Bubblegum Crisis

Original Title: バブルガムクライシス
Romanized: Bubblegum Crisis
Literal:

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

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-01-26

Bubblegum 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 Oomori Kinuko 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).

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.

Content 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.

Notes and Trivia

Bubblegum Crisis is one of the first OAV series, 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 (as is demonstrated 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 Bubblegum Crisis spin-off series AD Police Files (it follows the pre-Knight Sabers exploits of Leon McNichol), by Tony Takezaki, does have a few manga to go with it, but that doesn't exactly count either.

Finally, 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 2005 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.

Availability

Available in the US 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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