I’ve been consistently overrating shows for several seasons now, and with this season continuing strong in the Getting It Horribly Wrong department, it’s probably time for some refocusing. There were a number of shows I’d have recommended in Part 2 if I’d actually posted it a week after Part 1. Now, at week six, I’m withdrawing all of those recommendations.
Yeah, all of them.
Kemono no Souja Erin? Boring. Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo? Skim at best. Kurokami the Animation? Depressingly familiar. I also have to withdraw most of my recommendations from Part 1. White Album is collapsing under the weight of its unremarkable plot and terrible characters; Rina wouldn’t be enough to save the show even if she were actually given any screentime. Maria Holic is surprisingly boring for a SHAFT parody, and the characters are more irritating than funny – much more. Matsurika is still one of the best maids in the entire universe, but even senseless random profanity can’t keep me interested in this show. Viper’s Creed survives on consistently high production values, but it’s going to need better characters and better plot pretty soon to remain at all competitive.
The one show I’m still confident in recommending this season is also the only show that’s actually better now than it was four weeks ago; that show is Rideback, and it is fucking amazing.
Yeah, Rin is amazing too.
I would never have figured that ballerinas, transformable motorbikes, and world revolution could be plausibly combined, but Rideback has the sort of current-day grittiness and attention to detail that makes it feel quite real; it sucks you into its vision of the future with the same natural ease that Ghost in the Shell does. Of course, every show does its share of handwaving when dealing with fictional events and technologies, but I’m thankful for that here. While I’d like more detail on how a mere resistance group could overthrow the world superpowers, trying to explain how the Rideback machines could possibly function would just bog down the show because nobody actually cares.
Okay, Stormstrooper Effect is not plausible.
Rideback racks up cool points with the Macross Effect: taking a familiar vehicle, adding transformation capability, and actually using that capability FOR GREAT JUSTICE. Many shows feature transforming vehicles, but the transformation is never leveraged properly – in the most egregious (boring, stupid, lame) cases, transformation sequences are fully separate cutscenes. In contrast, combat in Macross is epic win because the mode switching is integrated directly into the combat mechanics; the dogfighting is full of frenetic aerial acrobatics and all-around shenanigans because they abuse that transformation ability mercilessly. Rideback isn’t quite at Macross levels yet, but we’ve already seen fast, on-the-fly mode switching (standing form for motorballet and spread-leg for pure speed). The potential is clearly there – and yeah, I’m excited.
Fuego Type-L. Not your typical bike.
Of course, coolness alone wouldn’t be enough; Rideback also has great fundamentals. Rin has all the trappings of a Miyazaki heroine (though she’s more Fearless Princess than Kawaii Shoujo), and happens to be the kind of girl that everyone wants to date. At the same time, she fails to live up to her mother’s legacy, and she isn’t inexplicably infallible at driving Ridebacks the instant she gets on – she’s good, but not godlike (in sharp contrast to years of Really Terrible Mecha Anime). Flaws make Rin human; human is believable, endearing, and adorable.
Ogata Rin. Not your typical biker chick.
Bottom line, watch Rideback. It’s quite likely the only show this season that’s actually worth your time. Pre-orders for the blu-ray release have opened too – for those of you that, you know, managed to avoid total financial meltdown.
