NoaIzumiAnime Review: Bubblegum Crash
December 14th 2008 04:49
A year after the events of Bubblegum Crisis, Megalocity is peaceful, and the Knight Sabres are seemingly out of business. But just as Linna, Priss, Sylia, and Nene are on the verge of splitting up for good, a new threat raises its head.
Bubblegum is the long-awaited sequel to Bubblegum Crisis, and mostly lives up to its predecessor. All of the characters are brought back, in addition to an old enemy, and the series winds up a plot thread from the original. There’s no final showdown with Genom (I don’t think Genom is even mentioned in the whole series), and it doesn’t answer the remaining questions about Sylia (although it offers more tantalizing hints). However, this time, all episodes are connected by a common thread. Each episode has a separate plot, but the same villain is behind all of the incidents. Think of it as Bubblegum Crisis: the Movie.
The first ep, “Illegal Army,” brings the Knight Sabers back to fight a mercenary (and illegal) army that has been committing a series of robberies. The story is rather thin, as time is taken up in catching up with the Knight Sabers’ new lives, but it’s a good start.
The second ep, “Geo Climbers,” has the Knight Sabers trying to protect a second-generation Boomer known as ADAMA (dig the Battlestar Galactica reference). This episode was my favorite, mainly because of ADAMA, who is a boomer with emotions and a conscience. Most of the show is of him and Priss running away from the bad guys, and Priss getting over her anti-boomer prejudice. A good premise for a story, but Priss’ feelings against boomers seem to have come out of nowhere. In the original series, Priss has gone postal on boomers that had hurt or her friends, or taken out boomers that stood against her, but her attitude in this story goes way beyond anything seen before. And what about Sylvie, from episode five of the original? The singer who Priss tried to protect even after she was revealed to be a boomer? It’s like the emotional development of Priss in that story arc never happened.
The final ep, “Melt Down,” brings the Knight Sabers face to face (to face, as it turns out) with the foe that’s been operating from behind the scenes this whole time. A good wrap-up episode, with the villain revealed and three different action sequences which bring all of the characters together.
Sadly, music doesn’t play as much of a role here as it did in the original BGC, although the opening theme is very catchy.
Great moments: Even though it uses the same piece of animation in every episode, the “suit-up” scene, with the theme music in the background, is probably my favorite part.
Extras: Color gallery and some production sketches
Summary: A good action series. Has a few flaws, but continues the plot and themes of the original. As good as BGC, if not a little better. Grade: B plus.
Age rating: 13 and up. Some violence, but not as much as in the original. Some fan service.
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