A couple of weeks ago I was in attendance at the UK's largest dedicated anime convention, and one ofthe things I saw there was Redline, a new anime feature film from well-known studio Madhouse.

It's been criticised for its shallow plot, and I agree that people who are looking for a deep and thought-provoking theme should look elsewhere, but Redline has plenty more to offer. Its visual style appears fresh and new while still somehow proving reminiscent of old-school anime, and in high definition it looks wonderful.

Redline is, at its core, about racing. It's the future, and racers compete in the Yellow Line race to win a position at the fabled no-holds-barred Red Line. The main character, Sweet JP, is in hock to the Mafia for his engine and car parts, and consequently he has to take part in a race fixing scam to pay it off. His mechanic, "a large helping of comedy gold [...] like Wacky Races"not trusting that he will throw the game, installs a small explosive in his car and triggers it just before he crosses the finish line.

JP ends up in hospital, but is then mobbed by a news crew who inform him that as a couple of other competitors have dropped out, he's been nominated for the Red Line. On this occasion the Red Line is to be held on Roboworld, which is home to a race of unfriendly military-oriented cyborgs, and they are VERY unhappy about the Red Line announcement.

There's a large helping of comedy gold in the hijinks that ensue and it's very reminiscent of Wacky Races (since Red Line has no rules, most of the cars go armed with various different weapon types). It's a great way to spend an hour and forty minutes and I highly recommend it.

Redline will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on 14th November.