Bubblegum Crisis Anime Review
Bubblegum Crisis
/ OVA / Action / 13-up
Bottom Line
Neither original nor impressive, but has its moments, particularly in parts 4-6.
It’s Like...
...Blade Runner with more women in power armor and '80s rock.
Vital Stats
Original Title
バブルガムクライシス
Romanized Title
Bubblegum Crisis
Animation Studio
AIC|Artmic|Youmex
US Release By
Genre
Cyberpunk Action
Series Type
OVA
Length
8 30- to 40-minute episodes
Production Date
1987-02-25 - 1991-01-30
What's In It
Categories
Look For
- Blade Runner Ripoffs
- Battlesuited Brawls
- Satellite Weapons
- Loads of '80s Rock
- Gooey Evil Robots
- Massive Car Chases (part 4)
- Tragedy (parts 2, 4, and 6)
Objectionable Content
- Violence: 3 (significant)
- Nudity: 1 (mild)
- Sex: 1 (mild)
- Language: 1 (mild)
Plot Synopsis
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.
Quick Review
Switch to Full ReviewBubblegum Crisis, one of the first OAV series, is still a solid cyberpunk series featuring a memorable rock soundtrack, a developed dystopian vision (ripped straight out of Blade Runner), several decent stories, nice art, and a few quality action scenes. The voice cast of skilled veterans is matched with a hoarse, edgy performance by singer Kinuko Oomori to round out the picture. It does start out rather weak (and dated-looking), but finds its footing around episode 4, evidence of a historical change in the way anime was produced at that time. Its other weakness is the lack of a satisfying climax, though it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, either.
If you're a fan of cyberpunk or classic anime and haven't seen it, its worth at least a look (and give it some time even if the early episodes don't look appealing).
Related Recommendations
Despite the sort-of-sequels, Bubblegum Crash and Bubblegum Crisis 2040, my first recommendation if you liked Bubblegum Crisis would be AD Police Files; it is much darker, more realistic, and stylish than the series that spawned it, and arguably better, too. Keep in mind, though, that it doesn't feature the Knight Sabers, and it's considerably more violent. You might also enjoy Gunsmith Cats (based on a comic by Kenichi Sonoda, the character designer), which has a somewhat similar feel to the later parts of Bubblegum Crisis.
Notes and Trivia
Bubblegum Crisis is one of the first OAV series (as opposed to straight-to-video one-shots), and is largely responsible for the current proliferation of them. As discussed above, it's also worth singling out for the way it clearly illustrates the way Japanese animation changed between the '80s and '90s; older anime (as seen at the beginning of the series) was done with more plentiful and detailed keyframes (hence the rougher look), but less overall frames (leading to choppier animation). Newer anime (as seen later in the series) has far less detail in the individual frames, but because they are easier to draw (and therefore cheaper), there are more of them (leading to smoother animation). Both styles are fine, but many people would agree that the latter ends up looking better, particularly during action sequences; this is demonstrated pretty clearly by Bubblegum Crisis.
It is worth mentioning that Bubblegum Crisis is not based on a comic book, and the only comics of it are the American spin-off series, published by Dark Horse. The spin-off series AD Police Files (it follows the pre-Knight Sabers exploits of cop Leon McNichol), by Tony Takezaki, does have a few manga to go with it, but that doesn't exactly count either.
As with all their titles, AnimEigo publishes their extensive liner notes (including complete bilingual song lyrics) online for those interested.
Finally, it is interesting to note that the coming Great Kanto Earthquake is less sci-fi and more inevitable reality; as of 2010 the Tokyo area is actually overdue for both that and another (every 150 years) massive earthquake. Both are almost guaranteed to occur in the next few years, potentially much sooner than the 2025 date of Bubblegum Crisis. When they do happen, it will dominate world news, as the death toll could easily reach millions in a worst case scenario.
US DVD Review
The original DVD version (since supplanted by a remastered special edition) was AnimEigo's first, a set of three discs containing 2 or 3 episodes each. Each disc includes a slick animated menu (very high tech look), thorough chapter index, and a music video or two (a supplemental DVD of the full set of music videos was released later). The discs all include the English and Japanese stereo soundtracks, as well as English and French subtitles. Even prior to the remastering, the transfer on these discs is great; the colors are much richer than the VHS version (I was surprised) and everything looks very crisp.
In another odd historical note, the set of discs originally came packaged more like software than a video, in clear jewel cases (without even a cover insert) with a big (maybe 8 by 10 inch) software-style cardboard box--it looks like they were just itching to put an inch thick manual in there or something.
Parental Guide
Has intense moments and a fair amount of violence, but is relatively easy on the objectionable material; probably deserves a 13-up.
Violence: 3 - A fair amount of violence, but not terribly graphic.
Nudity: 1 - One or two very brief scenes.
Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Brief talk of pleasure robots, and a couple of spots here and there.
Language: 1 - Some expletives.
Staff & Cast
Original Japanese Cast
Sylia: Yoshiko Sakakibara
Priss: Kinuko Oomori
Linna: Michie Tomizawa
Nene: Akiko Hiramatsu
Quincy (Genom President): Kiyoshi Kawakubo
Mason: Shuuichi Ikeda
Leon: Toshio Furukawa
Daley: Kenyu Horiuchi
Mackie: Nazomu Sasaki
Part 1:
Commander: Teiji Oomiya
Sylia's Father: Hiroya Ishimaru
Bogey: Yuusaku Yara
Retort: Keiichi Namba
Fredrick: Juuroota Kosugi
Deputy Commander: Shinya Ootaki
Checkpoint Guard: Michitaka Kobayashi
Cynthia: Hiroko Kasahara
Female Boomer: Urara Takano
Part 2:
USSD Commander: Teiji Oomiya
ADP Chief: Seiji Satoo
Announcer: Michitaka Kobayashi
Irene: Miki Itoh
Female Boomer: Urara Takano
AD Police Officer: Masaaki Ookura
Opening theme: "Mad Machine"
Written by Tomoko Aran, sung by Kinuko Oomori.
End theme: "Kizudarake no Wild" (Wild and Scarred)
Written by Tomoko Aran, Sung by Kinuko Oomori and the Knight Sabers.
Part 3:
Sho: Kyooko Hamura
Sho's Mother: Senri Nakajima
Funk: Daisuke Gorui
Manager: Ikuya Sawaki
Newscaster: Michitaka Kobayashi
Part 4:
Raven: Kenichi Ogata
Gibson: Kaneto Shiozawa
Naomi: Mayumi Shoo
Outrider: Michitaka Kobayashi
Crew
Planning and Original Story: Toshimichi Suzuki
Screenplay: Katsuhito Akiyama
Director: Akiyama Katsuhito
Art Director: Arai Kazuhiro
Music: Maganio Kouji
Availability
Available in North America from AnimEigo on a 4-disc remastered hybrid DVD set. Previously available on a 3 DVDs or subtitled VHS tapes, and prior to that on a set of four subtitled LDs or 8 VHS volumes.
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