Bubblegum Crisis

Bubblegum Crisis
Company type	OVA series
Industry	Animation, Entertainment
Predecessor	Techno Police 21C (inspiration)
Founded	1987
Defunct	1991
Headquarters	Japan
Products	Original video animation series

is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series in the cyberpunk genre, produced between 1987 and 1991 by Youmex, with animation handled by Anime International Company (AIC) and Artmic.

The storyline centers on the Knight Sabers, a female-led mercenary group outfitted with advanced powered exoskeleton suits, who confront various dangers including malfunctioning robots. The series’ commercial popularity paved the way for multiple follow-up installments.

Plot

Taking place in late 2032, the story unfolds seven years after the Second Great Kantō earthquake, which caused significant geographical and cultural divisions within Tokyo. In this future Japan, the United States has annexed the country to restore stability amid escalating disorder.

The plot explores the deepening gap between rich and poor, alongside the difficulties faced by law enforcement agencies, which are impeded by bureaucratic conflicts, procedural delays, and restricted funding.

The main adversary is Genom, a dominant multinational corporation known for producing "boomers"—synthetic cyborgs engineered to assist humans but frequently misused as lethal instruments. The AD Police ("Advanced Police") serve as the force responsible for addressing crimes involving Boomers.

Setting

This series takes strong inspiration from movies such as Blade Runner and Streets of Fire, with its opening credits sequence directly influenced by the latter. The design of humanoid robots ("boomers") draws on iconic cinematic cyborgs including replicants from Blade Runner, characters from the Terminator series, and the Beast featured in Krull.

In a 1993 interview, Toshimichi Suzuki described the title "Bubblegum Crisis" as a metaphor for a fragile world on the verge of collapse—akin to a bubblegum bubble about to burst.

Production

The concept originated from Toshimichi Suzuki’s desire to remake the 1982 film Techno Police 21C. In 1985, Suzuki met Junji Fujita, leading to their collaboration on what became Bubblegum Crisis. Character designs for the four female protagonists were created by Kenichi Sonoda, while Masami Ōbari contributed mechanical designs and directed episodes five and six. Satoshi Urushihara acted as chief production supervisor and guest character designer for episode seven.

The OVA consists of eight episodes produced independently, each ranging in length from approximately 26 to 52 minutes.

A widespread misconception holds that the series was initially intended to run for thirteen episodes but was curtailed due to legal or financial complications. This notion has been mentioned in various forums and media outlets such as Anime News Network and Otaku USA. However, interviews with production personnel and official commentaries refute this claim. Hideki Kakinuma, production designer, clarified in the 2018 Animeigo release commentary that no overarching series plan existed at the outset; instead, each episode was created as a standalone project. Director Katsuhito Akiyama also recounted difficulties stemming from this lack of a long-term blueprint, noting uncertainty about episode count made continuation challenging. Neither AIC president Tōru Miura nor other staff members referenced any legal or monetary issues impacting production. Akiyama described the process overall as "enjoyable."

Cast

Principal cast
Character	Japanese Voice Actor	English Voice Actor
Character	Japanese Voice Actor	Southwynde Studios
Sylia Stingray	Yoshiko Sakakibara	Jemila Ericson
Priscilla "Priss" Asagiri	Kinuko Ōmori	Sinda Nichols
Linna Yamazaki	Michie Tomizawa	Elizabeth Becka
Nene Romanova	Akiko Hiramatsu	Susan Grillo
Mackie Stingray	Nozomu Sasaki	Frank Trimble
Daley Wong	Kenyu Horiuchi	Marshall Caroll
Leon McNichol	Toshio Furukawa	Brad Moranz
Brian J. Mason	Shūichi Ikeda	Eric Paisley
Largo	Kazuyuki Sogabe	Pierre Brulatour
Quincy Rosenkreutz	Kiyoshi Kawakubo	J. David Arnold
Chief Todo	Masaharu Satō	David Kraus
Fargo	Koichi Yamadera	Geoffrey Honaker

Supporting cast
#	Character	Japanese Voice Actor	English Voice Actor
#	Character	Japanese Voice Actor	Southwynde Studios
1	Chopper 3 Pilot		David Kraus
	AD Police Communicator		Barbara Lewis
	Commander Swarz	Teiji Ōmiya	Michael S. Way
	Young Sylia Stingray (child)		Loren Mash
	Young Mackie Stingray (child)		Michael Sinterniklaas
	Katsuhito Stingray	Hiroya Ishimaru	Kevin Dowling
	Bogey	Yusaku Yara	Marc Matney
	Retort	Keiichi Nanba	Marc Garber
	F.G. Frederick	Jūrōta Kosugi	Clifton Daniel
	Deputy Commander	Shinya Ōtaki	Patt Noday
	Checkpoint Guard	Michitaka Kobayashi	Steve Rassin
	Cynthia	Hiroko Kasahara	Maryann Webb
	Female Boomer	Urara Takano	Belinda Bizic-Keller

2	Irene Chang	Miki Itō	Jean Hrdlicka
	Company Man 1		Matt Sullivan
	Company Man 2		Sean Clay
	AD Police Officer	Masaaki Okamura	Michael Sinterniklaas
	Female Boomer Vocals	Urara Takano
	Guard		Nathan Gray

3	Manager	Ikuya Sawaki	Mick McGovern
	Shou	Kyōko Hamura	Ted Davis
	Shou's Mother	Minori Matsushima	Amy Parrish
	Funk	Daisuke Gōri	Marc Matney

4	Dr. Raven	Kenichi Ogata	Michael Titterton
	J.B. Gibson	Kaneto Shiozawa	Zach Hanner
	Naomi Anderson	Mayumi Shō	Mindi L. Lyons
	Outrider	Michitaka Kobayashi	Patt Noday

5	Anri	Yūko Mizutani	Katherine Kopec-Burton
	Sylvie	Yoshino Takamori	Martha Ellen Senseney
	Kaufman	Ikuya Sawaki	Chuck Kinlaw
	Flint	Shinya Ōtaki	Jon Guttman
	Captain	Michitaka Kobayashi	Jay Bryson
	Lou	Yumi Tōma	Tammy Starling
	Meg	Tomoko Maruo	Hadley Eure
	Nam	Megumi Hayashibara	Belinda Bizic-Keller
	Captain	Michitaka Kobayashi	Jay Bryson
	Doctor	Motomu Kiyokawa	Tom Holmes

6	Kate	Urara Takano	Emily Young-Keeley
	Callahan	Shinya Ōtaki	Steve Vernon
	Executive 1	Ikuya Sawaki	Sean Clay
	Executive 2	Kōzō Shioya	Nicolas Bottom
	Boomer	Michitaka Kobayashi	Zach Hanner

7	Reika Chang	Maiko Hashimoto	Mindi L. Lyons
	Kou	Yasunori Matsumoto	Zach Hanner
	Richard McLaren	Ikuya Sawaki	Eddie Harrell
	Gulf and Bradley Chairman	Masashi Hirose	Timothy J. Walsh
	Yamada	Michitaka Kobayashi	Gray Sibley
	Staffer	Katsumi Suzuki	Kevin Reilly
	Interviewer	Yumi Tōma	Joyce Leigh Bowden
	Mr. Chang	Eken Mine	Mark Fincannon

8	Lisa Vanetta	Aya Hisakawa	Amy Parrish
	Naoko	Junko Asami	Belinda Bizic-Keller
	Miriam Yoshida	Issei Futamata	Dick Bunting
	Ebisu Operator	Kenichi Ono	Eliot Preschutti
	Ebisu President	Hideyuki Umezu	David Long
	Ebisu Worker	Michitaka Kobayashi	Jay Bryson
	AD Police Receptionist	Chisa Yokoyama	Amanda Tancredi

Additional voices

English: Amanda Tancredi, Chuck Denson Jr., Chuck Kinlaw, David Kraus, Eliot Preschutti, Gray Sibley, Hadley Eure, Hank Troscianiec, J. Patrick Lawlor, Jack Bowden, Jay Bryson, Kevin Reilly, Marc Garber, Marc Matney, Michael Sinterniklaas, Scott Simpson, Sean Clay, Sophia Tolar, Steve Lalla, Steve Rassin, Steve Vernon, Zach Hanner

Release

In 1991, AnimEigo introduced Bubblegum Crisis to the North American market through VHS and Laserdisc formats, offering the series in its original Japanese audio accompanied by English subtitles. This release was notable as one of the initial anime titles imported from Japan without edits and with subtitles during a period when anime maintained a niche status in North America. Throughout the 1990s, the series was broadcast on various U.S. channels including PBS affiliate Superstation KTEH, and later appeared on STARZ!'s Action Channel in 2000.

Starting in 1994, AnimEigo produced an English-language dub at Southwynde Studios located in Wilmington, NC, which was distributed via VHS and Laserdisc. A digitally remastered DVD edition featuring bilingual audio tracks and additional content was released in 2004. In November 2013, AnimEigo launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Subsequently, a standard Blu-ray version became available on September 25, 2018. Presently, the series can be streamed on Night Flight Plus.

Soundtracks

The franchise boasts eight soundtrack albums—each corresponding to one OVA—and several vocal albums that include songs either inspired by or directly featured in the series.

Reception

Bubblegum Crisis has been met with predominantly favorable critiques. Raphael See from THEM Anime Reviews assigned it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, commending its animation quality, musical score, and comedic elements while pointing out shortcomings in the English dub, character depth, and plot coherence. He also remarked on inconsistent episode quality, noting that some installments omit important details.

Tim Henderson of Anime News Network gave the series an A− grade, praising aspects such as animation, soundtrack, narrative, and character development. He observed that the series progressively improves over time, with the concluding episodes standing out as the strongest.

Legacy

Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi, both contributors to the Bubblegum Crisis OVAs, acknowledge the series as a source of inspiration for their harem-themed franchise Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. In an interview with AIC, Hayashi described Bubblegum Crisis as "a rather somber anime" characterized by intense combat sequences and intricate relationships set against the backdrop of a dark Mega Tokyo. Although they contemplated incorporating comedic episodes such as hot springs visits to lighten the tone, this idea was ultimately rejected by sponsors. Hayashi noted a recurring theme involving multiple characters of one gender paired with a single character of the opposite gender and suggested making Mackey (Sylia's brother) the protagonist instead—a reversal of the original concept. This notion eventually developed into the character Tenchi, partially modeled after Mackey.

Kevin Siembieda renamed his power armor in the Rifts RPG from "Boom Gun" to Glitter Boy after learning that "Boomers" was already designated for this series.

Additional installments

The three-episode OVA AD Police Files, created by Youmex and animated by Artmic and AIC in 1990, serves as a prequel set within the original Bubblegum Crisis universe.
The 1991 follow-up, Bubblegum Crash, depicts the Knight Sabers after their disbandment as they face fresh challenges.
A reboot titled Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 aired from 1998 to 1999, encompassing 26 episodes.
Released in 1999, A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve is a 12-episode prequel to the Tokyo 2040 series.
The 2003 three-part OVA Parasite Dolls, produced by AIC, takes place following the events of the original OVA series.

Cross-franchise appearances

In 1993, Bubblegum Crisis was featured in the crossover event Scramble Wars, alongside Gall Force, Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, AD Police, and Riding Bean. More recently, in 2023, its theme track "Konya Wa Hurricane" was included in the show Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

Role-playing games

The Bubblegum Crisis RPG was developed by R. Talsorian Games. This version introduces an alternate timeline called "Bubblegum Crossfire," where hardsuit blueprints have proliferated beyond Sylia Stingray’s control, resulting in numerous Knight Saber-like teams worldwide by 2033. The license with RTG has since expired, and remaining stock has been sold out.
- "Bubblegum Crisis: Before and After" covers content from both A.D. Police Files and Bubblegum Crash!
- "Bubblegum Crisis EX" offers additional material along with early design sketches for BGC mecha and hardsuits.

Novels

Toshimichi Suzuki, the series’ creator, penned two novels:

Bubblegum Crisis Vol. 1: Silent Fanfare, published by Fujimi Shobo
Bubblegum Crisis Vol. 2: Break Down-48, also from Fujimi Shobo

Additionally, Hajime Shima authored a third novel titled Bubblegum Crisis Hard Metal Guardians, released in 2012.

Comics

Various Japanese manga expanded on the storyline through sequels, stand-alone stories, and comedic interpretations. Among notable creators is Kenichi Sonoda, who originally designed the Knight Sabers. In North America, Dark Horse Comics published an English-language comic adaptation.

Go! Go! Sabers!, by Tokio Kazuka
AD. Police: 25:00, created by Tony Takezaki
Soldier Blue, a prequel to Bubblegum Crash! written by Toshimichi Suzuki; it was also adapted into an audio drama and translated into English by R.Talsorian Games in 1997
Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal, produced by Adam Warren under Dark Horse Comics

Video games

The PC-88 title Crime Wave is set in Megatokyo and features the Knight Sabers as protagonists.
A TurboGrafx-16 game titled Bubblegum Crash was also released.

Live-action adaptation

In May 2009, a live-action film adaptation of Bubblegum Crisis entered preliminary production after securing a deal at the Cannes Film Festival. The project had an estimated budget of $30 million with intentions for a late 2012 release. Original anime staff members such as Shinji Aramaki and Kenichi Sonoda were involved as consultants to ensure fidelity to the source material. Since then, no further progress has been publicly reported.

External links