"Bubblegum Crisis - Original/Classic" (Anime)

[pkristen]

8 Episode Anime OVA. Originally reviewed April 12, 2001

Summary
In the year 2032, Tokyo becomes a battle ground between an evil corporation and four female mercenaries in combat armor. Anime classic inspired by “Blade Runner” and “Streets of Fire”.

Review
This series was one of the first I had viewed before I started to really look at anime with a critical eye mixed with fan indulgence. I also made the mistake of watching it the first time around with the dub version; opting to do subtitles in the second viewing, a choice I am pleased I made. Since I’m unquestionably biased in favor of its updated predecessor, I (re)viewed the series with a more objective eye as a stand alone piece and was surprised to find I truly liked it — even despite my criticisms.

The quality and artistic priorities clearly shift over the span of the eight episodes, which enforces the public knowledge that there were problems maintaining creative consistency throughout the project which was supposed to have gone to 13 episodes — at least according to some rumors I’ve seen on the web. And the animation in the early episodes clearly didn’t age as well as the latter ones.

The main target audience is clearly the standard fanboy with the highest priority on machines and action sequences. The four women: Sylia, Priss, Linna and Nene aren’t really allowed to have in depth character development until the latter episodes, functioning as two-dimensional characters in the beginning. I felt like far too much time was spent on supporting characters you didn’t care about instead of the ladies in question. Still, they remain classic characters, even in their original incarnations.

One point where I do feel like this series betters its remake is in the realm of boomers being far more menacing as sentient villains rather than just monster machines out of control. Flying boomers just has an added layer of “coolness” about it where you’re willing to suspend your disbelief a little bit. Plus, there’s nothing quite like watching the Knight Sabers square off against metallic amazons in what could be a satire of Women’s Wrestling sequences.

The original BGC also has Sylvie and Reika. But that’s a different issue altogether…

Lesbian Analysis
One of the few areas where I think the Original has a higher appeal than “2040″ is the incredibly diverse and equally interesting cast of female characters, as well as the dynamics of their interactions with each other. And I will admit this version is also more “lesbian” than “2040″ for this reason, as you will see by the admittedly lengthy following comments. Believe it or not, I am trying to stick to main points rather than pick apart every scene and interaction. The organization of the comments below may seem weird but I was following a thought process flow which made the most sense at the time of writing.

Priss: Hotheaded lead fighter of the Knight Sabers who moonlights as a glam rock singer.
# I didn’t realize it until rewatching this series that we rarely see Priss in her stage-slut guise (with the big hair, make-up and leather) — I think once or twice at the most. I always had memories of it being more than that (and being turned off by it), so it could also be a mixture of publicity artwork which also highlights this ensemble. So what is the viewer supposed to get from this side of her personality? That she can be a killer femme with the rest of them? That she’s willing to suffer for her art? I don’t think it has anything to do with establishing her orientation so much as reaffirming her as a sex symbol for the Fanboy audience that buys the series based on such factors.
# Even though she blows off Leon as a romantic interest, and seems to interact with men in general with the “I need something from you” motives, she is very open to lowering her guard for the various women she meets: Sho’s Mom, Sylvie and Anri being main examples.
# One could say that she might have a borderline crush on Sho’s Mom by how moon-eyed she gets when listening to the other woman talk, not counting how well she gets along with Sho.

The Priss and Leon “thing”:
# She immediately (and consistently) blows off Leon’s advances, unless she’s motivated by needing info, which she barely hides. And Leon’s not clueless since he even wonders to himself about her orientation by the end of ep 1 but shrugs off the question as just being unimportant.
# What’s interesting for me about this is that her reasons start off with not liking him as being a member of the AD Police, and eventually evolves into a clear statement that she has no intention of “sharing a bed with him”, which she tells him to his face.
# Some people might be confused by the fact that she does positively comment about him as being “quite a guy” in a scene following the final blow off, but I think it’s primarily motivated by her willingness to respect him as a person since he didn’t hold a grudge. I don’t think the comment was a trigger that she was doing a reevaluation of romantic possibilities with him.

The Priss and Sylvie “thing”:
# In the course of a couple of days, she falls into what can only be described as an intense dating situation with Sylvie, if her own flirting comments and everyone else’s assessment of their relationship can be put together as a complete picture.
# She’s so distraught over the killing of Sylvie that she quits the Knight Sabers.

Sylia: Stylishly classy, sexy and brilliant leader of the Knight Sabers (and a personal favorite of the original four!)
# Intentionally the most mysterious of the Sabers personality-wise. Some speculate she may actually be a boomer which I’m rather neutral about. I think she’s a cool character whether or not she’s human. And I think she giggles too much for someone who is supposed to be completely cold hearted.
# No love interest (or history for that matter) that’s detailed. She’s also distinctively quiet about the matter in terms of herself when the other Sabers discuss romantic topics in front of her. Largo’s an open to interpretation that I choose to interpret “not” (I’m counting “Crash!” as a separate universe.)
# For an incredibly wealthy woman who is also a brilliant scientist and mercenary fighter, she has a hobby of running a lingerie shop?
# Her overall aura is that of high class sexiness but she doesn’t seem to be wearing the stuff for any particular person (sorry, brother Mackie doesn’t count even though he tries.) The only people who see her in her civilian garb on a regular basis are the Sabers (all women) and her clientele (presumably all women.) So if she’s dressing to impress and/or provide eye-candy to women, then that puts her in the Lesbian category for me.
# Her mole guy Fargo clearly has a thing for Sylia, and it’s clearly not mutual given that she almost broke his fingers when he made a move on her. It may be true that they had a long standing “relationship” but that doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual.

The Sylia and Priss thing:
# I’ve noticed that even though she seems to genuinely care about the Sabers as a whole, she and Priss say and do things that clearly have deep emotional impact. They also have a priority on coming to each other’s rescue in fights.
# She shows an cool interest in meeting Sylvie only after Nene gushes about how much the other woman has clicked with Priss. One could interpret this as wanting to assess a threat to her team members. I think there could also be an underlying current of jealousy over someone who could impress Priss so quickly and completely.
# She accurately reads Priss’s grief over Sylvie and goes to her trailer to talk to her in one of the most emotionally touching scenes in the whole series between the Sabers.
# In “Double Vision”, Priss in Sylia’s apartment by herself and in her underwear. True, she’s trying to take off a cast from her broken arm and one can argue that the only place she would have access to such equipment is Sylia’s. But did she need to be in her underwear (and by herself) to do this? It speaks of someone who has open access to Sylia’s home when the latter is not around.
# And is it just me or did Priss and Sylie wear a butch/femme version of the same style outfit when they sat next to each other at Vision’s concert?
# Do I really think they’re a couple? Honestly, not really by what’s actually shown. But I do think there’s a chemistry and deeper devotion, that if the right writers wanted to explore the concept, it wouldn’t be much of a leap.

Linna: Aerobics instructor by day, green Knight Saber by night, and Priss’s hang-out “buddy” when opportunity permits
# Supposedly the most straight of all the Sabers, actively dating men although she’s quick to dump them for whatever reasons are convenient for the moment.
# However, she’s the one who wears the suspenders and tie as one of her trademark outfits. But again, clothes don’t make the orientation. I just find the contrast interesting, and it was probably intentional.
# Of all of the Knight Saber pairing dynamics for her, she is clearly the closest to Priss. This is significantly shown in their private dinner scene in ep 2, which has a distinct feeling of domesticity (either exes or really old friends.) Though they do hang around the most with each other, there is a differently level of intensity in their interactions than Priss has with Sylia.
# Even though Linna gets almost as much screen time with other non-Saber women as Priss, I honestly don’t see any lesbian interest going on EXCEPT:
# There’s this symbolic interchange where she puts the engagement ring of Reika’s dead sister on Reika’s hand. Now read that sentence again without the words “of Reika’s dead sister”.
# At the Vision concert, she has an awfully intense stare at Reika on the stage (the camera even does a close-up on her for this effect.)

Nene: AD Police dispatcher and pink Knight Saber. Cute and immature to annoyance.
# Of all the Sabers, she’s clearly the most romantically inclined, exuding the attention span and focus of a girl whose ideas of relationships seemed to be formed by glamour mags and romance novels.
# While clearly on the look out for a boyfriend, she turns down Leon’s invite to an after work dinner. In later scenes with Leon, she does show a distinct awareness of their work relationship as him being the higher ranking officer. Leon apparently doesn’t care about these boundaries. (After all, he’s also deluding himself with chasing a woman he thinks may be a lesbian.)
# Can’t help but gush about how gorgeous Sylvie is, as well as commenting on Sylvie’s quick and intense relationship with Priss — which shows this girl’s not blind to lesbian options.
# She and Mackie have a clearly good working relationship, which hints to progressing into something more by the end of the final ep, “Scoop Chase.” There is also a previous “cute” moment of her falling asleep on his shoulder (much to his embarrassment when noticed by Sylia.)

Sylvie: A Sexaroid — um, “Recreational Boomer” — on the run who quickly becomes Priss’s “friend”
# Only two people have significant meaning to her: Anri and Priss.
# Sylvie’s life of crime is motivated by her need to take care of a wounded Anri. Given her guilt level over the murders, it shows her devotion to the other woman.
# I did think it was interesting that she never introduced Anri, much less mentioned her, to Priss before her death. (It almost smells of someone who’s having an affair.)

Anri: Another Recreational Boomer, who’s on the run with Sylvie.
# Sylvie is the most important person to her.
# After Sylvie’s death, Anri hooks up with Largo to avenge her. An interesting act for such an otherwise timid and passive character, which in turns shows her own devotion to Sylvie.

Reika: The mysterious singer Vision, and leader in training of a powerful underworld family.
# Reika’s one of those characters I tried to really like but she was such a timid whiner that my patience wouldn’t allow for it.
# No romantic interest. Sorry, I don’t count her bodyguard and adviser Kou. But she’s so overwhelmed with grief that’s it’s understandable that she wouldn’t be seeing anyone in that state of mind. Although I would like her to be a lesbian, I don’t have high hopes for it (at least not in this universe.)
# She does have a cameo in the final ep in a movie with clear romantic scenes with a man. But keep in mind, this is called “acting.”

Lisa: The reporter in training and niece of the AD Police chief.
# I just had to comment about her because she shows up on other sites as being paired with Nene.
# I honestly don’t see any romantic interest of any sort for this character, also given her teenage and somewhat immature mentality. Her priority is exposing the Knight Sabers, by way of Nene. (And the latter woman clearly views her as a “little sister”.)
# Potential is there, but like Reika, I wouldn’t hold my breath for it.