Review of Redline
Wow. Amazing. Take a deep breathe because Redline is going to let you gasp for air. Its just lines, but I can feel the rubber of the tires, I can almost smell the burned smell of the wheels, I can feel the rush from the thunderous race that’s happening on my screen. Redline is entertainment. Redline is amazing. It’s something that should absolutely be seen and experienced rather than hearing or reading about it. Redline kicks off with an epic all out race to bring us up to speed who the main characters are and what it is about. The pacing is damn fast and sois the vibe which comes with it. The upbeat music to the headbanging racers all just feel fast. The color palette fits so well with the atheistic and the character design is done so fresh and appealing. Space movies often have the freedom to model around imaginary places and species and that is exactly what Redline did right. They made their own universe and filled it to the brim with lore ready to be explored. So the only downside of Redline fast pacing is that most of the lore is simply not shown.
------ +100,000 frames -----
Seven years! It took Mappa seven years to make this gem and that can be seen and appreciated. The looks, stylish design and the high detail background is all so satisfying to watch. There is little than can compare with such atheistic. The feeling each frame gives you is so well thought out and everything looks so fluid and smooth going. The stretched lines when JP hit the gas or the explosions which feel impact full all deliver an enormous feeling of satisfaction. Its hard to sit still and not start cheering along with the crowd.
To say it simply, I haven’t seen a flaw in the animation nor did anything feel out of place. Even when I see the heavy cars bouldering through the battlefield it all felt like it should be. Compared to action anime where characters float in the sky or cars just “move” over the background this was such an experience I cant compare with others.
Lastly the character design was very interesting. You can feel the smugness from the generals or the soft and tender personality from JP. I really love how everything was a perfect bland of looking fast and hot. Even the cars looked so crazy.
----- Voice Actors -----
I’m surprised that most of the voice actors only played in this movie, because damn. Every single character face has a matching voice. From the soft smokey voice of Frisbee to the cherry fresh Sonoshee I like what I’m hearing. I can hear that the VA put their heart in it to make this sound fresh and crisp. You definitely wont be let down by this aspect.
----- Story -----
So Redline boils down to “space racers gone wild” and yeah baby, this is the ride of your life. I found myself left with my mouth wide open sometimes, sticked to the screen and absorbing all the action that’s going on. As said earlier the story telling here is very weak. Background information and such is very limited but enough to fully enjoy the story.
What I really liked is how the crowd and the antagonists were acting. Their commentary and actions perfectly explained what the world is about and what was happening more under the surface. Redline presents itself as a grand interspace tournament while the viewer can fill in the world with their imagination. Honestly this is not a bad thing to do. As viewer you can only yearn for more and that is exactly that drives the plot.
Story wise it just focuses on the action
---- conclusion ----
Redline is an anime which wouldn’t let met stop thinking about it after I’ve seen it. In many aspects its as perfect as it can get. There are flaws and things that viewers might have wanted more focus on but that’s all forgiven as I can guarantee that Redline will blow you away. Be careful to not play the OST while driving.
This. Is. Racing.