Amazon.com: These OAVs were among the first Japanese series released as such in the U.S. and are remembered fondly by fans. An early example of cyberpunk that borrows heavily from Blade Runner and Robocop, Bubblegum Crisis depicts the adventures of the female vigilante group the Knight Sabers. In form-fitting, high-heeled mecha suits, Sylia, Priss, Linna, and Nene fight the rogue cyborgs of the sinister Genom Corporation in MegaTokyo, 2032. Sylia's brother Mackie, and A.D. Cop Leon, Priss's long-suffering suitor, assist them. The first three episodes (1987) form a single continuity; "Revenge Road" (1988) depicts a battle between an embittered man and a motorcycle gang. "Moonlight Rambler" (1988) and "Red Eyes" (1989) pit the Saber Knights against vampire cyborgs prowling MegaTokyo. "Double Vision" (1990) introduces the mysterious pop star Vision, and "Scoop Chase" (1991), in which a high school journalist tries to unmask the Knight Sabers, ends the series on a silly note. The direction and design in the first trilogy look decidedly old-fashioned, but the later adventures grow increasingly sophisticated. Odd notes include suggestions of lesbianism, officer Daley's homosexual passes at Leon (who gets better-looking in each redesign), and Mackie trying see his sister in her underwear. Included in the set are Hurricane Live! 2032 and 2033, collections of music videos, and concert footage of the Japanese voice actresses singing the pop songs used in the series. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Violence, grotesque imagery, profanity, brief nudity, tobacco use, and sexual situations, including prostitution. --Charles Solomon
Popular and Terribly Overrated I'll admit, I just started sampling anime from the Mecha genre, and I don't really have a lot of experience with it. However, I've been watching anime for a long time, so I have a lot to compare this to. I was born in 1982, and I have a pretty good understanding of 80's culture, so I had the capacity to appreciate this series while overlooking some of its outmoded gimmicks. I'll list the flaws of this DVD numerically.
1. The dubbing is terrible. The english version of the singing is god-awful, and the male voices are just bad in general. When the female cast is speaking, it's passable. However, you may be asking why I don't just use the subtitles, but that brings me to my next criticism.
2. The combat is not conducted well, and that's why I can't use subtitles. Let me explain. Sometimes the Knight Sabers kill their opponents so quickly that I can't even tell how they did it, and this is WITH dubbing. Subtitles just don't lend themselves well to fast-paced combat; I was so busy reading the bottom of the screen that I missed the action sequences altogether. The build-up for the fights is also some of the worst I've ever seen in an anime series. For example, in episode 2, Genom unveiled a deadly new type of Boomer; with all the attention devoted to its deadly new capabilities, you'd think that the Knight Sabers would have a real fight on their hands. However, in mere seconds after this new Boomer makes its fighting debut, one of the Knight Sabers jumps on top of the Boomer's head and crushes it almost instantaneously. The Boomer doesn't even pull off an attack. As another example, the main antagonist in the third episode was killed so quickly that I couldn't even tell how he died. In other words, there's just a total lack of suspense because you always know who's going to win; the Knight Sabers are just too good.
3. The characters are flat. These characters are about as one-dimensional as they come. I never made any strong attachments to any of them, and I can't remember any of their names. All of the Knight Sabers, save one, are completely devoid of any personality; there's just no complexity to them at all. I really wish I could give an example of what I mean, but trying to remember something about a character that isn't memorable is very hard for me.
4. This show is boring, and that's saying something when your main attraction is ACTION.
5. As a slap to the face, Mobile Suit Gundam was released BEFORE Bubblegum Crisis, and it's better in almost every way.
What are the pros for this series?
1. The animation's pretty good considering when this was released.
2. The story's not bad.
3. The hardsuits still look good after all this time.
4. The Japanese songs are pretty good.
5. It has a creative menu screen.
In conclusion, this is too mediocre to recommend to anyone. As far as 80's anime go, try Akira or Guyver; they're both better than Bubblegum Crisis.
Bubblegum Crisis, an Original Classic The Bubblegum Crisis franchise in one of the strongest anime franchises out, with numerous spin-offs and a release of a new Bubblegum Crisis series, and there's no wondering why in my book. The characters, for there time, were original, the story was well-done and plotted excellently, the world in which the series was based was thoroughly thought out, and the music, though dated, works well with the anime.
In 2032-33, we get to meet the original four girls: Sylvia, Lena, Nene, and the ever popular Priss, as they battle Genom made Boomers from episode to episode in order to protect MegaTokyo. The first three episodes deals with the Knight Sabers battle with Brian Mason, the evil leader of Genom bent on destroying these four girls at all costs. The next episode gets away from the Genom story as the girls must fight a car infected with the Boomer virus, which is determined to destroy the Outriders, a biker gang. When Priss becomes a target, the Knight Sabers are forced to act. The fifth and six episodes gets back to the battle with Genom, and the Knight Sabers find themselves fighting some powerful new enemies: themselves, and the mysterious Largo. This is essentially the end of the series, yet two more movies follow that are almost entirely unrelated to the first six. In Double Vision, they must figure out a series of terrorist attacks against Boomer engineers. These attacks somehow involve Vision, an American singer. In Scoop Chase (my personal favorite) we follow Nene in her job as an AD Police officer while she watches over Lisa, a young girl who seems to idolize the Knight Sabers. That's when a new group of Boomers attack the AD Police headquarters and the Knight Sabers must act in order to save allies and friends from the ongoing Boomer threat. Also included in this collection is the Hurricane Live DVD containing thirteen music videos from the series.
What's great about this series is that it's actually a huge collection of short films. None of these episodes are less than a half-hour, and some are near to an hour or more. It makes it much more watchable, in the end, since there is never a "to be continued." You see one conflict resolve itself before moving onto the next, without ever truly escaping the core storyline.
This is a classic anime series that should be picked up by any person who truly wants to call themselves a hardcore fan. This is one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre and without this series, great anime like Akira may have never been. I recommend this to everyone.
Please be well aware... There isn't much I can add to all the other reviews but one: The original 3 DVD's gave you the option to either listen to the English or Japanese soundtracks. Personally I hate the English track but if for some reason you preferred English over Japanese, for the serie as well as the music, then this DVD is not for you.
This blast from the past houses all the music from the Bubble Gum Crisis but only in their original language. If you never listened to the Japanese tracks on the BGC DVD's before now would be a good time to do so (after putting this disk in your wishlist, believe me: you'll need it later on :-)).
Blade Runner Anime Style Takes place in the same universe "Bubblegum Crisis", but before Knight Sabers existed. Robots called Boomers, look just like humans, are very intelligent and work in the cities for the humans doing a variety of tasks such as construction, cleaning and even sexual services. Sometimes these robots malfunctioned and ended up killing innocent people. The A.D. Police force was created to destroy malfunctioning boomers. What I liked about this series was the good quality of animation, action, sound fx, and tense story telling, it has all the makings of a great anime. With its futuristic cities and noire over-tone it has a similar look and feel like the movie, Blade Runner. The Boomers are robots that look and act like humans; they are like the Replicants. In a way, the A.D. Police are like Blade Runners. I also enjoyed this anime because the cop, �Leon� is a good character, and I always wanted some background on him. Blood and gore, nudity, for adults only. Each episode is self contained so you can watch any of them and not feel lost in the story. Ends on 3 then connects with the anime Bubblegum Crisis 2030
Eeesh.... This series was pretty good. The animation isn't the greatest and it goes by a little slow for me and my brother, but over all not too bad. I wouldn't really recommend buying it unless you like classic anime.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
