30 Animated Movies That Are Not for Children

Pretty much the be-all and end-all of adult anime feature films, Takeshi Koike’s hallucinogenic, sci-fi racing joint Redline has it all.

Set in an intergalactically interconnected future, where humans are just one of a multitude of alien species roaming and racing across the stars (and for some reason the diesel-powered muscle car is still very much a contender), the film hitches a ride with Sweet JP (Takuya Kimura), a human dead-set on winning the largest race in the galaxy that only takes place twice a decade: the Redline. Held on the hostile Roboworld, the race pits drivers from all corners against each other in a near-and-often-fatal, no-holds-barred race to the finish line.

Koike’s feature film directorial debut(!) was entirely hand-drawn (across a laborious seven-year period) and is some of the richest, vibrant, and most detailed anime put to screen. Redline is violent, deadly, and sweary, and while a colourful wonder to watch, is a head-trip designed for adult eyes only. But maybe this is why, 16 years down the line, it still isn’t courting the audience numbers it deserves.