Well looky here, an episode of Bubblegum Crisis that ISN’T about the nefarious Genom corporation and their endless parade of killer robots. Am I still watching the same series? Did I click on the wrong thing on Night Flight?
No, I didn’t. (Seriously, I checked.) They just did something a little different this time. We all need to do something a little different sometimes. I’ve been doing the same shit for the past eighteen years, at least, and it hasn’t worked out that well, to be honest.
I digress.
This episode takes a detour into a story about a guy in a souped-up old car (an old car by 2033 standards, at least) who causes chaos on the streets when he tears out on a violent revenge kick against a motorcycle gang who attacked him and his girl awhile back. He’s like The Wraith, but not an alien from outer space. Rather, he’s a complete nutcase. He sits in a small, slummy apartment and shoots a fucking gun at the walls, annoying the sushi out of his neighbors. Even Travis Bickle wasn’t that inconsiderate.
To keep it cyberpunk, this script also throws in a twist in which the car eventually starts to act on its own after our revenge-seeker gets the bright idea to connect his brain to it via some sci-fi malarky machine.
Meanwhile, the girls are all back and full of wisecracks. They’re also broke because they haven’t gotten any work saving the world as The Knight Sabers for awhile. Genom’s been quiet. I guess even their band isn’t playing much anymore.
I miss those great scenes of Priss and The Replicants playing on stage from the first episode. How come this show doesn’t do that anymore? What the hell? I hope more are coming later.
The synthesizer music remains a lot of fun and the artwork is a knockout. There are lots of super-detailed renderings of motorcyle engines and rotating alternators and control panels here. These people gave a fuck.
Also, I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I love the quick cuts in this series to computer screens. They’re always full of information that goes by in a blip. For television and VHS viewers, it passed by in a second–just a bunch of goobledygook–but when you’re watching on DVD, Blu-ray or digital, you can take a crystal clear pause of that screen and see the meaningless text that flashes before your eyes and discover that…
They’re all goofball 80s references! There’s an earlier episode that has a moment in which the text on the screen is merely the cast of Top Gun. This one has a cut to a screen that namechecks some Madonna hits, Corey Hart and Beverly Hills Cop. There’s still another shot in which the words on the screen are just a bunch of David Sylvian lyrics.
Even though it’s set in 2033, Bubblegum Crisis IS the 80s. It embodies the 80s. The people who made this loved the glitter and glam of Western culture. This series is their response to it and they couldn’t help but make it a love letter.