You know, I often think of OVA’s as the Best of Both Worlds in Anime. They can be film projects sure, but more often than not theyre direct to video TV Series with the budget of a movie behind them. At the very least, this means OVAs are gonna look absolutely gorgeous and most of the time they are. But if there’s any lesson that Anime has shown it can and cant learn throughout history is that a stellar presentation cant mask the blotch that belongs to poor storytelling and poor characterization. Bubblegum Crisis is 6 episodes in and once again, I’m fuming over the same matters once again: flashy animation that just keeps getting better; a musical score that wont stop being the best part of this whole endevour; and a story that barely exists long enough to get us from fight scene to fight scene involving superheroines we know next to nothing about besides “they’re hot”.
In what’s probably a first for the series, Episodes 5&6 play as a loosely connected 2 part story. Both are self contained but several of their characters and (gasp) plot developments carry on from 5 to 6. This is a first to be sure but that doesn’t mean its done particularly well or just well at all. Once again, the finger can be pointed at the usual suspects: super rushed story that’s missing many crucial scenes and a half assed story that’s hard to keep up with an also so bare bones its boring as sin. With Episode 5, you have a team of Humanoid Boomers trying to escape to Earth but only two make it. One ends up forming a friendship with Priss, all off screen, and we’re suddenly expected to feel something for Priss when she has to kill a close friend…who she shared a bike ride with by the beach in one scene. Episode 6 “focuses” (using quotations because not really) on the other escaped Humanoid Boomer and her getting sucked into a take over the world role by an old enemy who just shows up out of nowhere with his own team of False Knight Sabers. Like everything else in BGC, Humanoid Boomer #2 also has a connection to Priss but worse than being shown off screen, it’s shown in a series of still frames in a shoved in flashback sequence. There’s also Leon learning the truth about Priss being a Knight Saber and…well that’s probably my favorite bit of these episodes because Leon is one of the more decent characters in BGC and we’ve seen him share more than five seconds with Priss so we care about his crush on the sexy rocker turned superheroine.
Not gonna lie, I wasn’t just bored watching all of this
unfold, I was getting pretty angry. For
a series that’s so loved by the community for it’s aesthetic and music, did
anyone realize that Bubblegum Crisis lacks a story, decent characters or
emotional resonance? There’s so much
skipping around crucial moments that would’ve made certain scenes more
impactful I feel like we’re watching Compilation Episodes rather than full
fledged episodes. And at 45mins each, the
longest running of the episodes so far, there’s no excuse for corner
cutting. We’re six episodes in and I
don’t know jack about Linna besides that she’s a vain complainer who brings
little to the group besides…honestly anything.
We see Nene in her more official cop profession, working alongside Leon
on a case. But there’s no reason for her
to be a field operative in the Knight Sabers because while she’s good at intel
gathering, she’s useless on the battlefield.
Sylia’s story is shrouded in mystery just as her character is in most
scenes she’s presented, probably fuming that Priss has taken any of her story
away from her. But this time, even Priss
cant escape the lack of fundamental character building that has plagued her
comrades. We don’t know how she met
Sylvie or formed her friendship with her (theres a lot of time skiping so
Sylvie and Anri could’ve spent weeks in Megatokyo after they fled from
space). We only see them ride bikes
together once and then Priss is forced to kill her to save the city. Then Priss decides to quit because this is
the straw that breaks her. It’s one
thing after another without proper time to really delve into why this matters
or why we should feel anything. Crap,
the music during Sylvie’s death scene had to do all the emoting for us because
there wasn’t enough development for Priss and Sylvie’s
friendship…relationship…I don’t know and neither does this series for that
matter.
As for the story, there’s so much thrown into Episode 5 alone that it’s insane: escaped Sex Boomers; Vampire mecha; the aforementioned Priss made a friend who’s hotter than Linna so Linna’s jealous; more Genom corporation back room dealing. Then Episode 6 throws in the interesting possibility of seeing the Knight Sabers face a doppleganger squad that they could have inspired during their superheroics…but not only is this not the case at all, this plot point is dropped super fast in favor of the nonsensical return of Mason in a new body and looking to make killing Priss his #1 priority rather than torment Sylia and explore that unexplored dynamic. To sum it up, these two episodes are a freaking mess and are poorly written too. I’ve also been watching BGC in English cause I need to focus on other things and trust me, my ears will hate me forever for that. The English dub is a very, very early dubbing effort and it shows. Everyone except maybe Leon and Nene are poor choices for their characters and listening to Priss’ battle cries are painful beyond compare. No wonder im annoyed at all the whining the Knight Sabers do in their downtime. We can get fresh dubs for Akira, The Vision of Escaflowne and Gundam Seed but no one wants to make a tolerable dub of this OVA?
I suppose I must give credit where credit is due. The Animation is top notch OVA quality and it is kind of a fun experience watching an OVA that took anywhere from months to years to come out (the original Bubblegum Crisis was originally released between 1987 and 1991). So, in a way, you’re watching the Anime industry evolve with each new episode. Animation looks smooth and polished and character movements feel more fluid than ever. This makes the fight scenes that much more intense and kind of fun to watch. We also get to see a bit more traditional mecha variety with some of the Boomers and the AD Police’s heavy mechas. Leon’s brief but brutal showdown with Sylvie was one of the highlights of this two parter, as was Priss’s showdown with Mason. Naturally, all of this continues to be backed by that amazing soundtrack (though we’re denied another Priss performance in the beginning of Episode 5 dammit). Again, the MVP track has to go to Priss and Sylvie’s final moment together. Honestly, it tugged at my heartstrings more than the actual death itself and…well this soundtrack deserves a much better Anime altogether.
Ugh, I have two more episodes of Bubblegum Crisis left and then the three part follow up Bubblegum Crash to get through. Honestly though, I’m tempted to just call it here and slap on a very disappointing 5/10 and why not? I don’t think BGC even has a proper conclusion, either in Crisis or Crash. Sigh, I’m ranting. Is there any chance Bubblegum Crisis can pull off even a passable finale? It cant be any worse than Tokyo 2040 right…based on everything complaint I’ve made for the first 6 episodes of crappy storytelling alone I know I’m in for a mental workout. See ya back here Friday for the Series Finale of Bubblegum Crisis…gonna go cry real quick then start watching them so I can get this over with.
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