The original OVA series was eight episodes long. It was originally slated to run for thirteen episodes, but legal problems between the two studios who jointly held the rights to the series, Artmic[?] and Youmex[?], the series was discontinued. The problems may have been bought on by the series' lackluster sales in Japan.
Youmex proceeded to make a sequel, Bubblegum Crash[?] which ran three OVA episodes and is conjectured that it was a shortened version of how Crisis was to end. Artmic promptly sued Youmex, cutting Crash short and tying the entire series up in legal issues for the next several years.
The series involves the adventures of the Knight Sabers, an all woman group of vigilantes/mercenaries, who don powered armor and fight various problems, most frequently rogue Boomers. Boomers are humanoid robots designed to perform a variety of tasks, from construction and firefighting to combat; a particular model of Boomer, the BU-33s, is designed for sexual purposes.
One of the central themes of the series, showing its Blade Runner influence strongly, is the exploration of what “human” really means. As in Blade Runner, this is often done by using the mechanical characters, especially focusing on BU-33s.
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Crash was directed by a different team than Crisis, which naturally produced differences between the shows.
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 AIC obtained the rights to the series when Artmic dissolved in November of 1997. Although the original series had not sold well originally, it had done rather well in the US market of the early 1990, being one of the earliest works of anime to be commercially subtitled there. The US anime-importing company ADV[?] funded the creation of an all new Bubblegum Crisis, this time as an alternate-universe TV series which ran for 24 episodes and two OVAs.
Warning spoilers below
Note: all character information is for the original OVA series. There are some differences in character background for BGC 2040.
Original OVA voice actress: Yoshiko Sakakibara.
Bubblegum Crash voice actress: Yoshiko Sakakibara.
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actress: Yukino Satsuki
Original OVA voice actress: Hiramatsu Akiko
Bubblegum Crash voice actress: Hiramatsu Akiko
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actress: Hiroko Konishi
Original OVA voice actress: Tomizawa Michie
Bubblegum Crash voice actress: Tomizawa Michie
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actress: Rio Natsuki
Priss’ voice actress in the original OVA is, in real life, a singer in the rock band which did the music for Bubblegum Crisis.
Original OVA voice actress: Oomori Kinuko
Bubblegum Crash voice actress: Tachikawa Ryoko
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actress: Yuu Asakawa / singing Akira Sudou
Original OVA voice actor: Toshio Furukawa
Bubblegum Crash voice actor: Toshio Furukawa
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actor: Yanada Kiyoyuki
Original OVA voice actor: Kenyuu Horiuchi
Bubblegum Crash voice actor: Kenyuu Horiuchi
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actor: Ueda Yuuji
Original OVA voice actor: Shuuichi Ikeda. Largo: Kazuyuki Sogabe
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 voice actor: Nakata Jouji
Spin-offs of the popular series include a prequel series, AD Police Files, and a sequel, Bubblegum Crash!, as well as the AD Police television series, and several manga, comic books, and a Role Playing Game.
The original character design, was done by Kenichi Sonoda[?], a manga artist most known for his Gunsmith Cats[?] series.
Directors: Katsuhito Akiyama, and Hiroaki Goda.
Directors: Hiroshi Ishidori, Hiroyuki Fukushima
Produced by Youmex entertainment in Japan, translated and distributed in the US by AnimEigo[?].
(see also Knight Sabers, AD Police, Boomer, Genom[?], Megatokyo)
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