Starring Patrick Seitz, Michelle Ruff, Liam O’Brien, Lauren Landa, Laura Post, Alfred Thor, George C. Cole, Cutter Garcia, Sam Riegel, Joey Morris, Tony Oliver, Doug Erholtz, Jamieson Price, David Lodge, Michael McConnohie, Steve Kramer, John White, David Roach and Derek Stephen-Price

Directed by Takeshi Koike

Produced by Madhouse

Sweet JP (Patrick Seitz) bounces across the finish at Yellowline, the galaxy’s second most dangerous race in a car his mechanic, Frisbee (Liam O’Brien), rigged to blow because he knew J.P. would be having too much fun to remember to throw the race. Sweet on the odds-on favourite Sonoshee McLaren (Michelle Ruff), J.P wakes up in hospital with a smile on his face that only gets wider. Because due to the winners backing out, he’s just qualified for Redline, the most dangerous race in the universe on a technicality. Sweet JP just wants to be near Sonoshee, Frisbee just wants to be paid their junk dealer Old Man Mole (Steve Kramer) just wants to build the best car. and the President of Roboworld (David Lodge), just wants them all dead. And with Redline taking place on Roboworld, he may get his wish.

I was laid up for a week a little while ago and spent some time wandering the wastes of Amazon Prime Video. I’m glad I did too, because finding this cult classic from 2009 was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. To be clear, it’s made entirely of vibes but the vibes are frequently really good fun.

Over 100,000 hand drawn frames, 7 years of work and it’s all on screen. The fluid, feverish art is a joy to look at and if you liked Aeon Flux this is so very much for you. The closing race especially is flat out in every sense, every line, colour, image and motion stretched to the screaming limits in a bid to entertain you. So much so that the ending here, with KP, Sonoshee and the magnificently named Machine Head (Michael McConnohie) pushing their vehicles and bodies to near destruction, makes the idea of the redline a metaphor and a destination. Between the start line and there you  get revolution, friendship, secret romance, not so secret romance, an honest to God kaiju called Funky Boy and some deeply imaginative hyperspace deployment.

It’s a fun time and the sparky voice cast help a lot. Seitz and O’Brien are especially good as the so cool they’re practically freezing double act in the centre of the action but McConnohie and Lodge are also a tremendously fun time.

It’s also exactly what you’d expect in some ways. Style always wins over plot, female characters are uniformly buxom and secondary and JP’s romance with Sonoshee, another driver, is less a plot and more a source of propulsion. If that annoys you, it’ll really annoy you. Even if it does, maybe give this a try. It’s so relentless, in every sense, you’ll be swept along and, odds are, have at good time.

Verdict: Relentless visual invention, a charming voice cast including Critical Role’s  Liam O’Brien and Sam Riegel and a breathless pace make this a race worth running. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart