Bubblegum Crisis

TERMINATOR/BOOMER MEETS JEM/PRISS MERGED WITH TRANSFORMERS/EXO-ARMOR PRODUCED BY AIC, MY CHILDHOOD IS COMPLETE! Come on, You know What I have to Rate Bubblegum Crisis. It's getting My TM M for Moonbeam 87 Approved.

In spite of the over enthusiatic reactions of the fan base on this anime, I have to say that not only it is very dated, but it's not very good even compared to other scifi animes of his time. The plot shows promise in the first episode, but by the third it actually devolves in a formulaic, repetitive and mundane story that gets nowhere. It's full of deus ex machina moments and illogical coincidences too, to the extent that it actually reminded me of the saturday morning cartoons of yore. The characters are very stereotypical, one dimensional, and heavily inspired by Cat's Eye. The great music and nicely animated action scenes are the only elements that can be saved from the general mediocrity, but those are not reasons enough to recommend this time curio to anybody.

With a very good story and plot, they have made one of the best series on the subject of robotics in the future. Much is said about the robot about its advancement, improvements, and problems that it may bring to humanity in the future.

"Bubblegum Crisis" is an 8-episode anime OVA-series which was released in Japan through 1987-1991. Made by AIC, Artmic and Youmex. Basic plot: The year is 2032 in MegaTokyo, seven years after Tokyo was destroyed by a giant earthquake. Genom Corp, the big company which recreated the city, began mass-producing cyberdroids called Boomers meant to serve mankind by taking part in recreating MegaTokyo. When the Boomers started to run out of control, the A.D. Police tried to stop these cyberdroids, something which proved to be more difficult but deadly than imagined. But, the hope isn't over yet, because four girls who have banded together as the Knight Sabers are also in MegaTokyo. These girls in powerful armor suits are strong enough to defend the city from Genom and the Boomers. And their names are: Sylia Stingray, Priscilla S. Asagiri, Linna Yamazaki and Nene Romanova. I first heard about this anime around year 2004. However, for some reasons, I didn't get a chance to watch this anime until late autumn 2014. And I'm so glad to get to see this for once, at least with Japanese dub. This anime was epic, with lots of cyber/robot-action, car chases, humor and a pretty cool soundtrack which all together made me hooked from beginning to end. The MegaTokyo-setting in this anime was fairly realistic. This anime was originally planned as a 13-episode long OVA-series, but was cancelled after 8 episodes due to legal problems between Artmic and Youmex. However, a 3-episode sequel called "Bubblegum Crash" was made. Still, the entire franchise remains a cult classic among anime fans. This anime is highly recommended for any fans of Japanese cyberpunk animation set in future. I mean, if you haven't seen this yet, then this anime is not to miss, the same with "Bubblegum Crash". My overall rating for such a classic is therefore: 9/10. Some similar anime also to be recommended include: "Angel Cop", "Appleseed", "Genocyber" and "Battle Angel".

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.

A product of the golden age of anime(mid to late 80s)Bubblegum Crisis has all the essential elements of great sci-fi and much more. There are the usual themes about technology and corporate domination but developed further than usual. But, best of all it has the great and incomparable Priss, perhaps the greatest and most glorious fictional female character ever created. The story grows in depth and complexity as the series progresses; often a forgotten thread gets picked up again later. The music ranks as among the most atmospheric in anime, the songs are topnotch and range from breathless rockers to melancholy ballads. Ultimately, it's more a modern myth in the making than just another sci-fi with babes. The impulse behind Bubblegum Crisis is that which gave us Athena. Check the archives at alt.fan.bgcrisis to learn more.

This is a decent anime. Way over hyped though. Ive found this happens a lot with anime fans. The only real drawback is the annoying dialog by the group of vigilante girls in the powered suits. I found them to be whiny and a little dingy for a serious merc group. That aside, I thought it was pretty good for an 80s anime. The action is pretty violent with decent gory combat here and there.

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 * 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.

I have listed my brief thoughts and score with a rating on every episode. I then averaged them to receive the score above. It's accurate. I liked it mostly, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you are a hardcore cyberpunk completionist. PROS + Beautiful still artwork. Constantly thinking how great certain ones would be for gifs or wallpapers. + Great action. Not too over the top, and always fun. + Kick-ass music. Lends itself to an 80's cyberpunk action setting perfectly. I believe all the soundtrack was original. Worth a listen! + Good for watching idle. It has a Saturday morning cartoon (but for adults) feel. worth watching with your breakfast and coffee. CONS +Terrible Writing. Plots are often contrived and events and actions frequently make no sense. +Horrible dialogue. The amount of exposition is so high and so unnatural feeling that every character may as well just look at the viewer and break the fourth wall directly. +Predictable. Each episode is very formulaic. You have your relevant side plot and your ending action sequence. +Story never truly advances. The first episode tells us about the AD Police, Knight Sabers, and the Boomers. After that, they are all in perpetual war, same s**t different episode. Each episode the boomer is more "powerful", but this never truly makes a difference. Once in awhile a character gets new equipment that is "better" despite being visually equivalent to the previous. One wonders how this was a sustainable long term plot model. If you want plot, look somewhere else. If you want action, there's better anime to scratch that itch. I really wanted to like it. I came out just not hating it. Music still kicks ass, though.

A great OVA series. It personfies the babes with guns anime. Wonderful music, in depth plotline, perfect villain. The only thing this series leaves to be desired is slightly better artwork.