Story: 8
Tailenders is a short but fast-paced, bad-ass animated film that will rock your socks! When it first started, a narrator gave some background on the history of the planet, Terulus, and it's mishaps with a terraformer gone berserk or haywire. Soon after, the scene jumps right into the actual story, quick and qithout hesitation. There isn't much of a plot, other than that Shiro (the main character) wants to fulfill his dreams of surpassing the legendary "Loser" racer. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Shiro, he finds himself in a pretty bad accident which nearly claims his life, but allows him the chance to fulfill his dream. Shiro is then entered into a race that even the "Loser" never finished and the real adventure begins. The story could have been expanded on a LOT, and it's so fast-paced that you really have to pay attention the whole time lest you become lost. There isn't much else I can say about the story, I wish the writers had made more than just this one, but beggars can't be choosers uless their rich, which would be unusual.
Animation: 9
I love the animation in Tailenders. THe style is real gritty and the colors are all in high contrast which really works for the way everything is drawn. It's as if the artists decided to put a lot of effort into some things and half-assed others depending on how they fit into each scene. I don't mean like how in some anime the things that don't move are really lightly colored or have no sharp or thick lines while the opposite is true for the things that do move. The characters designs make me think of FLCL or Eyeshield21, while the landscapes look like something out of Akira, and the vehicles and hardware all remind me of something more retro-grade than all of the above with their sharp lines and geometric shapes.
Sound: 9
The music tracks and voice actors all did spledidly. Every characters voice fit their profile and the sound effects for different types of actions and machines were chosen well. Being that I am not an officionado on sound, I will give this section an 8 based on the fact that I liked everything I heard, except when a couple of the characters were grunting (it was just weird) and when a couple doctors were shot with tranquilizers.
Characters: 7
Shiro was developed well enough in the super-short amount of time allotted. He' is a head-strong, will-powered, race car driver. Tomoe is not only the enigma character, she is also your typical mad scientist type, but with that sexy female strut and body, as well as her sharp mind, she is easily the most interesting character out of the bunch. The antagonist, Goodspeed, is almost a side-character, but you can tell that Shiro and he have a history with each other. There isn't a whole lot of development, and at one point during the last 4 minutes I was pretty baffled by her actions. By the end of the film I had a much better understanding of how she felt at that baffling point, but it sure caught me off guard.
Overall: 8.5
Overall, the Tailenders film could have been much longer and would have, perhaps, benefited from a little more material. However, I love this title. I'm going to archive it right next to my favorite animated films to watch again sometime. I hope that anyone that takes the time to look up this film will find it just as entertaining as I did. Enjoy!
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