Kankakee Area Anime Association --> Reviews --> Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040

Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040

Format: TV Series
Length: 26 episodes x 25 Minutes
Genre: Cyberpunk
Original Air Date: 1998/1999
Creator: AIC
Director: Hayashi Hiroki
Voice Talent:
Priss S. Asagiri Asakawa Yu; Sudou Akira (Singing Voice)
Yamazaki Linna Natsuki Rio
Nene Romanova Kenishi Hiroko
Sylia Stingray Yukino Satsuki
Macky Stingray Miyata Tomonori
Nigel Kirkland Yamaguchi Ken
Leon McNichol Yanada Kiyoyuki
Daley Wong Ueda Yuji
Brian J. Mason Nakata Joji
Quincy Rosencroitz Nakamura Tadushi

Ratings: PG-13
Grades: 10 scale
Animation Quality: 7
Art Quality: 6
Fun Factor: 8
Music Quality: 4
Plot Quality: 8
Script Quality: 7
Overall: 6 2/3
Stars: 3 1/2 (Very Good)
Synopsis: Industrial robots called Boomers were used to rebuild the city of Tokyo after a terrible earthquake in the 2030’s. In the latter part of the decade, some Boomers began to go “insane.” The A.D. Police were formed to keep these Boomer crimes under control. By 2040 it is apparent that the Boomer problem is more than the A.D. Police can handle. A power armored vigilante group, the Knight Sabres, step in to clean up the city. The Knight Sabres and a pair of adventurous A.D. Police detectives begin to unravel the mystery of why some Boomers go insane. It becomes a race against time for the vigilantes to stop the dark designs of the Genom Corporation’s CEO, Quincy Rosencroitz and his traitorous henchman, Brian J. Mason.
Review: One cannot help but compare this series to its OVA predecessor. The original can claim good art, and excellent ‘80’s pop music. The Boomer designs were also better and, the primary thrust of the storyline was a bit darker. The new TV series can lay claim to vastly superior character development, much improved story cohesiveness, and being a complete body of work. The new, angsty, rocker Priss is not a real improvement over the old heroic, pop star Priss. Frankly, I found the rock music to be of fairly poor quality while the pop music was actually quite good for its time. The art quality was also of a poorer nature but, it should be expected that such is the case. TV series typically have tighter art budgets than OVA series. While Tokyo 2040 doesn’t really do art or music particularly well; it does totally reinvent itself in other ways. All of the characters have been revamped. Not only are the characters revamped but a large amount of time is spent on character development. In the original only Priss’s character was really developed in a meaningful way. A large cast of secondary characters are also introduced and put to good use. For example, Mackey Stingray’s character is now a bumbling teen boy instead of a lecherous teen pervert. Even the lives and goals of the villains receive good developmental treatment. The attention to character detail, combined with decent script writing and a good plot, with some “damn, didn’t see that coming” plot twists, really serves to put the TV series on equal footing with its technically superior OVA sister. Bubblegum Crisis, the TV series can be recommended to all fans of anime, sci-fi, and cyberpunk.

Reviewed by: Jacob Jett