Forum - View topicBubblegum Crisis
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JoshuaStChristopher
 Posts: 351 |
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Reading the "most well-made anime intro" thread piqued my interest in this seires. I've heard of it before, and I'm sure I've seen a few trailers, but I haven't ever seen it.
I was hoping some of you could let me know if it's any good. I've checked out a few reviews, and it sounds pretty nifty. Also, I'm aware that there was a newer series, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, which looks good as well. What do you folks think of these two series? |
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indrik
 Posts: 365 Location: yonder |
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I haven't seen the original Bubblegum Crisis in a long time. My dim memories are of a pretty good series, girls with guns. I think this is probably the biggest hole in my collection from the classic shows that you have to see to have an intelligent conversation on the history of anime in America, for those who are interested in that sort of thing. At least I've seen it, though. I sometimes get it confused with Megazone 23 in my head.
I really liked 2040, having seen it recently. Animation is pretty average, but it's one of those series that seems to be aware of its own cliches. Solid (if not spectacularly original) storyline that is carried through to a reasonable ending- no drastic left turns halfway through, which drives me nuts after a while. I think if I wanted to compare it to something, the Armitage series are fairly close, and it's kind of a distant cousin of Ghost in the Shell with less philosophy and more women. I'd consider it a notch or two below GitS in most of the things that matter, but many people would take that as an insult, and I don't necessarily mean it that way. So I'm a little wary of saying that. Bottom line, girls with guns, fantastic mecha action, angsty robot drama. If that sounds good to you, it's probably worth the effort. Especially since 2040 is available in one of those classics of anime collections in three volumes, assuming you're in the Region 1. |
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TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
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Not to mention the ED... That song is pretty nice (but hard to find)
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Not really girls with guns more like girls with varied, kick-ass, powered, mini-mechs.
Bubblegum Crisis Consists Of: Bubblegum Crisis (Original 8 episode OVA series) Bubblegum Crash (3 episode sequel OVA that ties up some things) Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (Remake, alternate universe title) Then There's three spinoff series, AD Police Files, Ad Police, and Parasite Dolls. Bubblegum Crisis takes place in a future where Tokyo has been destroyed and then rebuilt with the help of bio-organic androids called Boomers/Voomers. However, they are unstable and occasionally run amok for seemingly no reason due to instabillity in their brains refered to as "cores". The series follows the myraid exploits of the Knight Sabers, a vigilante group consisting of 4 women in powered suits. It's '80s cyberpunk at it's best along the lines of Blade Runner, a great cast, very good storytelling, cool action, and some really good music. Definitely check it out it's a classic. Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is a full length series, with more modern animation, a longer and more epic storyline and more focus on characters. I liked it slightly more due to that. It has the same characters but with different character designs and is self contained and in an alternate universe of it's own. Both are fully released and available here in the US. |
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JoshuaStChristopher
Posts: 351 |
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What of Bubblegum Crash? I've heard some bad things about that one.
And thank you all for your input. I definitely want to check the two Crisis series' out now. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Bubblegum Crash is a short direct sequel series to Crisis, it takes place in the same universe and wraps up some loose ends not covered in Crisis due to budget issues. I didn't think it was all that bad or anything, if you like Bubblegum Crisis you will enjoy it too.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18584 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I'd disagree with that. Crash, well, crashed. (Yes, I'm trying to be cute!) Its production merits were lower, its storytelling wasn't as interesting, and it had an annoying habit of relying heavily on stock footage. Still, some of the tech developments introduced in that one were precursors to what was seen in 2040. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16974 |
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All the songs sung by Priss in 2040 were all done by the actual voice actress herself, Christine Auten. I managed to get a special custom digital print done for me featuring Priss and had Christine sign it, she was at Otakon this year. I think it's nice that she did the songs herself and not some voice over work. Anyone wanting to check it out should get the collector's packs. They have like 2-3 dvds worth of episodes on them for the price of one. Good deal. |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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Plus they've been in ADV's clearance sales lately- you should be able to get each of the 3 clearance volumes for under $10 each. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Well, I said I didn't think it was all that bad (storywise I mean, meaning middleground as in not really great but not awful either) and that if you like the first one you probabally would like the sequel. I didn't say it was a flawless masterpiece or anything. Animation quality doesn't even enter into my equations when it comes to shows from the 80's. Most of them look terrible, but that's just me, and it doesn't effect my judgment of title X's real merits, the story. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8511 Location: Penguinopolis |
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The original Bubblegum Crisis is a cyberpunk masterpiece, a somewhat experimental OAV (and I've read that it was one of the first successful anime productions in the OAV format) series with (for the time) high-quality animation and music.
The voice cast was especially solid, with Kinuko Oomori, a singer, who did the voice for Priss, leading the pack. Priss (in the original Crisis) is one of the most spectaclularly voiced characters in anime, in my opinion. And Oomori's songs are cool. Yoshiko Sakakibara (Haman Karn in Z/ZZ Gundam, Integra Hellsing in Hellsing, Shinobu Nagumo in Mobile Police Patlabor) plays Sylia Stingray. Shuuichi Ikeda (Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gundam/Z Gundam/CCA) plays the creepy and scheming Brian J. Mason. Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo in Dragon Ball/Z, Asuma Shinohara in Mobile Police Patlabor, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Gundam/Z Gundam) plays AD Police officer Leon McNichol. These are powerhouses and, as expected, they pull of some damn fine performances. The "main plot" drops off after the sixth episode, and so the final two episodes are stand-alones, meaning the OAV never got a proper ending. The attempt to conclude the story with Bubblegum Crash! a few years later was pretty flimsy. The animation quality dropped, Priss's VA didn't return, the music suffered, there were gaping plotholes, and it was just generally unsatisfactory. I would reccomend Crash! only if you're a completist like I am. Not that the original Crisis is unflawed. It doesn't have an ending, there are art/animation errors, slight plot issues, ect. But it's still pretty exciting. Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is sort of a longer re-telling, or rather, a reimagining of Bubblegum Crisis made in the nineties. It has a complete main story arc, which is an advantage it has over the original Bubblegum Crisis. It tends to be a little plain at times, though. Worth hanging in for, as it is exciting and has a cohesive story, but my preference is the original. |
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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Well, I'm mostly in the same camp as penguintruth, however I do have a few different opinions and comments.
For starters, I do feel that 2040 should be avoided. The changes in the character designs are ATROCIOUS, doing away with Kenichi Sonoda's classic individuality in exchange for nondescript tough girls by the same staff that brought you Armitage. Also, the original involved the music in the storytelling. The whole OAV felt so alive, so perfect as it moved with its soundtrack, even to the point of Priss & the Replicants setting the stage on fire in Episode 1's opening. Songs like Mad Machine, Hurricane, Soldier Girl, they made Bubblegum Crisis's soundtrack the Saturday Night Fever of anime. 2040 was just run-of-the-mill by comparison. I really can't recommend the original Bubblegum Crisis enough, though. And with the stellar Animeigo dub, there's no way you can go wrong. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18584 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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And see, I'm the exact opposite on it. I found the personalities underdeveloped in Crisis and the character designs for Silvie and Linna to be too similar; I had trouble keeping them straight at times. Although the design style may not be as original in 2040, it does distinguish the characters from each other quite a bit better and the personalities are far better displayed and developed. The background was also much better-established in 2040.
As for the music? If you're into techno, 2040 has a killer soundtrack, and I personally like the intro, closer, and the other random songs thrown in. The internal songs aren't as good as in Crisis, granted, but I would argue that the music is still as intrinsic to Priss' character in 2040 as it is in Crisis. Don't get me wrong, I do still like Crisis, but I've seen it maybe twice through while I've seen 2040 in its entirety probably 5-6 times. |
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Craeyst Raygal
Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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Well, admittedly having more episodes to develop the characters would lead to more developed characters, but I pose this question to you Key - Did Bubblegum Crisis need further developed characters?
To me, the joy of the original was in its self-effacing humor, its ironic wit combined with pure unabashed self-indulgence. Why did Sylia Stingray run a lingerie shop? Because it was funny and an excuse to put Sylia in expensive lingerie, and not an apology was made. 2040 took a lot of the fun out of the franchise, and with it almost all of the personality. The short bit of 2040 I saw gave the impression that this was a series where Sylia and Nene wouldn't ride the bus in their hardsuits, where reverent in-jokes and references to Blade Runner wouldn't be everywhere you looked, where tacked-on angst and melodrama was more important than having a good time. Bubblegum Crisis, the original Bubblegum Crisis, was the exact opposite, and that's why it remains timeless in my book. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8511 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Dear god, I hope you're kidding. Bubblegum Crisis was clearly dubbed back when they hired just anyone off the street to do voices. It's possibly the worst dub ever, next to Cyber City Oedo. But at least that dub's (unintentionally) funny. Shame on you! You saw the powerful Japanese cast I listed, didn't you?
You might want to look again at the show. The character designs are clearly all unique, even if they share the same design "type". Sonada tends to do that a lot, but I love his work. I'll agree with you about anything concerning development in comparsion of the older and newer BGC. 2040 is a COMPLETE series. Bubblegum Crisis OAV lived and died on the whim of each episode's individual popularity, and I think it was obvious at certain points in the show that this was largely an experiment. But for some reason I enjoy the experimental stage better than the later complete reimagining. My main gripe with the original is how poorly explained the concept of the common boomer was. You never knew for sure whether ALL boomers were illegal or just the blue battle boomers. Because they never really SHOWED "ordinary ones" until Crash!. The original was The Priss Show most of the time (not that I mind, since Priss was my favorite Knight Saber), so character development for Linna and Nene were on the backburner, while the viewer only had vague hints about Sylia's background. Still, something about the grimy, nihilistic, gritty portrayal of the city in the original show and its dark, dank, corrupt citizens is very 80s and cool to me. Like Streets of Fire meets Blade Runner. Plus the fifth and sixth episodes were fantastic, some of my favorite anime episodes of all time. |
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