Ride Back

What do you do when you fall down? Do you get back up and continue what you are doing? Or do you simply wait for someone to come along and pick you up? In a futuristic Japan where vehicle's know as Ridebacks are all the rage Ogata Rin must try to pick herself up from ruining her career as one of Japan's finest dancers. Rin herself may be one of the best things to come out of Rideback, as she is a terrific main lead. Throughout the entire series she tries to come in gripes with herself, and why she does the things she does.Why is it that when she rides Fuego does her heart pound so much? Why did I make that jump? Why in all of these flames do I feel truly alive? These are the type of questions she ask's herself throughout the series, and her coming into gripes and realization of each of the answers is truly a wonderful journey. Rin is most definitely a rare character, but sadly that's all this show has to offer in terms of characters. Unfortunately all of the characters are nothing more than one-dimensional cut outs used simply to move the plot forward. You never get to know any of the characters, on really any level, other than their purpose inside the context of the plot. Which is definitely a draw back, from an otherwise great show. One of Rideback's successes is that it's plot is believable. I am not talking about the motorcycle's with arms. No I am talking about how everything comes together. How Rin comes into mix with the terrorist organization and why she becomes wanted by the GGP. It's brought together, by a couple of really believable coincidences. Rin getting caught in the middle of this doesn't feel forced at all. On the contrary, it actually feels like she got caught in the middle of everything. However, just because everything comes together in a believable way does not forgive the very shaky plot of Rideback. The problem with Rideback is that it's only 12 episodes long. I think that a longer series would've benefited Rideback a lot more. The viewer never fully understands what happens in the show. Why is the BMA leader want revenge so bad? It's clear he was screwed over, but how? Why? Who is this mysterious lady who seems to have the answers? Why is she helping take down the government she works for? The anime itself is full of questions that never get answered. If this series was extended and had the time to answer, explain and expand on everything already present that this anime would have truly been a masterpiece. But alas it's 12 episodes holds it back and keeps it an average level. The two biggest successes of Rideback have to the art and soundtrack. Both entirely entrancing and add so much more depth to this series. The animation of Rideback is breathtaking. The character designs are top notch, and the background visuals will leave you in a state of awe at just how beautiful they are. The Rideback animation is flawless and the action sequences done with the Rideback have so much detail in them that they will raise your heart levels tenfold. The soundtrack in anime(Outside of Mells consistent bad English in the opening) is fantastic. From the adrenaline pumping techno to the beautiful piano scores. The OST adds a depth to this anime that the story and characters weren't able to. It adds so much emotion as Rin tries to figure out who she is, and really gets your heart pumping every time she gets on a Rideback. Truly one of the better Sound Tracks out there. Unfortunately do to the jumbled messed of the plot and lack of any character depth(Outside of Rin} leaves this anime easy to forget and easy to pass by. It's a good anime, but at the end of the day that's it. The stunning visuals and beautiful OST does not make up for the other area's that are lacking. Rideback is definitely worth a watch, but don't go in expecting to find one of the rare gems of this decade.

Rideback has perhaps the greatest drop in overall quality that I've ever seen. It starts out on the highest highs with a masterfully crafted first episode, then it slides down on the next two, still a great show with a great premise but not quite living up to the opening. Then the fourth episode drops, and the whole series falls off a cliff. From then on we get to watch our promising mech-racing show drown under all the needless drama and shoehorned war stories that nobody wanted to see. Rideback draws you in with the promise of an engaging, introspective sports series full of potentiallygreat characters, then leaves you with a half-assed Gundam story and bitterness. The first episode of Rideback is a masterpiece. If that was the only episode ever made, I'd give it a 10/10 and lament the fact that we never got to see such an amazing story told in its entirety. Rin Ogata is a ballet prodigy whose career is cut short by an on-stage accident in high school. Though she recovers, Rin is no longer able to dance at the same level and is forced to give up the greatest love of her life. The themes of this episode are constantly and expertly reinforced by the visuals and settings. Rin's post-accident life is shown in drab, gray tones. Her graduation from high school is a lonely, solemn affair. She slowly walks out with her head down, thrust into the outside world with no direction and no motivation. Her one friend rushes to her side, but is unable to cheer her up, as the camera pulls far away and cherry blossoms fall over the screen like tears. College initially seems like a second chance, but she is hounded by memories of her past, tormented by her well-meaning fan, a constant reminder of her happy life snatched away by fate. When Rin reaches her lowest point, she's caught alone in a rainstorm and forced to hide in an unfamiliar garage. There, she finds her salvation in the form of a Rideback. The feeling of exhilaration from her first Rideback outing is hammered home by the shot of her flying high over the city, sun beaming in the distance, the colors dancing across the screen, life flooding back into her face as her passion is rekindled. The combination of story, themes, visuals, and sound is nothing short of pure art, and would have earned a place in every anime fan's heart, if only the rest of the series had reached the lofty goal set by the opening. The next few episodes are less inspired, but still lay a solid foundation for a 12 episode series to build on. Rin's talent as a dancer gives her a leg up in the Rideback world, with her unique sense of balance and movement occasionally translating into expert level racing maneuvers. Tamayo is initally presented with an awful lot of depth. She's both a rival and a mentor to Rin, simultaneously frustrated at Rin's seemingly flippant attitude about Ridebacks while also wanting to nurture a natural talent. Hishida is a dorky outcast with an endless love for Ridebacks, providing a visual metaphor for the public's distrust and disgust towards Ridebacks. The rest of the Rideback club are all shown as unique individuals with various personality hooks that could be fleshed out later on. Rideback racing itself shows hints of some great new concepts for a racing anime. Ridebacks can go essentially anywhere on land, teasing the audience with the idea of never before seen settings for races. The combat in the first (and only) major race shows us that there's much more to Rideback strategy than we've seen, and that we can expect a twist at any time during a race. The stage is set for a fresh, exciting racing series with a well-rounded cast. Then the fourth episode hits. It hits hard, with guns and bombs and military Ridebacks. It knocks down everything you've seen built up, derails the entire story, and rips the focus away from Rin and her personal redemption. Instead of watching Rin further her budding racing career while learning to enjoy life again, we're instead suddenly given a ragtag rebel group fighting against a big oppressive empire. Rin's friends change from a quirky racing team to terrorist liberators. Everything you learned to care about is callously tossed aside in favor of a color-by-numbers military plot. None of the original themes are ever explored again. Despite Rin's efforts (and many times because of them), Ridebacks are overall presented both in-universe and out as tools of war and not as racing vehicles, again robbing Rin of her purpose in life. Rideback racing is outlawed and heavily policed, eliminating the chance for even clandestine nighttime Rideback touge with drifting and eurobeat. Tamayo's conflict with her father goes nowhere, same with the rest of the cast, and the whole “racing to win popular support” side of the story is torpedoed. All of the careful foreshadowing and subtle metaphor is abandoned so Rin can have a conversation with a guy while Rideback waltzing in the middle of a firefight, and it's sadly as silly as it sounds. Rideback plummets from its high standards like a bird with clipped wings. If the whole show had been like this then it wouldn't be so painful; Rideback could just be tossed on the heap of other boring rebellion stories. But the initial impression and betrayal are so powerful and unforgettable that it's impossible to separate those bitter feelings from the overall show as it is presented. Rideback hurt me. It gave me the best first episode I've ever seen, and tarnished that memory by piling disappointment on top of cliches. It gave me a wonderful story of personal redemption before smothering it with a forgettable, aimless and messy rebellion. It gave me an exciting spin on racing that could never have been done elsewhere before mercilessly cutting it out forever. It gave me a reason to always doubt my first impressions. And it gave me a reason to warn you, before Rideback hurts you too.

This is the first review I ever wrote. And there is just one reason for it. I am pissed off. Completely. In the first episode, I was heads over heels in it. I breathed, smelled and laughed with RideBack. That delirious-like state continued for a few more episodes, even intensified. I was sure right then that this is the best anime I have watched in a long time now. And then came the cold shower. I should probably mention that I finished watching the last episode 5 minutes ago. So I might not be the most rational being at the moment. The promise and the letdown arethe biggest two I have ever faced when watching basically anything up until now. The emotions portrayed as she stopped dancing, the feeling of pure joy and life as she discovers RideBack.. It was like I was watching a creation of universe. Immense, deep and indescribable. Ofcourse the story goes on, but the biggest disappointment for me were Rin's emotions, intentions and willpower. She is able to give up something she loves more than anything else just because circumstances changed. She hurt her leg. She managed to hurt someone else by some miracle. No, no, can't do. Let's stop. A nap sounds so much better. Bullshit. So, she discards it all, never to do it again, then does it all over again for someone else's sake. Imagine this scenario in a different setting. You absolutely love playing basketball. Nothing else like it. A friend of yours manages to get hurt badly. And yes, it was caused by you, since he was coming to see you play and a car hit him. And now you decide never to play basketball again because it made someone you love get hurt. Wtf? Oh, I forgot to mention that even tho you swore never to play it again, you still do it in the end because that friend wants to see you play. So you play for him and not for yourself anymore, appearing saint-like. Not even allowing yourself to enjoy it as before. Seriously, there is not much more that could be piss me off than this whole charade. Bah. As for other topics.. Animation is amazing. CGI fits in well, the scenes and background are simply amazing. Story is mediocre, but it works. There are some untied ends, but it was enough to hold everything together without flinching. Sound department I think lacked. The soundtrack could be amazing, but it was just something that goes along with everything.. Characters. You might have read my initial pissed-off complaints about some aspects, but I was generally happy with everyone. Else. Also, I shoulfd mention, I would rate this by the end of first few episodes as almost 10. Judging purely by personal enjoyment. Then it just went downhill. The are freaking lucky that they had a scene with panties twice! Look, RideBack is like one sport at which your panties would be on display ALL THE TIME if you were doing it in skirt. Which Rin manages to do alot. But they always chose perspective that obscures them. The wind was also behaving non-windy. Really stupid details, but as they keep repeating over and over again, it gets to be really annoying. But there are two scenes in which they managed to give a split second pantie-shot. I am a pervert, sure, but here are the basic laws of physics being denied. The barely managed to get out of that spot by that maybe one second altogether. Meh. Btw, they are white and really plain looking. Enjoy your spoiler.

This series could have worked better if it was entirely focused on how Ridebacks influenced Rin's character instead of the focus on corruption from a military-driven government and terrorist activity. For the most part, Rideback does do a decent job in exploring the development of Rin's character as she finds herself taking an interest in the vehicle as a replacement for her lost interest in ballet. As she becomes entangled in the military-terrorist conflict and realizes the original use of Ridebacks, Rin becomes disillusioned in the show's second half as she comes to grips over what would make her happy in spite of the hardshipsshe has come to deal with. On the other end of the coin though, the military/ terrorist conflict comes across as rather flat. Both the GGP and BMA factions don't get much in the way of fleshing out other than we know they have their own radical agendas and come across as morally corrupt. Beyond Rin, there isn't much fleshing out provided of most other characters within the series as they only serve as supporting characters among Rin's friends or represent the GGP and BMA, many of whom serving to influence the development of Rin's character. The series also often gets in the annoying habit of having situations occur rather conveniently with Rin or other characters whenever they get in trouble as they are quite saved in the nick of time. Visually, Rideback does have a slick presentation with highly detailed and lush shots of urban environments and the Ridebacks being almost lifelike in appearance as they are rendered in CG animation. Scenes with Ridebacks in action are very fluid and pleasing on the eyes to see onscreen, especially in some elaborate sequences whenever Rin is on a Rideback fleeing from GGP forces. Music in the series mostly consists of light instrumental pieces with the OP being a nice techno track, all of which go along well in conveying Rin's developments. Overall, Rideback does do decent with its character exploration with Rin while lacking quite a bit in its political focus on the GGP/ BMA conflict. While it was entertaining to see the premise concerning Ridebacks, the series is marred by enough flaws where I can't picture myself wanting to see it again anytime soon.