Our time with the original 80’s classic Bubblegum Crisis continues and I have to say, it’s kind of a mixed bag. I can see why this Anime is so influential and beloved but I can also say that some Anime have done better things with that influence and inspiration, such as give us a better story, deeper characters, more balanced tone. The only things I will give Bubblegum Crisis ZERO crap for are Priss and the gorgeous Animation and action sequences. Everything else needs so much work it’s disappointing.
The “main storyline”, if you could call it that, kind of wrapped up in Episode 3. Mason was killed by Sylia and you’d think that would be it right? Well there in lies one of BGCs many problems. Despite having Episode lengths ranging from 30-45 minutes, there’s barely any story or plot development in anything thus far. If Episode 3 was supposed to be the culmination of everything since the first episode, why do I feel like I don’t know why I should feel good about it? We get glimpses of Sylia’s connection to Mason and the death of her father but we don’t go super deep into it. So when she does face off against Mason and is forced to kill him, I feel nothing for her cause I don’t know the full story. Same goes for the cliffhanger that went nowhere at least in Episode 4: Mason writing “Knight Sabers” in blood before he died. Doesn’t this mean that the AD Police would have to take down the Knight Sabers for killing a key executive of a powerful corporation? Apparently not as life goes on for the girls without consequence.
With all these poorly constructed plots everywhere, it’s amazing that Episode 4 was able to distract me a bit with some of the flashiest and most intense action to date. The plot draws heavily on the Mad Max franchise for inspiration, specifically the first film. A young man and his girlfriend are nearly killed by a biker gang on the road and the young man, named Gibson (no doubt after “Mad” Max Rocketansky himself, Mel Gibson), transforms his ruined car into a murder machine that looks like a cross between Back to the Future’s legendary DeLorean and Mad Max’s V8 Pursuit Special. The car in question, the Griffin, looks fierce and terrifying, probably the scariest thing in BGC, which is saying something compared to the monsters its shown us so far. And with a deranged Gibson behind the wheel, no one was safe, even Priss got seriously injured. But again, BGC knows little about consequences as Priss is back on her feet and healed in no time before using her own tricked out bike from Maky to stop Gibson and his car, which for some reason goes out of control on its own and nearly kills him in the process…yeah I don’t get why that had to be thrown in but it made for one helluva chase sequence.
Out of the core four Knight Sabers, Priss continues to be the one who’s the most interesting because she’s getting the most screen time and the chance to be explored as a character outside of her Knight Saber identity. She’s a famous rocker, a fighter for the people and once again we see her softer side around kids, in particular a local boy who loses his Mom during Genom’s sudden annihilation of their home. The rest of the Knight Sabers suffer from lack of characterization or likeability. My hopes for Linna continuing to grow after the death of her friend in Episode 2 were dashed as all she did was complain about everything from being hungry to her car not working and offer next to nothing to every scene she was in. What is she even doing here? Sylia might not be as deranged as her Tokyo 2040 counterpart but she’s getting the shaft with her own development since we’re speed running through her backstory with Genom and Mason and barely spending anytime with it. Nene is surprisingly my second most favorite character of the bunch to be honest. She has a cute design and while she could be the weakest of the Knight Sabers, at least we see her being proactive by putting her AD Police cover to use in aiding the rest of the team from behind the scenes. In short, this crew is all over the place and the only reason Priss comes out on top of the development hill is because BGC seems content giving 90% of screen and story time to her. Oh and apparently, the Knight Sabers have a code they keep citing throughout Episode 3 and 4…why is this a thing? We need some origins or explanations, it’s basic storytelling 101, jeez.
For all my complaints about the rushed story and characters, when BGC is focused on action, it can do no wrong. Most of Episode 4 is one amazing chase scene involving the Griffin and Episode 3 has similar highway action involving runaway Heavy Boomers and the Knight Sabers assaulting Genom HQ. All of this resulted in some of the bloodiest action in BGC yet, pretty much on the same level most scifi/action Anime were best known for in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It catches your attention and doesn’t let go, even if the story isn’t strong enough to match it. What is strong enough to back it up is the soundtrack which continues to mix perfectly with every moment of BGC from the quieter moments just wandering around Megatokyo to the fist bumping hard rock tracks that play in every action scene. On a side note, hoping we get to see Priss perform on stage again at some point, man she is hot in her On Stage Priss persona.
The second outing for Bubblegum Crisis may have boasted some stellar action, gorgeous animation and kick ass music, but it cant completely hide the lack of deep storytelling or well developed characters. Priss may benefit from the most screentime but the team dynamic and the team themselves suffer from getting no development or a chance to be any kind of likeable. And with the “central plot” aka the revenge against Genom, out of the way, what’s left for this OVA, just a bunch of unconnected stand alone episodes? At 8 episodes total, plus the 3 others from Bubblegum Crash, I’m starting to think that this Anime might not have been as well thought out as intended. I guess we’ll see if this all sticks when we return to Bubblegum Crisis Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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