Is it not wild and over the top? No, of course it is. Redline is a story about the wildest race around called Redline. It's the future, and this is an anything-goes race. Racers use all manner of weapons against each other. They also do lots of sneaky things like exploit other racers by hooking onto them. Cars hover, fly, jump, tunnel, and do just about everything to get ahead. Just about every anime trope is thrown in for good measure. There's a cute pair of sexy girls that pilot a transforming mech car. They're from a planet ruled by a magical princess, of course. There's a crime fighting duo, there's a cyborg guy that built a car around himself, there's a gorilla cop, there's a planet of half-robot people. You name it, it's probably in Redline.
The thing is, all these elements are handled with a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor. The alien beings truly act alien, but in a very funny way. Everyone's just quirky and strange. The main characters Sonoshee and JP make a point of commenting on things with "What the hell?" quite frequently, adding to the feel that you're supposed to find it funny as well. It's this kind of treatment that makes Redline's style stand out. This is a wild, fun ride. Perhaps this easy translation to a Westerner like myself is due to the fact that its director was inspired by American kids. While in America, Katsuhito Ishii saw young guys working on their cars all day while the movie theaters were absent. He says he wanted to create a movie that would interest them enough to get them into the theater.
What's really surprising about Redline is that it's created with hand-drawn art entirely. For example, where many shows would take a shortcut with cars by animating them in CG, Redline does this all by hand. That's not to say a computer never touched this show, but just that the animation uses hand-drawn art as its base. The production is polished to an absurd degree. Everything from the animation to the finishing touches like glare on car lights are just done to perfection. Nothing looks like it was done in a shortcut way and the style looks very original (even lips are fully drawn and detailed, not just the thin straight lines you often see in anime). It shouldn't be to surprising to learn that Redline took 7 years to complete.
Of course, all these elements would be nothing without a good story. Redline does have a very simple story that takes a bit of a backseat to the action, but it's there. JP is the star of the show. He's an expert racer who gained a saintly reputation for refusing to outfit his car with weapons. He's a purist who wants to win with pure racing skill. Sonoshee is his love interest, another born racer determined to win. As the race goes on, we discover that JP has been following Sonoshee for a long time. He sneaks a bit of time with her here and there through race preparations, building a new car, and sizing up the competition. Even as the race gets into full swing, little things happen here and there, and we learn more about why JP wants to win more than just the race. It's surprisingly sweet, for being so simple.
Overall, Redline doesn't ask much of its audience. Sit back, enjoy the art, enjoy the ridiculous characters and alien worlds. Just have a bit of fun and watch some people go really fast and blow stuff up. It doesn't always work, but in Redline, it certainly does. As an additional note to those wondering about the rating, there's a bit of nudity, there's some drug use, but overall the movie stays pretty safe for most viewers.
