Bubblegum Crisis Movie Review

One of the earliest of the many Japanese anime series set against the backdrop of a future Tokyo, inspired by actual plans for citywide renovation set to take place over the next 50 years. The nefarious, ever-expanding GENOM corporation unleashes bio-mechanical soldiers called Boomers – originally designed for outer-space projects and foreign wars, but now causing havoc within the city as part of a plot for world domination. The AD Police, a special crimes unit assigned to deal with the Boomers, find their resources stretched to the limit as the Boomers become more and more powerful. Only a group of young women calling themselves the Knight Sabres, using hi-tech suits of armor, pose a threat to GENOM's evil plan. Influenced by Macross and Bladerunner (the rock singing Knight Saber's name is Priss, and her band is The Replicants), this series was in turn highly influential on other anime series for its Mega-Tokyo setting and sexy girl heroes battling scary monsters, all set to rocking “J-pop” music. This eight-part series was followed by sequel series Bubblegum Crash and AD Police Files. Available in Japanese with subtitles or dubbed.

1987 53m/C JP D: Hayashi Hiroki; W: Arii Emu; V: Oomori Kinoku, Sakabara Yoshiko, Tomizawa Michie, Hiramatsu Akiko. VHS, LV ANI, WTA, FCT