Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (2001)
Animation Production: AIC
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Bubblegum Crisis 2040
Episodes: 26
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Bubblegum Crisis holds a very special place for me as an anime fan. I watched it before its domestic release and then again when Animeigo first released the series in the North American market in 1991, at a time when the U.S. anime industry was finally starting to organize itself and official releases were starting to become more common place.

I had never seen anything like Bubblegum Crisis before, the dark atmosphere, the mechanical designs, the amazing soundtrack…it was an eye opener for someone who had grown so accustomed to the colorful worlds of super robot anime and its ilk.

Flash forward to the present time and the subject at hand, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, the latest incarnation of a series I hold in the highest regard. I must admit I was a bit nervous as I sat down to watch this anime for the first time, fearing that my nostalgia for the original BGC might cloud my judgment on it. Thankfully as I watched the entire TV series over the weekend, I was able to put aside the past and see what a new generation team of Knight Sabers had to offer, which to put it mildly, turned out to be a lot!

Story

"In the aftermath of the great earthquake, one ruthless corporation stands ready to take over the devastated city of Tokyo with an army of synthetic monsters. Only a single band of female vigilantes opposes the monolithic power of Genom - but in this case, four women are all it takes! Armed with the most incredible combat suits ever designed, the Knight Sabers wage a desperate war in the shadows, combating the monstrous by-products of technology run amuck with courage, sweat and blood!"-- ADV's Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Page

Review

The first thing that long time fans of this anime franchise will notice is that the original character designs by Kenichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats, Otaku no Video, Gall Force) have been replaced with all-new designs by Masaki Yamada. At first this took some getting used to, but once I fell in with the flow of the new series and its art direction I absolutely loved them and accepted the new look as the natural evolution of the characters.

The other major change in this new series that older fans will notice is the absence of a pop soundtrack, which was such an integral element of the original BGC OVA. Instead, we get a more Rock/Hard Rock/Techno inspired compilation of songs and BGM, which do a great job at establishing the mood for the series and taking it in a completely new musical direction.

Perhaps the biggest difference between this series and the original one is the storyline. While they do share some common components, like the evil corporate entity known as Genom and their robotic creations known as Boomers, this is where all similarities end. Whereas the original series tried to briefly explore the relationship between humans and Boomers through 8 loosely connected episodes (yes, I'm not counting Bubblegum Crash, but that's a whole other story), this subject is at the very core of BGC 2040 and is a very strong element of each episode's plot and developments.

In a way the 26 episodes that make up BGC 2040 could be described as being one giant-sized episode or movie, as each individual story flows onto the next one flawlessly, forming a story arch that is rich in character development and more detailed than the original eight episode OVA could ever had hoped to be.

Herein lies BGC 2040's strength. The story is so complex, so layered and appealing that you cannot help but want to see how the plot progresses and reveals itself to not only the characters, but to us as an audience. Priss, Linna, Nene, Sylia and Leon are so much better fleshed out in this TV series that you become strongly attached to each of them as little pieces of their background are revealed and as we see them bond, fight, and care for each other in the complex world they live in.

This depth of character development, the way it is which is presented and sometimes subtly hinted at is what to me made BGC 2040 such an amazing series for me. The characters we meet in the first episode could be said to be completely different from those who we say goodbye to at the very end of the TV series and its something that is accomplished not by overtly obvious exposition, but by good storytelling and simple character moments.

The setting for BGC 2040 is the same as its predecessor, but in this in the new series it is a more fully realized world. Again, Genom is at the center of the reconstructed Tokyo, its corporate tower being the symbol of a new age that has been ushered by its robotic creations, known as Boomers, robots originally used for labor too dangerous for humans to undertake that lead the reconstruction process after the great Earthquake that leveled Tokyo.

Here, the boomers are more than just an excuse for fight scenes, they are as much a protagonist of the story as are the Knight Sabers. Their story being that of a new humanoid race awakened to a human world that is not ready to accept it and to live alongside side a race of living beings that are neither human nor machine, but a hybrid of both. It is this fear of the unknown and the prejudice that is born from it that powers much of the tension that flows through BGC 2040's storyline.

Technically speaking I think BGC 2040 is amazing! The character designs, the artistic direction for the background artwork, the music, everything comes together so flawlessly it's unbelievable, especially when it's compared to the original OVA's which used 4-5 different creative directions throughout its 8 episode run, which yielded very uneven results and made for an inconsistent feel to the series.

Acoustically BGC 2040 is a success that goes beyond what I had hoped for a series that is as well known for its music as is the original Macross TV series. I think that the edgier hard rock music is by far the best genre of music that could have been used for a new Bubblegum Crisis, as it brings a more mature and contemporary feeling to a classic series without straying too far off from the original in its overall feel.

Final Thoughts

Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is a must have series for the true anime enthusiast. Needless to say that I think everyone should have this anime as part of their personal collection alongside the original series. There are many new and flashier releases out there, but none of them can come close to what the Knight Sabers have to offer.

Knight Sabers...Action!

Jeffrey Couto