Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

A girl and her hog.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 19, 2011

Anime fans are used to disparate elements being melded together into often unexpected ways. There has still probably never been anything quite like RideBack, a Madhouse production that takes three of the most disparate elements imaginable—namely ballet, mechas in the form of motorcycle-androids, and a sort of quasi-militaristic totalitarian society with a scrappy resistance movement—and attempts, really rather artfully at times, to mix them up into one palatable whole. While the show at times may resemble those old casseroles your Mom would cobble together from the previous week’s leftovers (who knew spaghetti and meatballs and macaroni and cheese could be combined?), RideBack is a patently odd outing that may appeal to a lot of anime lovers simply because it is in fact so patently odd. This 12 episode mini-epic never grabs viewers by the throat, as it were, instead preferring to slowly build its characters and interrelationships until before you know it, you’re hooked or at the very least mildly intrigued. The series is focused on Rin Ogata, a promising ballet dancer who tears a ligament in the opening sequence and decides to give up dance. Attending college some time later, she stumbles into a college club that promotes RideBacks, bizarre contraptions that are kind of like motorcycles with robotic limbs. Rin’s long history of dance training makes her something of a savant when it comes to operating a RideBack, as extremely developed balance is necessary to keep a RideBack upright. Rin soon finds herself on the outskirts of a RideBack resistance movement which is attempting to overthrow a despotic government which has grown up in the wake of, yes, you guessed it, a nuclear catastrophe.

RideBack instantly sets itself apart from the vast majority of anime offerings by having a long opening sequence showing Rin Ogata performing a ballet as we hear her philosophically musing thoughts on the nature of movement and expression. As cherry blossoms float to the ground we are instantly transported to a lyrical and meditative ambience, one which RideBack continues to evoke at various times throughout all of its episodes. In fact that may be one potentially major drawback for a number of viewers who see the quasi-mecha motorcycle contraption named Fuego which Rin appropriates and makes her own and surmise that RideBack is a typical post-Apocalyptic action-adventure outing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even the most significant traditional action element, namely the resistance against the para-military governmental force known as the GGP, doesn’t really even play a major role in the series until the fourth or fifth episode, aside from television news reports frequently playing the background during the series’ opening gambit.

What we’re offered in the place of expected tropes is a series of slowly developing relationships between a host of interrelated characters. There’s Rin, of course, as well as her college roommate Shoko. Tagging along is over-exuberant fan girl Suzuri, a proto-geek who had loved Rin as a ballet dancer and is even more in love with her as a RideBack operator, going so far as to show up to RideBack tournaments (yes, there are such things in this series) in cheerleader garb with pom-poms at the ready. Rin’s Musashino University RideBack Club is also home to Haruki, a nice young man who may have romantic feelings for Rin, as well as Tamayo, the female Captain of the RideBack club and a woman not especially thrilled that Rin has come along and usurped her claim to being the best operator on the field. The resistance movement (known as the BBM) includes Kiefer, a silver haired gent who may have a long forgotten connection to Rin, as well as Kenji, Rin’s own younger brother who is enamored of video games.

This is largely a very sweet and good-natured series which may simply not be exciting or visceral enough for many fans. On the other hand, those who don’t mind letting interpersonal relationships play out, with one or two surprises and maybe even a shocking death or two, will find an unexpected depth and nuance to much of RideBack. This is a series that defies standard categorization, and the most expected elements, notably the para-military and resistance angles, are often shunted into the background as we get little character beats for a variety of the RideBack operators and their hangers-on.

Helping to keep the series interesting even if its content may deliberately eschew the standard stereotypes is an often incredibly gorgeous design aesthetic which ably combines both hand drawn and CGI elements to create a very unique look, even with the often iconoclastic confines of the Madhouse universe. Character design is especially appealing here, with nice touches like Rin’s overpowering eyes and Keifer’s weirdly angular silver-white hair. The backgrounds are often quite painterly, especially the outdoor elements like cherry blossoms floating in glinting sunlight. Some of the CGI, notably some of the rendering of Rin’s RideBack Fuego, have an appealing 3D look to them which pops very nicely in several episodes.

Ultimately your personal enjoyment of RideBack is probably going to be determined by how much “expectational baggage” you bring to the series. This is not a fleet footed, bracing series, despite several strong action elements. This is much more a quieter, gentler character study wrapped around a sort of standard post-Apocalyptic environment with some intriguing “characters” (the RideBacks) to maintain interest. Rin’s developing relationship with Fuego is actually surprisingly heartfelt, and would seem to be more in line with something like the Harlan Ellison based A Boy and His Dog than with more traditional situations like a girl really, really liking her new car. That heartfelt sentiment is ultimately what sets RideBack apart from its generic kin, and there’s something to be said for a series that promotes the beauty of movement, grace and the love of friends, both mechanical and otherwise.

Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

RideBack features a very sharp looking image courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Madhouse has once again proven why it is at the vanguard of contemporary anime offerings, with yet another beautifully designed series which frequently looks spectacular in high definition. Line detail and colors are crisp and precise, and while the backgrounds are often "impressionistically" soft, they also offer beautifully saturated color in an appealing variety of pastel hues. The CGI elements, while not overwhelming or really all that mind blowing, are very well done, and the 3D ambience given to Fuego and some of the other RideBacks look very good and help to give the series some literal visual pop, as various appendages of the "creatures" seem to reach out toward the viewer at various times. No egregious banding or other artifcating was noticed, and overall this is a very fine looking Blu-ray that should delight the series' fans as well as newcomers.

Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I must be getting older (my sons do in fact regularly inform me I'm a "geezer," a term I tend to limit to toothless mountain men over the age of 60, something I'm nowhere near in any sense), because RideBack's impressively aggressive lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English dub mix actually caused me aural pain a couple of times, notably in the incredibly bass-drum heavy closing song, which created such changes in air pressure emanating from my subwoofer that I could literally feel it in my inner ear. If that kind of thing gets you excited, you're in a for a sonic field day throughout a lot of RideBack, especially in the surround English mix, which is really incredibly immersive and often unbelievably robust. From the very first sequence, which one might think wouldn't offer much sonic opportunity as it is dealing with a ballet, the listener is thrust squarely into a lot of surround activity, as foley effects dot the soundfield right, left and rear. As we get into the RideBack sequences, there is a lot of full throttle (pun intended) activity, with very impressive LFE and excellent directionality, including some convincing pan activity as the RideBacks move through the frame. Dialogue is crisp and clear and underscore is very good, if you don't mind the ear splitting techno-beat bass drum, which I found positively painful at times. The original Japanese mix is certainly excellent as well, albeit obviously on a narrower soundfield. It still offers very robust low end and a pleasing overall level of fidelity. The surround activity in the English mix warrants fans at least checking it out even if they prefer original language versions.

Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentaries on Episodes 4 and 10. Both of these feature voice director Terri Doty. Episode 4 offers us Tia Ballard (Rin) and Kristi Bingham (Shoko), while Episode 10 features Micah Solusod (Haruki) and Trina Nishimura (Suzuri). Nothing earth shattering here, just people basically chatting, although as is typical with these English dubbed affairs, some of these actors are actually meeting each other for the first time, having recorded their parts separately. The most ironic thing about both of these commentaries is the abysmal audio quality on voice director Terri Doty's contributions. It sounds like she's phoning it in (literally) from some CB radio from far off planet Xenon or something like that.
• Textless Opening Song (HD; 1:32)
• Textless Closing Song (HD; 1:32)
• Trailers for other FUNimation Titles

Rideback: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

RideBack is an odd duck, even in the often extremely odd universe of anime. Anyone expecting a traditional quasi-mecha series is going to be scratching their head a lot of the time. And really it's almost impossible to categorize this series which takes at least one element not exactly an anime standard—ballet—and works it quite artfully into an overall story and character arc. But if you dismiss any preconceived notions and just let the series play out at its own (sometimes "relaxed") pace, it's an intriguing series with a lot of interesting characters. There's no denying that the show looks and sounds fantastic, so at the very least there's a lot to see and listen to. Despite not exactly being any one thing in particular, RideBack comes Recommended.