NoaIzumiAnime Review: Bubblegum Crisis
December 12th 2008 02:29
The Knight Sabers: Linna, Sylia, Priss, and Nene
In the metropolis of Megalocity, the Genom corporation rules. Using the robots known as “Boomers”, they achieve their goals by any means necessary. Only four women, the power-armored vigilantes known as the Knight Sabers, stand against them.
If you know of only one old-school TV anime, chances are that it’s … Dirty Pair. But if you know of two, chances are that one of them is Bubblegum Crisis. This was a ground-breaking anime in its time, partly because it made impressive inroads into the U.S. market, and was responsible for a lot of new anime fans in its time. It wound up spawning a number of sequels, a manga, a remake, and even a video game.
The premise is pretty simple. Hot babes go vigilante and fight robots and a corporate empire. BGC definitely delivers on its promise, with action and robot fights galore, which are very well done. And I could write an entire post on all the homages to the film Blade Runner (it also borrows a fair amount from Robocop and Terminator). The show suffers from the fact that it was cancelled early (13 episodes were planned, of which only eight were produced), so it doesn’t have a proper ending. And there is a noticeable lack of an overall plot. There are connections between certain episodes (1 and 2, 2 and 7, 5 and 6), but the episodes and combinations of same are pretty much stand-alones. The story quality does tend to go up as the series progresses. The last two episodes are my favorites, although the first episode is really good as well.
The characters are good, although not as well developed as I’d like (more victims of the series being cut short). Nene and Priss are fairly well fleshed out, while Sylia is the “woman of mystery” whose mysteries wind up never being solved (although there are tantalizing hints). Poor Linna is probably the most two-dimensional (partly because she’s the most “normal”), but she is given a few chances to shine, especially in the seventh ep.
Given that it’s an 80s product, it’s not free of clichés. The ones I found most annoying were the “the likeable guest character who is killed to give the main character an excuse to go Dirty Harry on the bad guy” and its close relative, “the likeable guest character who is killed to give the main character emotional depth”. BGC has four examples of these (in an eight episode anime), and while I appreciate that every series or story has a certain amount of emotional manipulation, that was a little too much.
Of course I can’t end without mentioning the soundtrack. Bubblegum Crisis is rightfully famous for its music, but don’t take my word for it. Have a listen:
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
Great moments: In the last episode, Nene tickets a speeding motorist, and it turns out to be fellow Knight Saber Priss. The look on Priss’ face is just priceless.
Summary: Good action series, could use a little more plot and character development. Grade: B plus
Age rating: 13 and up (violence, but nothing over the top; some fan service)
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Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
That looks strangely familiar, and sounds it, but I wasn't around in the eighties... *Confused*
~Dianna
Comment by NoaIzumi
Fine Politics
Anime Bottle
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
I'm not entirely sure. What I do, however, know is that the suits they're wearing remind me of Neo-Genesis Evangelion. (Which, by the way, rocks.)
~Dianna