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: Complete Collection

By John Huxley
3rd Jun 05

As you can probably tell from the links below, for various reasons I never got the chance to finish off my reviews for Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. Which is a pity, because a few flaws not withstanding, it’s a series I found surprisingly enjoyable. Well, lucky for me, because ADV have come to the rescue once again with this brand-spanking new 6-disc DVD boxset which allows me to finally finish what I started well over a year ago.

But first, a few words on the box itself. Using the same design as the Hellsing boxset, this clear plastic snaplock case won’t take up much shelf space at roughly an inch thick, about the same size as a VHS case. Open it up, however, and you’ll find a couple of moulded inserts holding two discs on either side with a space for the remaining two discs on the inside covers. It’s very space efficient and all feels fairly well built, at least as sturdy as a regular DVD case.

One of my qualms with ADV’s presentation of their original release was the ever-changing cover designs which seemed to go from a black to white colour scheme over the course of the series. Not a major problem I’ll admit, but one which ADV have soundly rectified with this boxset. Not only do we get the regular cover with an attractive, nicely balanced montage featuring all the Bubblegum Crisis girls, we’re also treated to an alternate design printed on the reverse which features our four favourite heroines ready for combat. Because it’s similar in layout and colour scheme to the regular cover it works quite well as a complimentary design (the casing is made of a clear plastic so you’re able to see it very clearly with the box fully opened) but could easily be used as an alternate cover if you so wished. Either way, this is a nicely designed package and a big improvement over the original release.

Incidently, since I’ve come across the US boxset in the past, I can fairly compare the two. As far as I can tell this artwork is exclusive to the UK and, in all honesty, is much better suited to the tone of the series than the less traditional yet very visually striking US artwork. They’re both nice designs no doubt, but the inclusion of the alternate cover leads me to a personal preference for the UK version. The disc content is exactly the same, so no reason for comparisons there.

Which brings me to the series itself. More a rewrite than a remake of the 80's classic Bubblegum Crisis, Tokyo 2040 updates the Bubblegum universe with 90's post-Evangelion sensibilities. The crux of the story remains intact, however, and still revolves around a motley gang of female vigilantes in the fight against rogue Boomers, or robots by any other name. Despite its 90's update, this is classic cyberpunk stuff. The futuristic dystopian setting may be a little more subtle, but the garish designs and technophobic themes remain intact.

Typically, the story develops slowly at first as we’re introduced to all the major characters, but the series begins to pick up pace towards the latter end of the series and, in true cyberpunk style, culminates in a gloriously apocalyptic finale. And what of that final volume I never got the chance to review? Sadly I’m not too keen on the direction the series takes after building up such an exciting scenario, although I was grateful for the chance to finally wrap all those lose ends. There’s plenty of fun to be had along the way, mind, with swathes of psycho Boomers begging to dispatched at the hands of our four lovely heroines. Unfortunately the action is disappointingly variable thanks in part to the average animation and unspectacular direction, though thankfully plentiful enough to keep interest levels high.

With a relatively small cast, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 does a fairly decent job of persuading us to care about these characters and their relationships, and there’s a clear development cycle that ties in nicely with the story. In this regard it may not compare favourably to the likes of Evangelion, but it’s certainly in the same ball park as its predecessors such as AD Police (speaking of which, has anyone seen the live-action TV series?).

At this point I feel it appropriate to apply a rule of thumb: don’t go expecting anything revolutionary and you won’t be disappointed. Everything - and I mean everything - about Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is about above average. That might sound a little harsh, but in all honesty there just isn’t anything that spectacular on offer here. But it is an enjoyable series and certainly worth picking up in this collected form, especially if you were a fan of the original or maybe just a little curious about this classic franchise.

A word of warning - do watch out for a few seriously dodgy rock numbers from resident vocalist Priss, although I guess Bubblegum fans will already be accustomed to this annoyingly consistent assault on the ear drums. The mute button was made for Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles

Release information: UK: ADV, 2005

Notes: As is the case with most anime boxsets, this edition of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 doesn’t offer anything new in the way of extra content. Bar the new covers, of course. So what we have here is equally underwhelming - a few character profiles, some artwork and little else. We do however get all 26 episodes on 6 discs, so I doubt anyone will be caught twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do when there are 650-odd minutes of cyberpunk action to be enjoyed...

-- John Huxley 3rd Jun 05

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Images