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BGC/Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

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Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040バブルガムクライシス TOKYO 2040Baburugamu Kuraishisu TOKYO 2040

Genre Cyberpunk, Science fiction, Mecha, Action, Adventure
Anime series: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Directed by

Hiroki Hayashi

Studio

AIC

Licensor

United States AD Vision

Network
Original run

October 8, 1998 — March 31, 1999

No. of episodes

26

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (バブルガムクライシス TOKYO 2040, Baburugamu Kuraishisu TOKYO 2040, a.k.a. BGC: 2040) is an alternate-universe spinoff of the original Bubblegum Crisis anime OVA series, with similar themes, but updated character designs and new or re-worked storylines.

Anime International Company obtained the rights to the series when Artmic dissolved in November of 1997. Although the original series had not sold well in its initial run in Japan, it had done rather well in the US market of the early 1990s, being one of the earliest works of anime to be commercially subtitled there. The US anime-importing company ADV Films funded the creation of an all new Bubblegum Crisis. BGC 2040, as it became known, ran for 24 TV episodes and two OVAs (episodes 25 and 26). Due to personality conflicts with AIC staff and anger over their treatment in the original series, two key personnel from the original series - singer/voice actress Kinuko Ōmori and character designer Kenichi Sonoda - refused to participate.

Bubblegum Crisis 2040 has many interesting technological innovations 'in the background', such as the skyhook. Near the end of the series, an event similar to technological singularity is shown.

In 2002, a direct sequel was announced: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2041 by A.D. Vision, although no official announcements on the subject have been made since then. [1]

Contents

Characters

There are some differences in the characters' backgrounds for BGC 2040 than in the original series. See also Category:Bubblegum Crisis characters for more in-depth profiles.

Priscilla Sonoda Asagiri (プリス・S・アサギリ, Purisu S. Asagiri)
Priss, as she is most often called, has proved to be the Knight Sabers' strongest member, specializing in heavy assault. She, the same as Priss in the OVA series, is a vocalist of an underground rock band and lives in the slums of the town. She spends most of her time in a trailer truck that she calls home, practicing with her band, Sekiria (whose other members are Maxon, Jade and Fox), holding gigs and riding her precious motorcycle. And as in the OVA, she is the object of romantic admiration to the hulking, Herculean AD Policeman Leon McNichol, whom she initially loathes and mocks, but slowly falls in love with as the series progresses.
Her inner motives in joining the Knight Sabers or how she became one of its members are unclear. However, her hatred for members of the AD Police are explained in the later part of the series, which solely lies on the fact that the factory where she lived was destroyed and her favorite CD was broken by the dispatched AD police.
Priss is a girl who has no social graces or delicacy, a distrustful loner with the habit of emotionally isolating herself from others. Teamwork does not seem to be a part of her vocabulary, as shown in her aggressive and decisive style of combat. She is rarely seen with her fellow Knight Sabers, and shrugs every opportunity to be with them or to be close to them. She warms up to them a little as the series unfolds, but she still prefers to keep a fair amount of distance between them and herself, and she is vehemently protective of her privacy. Priss is distinctively hard to read as a person; little signs of change in her personality or even her facial contortions are the only way people can tell she wants something, such as wanting Linna to join the team, and admitting her feelings towards Leon.
Sylia Stingray (シリア・スティングレイ, Shiria Sutingurei)
An enigmatic billionaire, and the founder of the Knight Sabers. Sylia used to engage in combat with boomers, but was persuaded to be ground support after the recruitment of Nene and Priss. Sylia is the daughter of Dr. Katsuhito Stingray, the man who invented Boomers, and her brain patterns were used to make both the Boomers and the hardsuits. She sees Boomers as an abomination, as her mother did. Her lover is Nigel Kirkland, a sullen mechanic who was an engineer on the Boomer project, and he also helped her design and build the hard suits. Their relationship starts off quite slow, as Nigel doesn't even seen to show any interest in her. However the love she has for him is without question.
In one episode she changed from her current clothes to an extremely skimpy dress just to get his attention (which it didn't). Sylia believes greatly in showing off women's "lovely figure", so she sells and offers low-cut dresses to show off women's bodies, which she seems to be an expert on as she has often analyzed the Knight sabers cheek bones, skin tone, and their bodies at times. Sylia has a younger brother of sorts, named Mackey. Sylia runs the upscale clothing boutique Silky Doll, which serves as a front for the Knight Sabers HQ. Sylia is extremely mentally unstable and is prone to emotional outbursts of anger, she constantly suffers flashbacks and most stem from her extremely complicated and disturbing childhood involving her mother's death and her father's twisted experiments.
Linna Yamazaki (リンナ・ヤマザキ, Rinna Yamazaki)
Linna is a farm girl who came to Megatokyo with the goal of becoming a Knight Saber after reading about them on the Internet, and also to get away from her overbearing family. She works as an OL for the Hugh-Geit Corporation, where she is constantly harassed by her bosses. Linna is a very positive, friendly, outgoing person with high ideals and dreams of helping people, much like a superhero would. However, she is very defensive of both herself and others. She forms a close knit big sister/little sister relationship with Nene. If Sylia is the brains of the outfit, Nene the youth, and Priss the brawn, then Linna would most likely be the heart and soul of the team. In high school she was a track and field star and as well as an all around very durable athlete, and her athleticism is a great addition to the Knight Sabers team.
Linna was originally believed to be a lesbian due to her odd draw to Priss in the beginning of the series. However, it was later shown that she is attracted to men when her parents arranged a would-be husband for her when she briefly returned to her parents' home to visit; her feelings towards Priss were most likely a sense of rivalry, as Linna proudly competed with Priss to try proving she was equal to, if not better than Priss at being a Knight Saber.
Nene Romanova (ネネ・ロマノーヴァ, Nene Romanōva)
A perky and naïve hacker who is employed as an operator for the AD Police, and is also a member of the Knight Sabers. Nene does little fighting and focuses on sensor ops, battlefield communications, ECM and ECCM. She likes to pester Leon in much the same fashion that a little sister would, which he barely grudgingly tolerates because he occasionally asks favors of her. She has an affinity for candy and junk food, and later forms a romantic relationship with Mackey, Sylia's younger "brother." In one episode, she (with Leon's assistance) hijacks the broadcast signal informing the city of the Boomer crisis- a rather fictional instance of broadcast signal intrusion.
Nene is an absolute genius when it comes to computers; she was actually recruited by Sylvia when she was hacking into Sylia's computer in trying to find information on the Knight Sabers, much like Linna. Though she is of mature age, Nene acts like anything but an eighteen year-old. She is very playful with Leon, and though she is quite confident in her own skills, she resorts to childish whimpers or sounds when distressed (even temper tantrums when Priss mocks her fighting capabilities). Ironically, Nene's biggest desire is to be treated more like an adult, demanding not to be called a kid, and even making Mackey call her "ma'am" despite the slim difference in their age range.
Leon McNichol (レオン・マクニコル, Reon Makunikoru)
Leon is a frustrated, bad-tempered but dedicated cop, with a tendency to rush in without thinking- a stark contrast to his friendly, good-natured, albeit cocky persona in the original series. Having worked his way up from the normal police and with his heart essentially in the right place, Leon sees himself as the sheriff who has to protect the locals from harm, and initially does not take kindly to the vigilante presence of the Knight Sabers, but later begins to reconsider the feeling. Leon reluctantly plays surrogate big brother to computer whiz Nene Romanova, mostly because he sometimes needs to ask her for a favor. He has a crush on Priss, which she does not like since she has reasons to despise the AD Police. As the series progresses he discovers that she is a Knight Saber, but does nothing with that knowledge. Priss and Leon's relationship grows closer during the series, and near the end of the series, she confesses that she loves him.
Daley Wong (デイリー・ウォン, Dirī Won)
Daley is Leon's partner, and a highly skilled investigator. Daley is also ambiguously homosexual, in contrast with his BGC self, who is openly homosexual. Leon's partner and aide-de-camp. The emotional opposite of Leon, Daley is more inclined to use his brains than his brawn and seems to be the only member of the ADP who is actively questioning the rather contradictory nature of their relationship with the Knight Sabers. Although Daley is gay, his friendship with Leon is completely based upon their working relationship and a big-brotherly affection, although in one episode he does get rather upset and suspicious when he learns that Leon had been inquiring about Priss from Nene and had not shared this with him.
Nigel Kirkland (ナイジェル・カークランド, Naijeru Kākurando)
A former engineer now working as a mechanic, he worked on the boomer project with Sylia's father and Brian J. Mason, and later he helped Sylia design and build the hard suits, which he also maintains when not running his garage. He is also Sylia's lover, but he is too quiet and sullen (also known as "man of a thousand grunts") and cut off to express any deep feelings for her, though towards the end of the series he begins to show more tenderness towards her. Mackey becomes his protege and one of the few people Nigel can honestly call a friend. Priss is infatuated with him in the beginning, but he does not show any sign of being aware of how she feels.
Mackey Stingray (マッキー・スティングレイ, Makkī Sutingurei)
Sylia's younger brother, a naïve, inquisitive and extremely awkward young man who loves machinery and computers. He forms a close relationship with Nene, but there is more to him than meets the eye, as he is a actually a human/Boomer hybrid, who was created from Sylia.
Brian J. Mason (ブライアン・メイスン, Buraian Meisun)
A ruthless corporate shark, he turns out to be a genocidal madman who believes that the human race has hit its peak and should give the Earth to the Boomers. Worked on the Boomer project with Sylia's father and Nigel Kirkland. He adopts Galatea and tries to use her, but she makes him into a Boomer and fuses him into a wall to be hung up high above Megatokyo.
Quincy Rosencreutz (クインシー・ローゼンクロイツ, Kuinshī Rōzenkuroitsu)
A chairman of GENOM. He wants humans and Boomers to live in peace and harmony, and while he suspects Mason's conspiracies, he is overconfident in his ability to control and maintain Mason. His body has decayed badly, but he fears implants too much and opts instead for tubes and wires to keep him alive. He is killed by Mason's secretary, who pulls out a vital cord to his life-support system.
Meisio Henderson (メイシオ・ヘンダーソン, Meishio Hendāson)
Sylia's butler. He is to her what Alfred is to Batman/Bruce Wayne. He is a kindly old man who fears for Sylia's safety, and refuses to leave her side when the times get tough.
Nick Roland (ニック・ローランド, Nikku Rōrando)
The grumpy, cantankerous AD Police Chief, Leon and Daley's boss in other words. He has a tendency to shout at Leon when things don't go the way they should, but the two have a deep respect for one another. Though not the young man he once was, he can still handle himself very well in the midst of a Boomer crisis.

Kusui

Mr. Kusui was introduced as a double-agent inside GENOM, passing on information to Sylia in exchange for money. It was later shown he was working for Mason at the same time, assisting him in his quest to find Galatea, and carrying out acts such as rigging a military Boomer to go rogue. He is outspokenly willing to sell his services to the highest bidder and has no ethics. His last act was to inform Sylia about the Galatea search on Mason's orders, so she could find it for him; he was then murdered on Mason's orders.
Galatea (ガラテア, Garatea)
Galatea is a secret boomer project by Sylia's father and eventually, the main antagonist. She first appears to be a younger version of Sylia, but after she becomes evil, her hair becomes black and she appears to age to about Sylia's age. She has many thematic parallels with Pygmalion's Galatea.

Hardsuits

Priss' Hardsuit
Priss' Hardsuit is specifically designed for the alley-style, hit and run fighting tactics she prefers. Her suit's main weapon is a set of "concussion gloves". These are essentially focused grenades or land mines on the ends of her arms, with which she beats against a Boomer until she can tear inside where its heart remains and destroy it from the inside out. Until Linna's arrival, Priss was the primary combatant of the team and it is her suit that is used in Linna's first test simulation.

Linna's Hardsuit

Linna's hardsuit is a military green color accented with red and orange trim, and is extremely maneuverable. As the newest suit of the group, it has some of the most advanced features, including a pair of long, ribbon-like cutters that can slice through almost anything. This newness is a double-edged sword however, for it fails on its first mission with almost tragic consequences for its owner. Linna's suit also has armored gauntlets, but she does not carry the heavy artillery "concussor pack" that Priss' suit has.

Nene's Hardsuit

Designed more for field support and data acquisition than for combat, Nene's hardsuit is an unusual pinkish-red and purple. Her weaponry includes a railgun that can shoot metal spikes into her opponents, armored gauntlets and an incredibly powerful computer system and scanner array that lets her handle almost any field intelligence operations required of her. Eventually her suit is upgraded with several automatic functions that greatly increase her ability as a fighter.

Sylia's Hardsuit

As Sylia does not engage in actual combat as often as the other Knight Sabers, her Hardsuit is not seen often. However, when Sylia does get down and dirty, she does it with a vengeance. Her hardsuit is equipped with retractable knife blades that she uses to inflict fatal damage to any boomer who makes the mistake of getting too close to her, and her combat style is even more savage and brutal than Priss'. Her suit is primarily a silver/grey color with teal and pink accents.

Episode List

Each episode title was named after a rock/punk song. Many of these are album titles. (A proposed list of bands is below - none of these songs were played in the episodes themselves.)

  1. Can't Buy a Thrill (by Steely Dan)
  2. Fragile (by Yes; Sting; Nine Inch Nails)
  3. Keep Me Hanging On (by The Supremes; Vanilla Fudge; Rod Stewart)
  4. Machine Head (by Deep Purple; Bush; also the name of a thrash metal band)
  5. Rough and Ready (by Jeff Beck)
  6. Get It On (by T. Rex)
  7. Look at Yourself (by Uriah Heep)
  8. Fire Ball(by Deep Purple)
  9. My Nation Underground (by Julian Cope)
  10. Woke Up With a Monster (by Cheap Trick)
  11. Sheer Heart Attack (by Queen)
  12. Made In Japan (by Deep Purple)
  13. Atom Heart Mother (by Pink Floyd)
  14. Shock Treatment (by The Ramones)
  15. Minute By Minute (by The Doobie Brothers)
  16. I Surrender (by Cheap Trick)
  17. Moving Waves (by Focus)
  18. We Built This City (by Jefferson Starship)
  19. Are You Experienced? (by Jimi Hendrix)
  20. One of These Nights (by The Eagles)
  21. Close to The Edge (by Yes)
  22. Physical Graffiti (by Led Zeppelin)
  23. Hydra (by Toto)
  24. Light My Fire (by The Doors)
  25. Walking on the Moon (by The Police)
  26. Still Alive & Well (by Johnny Winter)

Music

Opening Theme

  • "y'know"
    Lyrics by: Akira Sudou
    Composition by: SAGE KOIZUMI
    Arranged by: Koichi Korenaga
    Song by: Priss S. Asagiri (Yu Asakawa)

Ending Theme

  • "Waiting for you"
    Lyrics and Composition by: Akira Sudou
    Arranged by: Koichi Korenaga
    Song by: Akira Sudou

Staff

  • Director: Hiroki Hayashi
  • Screenplay: Chiaki J. Konaka and Sadayuki Murai
  • Music: Koichi Korenaga
  • Original creator: Toshimichi Suzuki (Bubblegum Crisis)
  • Character Design: Hidenori Matsubara and Masaki Yamada
  • Art director: Shigemi Ikeda
  • Animation director: Junichi Takaoka, Kouji Aono and Masaki Yamada
  • Mecha design: Shinji Aramaki
  • Director of Photography: Masaaki Fujita
  • Producer: Hiroaki Inoue, Shigeaki Komatsu and Shoichi Kumabe
  • Animation Supervisor: Eiji Suganuma and Kazuto Nakazawa
  • Color design: Kouji Ootsuki
  • Editing: Hiroshi Ito and Masahiro Matsumura
  • Music producer: Keiichi Nozaki
  • Original Hard Suit Design: Kenichi Sonoda
  • Sound director: Yasunori Honda
  • Supervision: Akihiko Nishiyama
  • Theme Song Performance: Akira Sudou and Yuu Asakawa
  • Visual Director: Quichi Geoma

References

Template:Reflist

External links


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GenreCyberpunk  +, Science fiction  +, Mecha  +, Action  +, and Adventure  +
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