Original text at the nekoheadz.org forum

Now that Frostii finally released the fansub for the last episode I can review this series like I’ve been wanting to for two weeks now. The title for this series is what got me to start watching it. There are all sorts of things a series called Ride Back could be about. A motorcycle riding ballerina is not the first thing to spring to mind. Oh, there might be a spoiler there. Well, there’s always spoilers, sorry. I’ll keep it mild, which is rather fitting given what I have to say about the show.

Ride Back is a series about Rin Ogata’s first year in college and global revolution. Mostly it’s about Rin, with the politics more or less happening as an aside. Some years prior to the start of the series, a cunning political organization called the GGP (Global Government Project) came to power through a few shocking military victories with the aid of ride backs, or “glorified motorcycles with arms” as one character puts it. Ride backs are pretty much as the guy puts it, only the wheels can swing under them to become legs; in fact, their name comes from the way a person rides on the back of it while it is standing (similar to the way a parent carries a young child). Meanwhile, little Rin was working hard to become a ballerina as great as her mother, neither of them paying any attention to the politics. Rin’s mother dies from illness, and at one of Rin’s landmark performances she tears a ligament and has to retire from dancing, haunted by the fact that she could never be as good as her mother due to the injury. That brings us to the start of the series, where Rin starts college. Through one of those marvelous coincidences, Rin finds herself stuck on an out of control ride back named Fuego. Years of ballet training and natural skill lead Rin down a path of action and daring as she inadvertently gets caught in the crossfire between the GGP and a terrorist organization that opposes it.

The music for Ride Back is dramatic and well-used, a rarity for an action political thriller. The first episode starts with Rin’s injury in the minutes before the opening rolls, and it’s pretty potent for it, mostly because of the music and the fairly stunning internal monologue by Rin. I don’t know the name of the piece off hand, but it’s a rather famous musical piece that accompanies Rin’s final moments on stage. Then we get the opening; that awesomely awesome opening. It’s a rock techno thing with some fantastic imagery and sets up the series pretty well. I was fond enough of it to watch it for every single episode and each time I ever repeated an episode. The series has a lot of dramatic music that complements the events on screen pretty well. The action moments are pulse poundingly scored and the quiet tones for the more reflective scenes add a nice breath of fresh air. The ending is also quiet and uses a lot of imagery of Rin and her mother to give us a chance to reflect on the images displayed. Well, you can reflect on it, I only watched the ending a few times as it’s a little slow. Sound effects and dramatic pauses earn a special mention for being both well- and over-used. While I wouldn’t buy the soundtrack, you will probably catch me with the opening and possibly the classical piece Rin dances to on my Ipod.

Ride Back is a very pretty anime with lots of CG shine. The ride backs and nearly all of the other vehicles are actually 3D computer models blended pretty well with the traditionally animated characters and backgrounds. There was one moment where if I had been watching it with the animator, I’d have patted him on the back and said “nice.” See, Rin was riding Fuego around and bend with the camera panning in and they drew Rin actually moving with everything else instead of looking like she was cut and pasted the whole way through. Unfortunately, as happens with a lot of CG bits, it totally pulled me right out of the scene. Thankfully, I got used to it later on and the CG distraction wasn’t as strong. Anyway, the traditional animation is styled a bit like Nodame Cantabile, but with more detail and sharper lines so it meshes with the vehicles more. Everything moves really smooth and there is a lot of attention to little details like bits of debris, tire marks, and clothing movement that all really tickles my fancy. I really enjoyed the act of watching this series as it was pretty and flowed really well. Watching Rin dance using Fuego was pretty awesome. While the visuals are enough to make the series pretty stand out, the story is the real driver for Ride Back. And no, I did not intend any pun there.

Ride Back’s story is great, though a bit hollow feeling. It’s a real shame, too, as the series came so close to perfection I was left a bit disappointed. Rin is the star of the show by and far, with Fuego playing second fiddle and everyone else just blending into the ensemble. Well, save for that terrorist with the Sephiroth complex. It’s a good thing that the other characters aren’t that crucial, because for as every bit unique as Rin is, everyone else is all the more stereotypical to make up for it. Rin is one of the few more recent characters I’ve seen that is truly unique and yet completely relatable. I can identify with Rin a lot, particularly that whole recovering from epic failure thing. I find it ironic, too, that Rin came so close to greatness as a ballerina only to fall short permanently just like the show as a whole did. See, most of the politics happen off-screen, with important events being related to us through media clips or bits of story directly relating to Rin and to a lesser extent the ancillary characters. The big political events are mostly related through news clips. This series gets big bonus points for having a realistic depiction of political terrorism mixed with a grim look at a world governing body. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite deep enough with it to be satisfying, I think due mainly to the fact that it got a little too involved with our wonderfully stereotyped characters and letting us see the world as they do, which is almost identical to how we view our world. What I mean here is that some larger perspective might have been useful. I may be spoiled from other robot anime, but it’s hard for me to see revolution or change when it’s implied. As a mild spoiler, the series presents us with terrorists we can relate to and can even empathize with to a limited extent. I mean, they are terrorists and they do bomb a news building at one point, so it’s hard to be like “yay, for freedom” when you see innocent people die. Anyway, Ride Back is surprisingly realistic with wonderful character development for Rin and not much else.

I think Ride Back was trying to be revolutionary. While it’s different, I don’t think they got the depth needed in the series for it to turn the robot pilot genre on its head. They came so close, though. I mean, they saw all of the normal story pathing and clichés and completely ignored convention for genius pilots and such. The robot is also not a Deus Ex Machina and Rin cannot solve all of the world’s problems with it. As I mentioned before, I think pulling back once in a while for a larger perspective of what was going on would have really helped give this series the last little push it needed for greatness. I also would have liked to see more of Rin riding Fuego and getting that sheer joy she got as the pair gracefully weaved about (I think it might have been a budget issue as CG is expensive); I feel like there was a lot more to be flushed out for Rin and her reborn ability to dance. Also, one of the images from the closing credits shows Rin riding on her mother’s back, and while it would have been less realistic, I think that theme could have really pushed this series over the edge into perfection. No, I don’t mean like that Evangelion mother is robot thing, but just using that caring and nurturing position for better characterization and dramatic effect. This series does everything right and it was a really fun show to watch, but it just wasn’t quite there. I wholeheartedly recommend it, but it may leave you a little wanting. Of course, I adore Rin and am probably a little biased; there’s just something about her…maybe that whole fallen ballerina turned robot pilot.

~Whim

PS – Yes, this review is a little shorter and it’s intentional.
PS2 – Yes, this series is a little less venomous, but that’s because I really enjoyed it, so bugger off if you wanted me to crucify it just because.
PS3 – I write fiction and poetry, ask me about it sometime.