SUMMARY
It is the year 2034,
Tokyo has rebuilt its self, with the Genom Corporation, and their new
humanoid robots, the Boomers, making major contributions. Boomers can
now be found in offices, stores and restaurants doing jobs people used
to do.
Yet something strange is going. Boomers are going rogue, attacking people
and buildings. The Boomers, however, are proving to be difficult to stop,
and the AD Police are constantly outgunned.
Now, a mysterious rash of thefts and attacks are springing up all over
Mega Tokyo. The AD Police, now viewed as a cash cow by businesses, or
a nuisance, are powerless to stop them. To make matters worse, the Knight
Sabers seem to have disappeared.
Who will be left to stop this new crime wave?
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO: Very well
done. Much better than their VHS release. The washed out look is gone,
making for more detail and smoother looking animation. No pixels or noticeable
color bleeds.
AUDIO: Decent audio, much clear and sharper, on both the English and the
Japanese. While most of the sound comes from the center speakers, there
are some minor noises and BGM coming from the sides. The Japanese audio
is a vast improvement from the old VHS release.
EDITS: None. Unlike their original BGC release, the original closing credits
have been kept.
EXTRAS: A gallery of concept art and design sketches, along with picture
of the original VHS covers and scenes from the series. Alternate angels
of credits are also included.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: This is a
pretty straight forward action story. Arii Emu story is not a brilliant
work, but it is solid. Taking the girls from BGC and giving them an upgrade
(in both jobs and suits) creates a sense of character evolution. The only
short fall is that the plot twists are not really that shocking.
ACTING: First the Japanese track. Nothing to say but some of the best
voice work in the world. With a cast of experienced Japanese voice actors
(Yoshiko Sakakibara of Area 88 fame). The change of Kuniko Oomori with
Ryoko Tachikawa at first was a little disconcerting, but her singing voice
is fantastic, much more powerful than Kuniko Oomori.
Now for the American actors. In a word, they are horrible. Flat delivery,
voice mismatch (Largo is suposed to be menacing, not a sound like a man
who like the company of men), cases of overacting, and way over emoted
singing make this one of the worse dubs out there. They do get better,
with the finial episode being their best work. Stand out performance by
Susan Grillo as Nene. And the English version of Catch Me is quite wonderful.
FAN SERVICE: Not a lot. True, the women are beautiful, but you don't seen
them naked. Some shots in towels and an ethereal nude shot is about it.
CONCLUSION
For some reason, Bubblegum Crash is regarded as the bastard
step child of the Bubblegum Crisis series. Most complaints center around
the "poor" animation and the "contrived" story.
The animation may not be as detailed as the original series, it is still
solid. The colors are well blended, the animation flows better, and the
action is on par with the fights from the first series. At a casual glance,
you may feel it is similar in style to the BGC Tokyo 2040 series.
The writing is nothing new, but it doesn't feel as fragmented as the original
series. Sure it may not have as much style as the original series, but
there is more substance. There is more character motivation, and you begin
to understand a little more about the Knight Sabers than if you did when
the original series ended. If you are a new fan, you don't have to know
too much about the previous story to understand what is going on.
AnimEigo has done a bang up job with reintroducing us with a classic release.
Despite it's moderate shortcomings (writing and acting), it should not
be as maligned as it is. You have solid animation, a fast paced story,
and the singing voice of Ryoko Tachikawa. If you are a true BGC Fan, you
need this to go in-between the original series and BGC Tokyo 2040.
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