Riding Bean...
I took the opportunity to watch Riding Bean...
From the designer behind Bubblegum Crisis comes a tale of high speed hi-jinks in the windy city. Kenichi Sonoda's appreciation for fast cars and guns shows in this anime, as it does in his later work, Gunsmith Cats. The cars, the guns and the street scenes are all beautifully animated. There are no naughty bits. There is, of course, a shower scene. There is a certain amount of bloodshed and violence, and a great deal of gun play. But, even with all the gun play, the gore is fairly subdued.
Bean's ability to take abuse is legendary and a bit too unrealistic near the end of this adventure. Fans of Gunsmith Cats, which was produced after Riding Bean, will note that Rally Vincent used to be a bottle blonde that didn't get much sun. Also, Rally's trademark GT-500, makes an appearance. The story is somewhat convoluted, but, still engaging. Riding Bean is an older title and is showing some signs of its age, but, is still very enjoyable. I gave Riding Bean a 3 out of 5.
According to the liner notes for Riding Bean...Got a problem? Call in the professional: Bean Bandit. For a price, he'll risk life and limb to deliver the goods. Seems such a pity that his latest charge isn't quite what it appears to be!
In Chicago, ace courier Bean Bandit rules the road, and operates on both sides of the Law.
"When it absolutely, positively, has to be there NOW," Bean Bandit is your man -- if you can afford his rates.
"Worried about the getaway from your next heist?" Leave the driving to Bean!
Unfortunately for Bean, and even more unfortunately for the Chicago P.D.'s insurance company, he's about to have to demonstrate why he's so expensive.
The plot begins to thicken when Bean drives getaway from a robbery (score: 6 police cruisers and 1 18-wheeler). The crooks are a little ticked off to find out that Bean's flat rate fee accounts for almost all of the proceeds, but business is business. Curiously, as soon as Bean leaves, their annoyance disappears.
The next day, Bean and his heavily-armed assistant, Rally Vincent (deadly with both gun and frying pan), receive a visitor with a young girl in tow.
The visitor barely has time to beseech them to return the girl to her father before a hit-team Swiss-cheeses Bean's apartment. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have Bean's taste in clothes (all Kevlar, including his underwear!)
Bean and Rally bundle little Chelsea into the car and make tracks. Alas, what they don't know is that the kidnappers have already made off with the $2,000,000 ransom, leaving them to take the rap.
Will Bean discover the ruse in time and get the money for himself? Will he be able to evade the relentless pursuit of Inspector Percy? Will the Chicago P.D.'s insurance company raise their rates? Find out by watching RIDING BEAN, one very high-octane action-adventure!
Semmerling's name comes from the holdout gun she carries, according to Kenichi Sonoda: A.45 ACP Model LM-4, manufactured by the Semmerling Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts.
In case you are looking for stylish and safe outerwear, you might want to know that Bean Bandit's jacket and headband are made out of a special titanium-mesh weave, overlaid with Kevlar. His gloves, pants, and boots are also made out of Kevlar.
Rally Vincent's handgun of choice is an old model CZ-75 9mm Parabellum automatic, manufactured in (what was then) Czechoslovakia.
Buff the Roadbuster is a completely customized vehicle, based on a Porsche chassis and a Corvette Stingray engine block (either '71 or '72). Its only really fantastic pieces of equipment are the wheel spikes (reminiscent of "Mach Go! Go! Go!," better known to Americans as "Speed Racer"). Buff is covered in 5mm battleship steel armor plate, with windows that are a combination of bulletproof glass and Lexgard plastic. It also boasts both four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, and has a top speed of over 300kph, with engine performance in excess of 730 horsepower. The technology for everything except the aforementioned wheel spikes supposedly exists today. Buff gets lousy mileage, that, plus the fact that the estimated cost to build Buff (in 1989) was about US$1,000,000, is one reason Bean's rates are so high.
Kenichi Sonoda did extensive research on Chicago before doing the storyboards for Riding Bean, and according to our Chicago correspondents, with the exception of the truck stop, every location seen in the film actually exists. In addition, to give the soundtrack an authentic flavor, the producers hired some of the top studio musicians in Los Angeles to compose and perform the music.
From the designer behind Bubblegum Crisis comes a tale of high speed hi-jinks in the windy city. Kenichi Sonoda's appreciation for fast cars and guns shows in this anime, as it does in his later work, Gunsmith Cats. The cars, the guns and the street scenes are all beautifully animated. There are no naughty bits. There is, of course, a shower scene. There is a certain amount of bloodshed and violence, and a great deal of gun play. But, even with all the gun play, the gore is fairly subdued.Bean's ability to take abuse is legendary and a bit too unrealistic near the end of this adventure. Fans of Gunsmith Cats, which was produced after Riding Bean, will note that Rally Vincent used to be a bottle blonde that didn't get much sun. Also, Rally's trademark GT-500, makes an appearance. The story is somewhat convoluted, but, still engaging. Riding Bean is an older title and is showing some signs of its age, but, is still very enjoyable. I gave Riding Bean a 3 out of 5.
