Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Publisher
ADV
Director
Hayashi Hiroki
Production
AIC, TV Tokyo, Victor Entertainment
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
1998
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 volume 4: Buried Secrets
By John Huxley
27th Apr 04  If you were disappointed that the last volume of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 gave us more of the same, you'll be pleased to know that this volume ups the ante, giving us plenty new to chew on. The revelations come thick and fast, explaining away most (if not all) of the unanswered questions that have been lingering over the series since the first episode. We are treated to some well deserved and thorough (though slightly unbelievable...) explanations that help give the series a new lease of life. You see, by giving us all these tasty answers we're forced to digest a whole bunch of new and even more puzzling conundrums that will keep you interested for at least a little while longer. I'm not about to spoil anything for you, but you can rest assured that everything is not as it first appears in the Tokyo of 2040. This change of direction also hails the introduction of a brand new bad guy - a young girl who goes by the name of Galatea. Despite her fantastically stupid name, she's really second best to the well-established and infinitely more hateable Mason character. In the scenes that the two share together, Mason shines as the eccentric and obsessive lunatic while Galatea is only slightly spooky at best. Introducing a new bad guy at this point seems to have been an odd choice. Sure, this might have been necessary for the plot to progress, but I'm not quite convinced the change has worked as well as hoped. Once again, time will tell. Maybe she'll grow into a more convincing character? Or maybe not. Galatea's character design is quite unlike that of the Boomers she reigns over. Pleasingly, the Boomers aren't merely robots with evil red eyes and a corny Dalek 'Kill! Exterminate!' voice-over. They're grotesque, disturbing and often unintentionally amusing abominations of mutated machinery. Looking like something out of the Tetsuo movies, the Boomers are worthy adversaries to the more slender and much more eye-pleasing hardsuits of the Knight Sabers (which, incidently, are very similar to the designs used in the original series - something to please the fans). Despite my initial reaction to the new happenings, I'm hopeful that Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 can pull everything together and deliver a thrilling climax to this enjoyable series. Given the cliffhanger at the end of the last episode...all signs point to yes.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English and Japanese Audio, English subtitles, character profiles, ADV trailers
Notes: After the relative shock of discovering a changed menu system upon loading the previous disc, I'm glad to report that no such anomaly has occurred this time around. Unfortunately I can also report that no alteration has been made to the extra features, with the highlight of the disc belonging to the character profiles. It's nice to have dual audio options and subtitles on foreign language titles such as anime, but it's even nicer to have lots of cool extras. Sadly this disc does not.
-- John Huxley 27th Apr 04
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Images  
|
