When I started this blog, I got some feedback from a friend who writes "The Weekly Beer Geek" on The Black Sheep Online. He told me one of the best features of my writing style was that I clearly enjoyed what I was blogging about but didn't come off as a raving fanboy. I'll need to restrain myself as I tell you about one of my all time favorites:
Background:
Released By: AnimEigo
Length: 46 minutes
Year of Production: 1989
Language: Sub and Dub both included, Dub reviewed
Available on Netflix: Yes
I found this title through a happy bit of serendipity. At the first anime conventions I ever went to, Youmacon in Michigan, I was browsing the dealer room when I found a table run by a very unique man. I have come to know him as Turnip-Nose, due to his bulbous sniffer, and have seen him at many subsequent conventions. He always has some interesting titles on display. At our first encounter when I asked him for a unique and obscure title he pulled out Riding Bean and a passing con-goer gave his vigorous approval as well. Turnip-Nose also gave me Harmagedon, but that is a review for another day.
For those of you unfamiliar with AnimEigo, they don't release very many titles, but they do specialize in quality. Riding Bean was one of AnimEigo's first two releases, the other being Madox-01 which I plan to review in the future as well. Not only is Riding Bean licensed by a great company, the original creator Kenichi Sonoda produces a lot of fantastic stuff. His best known is probably Gunsmith Cats. Both Bean and Cats take place on the mean streets of Chicago. Sonoda traveled to Chicago to research this project and the locations in the show are faithful to the Windy City. Being from the Chicago land area myself, I really appreciated the attention to detail.
Odder Couple 1 - Bean Bandit and Rally Vincent
Bean is a certified man's man. He works as a courier for criminals or people who want to keep things hidden. Minimum price is $40,000 per job. Bean completes his jobs with his custom built car, "Buff the Road Buster" or just Road Buster for short. His entire wardrobe is a mix of Kevlar and Titanium Mesh making him mostly bulletproof.
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| Toughest macho man in Chi-Town |
Rally Vincent is Bean's right hand woman and an expert with firearms. She serves to keep Bean balanced, preventing fits of rage, and negotiating business deals. Rally also serves as Bean's alarm clock, using Tasers or hot frying pans as warranted.
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| The pretty lady packs serious heat |
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| Rally and Bean on the job |
Odder Couple 2 - Semmerling and Carrie
Semmerling, or Semmer for short, is a rather cutthroat and vicious criminal ringleader. She has several unnamed followers in addition to Carrie, her petite tag-along, lover, and somewhat inept partner. Semmer specializes in disguises, can produce realistic masks and has a device that allows her to modify her voice when swallowed. Semmer plans big and is unwilling to compromise.
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| Semmer shedding her disguise |
Carrie, Semmers loyal, follower has the appearance of a young child. She suggests she is older than she appears but everyone treats her as a kid. Carrie doesn't have the same steely resolve as Semmer and generally acts innocent and sweet. She will snap when pushed too far by anyone but Semmer.
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| She can be scary when she's mad |
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| They have a very abusive relationship |
One other character worth mentioning is Detective Percy. His goal in life is to defeat the Road Buster and restore his pride and dignity. At the start of this OVA Percy is confident he can finally defeat the Road Buster with his new car, the
Shelby Cobra GT 500. For you SAT buffs out there, Percy is to Bean as Zenigata is to Lupin the III. Percy is constantly enraged, either at Bean, his Chief or his incompetent partner Dick.
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| The great Percy always gets his man...well maybe.....eventually |
Story:
The story starts off at full speed. A robbery at a mall has gone horribly wrong resulting in a dead cop and a naked hostage. Really not sure why/how the hostage is naked, but there was probably an interesting story behind it.
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| At least they let her keep her shoes on. |
The robbers make their way outside where Bean picks them up and proceeds along his perfectly plotted escape route tailed by the police. His perfect plan is thwarted when a semi-truck is parked across the road. Bean activates the Road Buster's ability to drive sideways (perfect for parallel parking) to escape down a side alley while the cops crash in a spectacular fashion.
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| Apparently they had to call in reinforcements from Chiago |
As they escape down the alley a camera captures an image of the short robber with sans mask. The robber turns out to be a young girl with long brown hair. The robbers' haul was less than expected as the short robber accidentally took only $10 bills. Bean drops them off and refuses to take on an additional job because he doesn't like the way they do business with kids. As he drives off the robbers unmask and reveal themselves as women. The tall one is Semmer and the young girl, pulling off her brown wig, reveals herself as the pink haired Carrie. Cut to Bean's apartment the next day where Rally is making him breakfast and waking him up with extreme prejudice.
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| Don't think you'll hit the snooze button after this wake up call |
Rally and Bean argue about business policy over breakfast but are interrupted when a client pounds on their door. He claims to be a bodyguard of the wealthy Grimwood family who has escaped from a gang of kidnappers with the young Chelsea Grimwood. Bean accepts the job of taking the young girl home just before his client is shot up by gangsters from the adjacent building.
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| Bean is safe thanks to his Titanium and Kevlar jacket |
While Bean is preparing to take on his latest job from a dead client, Detective Percy is being assigned to the Chelsea Grimwood kidnapping case. He is less than thrilled until he see's a photo of the girl in the back of the Road Buster, giving him the green light to chase down Bean in his shiny new car. After Bean and Rally leave, the "dead" body guard gets up and reveals herself as Semmer.
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| Squibs on both sides, a true criminal is always prepared. |
Semmer meets up with Carrie who is holding Mr. Grimwood hostage in order to escape with the $2,000,000 dollars he brought as ransom for his daughter. Semmer reveals she gave Bean the girl so he would distract the police. Bean and Rally meanwhile have pulled up to the Grimwood estate, offering to turn over the girl in exchange for the money promised to them by the fake bodyguard. The other guards claim none of them are missing and insult Bean's car. This does not go well for them.
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| That looks incredibly painful/deadly |
Bean wrecks the place up and stops to say hi to Percy on his way out the gate. All that mayhem worked up quite the appetite, so Bean pulls over at a truck stop and orders a huge amount of meat as well as an ice cream for Chelsea. While they wait for their food, Bean recognizes the semi that disrupted his plan the night before. He puts 2 and 2 together, figures out Semmer's plan and pursues the truck to get the ransom money. A great chase takes place that has to be seen, I can't do it justice with words.
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| Great Careography in this show |
After the chase, the kidnapper gang and Bean end up in an underground parking garage where they battle for the ransom money. Bean takes on Semmer and Rally faces off with the only remaining unnamed male of the kidnapping gang. Again, this battle is so great, I don't have the words to do it justice. Instead I'll provide a few scenes for your perusal.
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| Bean dismantles cars with his bare hands |
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| Criminals are as good as dead when Rally has her gun |
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| Why does Bean look like a mental patient? You'll need to watch to find out. Trust me, it involves awesomeness |
End result of the battle is all the bad guys are dead except for Carrie, the Grimwood's are safe, and Bean and Rally stand victorious with the ransom. Our heroes show mercy to Carrie, after all she might be a kid, and offer her a ride. The cops have the exit surrounded but Bean guns the engine and charges the blockade. Then it ends. We don't see the escape, but we can assume Bean makes his escape with the money.
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| Percy's last stand |
Why watch?
1. America! - Since Riding Bean takes place in America, there are a lot of fun references to American culture. We also get a peek at how the Japanese see us.
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| Just Do It! |
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| I love the 80's, the hair, the fashion, my birth...... |
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| Carhops, Hamburgers and Ice Cream. The Sonic Way. |
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| Nothing as American as hamburgers! |
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| And soda, apparently Pepsi? |
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2. Violence - as I've said before, I love over-the-top, gory violence in anime. There is a good bit of it here.
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| Exploding Police Officers |
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| Bean's Clients are usually in some kind of trouble |
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| More dead cops |
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| Right between the eyes, Rally is a great shot |
3. Bean Bandit - Bean is a fantastic lead man, despite his ridiculous name. I love the way he eats, devouring pineapple skin and whole walnuts. Tough as nails. I love the manly men of anime. You can keep your whiny teenage protagonists, I'll take Bean, Kenshiro, Duke Togo, and Ryo Saeba any day.
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| The Human Nutcracker |
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| Even tough guys are scared of multiple live grenades |
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| Don't fear the Reaper, fear Bean! |
Should you be watching?
For the love of all that is good in anime yes. This is one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever seen. It has excellent chases, a decent plot, and a nice visual style. A bit on the short side, but it really packs the action into the limited run. I will be saddened if everyone reading this does not put Riding Bean into their Netflix queue. Or if I really convinced you, Rightstuf.com has new copies for only $6.99. Tell them Andy-CONDA sent you.
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