Bubblegum Crisis

The year is 2032, seven years after the Second Great Kanto Earthquake decimated Tokyo. Now, the city is reborn as MegaTokyo, built from the labors of mechanical beasts known as "Boomers." Originally created to benefit humanity, the mysterious corporation known as Genom now produces Boomers with incredible destructive power as a new type of advanced weaponry, capable of disguising themselves as humans.

The AD Police is a new special unit to counter the ever-increasing Boomer-related crimes. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of crimes and disparity in strength, the AD Police poses little opposition to the Boomers. A mysterious vigilante force known as the Knight Sabers, wearing powersuits more advanced than the military, is the citizens' only hope for protection. Led by Sylia Stingray, Priscilla "Priss" Asagiri, Nene Romanova, and Linna Yamazaki, these beautiful girls take out any Boomer that steps out of line.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Asagiri, Priscilla Main

Oomori, Kinuko Japanese

Romanova, Nene Main

Hiramatsu, Akiko Japanese

Stingray, Sylia Main

Sakakibara, Yoshiko Japanese

Yamazaki, Linna Main

Tomizawa, Michie Japanese

McNichol, Leon Main

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Largo Supporting

Sogabe, Kazuyuki Japanese

Sylvie Supporting

Takamori, Yoshino Japanese

Mason, Brian J. Supporting

Ikeda, Shuuichi Japanese

Stingray, Mackey Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Nam Supporting

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Oobari, Masami Director, Storyboard, Mechanical Design, Key Animation, Animation Director

Akiyama, Katsuhito Director, Script

Takayama, Fumihiko Director, Storyboard

Gouda, Hiroaki Director, Storyboard, Animation Director

Reviews

Jun 7, 2023

REC3

Recommended

Bubblegum Crisis 2032-2033. Don't let the name fool you this series packs serious heat, despite its age. Maybe they call it Bubblegum Crisis, because three of the girls look like teenagers. Much of the focus in this series is on Priscilla (Priss) the brunette and her boyfriend from the AD Police. The focus towards the end and especially in Bubblegum Crash (the finale) shifts gradually towards Sylia Stingray the brains of the outfit (literally).

I thought the story was very enjoyable and complex. Do yourself a favor though and buy the Blu-ray version as you don't have to shuffle discs. ... When a new Boomer arrives it's up to the Knight Sabers to stop them; Priss, Linna, Nene, and the mentor Sylia. The Knight Sabers suits remind me of Iron Man's suit as they fly, blast things, and are pretty durable. The Boomers are mechanized machines and Genom is bent on world domination. The AD Police try to help, but mostly get in the way. Who's that pink haired girl who works for them? Anyways, when the Knight Sabers get in trouble it's up to the AD Police force, I mean their backup to save the day. I liked the premise of the show, with heroines and the romance. Bubblegum Crash does a nice job of tying up loose ends.

The animation was decent, but passable. I would give Bubblegum Crisis (Crises) animation a 7.5/10 and Bubblegum Crash (Crashes) animation a 6.5/10. The titile menu for Bubblegum Crisis on Blu-ray is immaculate.

The sound was like a shining star and made a good anime series very good. The songs are mostly dubbed in English and actually play a new song during each of the eight episodes. You listen to the music as the animation flows with the music. It adds excitement to every episode, but Bubblegum Crash doesn't have this.

In conclusion, fans of older anime will love this one. It hits hard and ends with a crash!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 16, 2023

EL_MUTTO

Recommended

If you have ever been within the "classic" 90s/80s or cyberpunk anime zeitgeist for more than 3 minutes you'd probably at least heard of Bubble Gum Crisis. Its an anime that was wildly revered but these days its largely unknown (at least from my perspective) outside of the odd gif here and there. From an outside viewer a title like that sounds more fit for a romance anime than anything. However you'd be severely wrong.
Short version: its a lil cheesy and for its time but it has its charm and I think you should watch it even for historical sake
Long version ... :
Bubble Gum Crisis as the synopsis suggests is a... well cyberpunk anime with all the typical cyberpunk tropes and the likes. If you like cyberpunk , it has it by the bunch. This doesn't mean its grim like a lot after it - our heroes are usually unscathed and there is quite a positive wrap up for this series in general. In fact I'd say it is pretty tame by today's standards.

This is not to say it isn't an OVA for a reason : like a lot of 80s ova there is of course nudity and mild blood. Again most is fairly tame,especially to other OVAs released during this time.
Ironically I think its less fan service than your "average" harem anime of today. There was the odd scenes here and there that made me go "ehhhh that's rather weird" (the younger brother perv needs his ass kicked but he does get better as the show progresses) but nothing that ruins the show for me.
On the blood side it really depends on episode- the robots (funnily called boomers) sometimes have orange blood , sometimes not. People break bones and get scratched but at most its pg 13 .
Action and story wise its pretty much similar. Its story is bad by no means but it is fairly simple. Being a 8 episode OVA it spares fat and there is questions to still be had by the end of the anime.
I think the weakest link are some of the supporting cast like Leon but overall solid. The action is hit or miss. Being animated in the 80s its not as fluid as one would expect but it does its job. The later episodes improve action and animation wise from something that's passable to something that could be put in a sakuga edit.

Voice acting and music is probably its strongest point - even if its very 80s. Each actor fits their role and its believable. It can be cheesy but i think thats apart of the charm that makes it very enjoyable to me You can't go a single episode without at least one song that you search up afterwards.
However I do not suggest the dub. If you have ti its fine but it suffers from being from a time where nobody in the west really knew what to do with these new "asian cartoons". The main cast is not bad by any means but they just sound way too old to be playing young adults.

Overall if I had to summarize this anime it would be "for its time"- Its not super dated by any means but it does have its moments. I think the reason behind this is just because a lot of its tropes and qualities can be found in a lot of cyberpunk anime after its release. There are a lot of elements that you can see the origin of today that were really popularized by it and its much more successful younger brother Akria.

I would say if your new or old to cyberpunk you should check this one out even just out of a historical value. For episode highlights I suggest Revenge Road , Red Eyes and Scoop Chase.

7.9/10 - I would love to see this be remade - cheese and all.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 27, 2024

joemaamah

Mixed Feelings

A title that is better regarded through the lenses of nostalgia. Back in the day, it was certainly peak, and had a certain cult status here in the US. Sadly, time has not been so kind to these ladies. They've become faded icons of late 80s/early 90s culture. Kind of the Nirvana of anime.

The series is by no means bad. The characters are charming in distinct ways. The side characters, as was the wont back then, are all left as flat as 2D cutouts. There's kind of a quantity over quality of them.

The artwork was amazing for its day, but looks quite cliche ... today, as so many other animes over the years copied the style. The animation was well above average for it's time, but will look timeworn today.

The writing was OK. Being fairly short, it can seem rushed, as you flash from action scene to action sceen. This was probably the first English dub I ever saw that wasn't totally cringe. Done very well for each character. The direction was up to the task across the board. Sadly, I have never seen a subbed version of this.

If I was grading 30+ years ago this would have gotten 95/100 a solid A. But times have changed. If I had to grade it today, it still holds up enough to earn a 78/100 C+. Definitely rewatchable if you want to take a trip down memory lane. Or if you're a young'un, interested in the history and evolution of anime as an art form, this is must see. But otherwise, it's not really as recommendable as I would like it to be.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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