Anime fans are in for a treat as two signficant new films make their debut on Tuesday, January 17.  From Manga Entertainment comes Redline and First Squad: The Moment of Truth.  Both films are exciting, fun, eye-popping spectacles, but each could not be more different from the other.

Redline comes to us from Madhouse, the animation studio whose crazed, over-the-top style has won accolades from fans all over the world.  Some of Madhouse's previous efforts include television series and feature films such as Black Lagoon, Death Note, Demon City Shinjuku, Paprika, Record of Lodoss War, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and literally scores more.  American audiences have seen their work in The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, Hulk Vs., and the new Marvel Anime series currently airing on G4.  If you're an anime fan, the name Madhouse on a project automatically makes it must-see viewing.

Set in the far future, Redline tells the story of the biggest, baddest, most cutthroat racing event in the galaxy.  Only adrenaline junkies with a death wish even consider trying to qualify for the competition, which is held once every five years.  At the center of the swirling chaos, we find JP, our lanky, leather-jacketed young hero with a pompadour that is akin to Elvis' cranked up to 100.  One of his main rivals is the sweet-natured, but headstrong female racer Sonoshee.  Romance blossoms on the track, but the murderous cyborg rulers of Roboworld, where the Redline event is being held without their permission, threatens to crash this coupling before it can cross the finish line.

In a way, Redline is a throwback to the old ways of animation.  It's completely and gorgeously hand drawn – over 100,000 individual drawings make up this film, which runs a generous 1 hour and 42 minutes – about a half hour longer than most anime films.  The result of this seven year effort is immensely pleasing and the racing sequences provoke genuine giddy thrills.  This is not a film which takes itself seriously at all, so don't you dare try to.  It's admittedly barely there story has about the depth of a Fast and the Furious flick so the mandate is "look, don't think."  But since this is Madhouse, there is more than plenty to look at and admire.  The studio, whcih has a drool-worthy back catalog of influential hit movies and television series is at the top of its game here.  Its long, arduous effort to get this film done has paid off handsomely.  Redline is a triumph of traditional animation techniques (albiet supplemented by some computer effects and enhancements), and is what Speed Racer wishes it could have been.

REDLINE 102 minutes, Blu-Ray $29.99, DVD $24.98	FIRST SQUAD: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH 75 minutes, Blu-Ray $29.99, DVD $24.98
Click images above to watch the TRAILERS!

Studio 4°C, which animated the other film under review, First Squad: The Moment of Truth, also has an impressive catalog of projects, and, in fact, contributed sequences to The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight just as Madhouse did.  Anime fans have also seen their work in feature films such as Steamboy, Spriggan, and Tekkon Kinkreet.  Among their current work is the popular ThunderCats revival series currently airing on Cartoon Network.  With a pedigree of this high quality, it comes as no surprise that their latest feature effort, First Squad: The Moment of Truth is a legitimate triumph of animation and solid storytelling with neither getting the short shrift.  Because Redline is a balls-to-the-wall gonzo roller coaster ride full of sound and fury, it does keep you at an emotional arms' length.  In contrast, the often quieter, more contemplative tone of First Squad successfully draws you in and forces you to pay attention to the characters and to care about what they care about.

First Squad: The Moment of Truth centers around Nadia, a girl who cannot remember her past, but who can foretell the future.  The story takes place in 1942 as the Nazi forces, who have already conquered much of Europe, have their sights set on Russia.  General Wolf, an SS officer, uses supernatural forces to raise from the dead an army of 12th century Teutonic Knights to aid him in his conquest against the Red Army.  In Russia, Nadia is taken to a secret facility in order to make contact with other teenagers who had special gifts and were part of an elite unit killed by the Nazis.  Nadia enters the land of the dead to convince her former comrades to come back with her to continue the fight against General Wolf and his supernatural army.

The battle scenes are equisitely staged and the snow-filled environment of the Russian front is convincingly rendered.  As is common among anime aimed at an older audience, the story is non-linear in its progression, and its action moves without warning back and forth through time in order to set things up and then fill in the backstory.  An additional element that is rather unique to animated films is the inclusion of live action actors playing war veterans, historians, and psychologists being intercut into the flow of the narrative at various points and commenting on the story as if it were historical fact.  This gives the film a faux-documentary style, which has proven polarizing to the audiences that have seen it.  For our part, we really enjoyed it and felt it added a sense of depth and importance to the film.  One caveat, however, is that it seems the necessary subtitles for the live action sequences only show up when the Russian soundtrack with English subtitles is selected.  However, all the animated sequences, which make up the lion's share of the film, are dubbed nicely into English.  We would have appreciated having English subtitles burned into the live action bits so that the audience wouldn't have to choose between English and Russian dialogue.

Each of these wonderful films could easily be spun off into an ongoing television anime series or at least a series of movies.  In fact, First Squad ends so abruptly and with such a sense that there is more story to be told, that we hope there are sequels waiting for us down the line to pick up where things left off.  For different reasons, we've been won over by each of these films and would like to visit their worlds again.

As far as the transfer quality is concerned, each boasts crystal clear video and powerful Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio in their Blu-Ray versions (DVD audio is Dolby Digital 5.1).  Video quality is outstanding given that there are many difficult and intricate animated sequences in both films.  There are no special features on First Squad, while Redline boasts over 90 minutes worth including a Perfect Guide to Redline, a Quick Guide to Redline (both featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors, writer, and director), and the Redline 2006 trailer.  Each of these movies is priced to own, and we can wholeheartedly recommend both.