Customer Reviews

Bubblegum Crisis - Tokyo 2040 - Leviathans (Vol. 3)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After I've seen vol.1, I was a bit dissappointed because the plot didn't seem too unpredictable. But now that I've watched vol. 2, I saw that the first volume was just a set up for a series of mysteries: "is Sylia a boomer?" "what about Mackie's true nature?" "who is the man called Nigel?" "what's Priss real motivation on the team?" "was Linna serious about competing against Priss?". Also, the new characterizations are getting better and better. The old Knight Sabers were too predictable. This new team had interesting new personalities that were never seen in any other anime. Not to mention, I think the new Knight Sabers are much more ruthless now with that new Sylia on their team.

The characters seem to be developing far beyond the "cute mercenary girls in armor" that the original BGC series portrayed them as. The dub job isn't as good as some, but better than most, with a few notable exceptions. Priss' voice NEVER matches her lips when she's singing, but that's the hardest part. I only wish they hadn't chopped it up in half hour segments.... And made me wait two months for the next tape!

Volume Three is a distinct improvement over volume two. "Leviathans" has more action, more plot progression, and more character development. Some secrets are revealed, one about Nigel and one about Mackey; but I won't spoil them. Romantic tension builds between Nene and Mackey. It's cute, you know? I hope it can work out for them! I will not forgive the series creators if they just let Nene and Mackey's interest in each other drop.

Nene is getting on Priss' nerves because Nene is being reckless during battles. Priss even asks Sylia to let Nene go! Wow, that is gall. You will have to watch to see what happens. In a more introspective moment, Lina returns to her hometown in the country, where she has an arranged date with a surprisingly handsome and understanding young man. Again, I hope to see more of these two together.

Genom is messing with both military and bio-mechanics in this volume. There is a huge, disturbing creature eating Boomers that do work deep underground. And a huge military Boomer wreaks havoc in the city. With the appearances of these two Leviathans, Leon and his partner Daley begin to suspect something is up with Genom - and they take investigative steps. Will discovery of the Knight Sabers' identities be far behind?

This DVD has four episodes, #9-12. They are:
9. My Nation Underground
10. Woke Up With a Monster
11. Sheer Heart Attack
12. Made in Japan

As far as extras, there are none. It is disappointing to see that there are only three character profiles in the "extras."

This third installment is easily my favorite so far. Finally, we are delivered the thing that makes a good series - character development.

There's plenty of it, too. Not to mention plenty of action. The main characters we explore here are Nene and Linna. Nene's place on the team has been questioned before, but now it gets serious as Nene faces being kicked out of the Knight Sabers. This excellent two-parter left me feeling extremely satisfied - it's about time Nene was in the spotlight.

The other two episodes are another two-parter, this time about Linna as she visits her family and must make an important choice. While I find Linna kinda boring, I still enjoyed these episodes, because we finally learn more about her. The military boomer fight was pretty good, too.

The show gets deeper as its characters get deeper and its mysteries get more intruiging. This volume was the hook for me; I NEEDED the next volume. Excellent and very addictive.

This is the third Bubblegum Crisis 2040 DVD, containing episodes 9 through 12. This disc reaches the midpoint of the show, and everything is starting to come together here. The individual, episodic stories of the previous discs have sketched in the details about the world, and now the major plotline is coming into focus: the earthquake which destroyed Tokyo buried many dangerous things, and a certain executive at Genom wants to find them for his own purposes. The characters (who were at best unappealing in the first few episodes) start to have a nice chemistry at this point in the series. These particular episodes are a mix of heavy combat (with rather large enemies) and character development--Nene must decide if she's up to the job of being a Knight Saber, and Linna must decide if she really wants it. If BGC 2040 hadn't hooked you by the previous disc, this one will hook you, if you give it a chance.

Bubblegum Crisis: T. Also called Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040: Volume 2. Yes, this is volume 2.

The three episodes on this tape are done on the same level as the preceding three... astounding. Although Priss's lips really do not line up with her voice, it doesn't matter- it takes nothing away from the enjoyment of the series.

In this volume, the Knights' hardsuits get damaged and will be down for a week, Slyia's brother drops in for a visit, and Priss's eyes get even more unforgivingly beautiful (gosh, those eyes!!). =^_^=

try it, you'll like it! ^_^

This is a great series and ADV has done a great job of updating it for the 90's. The animation is crisp and bright and the characters are very fitting updates of the originals. It is an 8 tape set and only 5 are out now, so why not pick them up!

As a serious fan of the original series I wasn't expecting much from Tokyo 2040, but I was surprised. In technical terms Tokyo 2040 is far superior to the 'old' BGC but considering that its been over a decade this isn't too surprising. However there are a few nasty computer generated effects that look out of place and in places the animation suffers from flat colours and poor motion effects. But these are minor quibbles.

The characters are interesting and fit well with the new series, however with my mind filled with images of how they used to be I had problems adjusting. I just don't like the new 1990's styling on Linna, Sylia, Nene, Daley and Mackie. Leon and Priss look much the same as they always did - scruffy bikers!

The characterisation of the 'new' characters is also odd. In particular Sylia is poorly done - perhaps the writers were attempting to protray someone who is actually insane (or at least has serious personality defects) but they failed. Sylia comes across as a paraody and her obvious mental and emotional problems are not skillfully handled. Although, this said, the writing with regard to Linna and Nene is much improved (they get airtime!) Furthermore fans of the old series will note that Tokyo 2040 is less the Priss Asagiri show and more Bubblegum Crisis. Much fun can also be had spotting various cartoon in-jokes (Duff cola anyone?.) However I'm not keen on remakes, perhaps AIC should have bothered thinking up something new... All in all I have to conculde that whilst this is not my favorite anime series, it wasn't that bad and will be retained in my collection, at the back of a cupboard...

I remember when I rented the series in the late 1980's and how impressed I was with the storyline about corrupt, nefarious corporate interests bent on subjugating the world through advanced biomechanical constructs. Having beautiful girls in technologically superior hard-suits fighting against this behemoth only added to the depth of the plot.

The animation was really ahead of its time even by todays standard. I thought the details given to each character gave the series a unmistakable quality of uniqueness often overlooked in the current iteration. Nene, Lena, and Sylia seem a bit cookie-cutter bland.

The emphasis on the environment and scenery with a obtruse pointless fog on the technology involved took away most of what could have been a worthy successor.

If you want a idea of what the corrent series is about, go ahead and spend the $5 for the 3 episode package. You won't be disappointed. Better than spending $20+.

Pretty cool, the world could use some more cyber punk epics like this one. The english dub's pretty good but I recommend listening to it in japanese at least once later on, it's just better that way man!

My sole complaint for the series is the lack of action. The fight scene on the first disc "Genesis" kicks extreme robotic keester, but it never follows up with more. Not to the same degree anyway. This would be everyone's favorite dvd set if they had just made the fight scenes a little more interesting.

It's a fun series anyway, with likeable characters and an exciting concept... though I wonder if the original is better...? (This is a remake of an older, eight episode series named Bubblegum Crisis)