Review for RideBack: The Complete Series Collection (Review)
Saturday, 22nd October 2011, 18:16

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Introduction
There just isn't enough time in the day anymore. I first heard about RideBack at the start of the year, and despite my general dislike of the mecha genre in anime, there was enough in the blurb, a ballet dancer turned robotic motorcycle rider in a dystopian near future that intrigued me. It didn't hurt that Funimation were streaming it to the world on their Youtube channel, and my appreciation of the free and legal anime option induced me to make a mental note to watch it when I had a free moment. That was back in January. In the intervening months it has been dubbed and released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US, and then Manga Entertainment's DVD release was announced, and the check discs fell on my doormat, prodding that mental note. I don't know if the Funimation Youtube streams are still available, but the absence of free time in my life has become glaringly obvious. At least my first encounter with RideBack will be on a big, flat panel TV, which given that this anime is from Studio Madhouse, is just as it should be.

It's the year 2025, and the GGP organisation has taken over the world. Superior technological ability has given them the edge over the traditional nation states, and most nations decide to cooperate with their benign oversight. It doesn't make much difference to the average citizen though, whose lives are pretty much unchanged. Rin Ogata certainly wasn't expecting her world to change again, after losing her mother in the Great Earthquake, but she was intent on matching and surpassing her mother's ability as a ballet dancer. Her world changed again when a serious injury forced her to quit, and an average life of a college student beckoned. Then one day she wandered into the garage occupied by the college's RideBack club. RideBacks are a spin-off of that new technology, cybernetically enhanced robotic motorcycles, with stabilising arms, and the ability to transform into humanoid skating machines. A rider that can learn to control and master the vehicles can make them do fantastic things. That first day, Rin Ogata learns that she can make the club's Fuego model RideBack dance, and that she is an instinctive natural at riding them. But the GGP is keeping an eye out for individuals that stand out from the pack, especially with their proprietary technology, all the more so in a world where their rule isn't absolute, and terrorist groups exist to upset the status quo.

Manga Entertainment present the twelve episode RideBack series across 2 discs.

Disc 1

01. The Crimson Iron Horse
02. Challenge From Tamayo!? S.L.F. Spread Legs Form
03. And There's The Flag
04. A Close Call For Shoko
05. The Mysterious RideBack Girl
06. The Lightning-Fast RideBack

Disc 2

07. Crime and Punishment
08. Get Ride! The Chosen One
09. In the Sunny Garden
10. Master of the War
11. Cloudy Followed By Occasional Rain…
12. To the Stage of Light

Picture
RideBack gets a solid 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer on these two dual layer discs. As is so pleasant to witness these days, it's a native PAL conversion, which given the stupendous Madhouse animation is practically a requirement. The image is clear and sharp throughout, detail levels are strong, and the only slight issue might be the finest of aliasing apparent at the limits of the DVD format. The character designs are pretty generic for anime, although individual and quirky enough to stick in the mind. Where RideBack excels is in the actual animation itself, which is vibrant, fluid, detailed and energetic. It flawlessly blends traditional 2D and 3D animation, and while the opening ballet performance is a taster of the effort put into the show, the actual RideBack action sequences are adrenaline fuelled and gripping. The show's direction too is sublime, with wonderful use of light and dark, mood and atmosphere, action balanced with reflection. RideBack looks stunning. In the US RideBack was delivered on a Blu-ray as well as the DVD. Manga Entertainment have drawn back of late from releasing multi-part shows on Blu-ray, but are still committed to bringing select 12 or 13 episode series which can be released in one go. RideBack is one that they ought to have selected.

Sound
RideBack gets the usual DD 5.1 English, and DD 2.0 Japanese Stereo options, with translated English subtitles and a signs only track. The first thing you'll notice about RideBack is the exceptional opening theme from Mell, and it's an indication of the quality of the show's music, strong and powerful at times, subtle and emotive at others. I went with the original language track, and the stereo set off the show well, giving it a nice bit of space and dynamism to the action. Of course that gains extra dimension with the English dub, delivered as it is in 5.1 flavour. It helps too that the dub is one of the good ones, well cast and performed with a passion for the source material. The subtitles are legible, well timed, and free of error throughout.

Extras
RideBack gets some static menus with some nifty design to them, as well as the usual jacket pictures.

Disc 1 simply has a commentary for episode 4, with ADR director Terri Doty in the booth with Kristi Bingham (Shoko), and Tia Ballard (Rin). It's a fairly average Funimation commentary, one part useful, one part giggles, and one part mutual backslapping. Be warned that there are substantial spoilers for the series here; so don't listen to the commentary until after you've watched the story in its entirety.

Disc 2 has the textless credit sequences.

It also has an audio commentary on episode 10, where this time ADR director Terri Doty joins Micah Solusod (Haruki) and Trina Nishimura (Suzuri) in the audio booth. It starts off as the usual Funimation gigglefest with mutual backslapping, but as the episode progresses becomes a little more sombre in tone.

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