The racing anime film ‘Redline‘ is the directorial debut feature of Takeshi Koike. It was released in 2009 by Madhouse Entertainment and dubbed into English by Bang Zoom! Entertainment.

Somewhere deep in the future, Sweet JP (Patrick Seitz) loses the “Yellow Line” after his car is sabotaged by his sponsor Frisbee (Liam O’Brien) who was trying to pay off a mob debt. Female racer Sonoshee McLaren (Michelle Ruff) wins the race and automatically gets qualified for the Redline, a deadly championship race every five years that’s location is random. The Redline is announced to be on Roboworld, whose military leaders are not amused and plan on sabotaging the race. Sweet JP finds out that he has qualified for the race after two participants have dropped out. Sweet JP visits his mechanic Old Man Mole (Steve Kramer) wanting to upgrade his TransAM20000 with tech from Frisbee, whom Mole does not trust. As they work on the car, Sweet JP meets Sonoshee at a restaurant where they bond over their love for racing. However, the army from Roboworld plans to kill all of the racers with a powerful weapon.

I have to say, I am usually not a fan of this style of animation where the characters seem bladed and the glossy, but for this anime, it works. Perhaps it is the racing nature of the movie, but with the bright sheens, it gives the racing visuals and the character designs some unique looks. I especially like the TransAM20000. It is by far the coolest car in the film. The science fiction and space atmosphere of the film adds to the aesthetics, making it stand out on other racing flicks that I have seen.

As for the plot, I did think there was one point where they go over all of the racers in the Redline that dragged on a bit. Outside of that, I thought it was pretty fun. It was not “blow me away amazing,” but I did think was entertaining and fun. I also thought the voice cast was pretty good. With a cast this big, there is a temptation to get lazy, but the English dub did a good job.

Bottom line, Redline is a fun and cool racing anime with lots of cool visuals, car designs, and neat characters. You will enjoy the speed and style of the movie from beginning to end.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Foul language, Brief nudity, Strong violence

FAVORITE QUOTE: I want to see him do it, just this once! He’s so close, I want to see him win for once in his life!

Check out the trailer below:

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This article has been updated from a previous version.