Bubblegum Crisis

The DVD set of this series is excellent. The sound is great, and the picture quality is perfect, even surpassing the laserdisc release. The ability to watch it in the original Japanese without subtitles covering the picture is nice, also. All 8 episodes are in the set, which is a steal at about $50 (compared to about $120 for the tapes, or around $100 for the laserdiscs, if you can even find them). My only complaint is that the music videos are compressed really badly, giving them an M-PEG look, and compared to how the actual episodes look in this set, that low quality is unacceptable. Still, that one complaint aside, this set is more than worth the money if you like this series even a little.

I like Scots. Hell, I am a Scot. But the guy above me is nuts. We all know that you can't just jump in the middle of a series. It's a cardinal sin of animé-watching, and something that will get you mocked mercilessly. And he did this.

The ep he's referring to is 'Revenge Road', and relies on you knowing who Priss, Linna, Nene, and Sylia are. Want to get a better picture of this animé without watching all eight episodes? Watch 5 and 6, 'Moonlight Rambler' and 'Red Eyes', respectively. You'll see some of the best drama, action, and plot to come out of animé ever.

/rant over.

Anyway, this is definitely worth a view. The premere babes-in-battlesuits animé, and home of the Knight Sabers (the most ass-kickin' group of mercs in animé.)

Following the Knight Sabers, a highly elite group of female mercenaries living in a futuristic cyberpunk Tokyo, where they take down machines known as Boomers, many created by the evil mega-corp Genom. This whole series screams 80s anime and I loved it. The original series is only 8 episodes released over multiple years, produced more as OVAs (Original Video Animations) rather than a series, meaning each episode tends to be longer, typically at 44 minutes, and is considerably higher budget than the traditional 26 episode 22 minute standard we often see. This also means each storyline, while generally disjoint from other episodes, is a bit more involved or complex than other anime shows of the time, and I was quite impressed by its visuals. The art and aesthetic is perfect though and through. If you're one to have nostalgia from any of that sci-fi anime future punk era: Akira, Mobile Suit, Robotech, etc, you're going to love this. Definitely adult, there is nudity, violence, and swearing, the plots are generally good, again with each narrative being self contained per episode and each slowly clueing us in on the futuristic city, its technology, and how society now functions. Its not all great, plot-wise we never really get as much explained as we'd like, characters don't really develop, and with transforming vigilante heroes a la Charlie's Angels meets Power Rangers, there's a lot of tropes presented, some great, some not the best. I don't know enough anime history to say which if these tropes the series pioneered vs simply reenforced, but overall I did constantly have fun and felt vested in the characters. Unfortunately the english dub of this series is also not the best, with a lot of line delivery being very questionable if not laughable, but if you're like me it somehow only added to the charm and nostalgia. Also something not an issue if you watch the original subbed, so I can't fault it for that anyway. Fortunately for those wanting more there's multiple other spin-offs and reboots since this original, and for all this series was it deserves them, I'd already consider this a classic.

Bubblegum Crisis: 7 out of 10: Hot chicks, giant robots, and evil corporations fill every frame of Bubblegum Crisis as does some surprisingly catchy Eighties tunes.

Bubblegum Crisis much like Akira or Macross is one of those Anime that separate the thirty something Anime fans from this year's crop of snot nosed wannabees. When you think Japanese cartoons do you think Pokemon or shower scenes. Do you think irritating children or kick ass adults. Do your favorite plots involve the little kids defeating the big evil corporation or adults facing economic hardship and self sacrifice. Bubblegum crisis is an Anime of the latter.

As I settle into my damn kids today voice and distaste for every over hyped, rapid cut seizure inducing, saccharine piece of crap that passes for entertainment these days. (I'm looking your way Cartoon Network). I can sit back and watch full grown woman destroy some boomers (as well as half of Tokyo) and reminisce about my childhood when cartoon characters swore and every battle was followed by a gratuitous nude scene.

Is Bubble Crisis as good as I remember it? No. The episodes are not connected well and vary in quality. Some of the dubbing is dubious and the live action music videos contained in the extras are simply painful.

Does it both allow me to relieve my childhood and look down upon kids today? You betcha.

"Bubblegum Crisis." Those are words you hear said with reverence from just about every anime fan. It's one of those shows that inspired so many imitators and so many fans. When you hear so much good stuff about anything you really have to wonder if it can live up to the hype. In my opinion it does.

One thing that surprised me was just how much time was spent on characterization. While you hear mostly about the action, BGC does devote a good amount of time to its characters. Even one-shot characters like Irene Chang and Vision are well drawn. But the focus is on the Knight Sabers and each of them get at least one very good moment.

BGC also comes with an array of fun secondary characters like sleazy informant Fargo, who's always hitting on Sylia, cops Leon NcNickel and Daley Wong, Dr. Raven, and Slyia's perverted little brother Mackie. These guys also have their little moments and add some comic relief.

One thing that surprised me was that this show wasn't as dark as I'd expected it to be. You hear a lot of talk about how Mega Tokyo is really grim and gritty and stuff like that. But except for Genom running just about everything, Mega Tokyo doesn't seem that bad to me. It's really no worse than New York during a high crime year.

While it may look a little silly now, for 1985 BGC was really something big. Besides, what doesn't look goofy after fifteen years? In the end its formula of four really cute women, some really great mecha, good villains, cool VAs and some pretty decent music works. This is one for any anime fan.