Forum - View topicREVIEW: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 DVD
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nechronius
 Posts: 275 Location: So Cal, USA |
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Bubblegum Crisis 2032 and Konya wa Hurricane on an Nth generation dubbed VHS tape (no subs, Japanese only) was my gateway drug into anime and learning a functional level of the language.
I still occasionally listen to various tracks from the 2032 soundtrack (Mad Machine, Victory, Say Yes and of course Hurricane among others) and it takes me back to a simpler Time. I can't remember a single song from 2040 however. I did enjoy 2040 though and my original collection of the ADV DVD releases sit inside my Paul Champagne collector's case. And I did find the translation differences between dub and sub quite significant, although the spirit of the dialogue was still kept for the most part and did a reasonable job of getting the same message across. Overall Theron has once again summed up my opinion of a series quite well. |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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By amusing coincidence, a few days ago I found a box full of old magazine, including a lot of issues of Wizard (I don't know why I bought these; I never read very many comic books) and on the first page, the one on the other side of the cover, of #125 from February of 2002 is a full-page advertisement for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 on VHS and DVD at fine stores including Electronics Boutique, Suncoast Video and Borders! It also includes a quotation from a comics writer named Chuck Dixon that concludes, "...anyone who likes the X-Men would like this one." As I look through these, I've noticed that Wizard gave considerable attention to anime. The same issue had an advertisement for The Big O too and there was, at least between 1997 and 2002 (the range my 'collection' covers) a regular manga and anime feature. #125 also includes an advertisement for a magazine called Anime Invasion, which I suspect wa s a precursor to Anime Insider and an article about the Visions of Escaflowne film and one about Big Apple Anime Fest, which includes a pictures of Asia Carrera holding up a copy of Shusaku and a somewhat confused looking Mayor Giuliani holding up a Big Apple Anime Fest shirt.
Ah, those were the days... I already bought this release from The Right Stuf last month, but I haven't watched it yet. I'm looking forward to, but I have a few things in front of it and am not in a hurry. I might even look into buying the original and Bubblegum Crash so that I can have a bubblegum weekend. I watched the original on Hulu some time last year, but not too attentively, so I could stand to see it again. I liked much of the feel and look of it, but was somewhat dissatisfied by the characterization and lack of a larger plot to tie the episodes together. I like the cyberpunk style a lot. Well, I suppose I'm more interested in the sort of sci-fi noir feel full of vast, imposing and at least slightly gritty or dirty future cityscapes, extravagant uses of technology and portrayal of broken-down or outright broken societies. I'm particularly interested in and worried about Bubblegum Crisis 2040 because Chiaki Konaka wrote it. He's written some things that I've thought were great, like The Big O and Serial Experiments Lain, had written Armitage III, which I liked and had the sci-fi noir style that I like, and is a generally interesting writer who incorporates interesting ideas or themes into his word, but he also sometimes tries to be too ambitious for his own good, especially when it comes to endings. Consider the bizarre finale to The Big O or the weird, apparent antifeminism in the second half of Armitage III. I've read some things that suggest that Bubblegum Crisis 2040 goes off the rails for its finale, but it also seems like the story up to that point should be interesting enough for that to be a tolerable fault and for all that I know, I'll like it. I'm curious to see what the English dub is like. I seem to have slightly idiosyncratic standards for English dubs, but I should at least be able to tolerate it. I listened to an interview with Christine Auten wherein she talked about it being her first time as an anime voice actress, so it will at least be of 'archeological' interest. Last edited by Surrender Artist on Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:12 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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bravetailor
Posts: 817 |
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Don't worry. To be perfectly honest, when I first watched Cowboy Bebop in 1998-1999 ish, I thought the first 4-5 episodes were kind of boring too. It doesn't really come together until the whole cast is introduced. During rewatches, they are always the least interesting batch of episodes in the series. |
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Moonsaber
 Posts: 343 Location: USA |
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Not sure what universe our reviewer is living in. 
My fan circle around here regards Crash with reasonably high regards just below Crisis OVA. Part of that might have been the long period where it was almost impossible to find. I personally have the Animeigo release of both OVA series and love them dearly. As far as 2040 goes, it is not regarded as highly, but certainly still worthy. Personally, I love the whole franchise, and despite the somewhat cheesy ending I appreciate that it has an ending and that it features a plot driven around adults that is completely outside anything resembling a school setting. Ah, how I miss anime like this. It seems rarer and rarer that we get something that is more adult oriented these days, AND good. 2040 has great music and plot, and in my book highly recommended. As a curiousity, I have the original disk by disk ADV release, is there any features (subtitle fonts or something) that make this worthwhile for me to purchase? |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18213 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Apparently entirely different universes, then. Crash is the one part of the franchise that I didn't like, in large part because it felt like a half-hearted effort. It used needless narration and a lot of stock footage, its animation and music dropped off substantially in quality, and its story wasn't as strong. It did have some updates to the suit tech which later reappeared in 2040 and, IIRC, did have a bit of nudity, but otherwise it fell well short of the others. That ANN's average rankings for it are a full .6 below the other two series means that it's far less well-regarded around here than either of the others. Perhaps "reviled" was an overly strong word, but the negative comments I've heard about it over the years - both around here and in various magazine articles about it - far outweigh the positives.
The 2002 Complete Collection and the original singles were exactly the same. Revisions and additions didn't come into the picture until the 2005 Essentials sets. |
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Moonsaber
Posts: 343 Location: USA |
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Thanks for the info on the re-release of 2040. Looks like I will pass, and keep the same larger shelf space I am used to. Besides, I like the cover art. It looks like we are talking about the same universe again. I think the word "Reviled" was a fair bit too strong. People like Crash, just not as much as the rest of the franchise. For older fans, the rarity and pricing of Crash ( I recall upwards of $45 per episode on the 1 ova per tape clamshell VHS) made it more desirable than it probably should have been. It was ok. It gave you a bit more of the OVA universe and something of an ending. If it was longer than 3 episodes it would have worn thinner faster. This is starting to inspire me to watch BGC again. All of it. Mmmmmm. I especially loved the music from 2040, even bought the soundtrack and the vocal collections. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18213 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Unfortunately I've never owned the original OVAs (used to borrow them from a friend that I'm not close with any more) but I have marathoned 2040 about once every 12-18 months for the past decade. By comparison, I'm not sure that I've ever rewatched Crash (which I do also own).
I'm a little envious. I had the OST until it got stolen out of my car a couple of years ago, but I never could track down the vocal collection. |
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Moonsaber
Posts: 343 Location: USA |
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Ouch. That was one of the first DVDs I ever bought, Lodoss OVA was *the* first. I had most of BGC on VHS, though, prior to the DVD release.
Ahh. Sorry we live so far apart. I'd be glad to loan you any of the above. Loved the art on the CDs too. I know, I'm a bit of a fanboy at times. |
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