The year is 2032, and MegaTokyo, the metropolis at the center of Japan, is still slowly piecing itself back together
after the destruction of the Second Great Kanto Earthquake. The Genom Corporation, known for their intelligent labor
robots (called Boomers), took a major role in the rebuilding of Tokyo, and as a result has become one of the largest
corporations in the world. However, Genom and its megalomaniacal leader have their sights set on no less than world
domination.
But these Boomers, now pervasive, sometimes go berserk; the occurrence is so common that the city has created the AD
Police, a special police division created solely for the purpose of destroying Boomers run amok. There are also the
Knight Sabers, a mysterious group of power-armor clad vigilante/mercenaries determined to put an end to Genom's
success, and do their best to deal with rampaging Boomers in the meanwhile (while hopefully getting hired for enough
work to pay for all that fancy equipment).
They are: Sylia Stingray, the leader of the group and wealthy business owner; Priss, a popular rock singer, and the
loose cannon of the group; Linna, an exercise instructor in her alter ego; and Nene, the group's tech, who also
moonlights as an AD Police office worker. There's also Mackie, Sylia's younger brother and the group's
mechanic. Finally, there's Leon McNichol, an AD Police agent doing his best to stand up to Genom and its Boomers
who occasionally crosses paths with the Knight Sabers.
Rating:
The artwork did a good job of capturing the gritty future in which the Knight Sabers live. The animation was decent, but it did look a little grainy. While I haven't seen the dubbed version, I've heard it's simply awful. That's why I sought out the subtitled version to watch.
If you want cool mecha, lots of action, and females in nifty-looking body armor, then Bubblegum Crisis is exactly what
you're looking for.
I am pleased to announce that every single insulting edit from the M2K release has been restored. Every singe episode,
is clean an uncut. Having the two "Hurricane Live" videos spread out among all four volumes was a little
shocking at first, but I'm okay with it.
Rating:
AUDIO: With the Japanese 2.0 track, the audio is superb. It's loud with a full bodied sound and plenty of directionality. You feel like you're there, it's so good. But it is not as clear.
The English 2.0, not so good. The mix is well done, but the audio is lower, and muffled in some places. It sounds about the same as the Studio M2K version.
With the English version, the voices are stronger than the background music and sound effects. Since the entire audio was redone, Anime Eigo had the chance to amp up the sound. Very clear and sharp. The Japanese audio of course is not as clear as the English. Since the series was recorded in the 80's, the soundtrack is not done in Surround Sound, and it shows. However, the blend is perfect, with voices and music sharing the speakers.
Rating:
Bubblegum Crisis is a decent series in its own right, but it is almost as interesting for the historical perspective it offers--something of a seminal Cyberpunk anime series, it is the series that started the whole multi-episode OAV genre, as well as an interesting illustration of the change in production techniques between the 80s and 90s.
That said Bubblegum Crisis isn't objectively terribly impressive, but it has managed to remain popular over the years since its introduction thanks to a solid rock soundtrack (with a connection to the story, no less), a developed dystopian vision (much of which is ripped straight out of Blade Runner--just watch the cityscapes in the opening sequence), and also because it's just plain well done.
Bubblegum Crisis has an unusual amount of range over its 8-episode run; made up of individual stories only loosely tied
together by an overarching plot, the quality and solidity of the production improves steadily as it progresses, and it
undergoes a significant stylistic change around halfway that dramatically illustrates the change in anime style that
occurred at the time.
Its mid-sized cast of characters strikes a good balance; the cheesy cop and techie kid-brother archetypes are balanced
with a range of Knight Sabers spanning standard cute anime girl (Nene), mature leader (Sylia), and angry lone gun
(Priss). Linna is the odd girl out, an otherwise normal person stuck in the middle of things, and she never really gets
the chance to do much. The Knight Sabers have solid enough personalities (though Priss' suppressed anger definitely
takes the spotlight, for better or worse), but they stand out as much because of their maturity--in contrast to the
endless hordes of 18-year-olds, a couple are actually supposed to be old enough to drink, and all but Nene actually look
and act like adults.
More worthy of note are the supporting cast: a few sufficiently creepy corporate types, both young and old, to cover the villains, a driver gone mad and his traumatized girlfriend in episode 4, and a tragic pair of escaped pleasure robots in episodes 5 and 6 to name a few. These folks keep things rolling and provide a respectable amount of emotional tension and drama (mostly in the later episodes).
The series has plenty of one or two episode stories to tell. Although all the episodes except 3 and 4 are loosely tied together, it tightens up significantly beginning with episode 4 (which is actually supposed to take place 2 years later, though this isn't made clear), and I would say also improves a lot. Not that the first few episodes are bad (or that the last few are original), but as the series progresses, it definitely builds momentum and significantly steps up the emotional energy--you might want to give it a bit before you give up on it; things really do start to pick up. (Be warned, though, that episode 3 is nearly identical to episode 2 with new victims.)
The stories, though not all of them tie into an ongoing plotline, fit together well, and you always have the feeling that the series is heading somewhere--it's just not exactly clear where. Sadly, that is the biggest single problem with Bubblegum Crisis: it never reaches a satisfying conclusion, stopping rather abruptly with many loose ends still dangling when production was cut off before the story was completed.
Rating:
6.3333 (average)
Reviewed by GsG9, Sep 04, 2005
Very short but conclusinve narration in storyline. I like the way you explained it. I've got to see this anime for all the reasons that you've mentioned. Mecha & Sci-fic + History is my taste :D You seem very attentive and detailed with Sound effects and dubbing. That's very interesting! I'm impressed.
Thanks for the nice review.
Simple but good review.
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