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| 6.
Iodine  
A remake of the original '80s action series, essentially using
updated versions of the central characters to tell a new story with many of the
same themes and devices. Having not seen the first series, I can't say how faithful
this one is to the original, but there are several clearly intentional references.
The main draw of the show is the three Knight Saber ladies doing battle in shapely
"hardsuits" against run-amok semi-sentient "boomers." Of course,
a conspiracy is afoot that eventually forces the girls to contend with more threatening
villains, upgrade to fancier gear, and so on. Despite some lag in the middle,
the series delivers its punches pretty well. All the central characters are engaging
and fun to watch, though nobody ever manages to get enough development time. Designs
are great looking and the animation doesn't skimp either. The plot, however, overextends
itself at times, failing to really ground its central concepts and making certain
developments feel awkward and silly. A lot of dramatic potential was obviously
sacrificed for over-the-top action sequences. The best parts of the series are
in the earliest episodes, when the focus stays on the heroines rather than villainous
Galatea's apocalypse. Towards the end, the concerns of Lina and Nene seem to evaporate,
leaving only Priss to find a real moment to shine. Sadly, the secondaries, particularly
Sylia, were never used very well and wind up only being distracting. Taking into
account a dose of aesthetically excusable fanservice, it's a decent action series.
|
| 5. Corkscrew
 
Created perhaps as an attempt to tell a complete story like
the original wasn't able to (due to being cut short prematurely by studio problems),
and partially financed by the US company AD Vision, Bubblegum Crisis
Tokyo 2040 is an action-packed show with a very strong story and stronger
characters. It takes place in a seperate universe from the original, meaning there's
no continuity, and the character designs have been freshened up. Given a full
TV series run to flesh out its story, the show moves along steadily, with equal
amounts of one-shot episodes and plot furthering. The 4 main girls grow and change
a lot over the course of the show, and they all receive pretty equal attention.
Backing things up is a very strong score, with a number of excellent vocal pieces.
The only downside is that the show slows some in the second half as it moves into
the meat of the underlying plot, and the ending feels rather rushed and a bit
murky. However, the series as a whole is very enjoyable, and definitely holds
up the legacy of the original OVA quite nicely. |
| 4.
Tempy
BGC2040 starts out great, with good designs, interesting
plot, and good characters. The Knight Sabers are a group of kickass women wearing
special hardsuits to combat boomers (robots) gone mad. With 4 pretty females,
and the possibilities of their interesting character, and their love interests,
I never thought the series would end up so unsatisfying. The second half tosses
away everything by focusing on the boomers and the preposterous plot behind them.
The action scenes become boring and tedious, logic and common sense gets thrown
out of the window, the pace is off by a mile, and to top it off, the music becomes
almost nonexistent. Good action shows usually have an equally fine soundtrack
to accompany it. The first half had a good score and a bunch of good songs. What
happened in the second half? Anyway, the first half gets a healthy 4 star rating,
but the second half *barely* gets 2 stars. In the end I really can't recommend
this series. |
| 3. bremmi
Though I don't dislike the original Bubblegum Crisis,
this new TV series is better in almost every way I can think of. The character
designs are amazing - they're better drawn, and extremely sexy. The songs and
soundtrack to Tokyo 2040 are also superior, with a more up-to-date, 90's
feel to it. As soon as I started watching this series, I knew it was dead set
on a course to get 5 stars on this site.. Unfortunately, about halfway through
the series the story starts to slow down way too much for me. The ending is so-so,
and didn't leave me in Cowboy Bebop-ish awe or anything like that.. I was
expecting more. Still, I can't say enough good things about the music, animation,
and character designs. It is a fantastic series to watch, even if the story leaves
something to be desired. |
| 1. cron
I have seen all of the series fansubbed which I am basing this
review on; the release of the VHS is almost finished by ADV and the DVD release
by ADV is also catching up to mid way. With that mention out of the way this series
blew me away. Being a fan of the old BGC OVA series, I was worried that
my beloved BGC series would be ruined. Some shockers to people of the old
series that are not really spoilers: Nene looks younger (IMHO) has blond hair
and the story is no longer just Priss and the gang. The
series was given a full 26 episode run. The OVA series in contrast was cut short
due to studio fighting over the rights and design control. The "BGC:Crash"
was supposed to be an ending to the original OVA episodes but it never worked
out and ended up leaving more questions unanswered. BGC2040 is again different
in this respect, the series has a definite ending. The show itself has very high
quality animation that is backed by a techno soundtrack. The whole show is much
darker in plot and atmosphere, not mentioning the whole character development
that extends past Priss. AIC did an excellent job
with the series and frankly I didn't miss the character art of Kenichi Sonoda. |
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