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Bubble Gum Crisis Tokyo 2040

Synopsis

The show begins with a young woman named Linna coming to work in the big, and mostly rebuilt, city of Tokyo. Apparently the city was almost destroyed by a huge earthquake centered on the city itself. And even with the maturation and wide use of boomer technology, a technology that makes intelligent robots possible, the labor of rebuilding the city still continues. In any case, whether in the gleaming corporate blocks or the dark and unrepaired fringes life goes on. And, everywhere, boomers have made things easier.

However Linna has a more complex purpose than that. She has heard tales of boomers that go rogue, both their minds and their bodies becoming monstrously warped. Though of course the sole manufacturer, a huge company, discounts any such possibility. She's also heard of a brave group of power suited warriors, the Knight Sabers, who fight this threat. Although of course the media makes it clear that they're merely an urban legend and the police make it clear they wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. Fortunately, perhaps, for her she'll get the chance to discover the truth. Both about the Knight Sabers, and the danger and reality of the threat they face. And that threat is much bigger than she, or anyone else, could possibly have imagined.

Opinion.

Bubble Gum Crisis Tokyo 2040 [BGCT] is a re-telling of the original story, however this time around we learn about Sylia's father and his ideals for the boomers. BGCT is a 26 episode series and follows a young Linna moving to Tokyo to work in a stock brokers. She has heard the rumours of boomers going mad and the legend that is the Knight Sabers and decides to do some investigation of her own.

As expected she makes the team, even though the other members [Priss and Nene] are sceptical about her skill. All the characters are far more comples [emotionally] and stubborn then they were in the original Bubblegum Crisis anime. The story centres around one boomer which has the power to control all boomers and if that was not enough, this boomer has a link to Sylia! The story is excellent, and moves along at a good pace. There are comical episodes and even a real good horror/die hard episode in the AD Police HQ.

The hardsuits have been upgraded and are now more streamlined from before, and now engulf the girls bodies and become part of them rather than the old retro suit design. The suits now run on batteries, which adds an element of urgency to the fights and goes someway to making the whole BGCT world seem believable.

It is tough to talk about BGCT without ruining the story and the little twists which will please Bubble Gum fans. The animation is good and the colours are far better as you would expect, the sound that the hardsuits make when they walk is cool. I think anyone who like the original and Crash series will enjoy BGCT. It manages to better the original series in places, but also falls foul of disrespecting the original source.