RideBack 12 (Finale)

Rin runs from the pursuing Grimoire while Kiefer and Okakura attack the GGP base.

Summary:
Rin and Tamayo are riding down the streets on their RideBacks while being pursued by the Grimoire squad. The Grimoires open fire and hits the RB-Z's tailpipes, causing Tamayo to slow down. Seeing Tamayo in trouble, Rin swings back and takes a side road to lead all the Grimoires away.

Head shots always do the trick.

Meanwhile, Kiefer and his BMA comrades are fighting a heated battle with the Grimoires inside the GGP base. Most of the terrorists are having trouble with the Grimoires, but Kiefer plows through several at once and tells his subordinates that they'll have an advantage in close combat. At the GGP command center, Karenbak orders another squad to secure the gate and trap the terrorists inside the base. Back in the base, Kiefer notices GGP's change in tactics and orders his forces to retreat.

Rin discovers that Kiefer's back flip trick is useful for crash avoidance as well.

Back in the city, news helicopters are flying all over the place filming the smoke rising from the GGP base. One of the helicopters also catches Rin riding down the street with several Grimoires hot on her trail. As she rides down the streets, Rin realizes that she is entering that state of calmness just like when she was rescuing Shoko. A truck suddenly appears in the intersection, but Rin effortlessly back flips off the truck with the Fuego and continues to run from the Grimoires.

Okakura, an army of one.

Inside the GGP base, most of the terrorists have successfully pulled out. In another part of the base, Okakura has single-handedly destroyed a large number of GGP RideBacks and armored vehicles. Okakura finds out Rin's location through a GGP radio, and he heads off the help Rin. Meanwhile, Kiefer heads deeper into the GGP base to look for Karenbak, but he is stopped by Gatou who challenges Kiefer to a RideBack duel.

Rin got a little overzealous with the tricks and wiped out.

Rin continues to run from the Grimoires and she turns into covered shopping corridor. While riding down the corridor, Rin prays that the Fuego will lend her its power for one last time. Several Grimoires appear at the end of the corridor to cut Rin off. Rin tries jumping over the Grimoires but one of the automatons grab the Fuego's rear wheel and tosses the RideBack against a wall and Rin falls hard to the ground and loses unconsciousness. While unconscious, Rin dreams that she is standing on the grand ballet stage with one of her legs in a cast. Rin is tries to state that she can't dance anymore, but her faith is renewed when she remembers her mother's words about the stage being both the place of birth and death for a dancer.

Okakura gets the soldier to check out his new pants.

Rin wakes up and finds herself in the hands of three GGP soldiers from the Grimoire control vehicle. At this moment, Okakura appears on the rooftop, jumps off his RideBack, and takes out the three soldiers with his marital arts. Okakura and Rin then scramble for cover as the Grimoires are reactivated and start shooting. The bullets from the Grimoires lights some leaked oil on the ground which surrounds the fallen Fuego in a wall of fire, but Rin manages to jump through the fire and restart the Fuego. As the Grimoires chase Rin once again, the remaining soldiers in the GGP control vehicle wonder where Okakura went, but they find out the hard way as Okakura appears at the hatch with his pistol. After taking over the control vehicle, Okakura tries to deactivate the Grimoires chasing Rin, but the controls are overrode by the GGP command center. At the GGP command center, Karenbak tells the operators to let the AI control the Grimoires despite the fact that the AI has not been thoroughly tested. Elsewhere in the base, Gatou has Kiefer's RideBack pinned against a wall and he crushes Kiefer's right shoulder with his RideBack. Gatou pulls out his pistol to finish Kiefer, but Kiefer steps on the gas of his RideBack which causes Gatou to lose balance, and Kiefer uses the opportunity to put a throwing knife into Gatou's heart.

That can't be good for my heart.

Meanwhile, Shoko, Haruki and Douta are watching the news coverage of Rin from their respective dorms. Haruki and Douta depart on Haruki's scooter and Haruki tells Shoko to relay Rin's location to him. Back at the GGP control center, Karenbak receives a phone call from the higher-ups telling him to clean up the base and then disarm, and Karenbak realizes that Yokoyama has betrayed him. Somewhere in the city, Ryunnosuke and his assistant are heading towards Rin's location in their car. At the same time Ryunnosuke is talking to Yoda over the phone and Yoda states that there is now a media circus inside Hesner Corp's headquarters after their backroom dealings with Karenbak were revealed. Yoda then wonders how Rin is doing, and Ryunnosuke doesn't have the answer.

A whirling ball of ballet-powered destruction. The Grimoires don't know what hit them.

Rin leads the Grimoires squad into the city center park where Suzuri was killed, and on the way the Grimoires attack a police vehicle and a Shiro Ride for no apparent reason. After leading the Grimoires into park, Rin turns and starts taking out the Grimoires with the Fuego and in her heart Rin hopes that Suzuri is watching from the heavens.

Inside the GGP base, Karenbak is sitting in a helicopter on a landing pad with a pistol in his hands. Karenbak is soon joined by Kiefer who makes his way to the landing pad, and Karenbak states that even though he won't be in a position of power after all is said and done, right now he just wants to kill Kiefer. The two men point their pistols at each other to bring their relationship to a conclusion. Karenbak wins the draw and shoots Kiefer in the arm, but he is shot in the back by Yokoyama before he can kill Kiefer.

A ballet recital of epic proportions.

Back at the park, Rin and the Fuego are dancing in and out of the hapless Grimoires, but a problem surfaces in one of the Fuego's legs during a jump, forcing Rin to make an awkward landing. After landing, the Fuego crumples to the ground with a fatal error in its system, and the Grimoires quickly surround their fallen adversary. Rin pleads for the Fuego to reactivate again, and miraculously the Fuego reactivates and the RideBack raises its right hand as if it's ready to dance ballet. With the Fuego powered-up once again, Rin spins and leaps through the crowd of Grimoires which stand no chance against Rin's ballet-inspired attacks. Back at the dorm, Shoko realizes that Rin is actually going through the parts of a ballet recital. After defeating all of the Grimoires, Rin puts the Fuego in the finishing stance and thanks the RideBack for this one last ride. Meanwhile, everyone who watched the battle between Rin and Grimoires, either through TV or at the scene, cannot but help but be amazed by Rin's performance.

Take a bow.


It's funny how everybody wants to get along right after the villain is put away.

Days or perhaps weeks after the BMA's attack on the GGP base, the GGP has signed a new accord with Japan where the GGP would remove most of its military power from the country. Tamayo's father Nanpuu Kataoka has been cleared of charges and reinstated as Japan's government representative. Rin's brother Kenji has also been cleared of his charges and finally visits his mother's grave with his grandmother. Back at the Musashino University where the cherry trees and blossoming, Shoko waits eagerly by a building and she smiles brightly as Rin walks up the stairs.

I'm surprised that Shoko is the only person waiting for Rin. Isn't Rin now the most famous girl in Japan?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes!! My wish of Rin using ballet to beat down her enemies has finally been answered. This was a finale full of pwnage: Kiefer pwned some Grimoires and Gatou; Okakura went one-man-army inside the GGP base and then karate-kicked three soldiers while dodging bullets; and most importantly, Rin opened up a can of ballet-powered whoop-ass on a dozen Grimoires. There is nothing more I could have asked for finale. Okay, maybe Rin's fight was a little over-the-top with the ballet music thrown in, and she did win partly because the Grimoires suddenly forgot they had guns (I thought they were out of control at that point), but I liked the emotion during the fight and the fact that Rin thought of the fight as a dance to pay tribute to Suzuri, her mother, and the rest of friends and supporters. It was too bad that Tamayo had to bow out early in the episode, but RideBack is Rin's show so it's only appropriate for the star to give the last performance.

Anyways, RideBack ends with the usual happy ending where everybody comes to their senses after the bad guy dies, but in this case it's noted that most of the new GGP administration represented by Yokoyama wanted to oust Karenbak for along time and deal with Japan on friendlier terms, so big changes were going to happen one way or another. The last scene of the episode implies that Rin has been let off the hook for all of her reckless driving, and this probably makes sense since all of the charges on Rin stem from Karenbak's GGP administration. With Karenbak gone and the GGP more or less pulling out of Japan, the Japanese police probably won't be too inclined to prosecute Rin especially with Ryunnosuke leading the force. As for the other characters involved in the battle, Tamayo is probably fine due to family ties and the fact that she didn't actually fight. Okakura might have to go into hiding until things die down, but this shouldn't be too difficult for a guy this capable. Finally, Kiefer is probably in jail since he is a genuine terrorist. It's possible that Yokoyama might let him go at the helicopter pads, but I don't think the rest of the GGP or the Japanese police will be that forgiving.

Overall, RideBack was a short and sweet series. There were some things in the series that didn't make sense especially when it comes to Rin's decision-making skills, but perhaps all that can be attributed to what is known as "RideBack addiction". The relationship between Karenbak, Kiefer, and Okakura wasn't very well explained either. I also never really understood Ryunnosuke and Yoda's investigation into Hesner since it wasn't really well explained, but whatever it was it got Karenbak in hot water and that's what really matters. On the positives, RideBack had excellent production quality, and all of the action and 3DCG were done very well. Even though RideBack was only 12 episodes short, the protagonist Rin also received good character development throughout the series, and we'd expect that since the show is predominantly about her. RideBack as a whole was a pretty enjoyable series. Well, any mecha show with a semi-decent mechanical designs and a passable story is enjoyable in my books, and RideBack was a fair bit better than that.