Why Redline is Important and you SHOULD Believe the Hype!

Posted by Chris Kirby
January 18, 2012 at 09:16 AM

It may not be the revival of anime we wanted but goddammit is it the revival we needed!

I’m pretty sure there is nothing I can say about Redline that hasn’t been said already. But when you write, and enjoy writing, this is a film that MUST be written about. There is a level of power that this film holds that would propel any writer to start hammering away at the keyboard regardless of repetition. To start this off, I’m afraid I have to give a quick history lesson first.

Why did anime become popular in America? What was it about these cartoons from the Far East that drew us in and made us crave more? I can sure as shit tell you that it wasn’t because of pre-pubescent girls and light ‘slice-of-life’ fair. It was because it was AWESOME! To use the tired old cliché, “It wasn’t kid stuff”. It may be an unrealistic phrase in the grand scope of anime as most of it is kid stuff; granted it is very different and complex compared to kid’s cartoons here in America, but it is kid stuff. The anime that made America stop and say ‘WOW’ wasn’t kid stuff though. It might not have been the most mature fair either but it was different, exciting, and….dare I say…awesome! Anime featured stories that were eclectic in their design, fearless in their presentation, and explicit in almost every single way. There is a reason why fans of anime that have been around for 15 – 20 years constantly reference shows from the 80s and early 90s; it’s because THAT was the era America became infatuated with, that was when anime was flat out amazing! The quality level of many of those old shows are easily debatable and there are many that are indefensible, but the one constant always remained…that’s right, you know what it is. Over the years, anime became more subdued. As its popularity grew the accessibility of shows had to become more…well, accessible. This meant less risks, going with what was proven and safe. Tastes in anime began to change too. The general public was no longer interested in the insanity that made anime different. People began wanting what we’ve always had in American movies and television: stories that are relatable, intelligent, or just plain entertaining while maintaining a level of grounded-ness. The thing is, American cartoons still weren’t doing that, it was still just live-action. So anime continued to blossom as attraction towards American live-action programs in animated form from another country grew. But where did this intensity, the insanity, and the awesome-ness of anime go?

In short, it went away. It shrunk down to a very small corner of the anime world that still flourished but only for old-school fans. The Go Nagai remakes and similar throwbacks being the main focal point in Japan. That style still existed but became a very small corner that didn’t draw attention or become what it once was to American fans. Believe me, I am not here to praise the anime of old as being superior to current anime or to start a protest where we begin a boycott on new anime and focus on the insanity. I like a lot of newer anime and will defend a lot of it. That’s because a lot of it is still generally good entertainment and storytelling. No, I’m here to tell you about Redline.

A lot of the hype going around the Internet about Redline is that it is for fans of older anime. It is a throw-back to the ‘glory days’ and what we’ve been missed for about a decade now. This is simultaneously the absolute truth and misleading. Redline is not a throw-back, it isn’t cut from the same cloth as the Kawajiri 80s. It’s the essence of those years pumping through the veins of modern anime. It is what we never knew we needed in anime and everything we’ve ever asked for at the same time. Allow me the digress into the story for a minute.

Redline is about the ultimate racing tournament. A slew of races are held in which dozens of racers try to get into the championship race…the Redline. The winner of each race is automatically qualified and therefore need not race again until the Redline. The film starts off with the Yellowline, the final qualifying race. Here we meet the major players, JP and Sonoshee. The stage is set with the announcer of the Yellowline laying down the rules and the stakes. We are shown hundreds of spectators talking about their favorites to win. Once we are given the feel of what the races are and who the players are we get thrown face first into the race itself. What follows is quite possibly the most exciting 15 minutes of animated action you have ever seen in your life! We are given absolutely no time to take a breath. Our eyes are filled with hands down the best animation ever to grace the screen. The level of detail is not something to be scoffed at. Every millisecond of film is perfect! Every line, every piece of background, every single character and vehicle moves and shifts with the intensity of the race. Never going off model and never blurring to the point of non-recognition. We learn more about the characters in this race than most modern anime accomplishes in the first two episodes of a series. We learn about them through their actions, their facial expressions, and their speech.

Turns out though, that the race is fixed. JP, nicknamed Sweet JP, is set to raise the odds by jumping to the lead in the last quarter and then losing the race just in time. We know this as we see JP’s partner Frisbee hanging out with a Mafia boss with two guns pointed at his head. There are no secrets in Redline, no hidden meanings or piles of subterfuge to wade through in order to understand the plot. Many people have been pointing to this as a huge flaw and why Redline “sucks”; I’ll get to that later.

Once Yellowline is completed, JP is out of the running and in the hospital. Resigned to going back to jail and refusing the Mafia’s money, JP suddenly learns that two of the Redline qualifiers have dropped out of the race and he’s in due to a popularity poll. Needless to say, JP accepts the invite and gets moving on repairing his car. What follows is a decidedly less exciting portion of the film. All the Redline finalists go to the satellite planet of Roboworld to prepare. See, Roboworld is where the Redline has been decided to take place. It is also the reason for the two finalists dropping out of the race. Roboworld is an extremely militarized, hostile planet. The President of Roboworld has declared war on the Redline and vows to kill them all as he sees the race as a declaration of war on his planet. The real truth is that Roboworld is basically what George W. Bush thought Iraq was: a galactic terror where extreme weapons of mass destruction are being produced with the intent to start a war in the future. Of course the President wants to keep his military secrets secret…hence the hostility.

Just because the action slows doesn’t mean the story or film suffers. Here is where we really get to know the characters. We are also introduced to the other Redline finalists in quick succession. Allow me to break away to explain a few things to you. Just because the characters are quickly introduced and then left out of the limelight until the Redline race does not mean that there is no character development and the characters are shallow. Redline proves to be the exact opposite. What normally takes most modern anime quite a few episodes to accomplish is done in a matter of minutes here. JP begins interacting with Sonoshee, we get the gist of what type of person JP really is and the basic setup for Sonoshee’s character. While they are conversing and revealing developmental points, the various Redline contestants appear in the restaurant. We meet Trava whose motivations and brief back-story are explained by his partner. Meanwhile, Trava is currently in a fight with an old army buddy of his, this buddy is a solider of Roboworld. This brief scene/fight gives us all we need to understand the motivations of this Roboworld solider, we see some of his unique characteristics and what makes him tick. Do we need a 30 minute episode detailing him and Trava’s past? No. It’s right there in front of you in plain sight. Do we know ALL the details? No, but we don’t need to either. After their fight is broken up by Machine Head, the reigning champion of the Redline races, the Roboworld soldiers burst in. We get to see Captain Volton’s disposition, his brute force, and his slyness that comes into play later in the movie. Again, do we need an exposé on this character to understand him and hate him? No!

The rest of this portion of the film gives us flashbacks to JP and Sonoshee’s past and allows us to care for them as characters. If you were wanting to ‘dig deep’ into the story and find out the hidden messages within, here’s your chance. The flashbacks are kept short and sweet but never tell us anything flat out. The film doesn’t treat us like children by holding our hands through everything but it also isn’t a Mamoru Oshii film where everything is subtext and cryptic. We are given the freedom to read into the stories of the characters; this process allows us to become emotionally invested to a degree where we care for the characters. The film also doesn’t hide behind itself giving us the freedom to sit back and enjoy everything set before us. This is a very important distinction to make as to why Redline has been hyped as the next great anime. We want to be entertained, we want to be wowed; but we want substance. Many anime and films weigh too much on one or the other. This creates a mindset that too much entertainment is low-brow and too much substance is artsy-fartsy. Most of the great films and anime have been able to successfully provide and balance both of these elements. Redline also accomplishes this balance but provides the level of action typically reserved for the lowest of low-brow entertainment. It is extreme but maintains its focus!

As with the opening sequence, the animation here is a spectacle that MUST be seen to be believed. The animation is so fluid and clean with the utmost attention to detail. That level of detail prevents the characters and backgrounds from simply being there while we are swept up in the story (which is the case for the majority of modern anime); the animation is a part of the story! Absolutely integral and if the animation ever dropped in quality then the story is no longer held together. It would become generic. Thankfully, that isn’t the case.

After this sequence of the film we begin the Redline! From the onset, the race is blood-pumping excitement as the Roboworld forces attempt to kill/stop the racers before their ‘ultimate weapon’ is discovered and the racers simply try to race. Many reviewers before me have compared Redline to Speed Racer and Wacky Races; this is a complete misnomer. While those comparisons are vital in garnering the interest of American citizens, it isn’t exactly accurate. Speed Racer was about racing sure, but the show interspersed a ton of personal drama into the races attempting to make them more meaningful to the audience while skimping on the racing aspect; Redline is about the race! It’s about winning the race! Our character drama and motivations were set on the Roboworld satellite planet, now it’s time to get down to business. Wacky Races was super-light kid’s fare back in the 70s that featured a myriad of kooky characters in even kookier cars. These cars would have crazy tricks that made the races fun and entertaining in a Mario Kart kind of way. In Redline, yes there are super crazy vehicles with insane weapons and abilities. But these vehicles aren’t intended to add an element of fun, they are part of what makes Redline the most dangerous race. They are integral to the story without actually affecting the story. Don’t get me wrong, Redline is fun as hell but it isn’t “fun” in the Wacky Races kind of way. The fun had in Redline is drawn from the amazing animation and exhilarating non-stop action pieces. If you want to see Wacky Races anime-style, watch the 5-minute Redline proof of concept. THAT is anime Wacky Races. What makes the Redline film different is the emotional connection and the plot that has built to this point. The race isn’t just a race, it MEANS something.

Redline is its own magnificent, beautiful beast. It draws inspiration from other shows but it will never lie in the same dimension, let alone category, as them! The ending of the film seems to be the main source of contention for many fans. Some may call the ending complete bullshit, illogical, and not worthy in any way shape or form based on the events that have previously taken place. If that is your thought…you weren’t paying attention! Remember those flashbacks I told you about that provide enhanced depth and emotional attachment to the characters JP and Sonoshee? Yeah, go back and watch that part again and look into the stories for what is going on. The ending makes perfect sense and is drawn to a logical conclusion based on the elements presented previously.

Now, back to where I started. What makes Redline so special? Why is it hyped to be the greatest thing since sliced fucking bread? In short, because it is! This is why I gave that little anime history lesson at the beginning. Redline is so different from what we are normally exposed to here in America, it is of a different breed, it is exactly what you are looking for in anime. “But it’s not like my favorite anime shows! It’s not why *I* like anime!” This is a sentiment found common within the newer class of anime fan while the exact opposite is that of the old-school fan. This isn’t because the film is only for old-school fans, it’s because old-school fans remember why America got into anime in the first place. They see that Redline is a reinvigoration of the awesome anime cartoon that has style, substance, and appeal. Newer fans were ushered in with Naruto and have remained anime fans because of moé and the in depth characterizations and intense emotional connection they feel with the story. Anime has become to them simply American television in animated form from a different country. It’s hip to like anime because it’s ‘not American’; but the content is the same. Maybe you are into the loli/moé thing, maybe you aren’t; but anime is just a medium where we can get good stories in the shape of fantastical and sometimes violent cartoons. Redline brings back that element of being truly different and above all else…that’s right…AWESOME!

Redline is why America got into anime. Bottom fucking line! It is exciting, completely alien to what we are used to with our local entertainment, extreme in its presentation, and engaging to watch. The plot is there. Some may argue it takes a backseat to the animation but that’s because they aren’t soaking it in. The animation enhances the story, it is what draws us in. Just like anime used to. Traditional staples like Akira and Ghost in the Shell used the animation to enthrall us, to create a world that we could immerse ourselves into. Then the story comes into play and we are amazed at the plot and moved by the characters. But that animation is what got us there and keeps the plot moving while never freeing us from its grasp. That is Redline to the Nth degree. It is fast and crazy; it’s also interesting and worth investment. It features violence, extreme camera angles and animation techniques that are truly unique. The film has a modern look and feel to it, however it was animated the old way: thousands upon thousands of hand drawn cells. It doesn’t look old, it looks very fresh and new. The freshness of its style is such a welcome treat that other anime shows and movies should be ashamed of themselves. They have technology on their side! That is why the animation in Redline is so special, it fills our souls with excitement and unmatched beauty while looking like a new anime. Seriously though, Redline really is the best looking anime I’ve EVER seen and that you will likely ever see as well.

THAT is why Redline has been hyped beyond belief. It’s not because it is like old anime and only us old-timers can dig it. It’s because it contains all the elements that made America pay attention, it is the reason why the anime boom in the 2000s happened, it is why you are watching the anime that you are watching now and have a fandom to stand on, and the fact that it is refreshing, new, and accessible. Is Redline for everybody? Hell yes! You simply have to put down your standards of what you expect. Not to say you should go in with lower standards or any other sort of false bullshit like that. No! You should not expect it to be a 13 or 26 episode Key show, you should not expect it to have the pacing of a modern anime series, and you should not expect it to follow in the tropes and traditions you have become used to. This is a 100 minute long movie! It needs to get in and get out. It needs to tell its story and be done with it. No sequels, no franchise reaching aims, just a story. It’s that straight forward. Redline tells it’s story, fleshes out its characters, and does it all with a sense of style that younger anime fans have never experienced before. When you watch Redline you will see why old-school fans love the anime that they do. You will understand why it was this type of anime that launched the fandom in the first place. Whether you like it or not is up to you and your own personal tastes and judgments, but you should at least be able to acknowledge and understand that this IS important and not something to be taken lightly.

There is absolutely NO denying that Redline is the most important anime film to come to the West in a good decade. Now with all this serious business out of the way it is time I reveal the true power of Redline: Redline proves what Americans have known since the 50s: the levels of a man’s coolness is only measured by the size of his pompadour!