Bubblegum Crisis

Seven years ago, a second great earthquake had leveled areas in around MegaTokyo. But, as in the past, the crowded city has rebuilt itself. The construction boom has brought on its own problems -- the rapid introduction of a new type of mecha, the "boomer," has not only produced the mega-corporation, GENOM, but has also brought on the infiltration of high-tech crimes. In an attempt to address these crimes, a special division of the police force -- the AD Police -- has been formed. But even these officers are no match for the new mecha that seem to spring daily...

Four women, however, can. Led by Sylia Stingray, whose father was killed in a boomer-related incident, the Knight Sabers don their powered combat armour to fight boomer crimes -- for a price. The other members: Nene Romanova, also works as a computer operator for the AD Police, Linna Yamazaki, an aerobics instructor, and Priss, the lead singer of a small-time band, The Replicants.

This ground-breaking eight episode OAV series features character and mechanical designs by the innovative Sonoda Kenichi, and a driving pop-rock beat. Many consider this to be the definitive work of the cyberpunk genre, and is rightly called a "classic." Videos are distributed by AnimEigo in North America, and is available on VHS or LD, both subtitled and dubbed. Two music videos are also available, Hurricane Live 2032 and Hurricane 2033, as well as a CD-ROM screen-saver from Software Sculptors.

Parental Guidance Advised - Borderline 'recommended for mature audiences'. Fair amount of graphic violence, including one particularly nasty scene where a police officer is literally ripped to shreds by a barrage of bullets from a gatling gun. Language in the dialogue is sometimes quite strong , and some strong sexual content in episode 5, plus the constant homosexual innuendos by Daley. Instances of nudity are present in most of the episodes.

After the loss of two personel in the latest project by the U.S.S.D., the Knight Sabres are hired to locate F.G. Fredricks, a former employee, and Cynthia, a young girl. Unbeknownst to the Knight Sabres, GENOM, in their quest for global political as well as economic domination, have had their agents infiltrate the space defense agency to "aquire" Cynthia, a key component in their particle-beam satellite tracking system. But the new C-class boomers may prove to be more of a match for the four mercenary law-givers -- for the new boomers also have the ability to absorb and manipulate matter into their own bodies!

It was interesting going back to have a look at this one -- Bubblegum Crisis (BGC) was one of the first anime series I had seen, and I wondered how it would hold up against the current crop of offerings... Well, the animation is looking very dated. Much of the first episode is done in a very line-drawing type format, with lots of basic colours. Script writing is nothing spectacular, either. The dialogue tends to be very predictable, and at times it's awkward. But aside from these points, the show isn't that long-in-the-tooth. Sonoda's mechanical designs in this series are still better than a lot of more modern offerings, and the first ten minutes are as tightly directed as any MTV rock video, with the only difference being that BGC's music is far superior to the junk that's being put out by today's wannabe's. (Konya wa Hurricane just might be the most overplayed animé song in history.) No one seiyu really stands out, though Furukawa Toshio's Leon is just too flip for my tastes (a left-over from Lupin, perhaps?). Lots of little tidbits throughout the show, including a lot of advertising for the animation production company, AIC, and backgrounds heavily influenced by the Ridely Scott's science fiction classic, Blade Runner. Despite the shortcomings, it's still a very fine show, well deserving of its title as "a classic." - AN

Well, well, well. It's been a while since I watched this series. This is probably the first subtitled animé series I've ever watched and which definitely got me hooked on animé. Looking at it now, the animation quality isn't anything special although there are the usual plays on company names and advertisements for the animation company. Still, while the animation isn't the best, it's still not bad and the detail put into the boomers is enough to keep your interest. There's some really good j-pop music in this episode although Konya wa Hurricane really is overplayed especially when you hear it being played in both a live performance and an animation preview clip at the end of the episode. Hearing it that often gets a bit tiresome. The story and the acting both are nothing special, but aren't bad. Pretty typical stuff.

The destruction of Aqua City has temporarily put the AI module in Cynthia out of reach of U.S.S.D. Commander Swartz hires the Knight Sabers to recover the module -- but he is not the only one after it. Mason, in his quest for power within the GENOM ranks, has sent his three boomer bodyguards after the AI module. For Mason has already a receptacle for the unit: the new Super-Boomer. Meanwhile, Linna befriends a young woman, Irene, whom she had been teaching at the gym. Irene's fiancé had been mysteriously killed while working on a classified boomer project, and now Irene was determined to expose the culprits.

Once again, the episode starts with a great opening song -- in this case, Mad Machine. (This statement does not apply in the dubbed version of the video. Unfortunately, all the power and drive is gone in the English remake of the song.) We also get to see a lot of character development, especially in the case of Linna, the aerobics instructor. There are some really good combat scenes between the Knight Sabres and the female boomers; unfortunately, the quality of animation isn't up to the standards we've come to expect in shows these days. It's a short episode, so you can't really cover a lot of ground, but overall, it's well directed -- no dead spots in the scripting. Ito Miki (Gally in Battle Angel) does a fine job as Irene, Linna's new friend. The show ends with a really odd-ball choice of end themes -- the scene is a gravesite, but the song (Kizudarake no Wild) has a very upbeat tempo to it. - AN

More really good music for this series with two or three songs being played in this episode. When AnimEigo released the dubbed version of this episode, they completely re-did the vocal tracks as well. Unfortunately the opening theme song, which we hear in its original Japanese form in the subtitled version, has a strong beat and really good vocal, but in the English remake is a real snoozer. The English version is available as a MOV from AnimEigo's site and is about 20 MB long. A shame that they don't tell you which version it is since I wouldn't have bothered downloading the sucker had I known it was the English version.

The episode itself has a decent story to go with the good music. While the animation quality is still nothing to write home about, I've seen a lot worse. Of course, the music played so far in this series is a lot better than the stuff that's been showing up currently on the radio so it's a nice change to watch and listen to this show. - JYN

At every turn, Mason has been thwarted by the Knight Sabers. GENOM has a new urban renewal project underway, but unfortunately, there are still residents in the allocated land. Quincy, head of GENOM, instructs Mason to clear the way for the project to proceed, with an ominous warning: do not fail this time. Unfortunately for Mason, one of the residents of an apartment complex on the land is a friend of Priss'. Meanwhile, both Mason and Sylia strive to discover each other's secrets, in preparation for a final showdown atop the GENOM tower.

This third episode feels very much like the end of a series -- the final showdown between Brian Mason and Sylia Stingray. Once again, the animation is limited, but this time, they've added another twist -- reused footage from episode two. The story has some very weak elements as well, such as having secondary characters doing inexplicably dumb things (like running back into a building while it's being demolished.) On the plus side, we get to see the Motoroids (motocycles which transform into powerful mecha) in action (this time, both Priss and Linna have them), and some great music again -- the song Victory as the Knight Sabers break into the GENOM tower, and some awesome opening guitar riffs in the closing song, Wasurenaide ('Don't Forget'). Overall, however, the show is not up to the standards set by the first two episodes. - AN

This episode has a much weaker story than the previous two episodes, especially when dealing with the part of the re-zoning and development of area 3. I hardly think that area residents would find out that day that they were being evicted, let alone that an adult would run into a building that was actively being demolished. Doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense. The actual showdown between Sylia Stingray and Brian J. Mason I found to be similarly weak. There was no real reason for the showdown to occur at this point and there seems to be some information lacking - like why Mason would associate Sylia with the Knight Sabres. The animation in this episode was also weaker than in the previous two episodes and was not as well drawn. There are still some nice shots, but overall there was much less detail. The music however continues to be excellent with two more songs introduced in this episode; the opening and ending themes both. - JYN

The Griffon: a mega-performance car from days past. Now, only a handful of collectors have any interest in the car. But a Griffon has been involved in a series of incidents involving outriders, out-law biker gangs. The owner: Gibson, a friend of Dr. Raven, the Kngiht Sabre's mechanical genius. Gibson and his girlfriend Naomi were attacked and injured by outriders several years ago. With the aid of the latest psycho-electronic interfaces, Gibson plans to modify his Griffon into the ultimate tool for revenge. But the AD Police have set a trap to stop the Griffon, and it's up to the Knight Sabres to prevent a tragedy in the making.

I wonder if any folks over at AIC or Youmex have ever played paintball. It's a lot of fun, but potentially dangerous -- that's why you wear protective eyewear when you play. Besides, the paint pellets sting when you get hit. (Mind you, the paint ball guns aren't all that light, and I personally have never seen a fully automatic one... But wait, this is the year 2032 after all!) Once again, we get a pretty darned good rock songs in Crisis - Ikari o Komete Hashire and the end theme Twilight, both sung by Tsubokura Yuiko, who also did several songs for Kimagure Orange Road. The plot's really very basic -- a couple gets a rough ride from a biker gang, putting his girlfriend into the hospital and a semi-stupor state, so now he's out for revenge, using his car as his weapon of choice. Over the course of the episode, the car (a "Griffon", which looks remarkably like a Ferrari F-40) evolves from a stock vehicle to a monstrous extension of his desire for revenge -- and thus the title. Some of the mechanical concepts are fabulous -- the super-bike created by Mackie, for example, has the motorcycle equivalent of afterburners. The animation itself is still nothing to write home about -- and the some items, like the burning car at the end of the show, is downright poor. This episode is more of a show case for mechanical designs than anything else, so don't look too deeply below the surface. Even the short little final dialog between Daley and Leon is rather contrived, but if you slip your brain into neutral, I think you'll have a good time with this one. - AN

Far above Earth, the space station Genaros is host to a secret development project, unbeknownst to either Earth nor the station's owners, the SDPC -- yet another subsidiary of GENOM. Flint, the mastermind behind the development of a new battlemover known as the "D.D." Flint plans to use Genaros as the development center for a new high-tech weapons factory, and sell the goods to the Eastern bloc nations. Unfortunately for Flint, one of the boomers who worked on the project has stolen the unit, and escapes from the station, only to crash-land her shuttle near MegaTokyo.

Mysteriously, a series of vampire-like crimes have struck the city of MegaTokyo. Several murder victims have been found, their bodies completely drained of blood. Sylia is convinced that an older type of boomer, the self-maintaining 33-S is on the loose, using the D.D. as its motive tool. This is the one type of boomer that was voluntarily banned on Earth. Leon has also discovered this information, with one more chilling piece of information: should the D.D.'s pilot become unable to function, a functional D.D. will automatically lock itself into full-auto mode. And once the unit runs out of power, the D.D. will self-destruct -- using a micro-neuton bomb!

The first three episodes of BGC could stand alone as a trilogy, and the fourth is like an additional episode. Moonlight Rambler breaks new ground in the BGC universe with fresher animation, and better detailed mecha designs. The opening sequences are very well done for its time, and painstaking attention is paid to mechanical motion throughout. There's a lot of pseudo-technical jargon thrown in as well. So how does this episode stack up? Well, this is a case where the sum of the parts is less that the whole. There's just too much stuff thrown at you for such a short OAV episode -- all the technical mumbo-jumbo only serves to distract from the plot. The scripting was likewise overdone. Far too many over-emotional scenes, overworked dialog and impossible circumstances detracted from what could have been a great piece of work. There were some interesting animation effects thrown in -- detailed mechanical motion, especially of the D.D.'s leg mechanism when battling with Leon in his K-12 armoured suit. The opening escape sequence is likewise very well done. Even more striking were the "mood-setting" scenes. In particular, the dark, smokey bar where Sylia gets briefed on their new job by Fargo is something that might have been lifted from a Philip Marlowe story. I could almost feel the smoke irritating my throat. Some noteable music as well, including a great ending theme, Omoide Ni Dakarete sung by none other than Tsubokura Yuiko. This episode's cast list reads like a who's who in the anime world -- some very well known seiyu had roles in this one.

The personal conflict that Priss displays when faced with the choice of either killing her new-found friend, Sylvie, or allowing the city of MegaTokyo be destroyed was interesting, but melodramatic and overwraught. Like a puppeteer plying his craft, the director tries to manipulate your emotions, but the material fails him. In the end, the unlikely story-line and overuse of techo-jargon distracts from what could have otherwise been an excellent show. - AN

Later, a series of violent crimes rock MegaTokyo, including the powerful Genom Corporation. A band of combat suit thieves have made off with a transport container full of combat boomers... and witnesses claim that the thieves were none other than the Knight Sabers! Nene is not at all pleased with the development, and wants to go after the perpretrators -- especially after the band of imposters issue a thinly diguised challenge in the newspaper. Priss, on the other hand, has a different idea. Unable to cope with the death of her friend Sylvie, she quits the Knight Sabers organisation.

Episodes 5 and 6 of the series are really like a single episode split into two installments. From the previous OAV show, Moonlight Rambler, we discovered that Sylvie was trying to keep Anri alive. Now that Anri is equipped with the data disc that Sylvie obtained from Genom, she's effectively human... and now she's helping Largo in hopes of avenging Sylvie's death. While the premise of all this is interesting, the execution of ideas was somewhat less than ideal. Omori Kinuko does not have a great deal of range when it comes to acting, and consequently her emotional scenes feel very uncomfortable. Script writing is terribly predictable -- you know from just about the opening five minutes that Priss is going to go off and try to handle things on her own. This was to be the final episode in which Priss was to appear, and Vision (in episode 7, Double Vision) was to take her place. While the ending is not all that bad, the rest of the show is a bit of an enigma. Is Priss so much better of a fighter that she, in her weakened state, can wipe out the imposter boomers by herself, whilst Sylia, Nene and Linna combined can't even put a dent in one? If Leon's handgun can do so much damage, why isn't the same technology used in the Knight Saber's arsenal? And why didn't Linna fight with her motoroid to start with? Inconsitencies like that bug me, especially when they start raising questions early in a show. The rest of the scripting isn't all that bad; it's just that once again, this episode could have been much better. - AN

In the year 2033, a strange crab-like mecha attacks a group of executives at the Gulf & Bradley building in Houston, Texas. The lone survivor of the attack is Dr. Richard McLaren, the chief project scientist for Genom's new military super-boomer project. McLaren head a team at Genom's military research labs in Tokyo, Japan. Meanwhile, after years of silence, the mysterious rock star, Vision, has come out of hiding and performing on a live tour in Japan. At the same time, the crab-like mecha once again appears, this time attacking the Genom laboratory at which McLaren is working. Shaken by the recent events, the Knight Sabers are hired as bodyguards for Dr. McLaren.

Due to contractual problems, Omori Kinuko (Priss) was unable to sing solo for the remainder of the Bubblegum Crisis series after OAV 6. Because of this, the initial plans were to kill off Priss' character, but in the end, this was not done. Hashimoto Maiko's Vision (a.k.a. Reika Chang) was to replace Priss in the lead role. The end result could have been interesting -- Omori Kinuko has a much stronger acting voice, but a very limited singing voice, while Hashimoto Maiko's acting voice isn't as strong, but she has a much more melodic singing voice, plus her acting voice is much more versatile. I guess we'll never know...

Episode 7 ties in with Episode 2 (Born To Kill), in which Linna's friend Irene Chang was killed by one of Mason's boomers. Vision (Reika Chang) is Irene's older sister. Consequently, Linna features very prominently in this episode. This epsiode features much stronger writing than previous efforts, and touches aspects of human motivations and need -- specifically, grief, responsibility, revenge and fulfillment. Acting is also above average, though I had to take exception to the stereotyping of the Gulf & Bradley president -- not all company big-wigs from the deep south look like a throw-back from The Dukes of Hazzard. Animation quality has also improved over previous efforts, and the characters are beginning to lose their line-drawing appearance. Sonoda's mechanical designs are top-notch, and he comes up with some more unique designs for this episode. But once again, it's the music that really sets this series apart, and the opening song, Say Yes is worthy of radio airplay (except that the requisite guitar solo in the middle is rather cheesy), and the ending theme, Never the End is an absolutely wonderfully produced number. Too bad it's cut so short on the video. Luckily, it is available on the Complete Vocal Collection Vol. 2 compact disc. The episode also features a "timeline" format, in which events are presented on very specific dates, very much like a documentary. To my mind, this is one of the top two episodes in the BGC series. - AN

Young Lisa Vannette dreams of being an ace reporter and landing a front-page scoop. Having an uncle as the chief of the AD Police certainly can go a long way in giving her an inside track of what's happening around MegaTokyo. But when Lisa manages to sneak a couple of shots of the Knight Sabers in action, only to have Priss destroy the camera given to her by her father, things become personal. Now, she wants to find out the secret identities of the Knight Sabers -- which might not have been a problem except the Lisa is riding shotgun with Nene, and one of Lisa's photos seems to prove that Nene is in fact a Knight Saber.

Meanwhile, the Knight Sabers are just as busy as ever, fighting off boomers on the rampage. Except this time, it appears that someone is building boomers designed specifically to exceed the capabilities of the Knight Saber's own hardsuits. Dr. Mirian Yoshida is tired of playing second fiddle to GENOM's middle managers, and has designed a series of new combat units. Luckily, the Knight Sabers are getting fitted for new, upgraded hardsuits...

When you watch a series that's been produced over a length of time, you'll often see progression of animation and production styles. BGC is a good example of this, where the animation really improves between Episode 1, and this final episode in the series. There are some well-done scenes (such as the opening shots where we see Linna jogging, or the sun shining off the buildings of downtown.)

Futamata Issei makes an appearance as Dr. Miriam Yoshida, the off-balance research scientist who's tired of not getting the recognition he believes is his due. Hisakawa Aya does a very credible performance as the teenaged Lisa Vannette, though the script portrays her as a very young teenager at times. The story is interspersed with good-natured humour throughout, and there's enough substance and action to keep your attention. A lot of attention is paid to Nene's character, with a few shots taken at her attempt to control her appetite (though you'd never guess that she has a weight problem by the way she's drawn), and Mackie gets a more expanded role, with a hint that he might become a romantic interest for Nene somewhere down the road. The only real weak point in the show occurs when Sylia is discussing the reason for the Knight Saber's existance with Lisa -- Bubblegum Crisis is at its best when it sticks to pushing mechanical designs and rock music, and doesn't delve too far into philosophy, but this scene was just long enough to be awkward. The music isn't as good as previous episodes either, though the end theme (sung by Omori Kinuko) isn't bad. Other than these minor criticisms, it's good entertainment -- one of my two favourite BGC episodes. - AN