21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Mecha Series, April 12, 2003
This review is from: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 - Perfect Collection (DVD)
"Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040" is a remake of the 80's OAV anime "Bubblegum Crisis 2032" and it's TV sequal "Bubblegum Crash". I've not seen the originals, but I know "2032" is considered a classic.
Storywise, we follow the antics of a group known as Knight Sabers. These are four girls who have day jobs but at night, they come together to destroy rogue boomers. Boomers are androids that can look like machines all the way to nearly human. While an organization known as AD Police was created to deal with the boomer problem, only the vigilante Knight Sabers have any luck dealing with them.
The story at first feels very much like a female version of Batman. You have the rich Sylia Stingray who's the Bruce Wayne/Batman. Priss, Nene, and Linna are the Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl. However, after several episodes, the series lost the Batman feel as the series begins to shift into an almost non-stop action fest. There is some humor and some romance to make this series better rounded than it otherwise would have been.
DVD-wise, I wasn't that impressed with the Engish dub. The Engish subtitles for the Japanese audio is pretty good though I wish that at times the font color/shading had been clearer. Some fansubbers do a better job at subtitles than the official ones.
There are 6 DVD's in this set. Discs 1-4 contain 4 episodes and discs 5-6 contain 5 episodes. Be warned that each DVD starts with ADV previews so you'll have to hit "Menu" to bypass all that. There are no real extras to speak of. Surpising to me is the fact that there is a Spanish dub in addition to the English dub. So those who want to watch this in Spanish may do so.
Bottom line: This is a really good mecha anime title with a story that will keep you glued to your seat most of the time.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent remake of the classic 1980s series!, November 12, 2002
This review is from: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 - Perfect Collection (DVD)
If you didn't know, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is the remake of the classic series Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash. Although this was originally called a "techno punk" series, that feeling is only left to spice up the series, not give it a new flavor altogether. The characters are made far more realistic in this series, the Knight Sabers organization isn't made to be as fragile or omnipotent as it was in the other two series, and the plot is taken to its fullest extent.
In the year 2040, seven years has gone by since the great earthquake of 2033. The city has been rebuilt from its base on up by the Genom corporation, and its primary product is a type of worker robot called boomers. However, boomers sometimes go "rogue," meaning that they lose their original core structuring and change into a monster that has the tendency to ravage the city. The police can't stop them, so the task is left up to the Knight Sabers, a group of female mercenaries (who eventually turn into heroes) with advanced weaponry.
Most of the series is taken from the viewpoint of Linna Yamazaki, although other viewers may disagree about the true viewpoint. Although she may be a "country bumpkin," she is far more complex than that. She comes off as being naive and a bit silly at times, but beneath that lies the glue that often times keeps the Knight Sabers together. She refuses to take trouble from anybody, and will often stick up for other people without first thinking out the situation. At the beginning of the series, she is trying to join the Knight Sabers, but she never sees it as another job, but rather a chance to help stop rogue boomers from hurting people and the city that she has just become apart of.
Priscilla Asagiri (commonly just refered to as Priss) is the typical hard rock and biker woman. She is often times antisocial, very quiet, and aggressive. This is amplified by the fact that she joined the Knight Sabers for the money and for the thrill of combat with rogue boomers. She has a deep love for motorcycles and for her music. Although her hard rock band isn't very big yet, they tour the local clubs in Tokyo, but can often be found at Hot Legs nightclub. Later in the series, the tough attitude begins to wear off of Priss, as she begins to show more affection towards others, and she stops critizing others altogether.
Sylvia Stingray is the original creator of the Knight Sabers, which is backed by a large amount of capital generated by both her businesses and by the large inheritance that her father left her upon his death. She is usually found providing the Knight Sabers with support in the rear of the action, giving informational reports and letting them know their situation, even though she is an excellent combatant with her hard suit. Despite her sexy appearence and her sometimes very feminine comments, Sylvia is prone to extreme outbursts of fury and disgust, which are usually triggered by mentioning either Genom or boomers. Despite her fragile emotional bubble, she is usually quite calm, competent, and demonstrates numerous leadership qualities. However, Sylvia knows a lot more about the boomers and Genom than she is willing to mention to the rest of the Knight Sabers, and we only begin to learn their relationship later in the series.
Nene Romanova is the "baby" of the Knight Sabers. While she is 18 and works for the A.D. Police, she sometimes acts half her age. She is usually teased because of her young age, and her demeanor only enhances the reasons why. She is childlike, bashful, and is far more playful than even Linna is. In the Knight Sabers, she is the worst in combat, however, she more than makes up for that with her intellect and excellent hacking skills. She can usually dig up information on Genom and boomers by hacking through the net, and more often than not, she is forced to hack directly into Genom.
The plot is quite good. Although it may seem like the "boomer of the week" phenomenon at the start of the series, the main storyline is still followed, but takes full hold of the series roughly around episode 10. From that point on, its a nonstop ride with mostly action, and a little bit of comedy and romance thrown in to spice things up when it seems like it may be boring. Take note that at this point, they will begin to get more technical, with a more philosophical edge rounding out the end of the series.
The english dubbing was decent. The only points that can be marked as "Very Bad" would be when Priss is singing. When she does, the words and lip movements do not match at all, but you won't really notice that. The one part that this series didn't pass up on was a good musical soundtrack. Priss's songs, even in the english dubbing, are quite good (if hard rock is your thing), and the background music add that little extra to scenes.
If you are a fan of the older series Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash, you should definitely see Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. It adds a lot more to each of the main characters, and even the more minor characters in the older series are made more important and taken to a much further extent. I'd have to say that this series surpasses the other's in the music department as well, which was something that made them an underground classic. The DVD's have some nice extras, however, you may want to skip through the ADV previews at the beginning of each DVD if you don't feel like being enticed into buying some other good anime series. Still, once you begin to watch this series, you'll soon forget the previews and your eyes won't leave the screen except to put in the next DVD. =)
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect Collection at the Perfect Price, August 3, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 - Perfect Collection (DVD)
I first caught BGC Tokyo 2040 at a local anime convention, and proceeded to start hunting around for the DVDs as soon as I could. As a remake of the original Bubblegum Crisis, it does a good job of updating it with better animation and good mecha and character designs and the Perfect Collection's price is perfect, being far lower than the individual discs as there's only one large box and only one insert. While I miss the cover art on each disc, this is a good investment for someone who wants to get the whole series but doesn't want to spend twice the money getting it individually.
My main complaints with this collection would probably stem from two things: the ADV trailers which take up about fifteen or so minutes at the front of each disc, and some of the English voice acting. There are times when I switch to the Japanese just to avoid some of the voices, but some purists would argue this is the only way to enjoy the series.
Is it worth the money? Yes, I'd say the collection is worth it for the relatively low price and good entertainment value it represents. It's not the best anime, but it's fun and is slickly done.
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