There was something special about anime in the late 80s. During the Japanese economic bubble, when there was money to spare, anime studios were able to take creative risks on projects that may not necessarily be successful (much to the pain of the actual animators making it). As well as films like the legendary and definitive “Akira” (1988) this period gave us the OVA (Original Video Animation) boom and many things that are now regarded at cult classics like “Angel’s Egg” (1985), “Wicked City” (1987), and “Vampire Hunter D” (1985). A particular detail about this time is, well, details. Plenty of bloody violence, sleaze, guns, nudity, and vehicles rendered in minute specifics. “Riding Bean” is in many ways emblematic of these trends, a flurry of action and bombastic chaos. It is both a love letter to American action movies as well as serving as a jumping point for another anime series.
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On the mean streets of Chicago, mercenary driver for hire Bean Bandit makes his living taking jobs where he can, while aggravating the police at every opportunity. After a routine job, he and his sharpshooter partner Rally Vincent are framed for the kidnapping of a businessman’s daughter. The pair must put the pedal to the metal to get to the bottom of things, stay alive and, most importantly, get paid.
Simple is the key word that can describe Riding Bean. Not in terms of animation, but the story is about as straightforward as you can get with some small twists and turns but nothing too surprising. It’s like a mini version of any number of American action films from the 70s and 80s, and writer and character designer Kenichi Sonoda has cited “The Blues Brothers” as an inspiration. You have Bean and Rally trying to evade capture and hunt down the real culprits, said real culprits planning their getaway, and inept cop Percy who has sworn to take down Bean Bandit and his tricked-out car.
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At a slim 50 mins there’s not really any room for padding or much in the way of character development. It’s all about the action and thankfully it delivers on it with car chases and shootouts throughout, along with lots of little fun moments to keep things from getting stale. That 80s sleaze is also present, for better or worse. In the opening robbery, a guard’s head explodes in a shower of blood and a naked woman is taken hostage. We also spend a good bit of time focusing on Rally’s body as she’s getting dressed. The villain of the story Semmerling is also assisted by a young girl of undefined age who claims to be her lover. It’s all things that some might find off-putting but does fit in with the anime’s general tone.
Just about the whole cast of “Riding Bean” would be considered industry veterans now. Hideyuki Tanaka gives an enjoyable macho but playful quality to Bean Bandit and has been in everything from “Mobile Suit Gundam” to this year’s “Tonari no Yokai-san” . Mami Koyama’s Rally Vincent is the cool-headed yin to Bean’s hot-headed yang. Whilst Carrie is a relatively minor role in “Riding Bean” voice actor Megumi Hayashibara will be very familiar to anime fans as Faye Valentine in “Cowboy Bebop” as well as many other roles from the 90s.
A co-production between AIC and Artmic, “Riding Bean” is directed by Yasuo Hasegawa, who since then has mostly worked in live action. Writer and character Dsesigner Kenichi Sonod’s designs are very typical of 80s anime; there is an almost slapstick comedy quality to the characters’ movements that puts me in mind of some of the various adaptations of Monkey Punch’s “Lupin III”. Sonoda is also clearly a car and gun fan as there is an attention to realism with both elements even if the action is more over the top. The 80s vibes are carried along further by David Garfield’s rocky-jazzy score and songs.
Whilst never expanded into a full series, there is still a legacy with this anime. Sonoda left Artmic and worked as a manga artist. He then developed the character of Rally Vincent and made the series “Gunsmith Cats” which ran from 1991-1997 and got its own OVA in 1995. Due to rights issues Bean Bandit wasn’t initially allowed to feature in “Gunsmith Cats” but Sonoda was able to use him later as a featured character.
Maybe “Riding Bean” isn’t a hidden gem of artist endeavors. It’s silly and trashy action and it’s definitely not for everybody. If silly and trashy action is your thing though then it’s a fun little time capsule of a specific era of modern anime.
