Ride Back

Based in a future world ride back is a unique kind of mecha where the robots are actually motorcycles. Our heroine, Rin Ogata was well on her way to becoming a top ballerina however after sustaining an injury and losing her mother she decides to quit when upon entering College. However she soon finds a new passion for said motorcycle/mechas (called Ridebacks) and her excellent balance and reflexes makes it easy for her to  ride with much skill. This all rather sweet, Rin finding a new dream to pursue almost a 'finding yourself' tale but her skills do get her into trouble with the new government  When Rin's best friend (Shoko) get's taken hostage in a terroist attack Rin knows she has to save her. But breaking through the government's barrier causes all sorts of knock on effects.
This is fine as well, a bit of government and politics making you question society and all that. I think it's even handled with enough maturity to be entertaining but still quite intellectual. But I'll tell you what's not okay in this very layered plot: Rin and her special rideback. The rideback that chooses it's rider and all that silly business that makes me dislike this genre. Machines should stay as machines, they shouldn't be given free-will or personalities it just takes the story to a whole new level of unbelievable.

Dog Star

Man is this film depressing! It's like Macbeth or something!It's all about Shiro, a dog for the blind, who is caring for a veteran boxer. Within the first 10 minutes of the film the ex-boxer drinks too much and gets hit by a car. That's just a start to the deaths in this film! So apparently this blind boxer wasn't a very nice man because he is sent back to earth as a ghost who needs to perform a good deed or two to be allowed into heaven. Hence he visits Shiro like some kind of Genie and offers to grant Shiro one wish. Shiro wishes to be a human (he can't talk mind you, so this scene was quite amusing) and naturally Shiro's ex-master uses his celestial and gives Shiro the body of a man who had just killed himself (yes, that's another dead person).
Shiro choose this wish out of a desire to find the family who raised him as a puppy. Although most the family died in a plane crash (that's another 2 or 3 dead bodies) he manages to sniff out Haruka's scent and begins to stalk her. A few more deaths later and Shiro finds out that he's old for a dog and that it'll soon be his time to die so he tries to distance himself from Haruka. But there's a chemistry between the two which makes it impossible for the two to part. Alas, it's a love that can never be, and Shiro has to return to his doggy form.
Through out the film, Shiro's former owner appears to offer guidance or consolation (usually quite bad). Sounds quite sweet but in reality he's just an invisible old man who just gets in the way. True, it would be weird if he didn't hang around but his presence really doesn't add anything to the film.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

This is an anime I was told to watch aaaages ago for it's utter madness and it definitely matches to that. In the distant future humans are forced to live underground and must constantly drill deeper to avoid the slowly decending ceiling. But Kamina isn't like every one else, he's been to the surface with his dad and now he's determined to get back, with Simon's help. However after their plan fails another means to get to the surface arrives and Simon and Kamina are free to roam the surface with Yoko, the sharp shooter who enables their escape. Now their on a mission, to stop the mechas called Ganmen at the very root to save the underground villagers from the earth quakes they cause. Simon controls the head of a Ganmen named Lagann while Kamina controls a body called Gurren. To fight off the Ganmen Simon and Kamina must combine to form Gurren Lagann with their fighting spirit to produce any number of drills. It's all one big joke really. But it has the boobs and the mecha to interest a large number of males even with the ridiculous speeches, pointless transformation scenes and inconsistent plot.