Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
TheSlyRomano
I'll be honest like I'm really mixed on this, Because it's beautifully animated especially for the time that it was made but it's very lacking in terms of character development and storyline, It's just a bunch of mixed sci-fi stuff that doesn't have any real stakes, I couldn't even type a characters name if I wanted from this because until the very last 2 episodes, everybody feels the same to me
I hear this compared to other stuff like Gunsmith Cats and other animes with "Badass Girls shooting guns" and it definitely doesn't deserve this reputation of a "Good oldie"
It's still beautifully animated though like my rating is still a fine 6/10 but it's could have been better
Read at the sourcejoemaamah
A title that is better regarded through the lenses of nostalgia. Back in the day, it was certainly peak, and had a certain cult status here in the US. Sadly, time has not been so kind to these ladies. They've become faded icons of late 80s/early 90s culture. Kind of the Nirvana of anime.
The series is by no means bad. The characters are charming in distinct ways. The side characters, as was the wont back then, are all left as flat as 2D cutouts. There's kind of a quantity over quality of them.
The artwork was amazing for its day, but looks quite cliche today, as so many other animes over the years copied the style. The animation was well above average for it's time, but will look timeworn today.
The writing was OK. Being fairly short, it can seem rushed, as you flash from action scen…
Read at the sourceThatAnimeSnobRE
This anime used to be huge back when it first aired by encompassing all the best elements of 80s cyberpunk. It was almost a flagship title at a time when anime were still fairly niche in America and everyone was watching tame sitcom cartoons. It was in a way the Neon Genesis or Ghost in the Shell of the 1980s, or the Psycho Pass of the 2010s. Historical importance aside, nowadays it is closer to a skeleton of a good story, since it had lots of good ideas but didn’t do much with them.
In terms of production values it holds up pretty well. Made at a time when everything was hand-drawn with multiple layers of shading, it doesn’t become instantly aged as the CGI monstrocities of today. The world is also your standard sci-fi dystopia, the claustrophobic high-tech megacity almost all sci-fi sto…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
Bubblegum Crisis is an OVA series that thrives on a great artstyle and well animated action. However, the rest is average. The narrative is weak throughout the series, with some plot points never being explored. With the exception of several scenes none of the characters are really developed. While the action is well animated the other scenes are lackluster in comparison. The designs and overall artstyle, as previously stated, are a joy to look at. The action scenes are fun to watch and well executed. The animation seems to take a backseat towards the end of the series in favor of attempting to develop the characters more, but it is a little too late. The OST is also worth a listen. While Bubblegum Crisis caters to sci-fi and animation enthusiasts, those seeking a thought-provoking story a…
Read at the sourceSCLFI
Bubblegum Crisis has one main issue, and that is focus. The focus of the budget seemed to have gone towards the aesthetics, many of which happen to be lifted directly from Blade Runner, and while the aesthetics are certainly good, you need more than that for a series to thrive.
So, accounting for the absence of focus towards other areas, the one that is most negatively affected is the story. With that said, it is an action series, which are typically sparse in story for the obvious reason that if you have to regularly include action sequences, then that’s going to subtract from the available time to produce a story. Bubblegum Crisis seems to have all the intent to set up a story with the makings of something like Robocop, i.e. an action series that actually has a well thought out and mult…
Read at the sourcedaniqm
First of all I want to emphasize that this anime has the best introduction I have ever seen in my life, it is simply magnificent, I didn't expected it.
I find it very interesting that the songs of each episode are different and have a lot of 80s vibes, it was so sad that we only were able to see Priss on the stage once.
The animation was what I liked the most (apart from the music of course) very much in keeping with the time, in itself the story was very normal, a group of girls fighting robots called "boomers", but the animation and the "cyberpunk" context of the story was what really drew me.
I recommend it.
Read at the sourceSTMPD
Okay, so Bubblegum Crisis isn’t the greatest anime of all time. It’s not even the greatest cyberpunk anime of all time. It’s not even the greatest cyberpunk anime of the eighties, because critical opinion placed that crown firmly on Akira’s head long, long ago. And yet Bubblegum Crisis, not Akira, or Ghost in the Shell, or even Evangelion, is far and away my *favorite* anime out there - nothing else even comes close. Admittedly, I’m something of an obsessive person. I’ve been latching onto sea-tossed fandoms like a memetic lamprey for years. But why BGC?
Because it’s fucking awesome, that’s why. Because it’s a synthesis of things that I like in this point in time. Because its open-endedness, its willingness to focus on action and put all the existential stuff in the backseat, the sense of…
Read at the sourcepunishedsneed
Bubblegum Crisis looks beautiful, sounds beautiful, and generally speaking, feels beautiful. However, its writing leaves much to be desired. This is an anime best enjoyed with your brain turned off. Watch for the characters, aesthetics, and action.
Now, there are episodes that are extremely well written, such as the cool ass car episode. What I mean by poor writing is that the overarching story itself never really goes anywhere. If you go into it knowing that, you'll probably be less confused when you've finished the last OVA. I was certainly a little puzzled.
Why? Because there are mysteries set up about certain characters, well, one in particular, that I expected to be wrapped up by the end. The last episode is cute, but not a finale. Definitely a good episode, but - again, perhaps I e…
Read at the sourceDreamhunterkat
Buublegum Crisis is a peculiar series. It seemed to be very popular in both the US and japan at the time of it's release, but nowadays nobody seems to be talking about it at all, maybe that's due to the fact that it hasn't got a new installment in ages, or just that it doesn't jive well with modern audiences, among the people that do talk about Bubblegum Crisis is considered something of a classic, and i think that it's reputation definitely holds up well in that regard.
This series LOOKS fantastic, it's probably my favorite looking anime from the 80's, from the character designs to the art style to how fluid the animation can get. this show looks amazing. It only gets better and better as it goes on, and more interesting character designs get introduced, and the characters that we alrea…
Read at the sourceseannyb
Timelessness is overrated. Every creation comes from an era of media culture, and even the most “timeless” productions can’t help but reflect contemporary trends and zeitgeist.
“Bubblegum Crisis” is the opposite of timeless. Its creators, voracious creatures of popular media culture, slathered a goopy concoction of everything that was hip at the time onto each animation cel. The series has no original bone in its body. Everything is a reference. It has nothing to say other than, “This is what cool is.” As a result, it is one of the purest anime time capsules you can watch.
BGC takes place in a true-to-genre “Megatokyo”, a turbulent east-meets-west cyberpunkian metropolis in which shadowy megacorps pull the strings. Murderous Replicants and Terminators prowl the neon-lit streets, kept in…
Read at the sourceRoguePhoenixSys
I don't usually like giving perfect scores on such a detailed scoring system, but this actually had everything I ever wanted in animation. From the opening scene, it features strong women who don't take any nonsense from anyone, has a sizzling score to keep my heart racing, and I immediately recognized the unique graphic style of ArtMIC from the Captain Power video/game that I used to play at my grandparents' house. I know that aesthetic isn't for everyone, but it's like a drug to me. The flashiness doesn't seem to distract from the action like so many special effects suffer from these days, but skillfully directs attention to where the action is. The future tech is imaginatively designed, and artfully brought to life. The dark, gritty visuals set the tone for an equally dark and gritty st…
Read at the sourceCappnRob
Bubblegum Crisis is one of, if not THE essential 1980s cyberpunk anime. Watching it 30 years after its debut almost feels surreal, because it is SO pop culture laden, so aesthetically referential to other works of its time, it almost feels like something made in TRIBUTE of the 80s, like the video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, but nope, Crisis is true blue authentic, and it is AWESOME.
Bubblegum Crisis EMBODIES "cool" as its primary driving force. A cyberpunk future where illegal robots called Boomers are made to stir shit up for shady megacorporation reasons that are never really explained because dammit, that isn't what you're here for. Crisis has eight episodes and while there is some light continuity between them, it knows you aren't here for deep introspective plot full of sympathy mo…
Read at the sourceJoby05
I'm going to give this a quick review since it is a fairly short series. This is a kind of mech anime from the late 80s that tells the story of 4 women who are the "Knights Saber". They basically take hired jobs and fire enemy robots to try and stop the evil Genom corporation. This OVA has 8 episodes, and contrary to many reviews I've read I think it ends in a pretty descent place and if this was the end and there were no sequel I would have been OK.
The good:
Awesome soundtrack that is 80s goodness, the intro and outro of each episode play like an 80s music video.
Interesting characters who each have unique personalities.
PG-13 but shows boobs, which I think WAS PG-13 in the 80s.
Each episode is like a stand alone movie in the universe, minus a few plot points that are carried forward th…
Read at the sourceBGCLeonK12
I didnt want to write a review of the series for a long time since im clearly a fan and anything i write might be seen as having bias towards rating BGC too highly.
However at the same time, being a fan I think i can give you a true reflection of the series, being able to mention things that other reviews are missing because they glossed over the series and did not give it the attention it deserved. I think in some ways a review that the reader can relate to can sometimes improve their watching/re-watching of a series.
So onto the matter at hand Bubble Crisis 2032, an OVA series which 3 top notch studios (AIC, Artmic and Youmex) gave their all towards in the 80s and in my opinion really raised the bar when it came to what you could achieve in animation and also among all of these talented…
Read at the sourceHakase-dono
Bubblegum Crisis has a special place in some people's hearts as one of the "must see" series from the 80's. There are really some particular elements from the show that are outstanding. Set in a dystopian future, humanity is heavily dependent on technology in the form of Boomers, autonomous androids, that have various uses. The story of Bubblegum Crisis, or rather the premise as a whole, isn't particularly unique. The Knight Sabers, a group of mercenaries, often meddle in the abuse of Boomers and the Genom Corporation.
The art in Bubblegum Crisis is wonderful. It is refreshing to see the detail that can be achieved through hand drawing. Current techniques using computer modeling is unable to produce similar results. The same could be said about the quality of the sound. The opening song,…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Bubblegum Crisis is a cyberpunk series from AIC, you may remember them from such titles as Sasameki Koto, Viper's Creed, OreImo and Battle Athletes. It's also one of those uncommon series where the anime is the original work rather than being based on a game, manga, light novel or something else. The series has had media based on it including video games, a western comic book from Dark Horse and even a tabletop RPG. So what is it about this OVA that enabled it to grow into a full blown franchise? Let's take a look and see.
Our story takes place in a not too distant dystopian future. There's a rise in crimes involving robots called Boomers and there's a corrupt multi-national corporation called Genom, because dystopian stories always have to have corrupt corporations. I wouldn't be surpris…
Read at the sourceServantOfPriss
Bubblegum Crisis is a classic: any old-school anime viewer will know what it is, even if they didn't like it or have moved on from watching animation.
With obvious influences from various science fiction works from its time (Blade Runner being the most cited one), one could argue Bubblegum Crisis really did nothing new to the Cyberpunk genre. In fact, it isn't innovative at all: the plot is so episodic you realize there really isn't much of a story, the characters don't really develop or grow much as the show advances, and it's really clichéd in many senses.
But Bubblegum Crisis gets away with this for the following things: visually, it looks neat, cool, amazing, thanks to the artists (Keinichi Sonoda making beautiful character designs, to note just one aspect); the music is classic 80s, b…
Read at the sourceRobdeFR
Finally I watched this cyberpunk classic which was lacking in my list.
This anime (more than Gall Force) was considered something like a groundbreaking for opening the way for groups of female heroines.
The story is set in Megatokyo year 2032, a blade runneresque society where androids are quite developed to even look like normal humans, except that they do not have the hability to speak.
Our heroines are an secret and independent force called the Knight Sabers, with some high developed suits and they do the work that the cops, in this case the special force of the police, the AD Police, can't do. Which is mainly to fight the androids that went berserk and the other kind of special cases just like Rick Deckard did in it's Blade Runner Universe.
We have four main girls here; Stylia, the c…
Read at the sourceBeatnik
Containing what might be one of the best opening 7 minutes of an anime ever, this OVA opens with a montage of the future, a dark sprawling Mega-Tokyo.
Immediately Ghost in the Shell comes to mind, some scenes look almost identical, the Oshii vibe so thick, the possible influence on the man (and even Shirow himself) is made more and more questionable throughout the OVA with many stylistic choices bringing the GitS franchise to mind.
After the introduction of the various comings and goings of the city, a concert suddenly begins, introducing a blonde wigged character Priss, and is intercut with the appearance of a boomer wrecking havoc. The direction and editing, and hell even the music are all excellent and ensure the OVA gets off to a cracking start. 80's cyberpunk at its best!
The story…
Read at the sourceYourMessageHere
Given that this is Bubblegum Crisis\' 20th anniversary year, I\'m going to start with some historic background. In 1987, amid the boomtimes in the west, the rise of Japanese industrial and corporate power appeared to be potentially endless and the west seemed unable to match it. Japan, and much of the first world was getting rich quick and advancing technologically in leaps and bounds; but at the same time, other countries were still stuck in a past age, unable to keep up. For the first time socioeconomic concepts like the multinational corporation and the global market became realities, and the division between the first and third world had never seemed wider. While some revelled in the abundance, others feared it.
Science fiction, ever the barometer of public fear, reflected this in boo…
Read at the source