Bubblegum Crisis is an anime OVA Series that takes at least part of its inspiration from Philip K. Dick's Blade Runner. Bubblegum Crisis is a mecha style anime that takes place in the future in a post disaster Tokyo, now known as Megatokyo.
The original OVA series was eight episodes long. It was originally slated to run for thirteen episodes, but legal problems between the two studios who jointly held the rights to the series, Artmic and Youmex, the series was discontinued. The problems may have been bought on by the series' lacklustre sales in Japan.
The series involves the adventures of the Knight Sabers, an all woman group of superheroes/mercenaries, who don powered armor and fight various problems, most frequently rogue Boomers. Boomers are humanoid robots designed to perform a variety of tasks, from construction and firefighting to combat; a particular model of Boomer, the BU-33s, is designed for sexual purposes.
One of the central themes of the series, showing its Blade Runner influence strongly, is the exploration of what "human" really means. As in Blade Runner, this is often done by using the mechanical characters, especially focusing on BU-33s.
Warning spoilers below
Note: all character information is for the original OVA series. There are some differences in character background for BGC 2040.
Original OVA voice actress: Yoshiko Sakakibara.
Original OVA voice actress: Hiramatsu Akiko
Original OVA voice actress: Tomizawa Michie
Priss' voice actress in the original OVA is, in real life, a singer in the rock band which did the music for Bubblegum Crisis.
Original OVA voice actress: Oomori Kinuko
Original OVA voice actor: Toshio Furukawa
Original OVA voice actor: Kenyuu Horiuchi
Original OVA voice actor: Shuuichi Ikeda. Largo: Kazuyuki Sogabe
The original character design, was done by Kenichi Sonoda, a manga artist most known for his Gunsmith Cats series.
Directors: Katsuhito Akiyama, and Hiroaki Goda.
(see also Knight Sabers, AD Police, Boomer, Genom, Megatokyo)Sequels and Spin-Offs
Major Characters
Sylia Stingray
An enigmatic billionaire, and the founder of the Knight Sabers. Sylia frequently engages in close combat with boomers. Sylia is the daughter of Dr. Katsuhito Stingray, the man who invented boomers. Several questions about Sylia and her origins are raised in the series, but never answered. Some fans believe that Sylia is a boomer herself, or at least enhanced with boomer technology. The manga by Adam Warren "Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal" revolves around Warren's idea that Sylia has an enhanced brain. Suzuki Toshio, of Artmic has been quoted as saying that Sylia has an augmented brain, and is said to have approved of Warren's manga.Nene Romanova
A perky hacker, employed as a dispatcher for the AD Police. She is also a member of the Knight Sabers. Nene does little fighting, focusing on sensor ops, battlefield communications, ECM and ECCM.Linna Yamazaki
Works various jobs including aerobics instructor, Linna once hoped to pursue a career in professional dancing. She is a member of the Knight Sabers, focusing on combat. Compared to the other major characters, Linna got very little character development in the original series. However in BGC 2040 Linna was perhaps the most developed character.Priscilla S. Asagiri
Priss, as she is most often called, is a rather angry, violent person. She is a member of the Knight Sabers, specializing in close combat. She is the lead singer in the rock band "Priss and the Replicants", a Blade Runner reference.Leon McNichol
AD Police officer. Leon is a dedicated cop, with a tendency to rush in without thinking. He has a crush on Priss, which she does not like since she has reasons to despise the AD Police. As the series progresses he discovers that she is a Knight Saber, but does nothing with that knowledge.Daley Wong
AD Police officer. Daley is Leon's partner, and a highly skilled investigator. Daley is also openly homosexual, which is worth noting because at the time the original OVA was produced male homosexual characters were quite rare in anime. Daley is not developed much in the series.Brian J Mason/Largo
Executive in Genom. The primary villain of the first three episodes, Mason is the man who killed Dr. Stingray and stole his boomer technology. As with Sylia, certain mysteries are created around Mason which are never resolved in the series. It is generally accepted that Mason somehow transferred his personality into a boomer body some time prior to his death. Largo resurfaces to become the primary villain of episodes 5 and 6.Crew
