the viewer feel they’re there watching the race in person which is just what a racing show needs to entice the viewers which Redline does very well.

Overall rating 8.25/10 - Actual rating 9/10

Now, with me pointing out how the story is really mediocre, Madhouse made the story and characters simple and straightforward for one reason: THIS MOVIE SHOULDN’T BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. Its main purpose is to make the viewer entertained with its action full of adrenaline, and the art and animation being so high class that you just forget all of the things and make you critique shows and just sit back and enjoy. I will warn you that if you try to look into everything and pick out all the flaws you might as well not bother when it comes to this movie, DON’T DO IT. This show is an amazing ride (get the pun?) and Redline really shows that anime isn’t all about looking into it, it should just be enjoyed, and you should just have fun with it. That’s why I feel it deserves a 9/10 and is considered one of my favourite anime movies at the time I’m writing this review.