Monday, May 22, 2017

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Part 4-Episodes 13-16


The Knight Sabers began with Syllia Stingray’s crusade to rid Tokyo of rogue Boomers.  But Priss, Linna and Nene are about to discover there’s a lot more than that.  When the past begins to emerge, Syllia is determined to put an end to the curse of her fathers legacy, even if it costs the Knight Sabers everything they have.  Their bonds pushed to the breaking point, the heroines also have to contend with Galatea, a mysterious entity uncovered by the Genom Corporation.  Tokyo needs the Knight Sabers more than ever.  But will there even be a team left when Syllia is forced to tell them the truth about Mackey, their weapons and her past?

You know...I get that a plot has to develop and be there to stretch out a 26 episode series.  But still…Syllia could have avoided jumpstarting the Apocalypse if she had just been up front about her past to Priss, Nene and Linna from the get go.  But now the cats come out of the bag in the worst possible way and it’s all because of my least favorite character on the show doing the most stupidest thing I really shouldntve put past her to do.

Wow, that was a bit of a rant.  But in all seriousness this week established a new status quo for Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.  I wont say it’s a full blown reboot since things have been building slowly towards this, even if it hasn’t been totally clear.  But it looks like the time for stand alone, monster of the week stories is over.  It’s time to get down to the real business.

After a lengthy build up at the beginning of this set, the floodgates opened and all hell broke loose.  Syllia’s past was at the forefront, right down to the Akira style events that set the whole story in motion.  I do feel a little bad for Syllia being used as a lab rat by her father, who was a real nutjob trying to play God and he kind of got what was coming to him (I’m not totally heartless).  That still doesn’t really make her anymore likeable in my eyes.  She still tries to fix her family’s legacy all by herself and unleash her fathers old experiment as a result…oops?  And even after learning her lesson and telling the girls the truth, her attitude hasn’t changed: get with the program and she’ll handle it all herself.  COME ON!!!  To quote Rocket Raccoon and I kind of hope Priss says something similar, “EVERYONES GOT DEAD PEOPLE.  THAT’S NO REASON TO GET OTHER PEOPLE DEAD ALONG THE WAY!!!”  It’s funny how the only stable Stingray in Syllia’s family is the artificial one, Mackey.  He’s worried but he’s not chewing out everyone left, right and center declaring he’ll wage a one man war on Boomers.  He wants the team to stay together and wont fight without them…why isn’t he the one leading this team (behind the scenes, Priss is still field leader).

I’m kind of with Nene and Priss in their reactions to the truth about Syllia.  She flat out lied to them and used them for her own means without giving them the full details.  Again, things might’ve gone a bit smoother now if she had opened up.  The fact Priss and Nene both quit because of Syllia’s withholding is pretty intense.  Were it not for the fact that Priss, Linna and Nene are a solid team, id say it’s good they just leave Syllia to her death wish.  But I think we all know that’s not going to happen.  With about 10 episodes left, it’s safe to say we’re going to see the team get back together at least one more time.  BTW, whereas I said that the earthquake to burry Galatea was very Akira, the revelation of the Hard Suits being Boomers is very Neon Genesis Evangelion in execution.

Nene might’ve been my favorite character this week.  I talked about her shock and distrust of Syllia but I haven’t talked about her reaction to Mackey.  Rather than dismiss him much like she did Syllia, Nene is convinced by Nigel to remember that Mackey isn’t just some clone or a Boomer.  And she embraces it, embraces Mackey.  Sure she may have been a huge annoyance in the first half of the series but Nene really has grown…unlike Syllia who refuses to grow up.  And it’s her friendship with Mackey that has helped shape her into a more confident and likeable person.  I wont say she’s my absolute favorite now.  That honor still goes to Priss and Linna, who spent a lot of time bonding this week.  I loved Linna telling Priss she’s not riding on her bike in a skirt cause of the way she drives and Priss agreed.  Priss will never be one to open up about her feelings, with Linna or with Leon (who finally revealed he’s known about her and the Sabers for a bit), but it was fun to see her enjoying life with a friend…and for the guys in the audience there was a lot of fanservice while the two got pampered at a spa.

As for Galatea…well the fact that she looks like Syllia (makes sense since her father based her design on her, twisted guy), doesn’t earn her immediate likeability points.  I’m curious how the hell Mason, who has more or less emerged as the true villain between him and Rosenkroitz (though it does suck to agree with Nigel that his decision to try and burry Galatea with the earthquake might’ve saved more lives in the long run), thinks he can control her.  The villains or would be villains have been as stupid as the benefactor of the Knight Sabers.  And really, I cant wait to see Mason get his, just to see it all fall apart in his face. Will Galatea stay a little girl or will we be facing a full blown adult version by the end?  Most rules of scifi make me think it will be the latter but we’ll see I guess.  If she does grow to look exactly like Adult Syllia…man that will ruin her day.

We ended the week on another great cliffhanger.  With the AD Police HQ now crawling with zombie Boomers and Nene trapped inside, it will be interesting to see if Nigel can pull out a miracle and give Priss and Linna new Hard Suits to save her.  The zombie Boomers may just be a taste of what’s to come in the back half of the series.  And if what was to be believed in the horrific flashback where Galatea killed Syllia’s dad and his staff and some cops…we haven’t seen the worst yet and it’s time to be very afraid.  All in all, this feels like a different series now but still an interesting and fun one.  Syllia may be frustrating and while I may not have a lot of sympathy for a grown woman who refuses to learn her lesson and be honest/open with others rather than break glass consistently, I definitely give a damn about everyone else.  For Priss, Linna, Nene, Mackey, Nigel and Leon, I will carry on to the end…plus all in all I still like this show a lot.

Special shoutouts go to Leon, who, as I mentioned earlier, did figure out Priss and her friends were the Knight Sabers.  He didn’t rat them out and actually managed to have a couple of cute moments to show Priss he was a decent guy.  Priss and Linna may be dead in the water (I cry) but I’m all for watching more of how this little romance might work out. 

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