Back in the Day - Bubblegum Crisis 11/28/2009.

Back in the Day - Bubblegum Crisis

There’s a hurricane tonight, and it’s named the Knight Sabers.

There’s a hurricane tonight, and it’s named the Knight Sabers. Bubblegum Crisis is as well known for it’s music as it’s cyberpunk setting. With songs like “Konya wa Hurricane,” “Mr. Dandy” and “Mad Machine” to name a few, Bubblegum Crisis has one of the strongest soundtracks of any anime of it’s day. Taking in consideration the 8 episode albums, and ignoring the vocal albums, that is a 1:1 ratio of music albums to anime. Clearly music plays a major role in Bubblegum Crisis. The style of the music is easily identifiable as being from the 80’s., so it should come as no surprise that Bubblegum Crisis rolled out in 1987. An interesting note about the music is that it is possibly inspired by the music of the 1984 cult classic, Streets of Fire. On the downside to sharing common ground with Streets of Fire is that like Streets of Fire, Bubblegum Crisis suffered from poor sales, in Japan that is. So what was intended to be a 13 episode series got cut down to an 8 episode OAV. In the US however it became an instant hit with fans.

Set in 2032 Mega Tokyo, that’s been rebuilt after being destroyed (the city of Tokyo is abused more than a red-headed step child), once again by an earthquake, it now has to deal with Boomers that go haywire. Boomers are androids that were built by the Genom Corp. after the destruction of Tokyo to help rebuild the city. Genom Corp. is a major corporation that has it’s hands in just about everything and is a seemingly necessary evil. And it is just as evil as you think. It lives up to it’s world domination seeking goal putting out deadlier and deadlier boomers. The police can’t seem to handle the situation, and it’s specially created AD Police force isn’t doing that great of a job at combating the boomers either. That’s where the Knight Sabers come in. They are the swift justice that Tokyo needs to be able to sleep safely at night.

Four beautiful women kicking boomer ass in form fitting hard suits. What’s not to like about strong women getting the job done? You have Nene the pink haired cutie, Linna the black haired fitness trainer, Priss the brown haired rocker and finally the Knight Sabers’ leader, Sylia the blue haired lingerie store owner. Sylia started the Knight Sabers using research and data her father left her after his death while working on boomers. It’s unclear how the Knight Sabers came together but story has never been Bubblegum Crisis’ strong point. You learn very quickly that Priss is somewhat the lead character in the series thanks to the opening of the first episode with Priss singing “Konya wa Hurricane” along with her band, The Replicants. The other Sabers get about equal screen time and dialogue, but Priss is without a doubt the main focus. She’s the lone hothead type that gets the others fueled and fired up when it’s time to finally take action.

Looking closely, Bubblegum Crisis has some references to the legendary cyberpunk work, Blade Runner. Mostly seen in the boomers, they appear human but are completely cybernetic robots. They are somewhat organic as well, with them spilling what looks to me like some kind of hydraulic fluid that symbolizes blood whenever they are severely damaged. Other references are the first opening with it’s over view of future Tokyo and the rising music score, the name of Priss’ band, The Replicants and the questioning of what makes one human. Without a doubt Bubblegum Crisis is cyberpunk in every way. From the dystopian future to the mega corporation running things to the technologic advancements. It has a very dark and gritty feel to it that matches what you would expect from the cyberpunk genre.

Over the span of the series’ run the animation changed. Early on it was what was typical of Japanese animation of the time, heavy on the details with fewer frames. As it went on though the details were lessened and more frames were added, and so it became more fluid and smoother. Since Bubblegum Crisis’ production ran from 1987 to 1991 it makes for a great example of how Japanese animation changed from the 80’s to the 90’s. You will see the difference, it’s quite clear. The first 3 episodes are more detailed and seem a bit darker and grittier. Episode 4 is where you will start to see the change. The coloring was also affect as the series went on. The colors used were a little brighter and happier. It’s still got that cyberpunk feel of course, but it’s lessened towards the end.

As I said earlier the series was cut short. So, it ends abruptly with no real end or conclusion. It’s not a huge opening, but you will be left wanting to know how it finishes. There was something of a sequel to the series, Bubblegum Crash, a 3 episode OAV. Yet, it was done by a different production company, so the character designs are different and it doesn’t really pick up where Crisis left off. There’s also Bubblegum Crisis 2040, a 26 episode TV series. It doesn’t have anything to do with the original as well. The only comics of the series are those that Dark Horse did and a few others. Bubblegum Crisis was intended as an animation to begin with, there is no manga it was based off. So we are left with the 8 short episodes of the original and two series that follow it that has no relation other than being the same material.

Originally released in the US by Animeigo on single episode VHS tapes in 1994, and later 3 episode VHS tapes. In 1998 it was released onto DVD by M2K, Animeigo still responsible for the subtitling. It was easily one of the earliest anime DVD releases. It has since been re-released solely by Animeigo in a re-mastered box set that is a huge improvement over the original DVD release by M2K in every way. It is still available from Animeigo and I highly suggest you add it to your collection while it is still available. Even though Bubblegum Crisis lacks good story (mostly in the early episodes) it makes up for it with plenty of great action and stunning music. This is an anime classic that most fans should not miss.