NoaIzumiAnime Review: Bubblegum Crisis, Tokyo 2040
December 18th 2008 03:01
The Bubblegum Crisis review series concludes, and I saved the best for last.
Like most people who move to Tokyo, Linna Yamazaki has big dreams, but her dreams are different then most. She heard all about the Knight Sabers, the Tokyo vigilante team in powered armor who protect the public from rogue boomers, and she’s decided she wants to be one. But when her goal comes sooner than expected, is she up to the challenge?
Here it is, the ten-years-later remake of the classic Bubblegum Crisis, updated and re-imagined. It’s the same basic premise as BGC, but there are significant differences.
It starts earlier. Unlike the original, which begins with the team all assembled, this one begins with Linna arriving in Tokyo, and the first six episodes center mainly around her and her becoming a Knight Saber. So we see the process of scouting, recruiting, training, fitting a hard suit, and the final test, combat. It’s really cool to see that evolution through Linna’s eyes, as it was totally missing from the original.
The characters are different. Not just differently drawn, but different in personality. Linna was kind of a stereotypical yuppie in the original, concerned mostly with money and men; here she’s warmer and more idealistic. Priss is still the strongest fighter of the team, but here she’s even more taciturn. Sylia is still the enigma, but previously, she kept a cool and calm demeanor at all times, while here she is prone to outbursts (some fans have even suggested that she might be mentally unstable) and sometimes not above playing a good joke on someone. Of the four main characters, Nene is probably the closest to her original character, the techno-geek who’s the youngest of the team, and the least capable fighter.
The characters develop over the course of the series. Yes!! This was one of my main complaints about the original, that the characters were set in the beginning, and then didn’t change much through the course of the series. Here, all of the Knight Sabers grow a great deal, probably none more so than Linna (which is ironic, since her character was easily the least developed in the original. It’s like the makers of BGC 2040 wanted to make it up to her.). There are also romantic angles for most of the Knight Sabers, which were almost completely absent in the original.
The boomers are different and more varied. The original had one kind of boomer, the “big blue ‘bot”, a military boomer that often disguised itself as human and acted as muscle for Genom’s nefarious schemes. Bubblegum Crash introduced a couple of other types, and Grand Mal showed footage of construction boomers, although they were of the same basic type as the blues of the original series. In BGC 2040, they come in all shapes and sizes. Security boomers, waitress boomers, office worker boomers (some with authority over humans), construction boomers, factory boomers, undersea boomers, even a giant combat boomer (“Boomzilla”). It allows for greater variety of storylines, and lets the story explore more fully the relationship between boomers and humans.
There’s a fully formed plot thread this time. Unlike the original, which seemed to start and end in the middle, there’s a real beginning, a real middle, and a real end, and each is well formed. The series begins with Linna’s introduction to the Knight Sabers and her training (episodes 1-6), and continues with several one-shot adventures (7-12) while further developing of the characters and dropping hints about what Genom is really after, then things start happening in earnest, leading up to the final showdown. The flow and pacing are excellent; the creators put a lot of thought into how to organize the series, and it paid off.
I should mention that the ending is confusing at first. (If you’re a Babylon 5 fan, you know the ending of the Earth-Mimbari War? The ending of Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is sort of like that.) It makes more sense with repeated viewings, and don’t get me wrong, it ends with a boss fight between the Knight Sabers and the Big Bad Boomer Mama, so it does not disappoint on the action. But it’s not a fight that’s solved by brute force, and first-time viewers probably won’t quite get what’s going on. Just a warning.
So that’s what’s different. Some things are still the same: The main strengths of the original were the action and the music, and the makers of BGC 2040 knew to keep those prominent. The songs are updated for late 90s tastes, but they are an important part of the series, and are very well done and well integrated. On a personal note, it was actually the soundtrack that turned me on to this anime in the first place. A friend of mine burned a copy for me (big shout out to Des M. if she’s reading this), and once I heard it, I knew I had to see the series. The action is as good as in the original too, and the greater variety in boomers means a greater variety in fight scenes as well.
Extras: A new DVD set has come out recently, and has some great features, including cast and director commentary on several episodes, background info on the characters, and an interview with the voice actresses.
Great moments: My favorite scene is still when Mackey (Sylia’s little brother) accidently walks in on the Knight Sabers as they’re changing, and it becomes a big chase with Nene defending her honor and Mackey trying to get away. There’s a great shot of Nigel (the mechanic) wondering what all the drama is about, when all he did was send the kid up to find a wrench.
Summary: Good action series with strong characters, a well-paced plot, a great soundtrack, and futuristic themes similar to the original. Gets better every time I see it. Grade: A
Age rating: 14 and up. Violence, fan service, some nudity at the end.
Like most people who move to Tokyo, Linna Yamazaki has big dreams, but her dreams are different then most. She heard all about the Knight Sabers, the Tokyo vigilante team in powered armor who protect the public from rogue boomers, and she’s decided she wants to be one. But when her goal comes sooner than expected, is she up to the challenge?
The (new) Knight Sabers: (from left) Nene, Priss, Sylia, and Linna
Here it is, the ten-years-later remake of the classic Bubblegum Crisis, updated and re-imagined. It’s the same basic premise as BGC, but there are significant differences.
It starts earlier. Unlike the original, which begins with the team all assembled, this one begins with Linna arriving in Tokyo, and the first six episodes center mainly around her and her becoming a Knight Saber. So we see the process of scouting, recruiting, training, fitting a hard suit, and the final test, combat. It’s really cool to see that evolution through Linna’s eyes, as it was totally missing from the original.
The characters are different. Not just differently drawn, but different in personality. Linna was kind of a stereotypical yuppie in the original, concerned mostly with money and men; here she’s warmer and more idealistic. Priss is still the strongest fighter of the team, but here she’s even more taciturn. Sylia is still the enigma, but previously, she kept a cool and calm demeanor at all times, while here she is prone to outbursts (some fans have even suggested that she might be mentally unstable) and sometimes not above playing a good joke on someone. Of the four main characters, Nene is probably the closest to her original character, the techno-geek who’s the youngest of the team, and the least capable fighter.
The characters develop over the course of the series. Yes!! This was one of my main complaints about the original, that the characters were set in the beginning, and then didn’t change much through the course of the series. Here, all of the Knight Sabers grow a great deal, probably none more so than Linna (which is ironic, since her character was easily the least developed in the original. It’s like the makers of BGC 2040 wanted to make it up to her.). There are also romantic angles for most of the Knight Sabers, which were almost completely absent in the original.
Linna's first day in Tokyo could have been better.
But things sometimes have a way of working out.
The boomers are different and more varied. The original had one kind of boomer, the “big blue ‘bot”, a military boomer that often disguised itself as human and acted as muscle for Genom’s nefarious schemes. Bubblegum Crash introduced a couple of other types, and Grand Mal showed footage of construction boomers, although they were of the same basic type as the blues of the original series. In BGC 2040, they come in all shapes and sizes. Security boomers, waitress boomers, office worker boomers (some with authority over humans), construction boomers, factory boomers, undersea boomers, even a giant combat boomer (“Boomzilla”). It allows for greater variety of storylines, and lets the story explore more fully the relationship between boomers and humans.
There’s a fully formed plot thread this time. Unlike the original, which seemed to start and end in the middle, there’s a real beginning, a real middle, and a real end, and each is well formed. The series begins with Linna’s introduction to the Knight Sabers and her training (episodes 1-6), and continues with several one-shot adventures (7-12) while further developing of the characters and dropping hints about what Genom is really after, then things start happening in earnest, leading up to the final showdown. The flow and pacing are excellent; the creators put a lot of thought into how to organize the series, and it paid off.
I should mention that the ending is confusing at first. (If you’re a Babylon 5 fan, you know the ending of the Earth-Mimbari War? The ending of Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is sort of like that.) It makes more sense with repeated viewings, and don’t get me wrong, it ends with a boss fight between the Knight Sabers and the Big Bad Boomer Mama, so it does not disappoint on the action. But it’s not a fight that’s solved by brute force, and first-time viewers probably won’t quite get what’s going on. Just a warning.
So that’s what’s different. Some things are still the same: The main strengths of the original were the action and the music, and the makers of BGC 2040 knew to keep those prominent. The songs are updated for late 90s tastes, but they are an important part of the series, and are very well done and well integrated. On a personal note, it was actually the soundtrack that turned me on to this anime in the first place. A friend of mine burned a copy for me (big shout out to Des M. if she’s reading this), and once I heard it, I knew I had to see the series. The action is as good as in the original too, and the greater variety in boomers means a greater variety in fight scenes as well.
Extras: A new DVD set has come out recently, and has some great features, including cast and director commentary on several episodes, background info on the characters, and an interview with the voice actresses.
Great moments: My favorite scene is still when Mackey (Sylia’s little brother) accidently walks in on the Knight Sabers as they’re changing, and it becomes a big chase with Nene defending her honor and Mackey trying to get away. There’s a great shot of Nigel (the mechanic) wondering what all the drama is about, when all he did was send the kid up to find a wrench.
Run, Mackie!
Summary: Good action series with strong characters, a well-paced plot, a great soundtrack, and futuristic themes similar to the original. Gets better every time I see it. Grade: A
Age rating: 14 and up. Violence, fan service, some nudity at the end.
BGC 2040 DVD set
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