It is impossible to review Redline without mentioning Wacky Races. However, let us be clear from the start: while the DNA of Hanna-Barbera’s classic might be present, this anime is a completely different beast. If Wacky Races were injected with nitrous oxide, animated by a team of adrenaline junkies, and set in a galaxy far, far away, you might get close to Redline.
Brought to us by the legendary studio Madhouse and Manga Entertainment, Redline is a loud, sensory assault of a film. At times, one wonders if the video game Guitar Hero heavily inspired director Takeshi Koike and writer Katsuhito Ishii. There are sequences where the racecourse resembles the spinning, warping track of ‘Legendary Mode’ and the colourful blurs of the racers are the notes you desperately try to hit. A massive shoutout must go to James Shimoji for an awe-inspiring, high-octane soundtrack that perfectly matches the on-screen insanity.
The film throws us into the action immediately. We meet ‘Sweet’ JP, a racer sporting a pompadour that would make a 1960s rocker jealous, busy trying to win the Yellowline race. It is a brutal dash for the finish line involving nitro boosts, grappling hooks, and plenty of missiles. The catch? His mechanic and partner, Frisbee, is entangled with gangsters who have bet heavily on JP losing.
Despite the grease-lightning hairstyles and muscle cars, this is the far future. The track is populated by all manner of aliens, cyborgs, and bio-mechanical monstrosities. And that is just the qualifier. The main event, the Redline, is a tougher, harder, ‘anything-goes’ death race where the galaxy’s most dangerous champions step up. To raise the stakes further, the organisers announce that the Redline will take place on Roboworld. The military authorities of Roboworld are none too pleased about hosting an illegal galactic race and deploy their entire army, dirty tricks and orbital cannons included, to stop it.
Redline sounds fantastic, but it looks even better. The visual style is distinct, resembling pop-art meeting high-budget anime with a heavy dose of Jack Kirby-esque lines. The production history is famously arduous; it took seven years to complete and consists of over 100,000 hand-made drawings. This was an incredibly bold choice in an era moving rapidly toward CGI, and the effort shows in every fluid, warping frame. It remains a stunning testament to traditional 2D animation.
I thoroughly enjoyed Redline. It is a pure thrill ride and a surprisingly easy watch. You do not need to worry about complex political intrigue or deep philosophical questions here. Simply turn your brain off, sit back, and enjoy the spectacle of fast cars, rebellious pilots, and animation that screams at you at 200 miles per hour. It is unadulterated fun.
