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REVIEW: Redline


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HellKorn



Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 1669
Location: Columbus, OH
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 4:55 pm Reply with quote
I really liked the first "episode" of Trava, and grew disappointed as it seems the follow-up planned never came through. Still, Redline seems just as promising.

Really nice review, and I hope to see ANN cover more atypical anime when they have the chance.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:59 pm Reply with quote
HellKorn wrote:
Really nice review, and I hope to see ANN cover more atypical anime when they have the chance.


Yeah, I'd like to second this. There's a lots of more obscure, arty, or unusual anime out there and even if it's already on my radar, there's generally so little buzz or information surrounding it that it's tough to get a read on whether it's worth pursuing at all. I'd love to see ANN review this kind of thing more often.
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Zipper



Joined: 11 Dec 2008
Posts: 133
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:10 pm Reply with quote
This really does look amazing. Just watched the trailer. Takes me back to the older days of animation when everything was animated frame by frame instead of using CGI and 3D. It reminds me of a high budget 80s film like Honneamise with detail all over the place. Stuff like this is just far more impressive.

Anyway, storyline aside, this film looks like service for your senses. That may be good enough with the way this looks. Seems like it'll be lots of fun.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5912
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 11:18 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
Otaking09 wrote:
but what the heck are we supposed to do?


Wait until it comes out?


If it comes out.
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Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:58 pm Reply with quote
Wasn't this the movie that basically the director did all the animation himself? I remember Masao Maruyama at Otakon years ago talking about this project basically staying they were letting him do whatever he wanted and hoped he could finish animating it before he died. If it had a pretty small crew it couldn't have cost that much to make. It was a just a huge time sink.
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dan_bellucci



Joined: 20 May 2010
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Great review. As somebody who also saw it in London I concur wholeheartedly.
I especially agree with the sentiments that this film has made progress with animation as a medium and that it's managed to accomplish hyper-dynamic animation that still has a sense of order about it. I feel it has pushed the boundaries of animation forward.

I'm actually very glad that this person was the one who reviewed it, because most of ANN's reviewers would probably dismiss it NOT DEEP ANOUGH 4 ME like they do with any non-shounen action anime which does not also possess a wry social commentary or several prolonged, introspective monologues or name-drops dead philosophers or contains existentialist musings on the human condition etc.

brand wrote:
Wasn't this the movie that basically the director did all the animation himself? I remember Masao Maruyama at Otakon years ago talking about this project basically staying they were letting him do whatever he wanted and hoped he could finish animating it before he died. If it had a pretty small crew it couldn't have cost that much to make. It was a just a huge time sink.


I severely doubt this was made on a small budget or crew. I mean honestly, Cencoroll took what'shisname 4 years to make and it was half an hour long and looked a bit rough around the edges. Redline has been in production for 5 or 6 years, is more than twice as long and looks miles more polished. That said, this film is very homogenous in terms of style throughout it's length so it's not like you can watch it and suddenly notice section of say, Sushio's animation or yukata Nakamura's animation.
ikillchicken wrote:
Yeah, I'd like to second this. There's a lots of more obscure, arty, or unusual anime out there and even if it's already on my radar, there's generally so little buzz or information surrounding it that it's tough to get a read on whether it's worth pursuing at all. I'd love to see ANN review this kind of thing more often.


This isn’t exactly an independent, arty anime. It was of the main features of Madhouses TAF booth last year and this year it was the main feature. Most people I know who watch sakuga videos have been waiting for this to come out for years (I think the first release date it had was 2007! lol)
Barciad wrote:
Looks promising - a cross between Macross Plus and FLCL.

It’s nothing like Macross plus.

The best description I can come up with in terms of other anime is Fist Planet Trava mixed with Imaishi’s anime short OvalXOver.
TarsTarkas wrote:
Zac wrote:
Otaking09 wrote:
but what the heck are we supposed to do?


Wait until it comes out?


If it comes out.

I can’t see this not coming out at least in Japan. It’s not like that Phantom Blood movie or something.
BenBrown wrote:


That trailer makes the visuals look amazing. I'm dubious about the voice work though. All the incoherent mumbling and screaming reminds me of Bevis and Butthead... and not in a good way.

Well I can see why they wouldn't put any proper dialogue into just some promotional/trailer footage.

I think the race sequences in the movie actually look better than in the trailer. some of the sequences in the trailer just don't really work for me, like the guy with the pistols flying through the air shooting robots (who's called Dark Hero Lynchman) or the pink robot fight scene. For me those two parts are just slightly too erratic and a bit vulgar. However none of the race action or choreography in the movie made me feel like that.
keikanki wrote:
Tim,

Gotta say, in certain ways this review reminds me of your 12 Kingdoms Gundam preview that I commented on a while back. Your conviction comes through like a battering ram, but what is the film actually about?

How much of it is JP and how much of it is interaction with alien races and how much of it is auto racing? Without a few details, I'm left imagining The Fast And The Furious as remade by Madhouse, which is... perhaps not as exciting a concept to me as your raw enthusiasm inspires. Normally I could go to the Encyclopedia or Wikipedia for more detail, but not so much in this case.

He told you exactly what the film is about. The whole of his synopsis was about the race, the whole of his review is about how exciting the film is. It’s hardly NOT going to a racing anime and actually be a thoughtful film about cultural interaction with alien races.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:52 pm Reply with quote
dan_bellucci wrote:
ikillchicken wrote:
Yeah, I'd like to second this. There's a lots of more obscure, arty, or unusual anime out there and even if it's already on my radar, there's generally so little buzz or information surrounding it that it's tough to get a read on whether it's worth pursuing at all. I'd love to see ANN review this kind of thing more often.


This isn’t exactly an independent, arty anime. It was of the main features of Madhouses TAF booth last year and this year it was the main feature. Most people I know who watch sakuga videos have been waiting for this to come out for years (I think the first release date it had was 2007! lol)


Didn't say it was independent. I never used that word. I haven't seen it so I don't know for sure, but it seems pretty apparent from the review that it is very unusual and experimental at least so far as the visuals go. In that regard, I'd definitely classify it as somewhat arty even if it also has mainstream appeal. In any case, I was more so speaking generally about what I'd like to see from ANN.
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dan_bellucci



Joined: 20 May 2010
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:21 pm Reply with quote
It's an arty anime in as much as Dead Leaves or OvalxOver are arty anime. It's hardly Angel's Egg or Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 6:02 pm Reply with quote
dan_bellucci wrote:
It's an arty anime in as much as Dead Leaves or OvalxOver are arty anime. It's hardly Angel's Egg or Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor.


Don't you have something better to do than nitpicking over pedantic nonsense?

I never claimed it was the most arty anime out there. Obviously though it's at least closer than your average anime. Whatever. Call it arty. Don't call it arty. I don't care. It's totally irrelevant to the fairly obvious point I was actually making.
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SoloButterfly



Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 239
Location: Masaki Residence
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:09 pm Reply with quote
I may check this out if it ever hits one of the special engagement theaters near me. It seems a bit extreme for me to actually like it, but hopefully I can go with a big group and we can have interesting conversations about it if nothing else.
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LondinCalling



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 122
PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:41 pm Reply with quote
So does this film have legs? Does the ridiculous art style complement or detract from the plot?

Is there a plot to speak of? Are the characters relatable or interesting? Does the work culmninate into anything other than a stream of random events?

Is the value based on the exclusivity of its premiership or the quality of its narrative? Based on your review it seems like you are saying the film is unique and this is why we should like it.

It is a big claim to say it is the most important anime in years. From your review I cannot see why.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 1:23 am Reply with quote
LondinCalling wrote:
Does the work culmninate into anything other than a stream of random events?


The Synopsis explains the basic premise and plot.

Quote:
Is the value based on the exclusivity of its premiership or the quality of its narrative? Based on your review it seems like you are saying the film is unique and this is why we should like it.


"Some critics are going to look at the film's minimal plot and decry it as ‘style over content’, but to do so will be to reveal themselves as not even within driving distance of the point. Redline is animation not only at its best, but also largely animation for animation's sake – not a story that had to be made in anime form to due to budgetary restrictions, but a story that could only exist in this medium. It is experimental, challenging and most importantly exhilarating in its artistic style in ways that most works could not even dream of reaching through script writing or thematic devices."

I think that answers your questions fairly well. It's value is certainly not derived from it's narrative. The plot is somewhat beside the point, hence there is very little that needs to be said about it. Nor is the appeal purely that it's visuals are unique but also that they are fascinating and exhilarating to watch.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 1:28 am Reply with quote
LondinCalling wrote:

Is there a plot to speak of?


The plot is outlined in the synopsis.

You should look up what 'plot' means.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 2:20 am Reply with quote
Tim Maughan wrote:
animation for animation's sake


Uh-oh. I don't have anything personal against this sort of work, but from past experience it's not really my thing. Summer Wars, for instance, just wasn't substantial enough to make me go 'wow', despite awesome visuals. I expect the same will be true here if I get the chance to check it out (crossing my fingers for a theatrical release); at least it'll be really cool to look at.
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reanimator





PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 2:46 am Reply with quote
Tim,
Thanks for the review. I wanted to watch this movie after seeing the promo video few years ago. I've been a fan of Takeshi Koike's works because his design sense has unique flavor which is different from the majority. I still have Trava Fist Planet R2 DVD. Anyway, Anime need something like his work than usual pattern prevalent in so many titles
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