Released from February 25, 1987 to January 30, 1991 and directed by Hiroaki Goda, Katsuhito Akiyama, and Masami Obari, the series takes place in 2032. It has been seven years since the Second Great Kanto Earthquake ripped through Tokyo, splitting it in two along cultural & geographical lines. In this future, differences in money & power are more pronounced than at any other time in post-war Japan. This is greatly shown through Genom, a company that has ungodly amounts of power & influence throughout the world, and not just in Japan. The product that they’re known for are Boomers (not the Left 4 Dead kind), which are special robots that can have a human form (see the Blade Runner influence?) and can be used for military or manual labor purposes. Though they normally are intended to serve humanity, they can become incredibly deadly in the hands of more...malicious individuals. This is where the AD Police comes in.
The AD Police were formed to take on Boomer related crimes...if they can get past low budgets, red tape, and a horde of political infighting. Luckily, there’s another group that’s more capable to take on the Boomers & the machinations of Genom. This group is known as the Knight Sabers, a quartet of sexy & smart women that gear up in power armor, and take on any threat that comes their way. They might get hurt (physically and/or mentally), but they overcome it all in their quest to keep Mega Tokyo safe. It’s an experience you don’t want to forget, and a experience you won’t forget when you watch.
The first positive of this show is the story. On the surface, things look rather predictable & basic. However, when you get past the surface, you’ll find that there’s a surprising amount of depth and flavor to the world. We see into the lives of the Knight Sabers (not a perfect look, but you do learn at least 1 thing about each of the sabers), some of the AD Police members, the scientists that work for Genom as well as it’s leaders, and we even get a glimpse into the lives of two special Boomers in an episode. Everybody in Bubblegum Crisis is connected in some way, whether it’s something minor, or something major.
The 2nd positive is the mix of genres. Although the main genres are action & cyberpunk, there’s also suspense, emotion (not necessarily a genre, but it helps), and some surprising moments of comedy. Despite the action & cyberpunk taking up most of what the viewer sees, everything manages to mix nicely. When there needs to be an action scene, there’s an action scene. When there’s a scene that requires a character to be emotionally weakened or strengthened, there’s that kind of scene, and when the show wants the viewer to laugh, there’s something that makes the viewer laugh.
The third positive of Bubblegum Crisis is the world in which it takes place. This is really where the Blade Runner influences shine through. I’ve never seen the full movie, so if I screw something up, please let me know.
It’s easy to see that Tokyo went through some hell during the Second Great Kanto Earthquake, and hasn’t necessarily faired better since then. Though it is still an active city, it has become more metallic & oppressive, and it’s apparent that the common man are getting squashed everyday. The city in Blade Runner also felt like this, but it that case it seemed to be more...bright somehow. In addition to the oppressive environment is the group that’s practically fixed just about everything & created said environment, Genom. Much like the company in Blade Runner (the name escapes me right now), Genom’s power & influence are everywhere, and even when you can’t see them, you can definitely feel them. They pull just about all of the strings in Mega Tokyo, and to cross them, is like saying to a group of Tupac fans that you killed Tupac: funny, but incredibly stupid.
Bubblegum Crisis’s 4th positive is the cast. Everybody in this show (with a somewhat exception for those that die) feels believable in some way, almost to the point where you could swear that you might have met them in real life somewhere. If there was a group of characters that I particularly liked, it would be the girls that compose the Knight Sabers. Despite looking cute & sexy (more on the show’s look in a bit), I swear that I’ve meet these girls before. There’s Sylia, who’s very calm & level-headed: Priss, the hot-headed tough chick: Linna, a very athletic team player, and Nene, the bubbly & innocent girl who’s sometimes there for window dressing rather than anything useful.
The next positive of Bubblegum Crisis is the animation quality. Despite being made & released from the late 80s to early 90s, the whole show still manages to look surprisingly good. There’s a great amount of color used throughout the episodes, and nothing manages to look dated, at least not on a large scale. The factories & laboratories of Genom look realistic, and the people still move realistically as well. If I had any complaints about the animation, it’s that sometimes when you’re looking at characters from afar, sometimes it can look slightly blurry.
Positive number 6 of Bubblegum Crisis is availability. Despite having been released about a decade ago, there’s still a fair amount of copies on Amazon, and you can still buy the whole collection & individual DVDs over on AnimEigo’s website (To my knowledge, they have no plans to stop producing the collection or individual DVDs). The pricing leaves something to be desired, but we’ll get to that when the time comes.
The last positive of Bubblegum Crisis is it’s music. Each of the episodes have their own beginning song & ending song, and they all sound great. Now, I haven’t listened to the songs in Japanese (save for a sliver of one song), but instead I listened to the English translations that were done, and I must say, I thought the translations were going to be horrible. Instead, I was surprised to find that the English version were well done.
Now, we’re at the negatives of Bubblegum Crisis. There one’s are kinda big, and while the show is still enjoyable despite them, they keep the series from being a perfect masterpiece. Without further delays, here what weighs this show down.
The first negative is the show’s pricing. Despite being readily available, the show can put a small dent in your wallet. A copy of the complete collection over on AnimEigo’s website will set you back $34.99 minus shipping, while Amazon is slightly more expensive at $35.96 minus shipping. There’s not that many used copies on Amazon, but the pricing does start at 25 dollars, so that isn’t too bad.
The second negative is the show’s use of Engrish. Bubblegum Crisis isn’t as bad about it as Mad Bull 34 was, but I saw at least 1 example of this in the 8th episode. At one point, you see a list with the title “Fist Shift”, when it reality it’s supposed to be “First Shift”. What’s odd is how noticeable it was. Go figure.
The last negative is really what damages Bubblegum Crisis’s chances for being a true masterpiece, and that’s the dubbing. I must say that the dub in this is one of the worst I’ve ever heard. It’s nowhere near as bad as let’s say, Mad Bull 34, but a lot of it just doesn’t seem to have any punch to it. There’s definitely effort, but there isn’t quite enough energy to make it sound like it’s a good job.
Bubblegum Crisis gets a 7 out of 10. There’s a lot to the story, the genres mix well, the world is rather unique, there’s a great cast, there’s decent animation quality, it’s readily available, and the music is nice, but it can be expensive, there’s moments of Engrish, and the dubbing isn’t the best.
See you all next week, when we’ll take a look at some miniature goddesses. Until then, stay Otaku!
* For a more comprehensive look at Bubblegum Crisis, click on the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblegum_Crisis
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