Bubblegum Crisis:Special Collector's

Rating:
Summary: Original Series
Review: Synopsis:
The year is 2033, and Mega-Tokyo is just beginning to finish recovering from a HUGE earthquake that completely rearranged the face of Tokyo. Part of the recovery is due to the recent advancement of Boomer technology. Boomers (or Bumas, if you're watching the subbed version) are androids that look, think, and act just like human beings. They can be put to work, perform in the military, or, um, go berserk and terrorize the population.

The corporation responsible for all the major Boomer advancements is a monolithic company called GENOM, whose power seems to grow with every passing moment. GENOM seems to have a rather underhanded secret agenda (to take over the world, of course). With the world dependant on Boomer technology, there doesn't seem to be much that can resist its power.

Enter the Knight Sabers. This mercenary team of four young women equipped with hardsuits has the firepower and the courage to stand up to rampaging Boomers and the company behind them. Knight Sabers, sanjo!

My Review:
Being the sequel to Bubblegum Crash (which I haven't seen), this has an eqaul rating to Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. This was a popular series in 1987 (according to my brother). Handling great elements in anime, you've got your "cool" mecha, big ugly androids to slay, and cute females in hardsuits. Pretty good package. And a plot? What there's no need for a plot!

In a few episodes, there are threads still hanging especially at the end of the series. Those that seek a good amount grain in anime, will respect this series for exisisting. For mild understanding, extrapolation is needed at times, which can become a bit tiresome.

As for the characters, I'd be more happy if more details were given. Details as to how the four women met each other and became Knight Sabers.

Animation is pretty good, especially in the for an action series. The android, robot scenes are pretty well drawn.

If you like J-Pop, you'll love the soundtrack and themes to this series. One warning, though: the dubbed version of Crisis is not quite up to par. Voices are usually quite mismatched, and the voice acting falls flat precisely in the scenes where convincing acting is most important for credibility.

The feel is heavily reminiscent of Blade Runner, and the creators of Crisis cleverly intersperse references to Blade Runner throughout the series (one of the less subtle references is how Priss's rock band is named The Replicants). It's not all gritty, though, and the occasional humorous touch adds a nice light feel to the series.

Overall, not a bad watch. In fact, at times, Bubblegum Crisis can be really good. Unfortunately, oversights and carelessness here and there keep this series from being all it can be. Though I give this series, Crisis the same as the next sequel, Tokyo 2040 fairly the same 4 stars/ out of 5. I favor Tokyo 2040 a bit more. I will note that you can watch these series w/ out refrences. You don't need to watch the prequels.