Great Film overall

Brilliant and touching

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

When I saw the description of this series on Funimation's YouTube site I wasn't that keen at first thinking it was going to be yet another variation on the theme of manned robots fighting each other. I eventually decided to give the first episode a go and was almost immediately engrossed and watched the whole series over a handful of days. The protagonist Rin is a ballet dancer who had to quit after injuring her leg during a performance. Unable to dance to goes to university and one day when she shelters from the rain she finds herself in the room used by the RideBack club. RideBacks are like motorbikes but they can transform to a more upright position and perform manoeuvres no bike could. Rin is persuaded to try taking one for a ride and soon discovers that she is a natural; she even manages to keep control of the machine when it malfunctions. She is soon a member of the club and it looks as though the series will just follow her as she gets in to competitive RideBack races then in the fourth episode one of her friends is caught up in a terrorist attack on a shopping centre; she rides to the rescue and finds herself the centre of attention when the authorities and media who suspect she might be involved. As things continue she gets in further danger as the GGP (Global Government Plan; a worldwide military organisation) uses the terrorist attacks to introduce armed police RideBacks and later impose a state of emergency which the people strongly object to. If Rin and her friends are to be safe they must expose GGP and its leader.The story was interesting even if not totally original; there are some shocks however including the surprising and genuinely saddening death of a major character; the good guys are a likable bunch and the main bad guy is suitably dastardly. I really liked the animation; the scenes where Rin was fighting on her RideBack look balletic and surprisingly believable; all to often such scenes involve 3D animation that jars with the rest of the show but here it blended in very well. At only twelve episodes long this series doesn't overstay its welcome and contains no filler material.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.