I worked at M2K when we published the Bubblegum Crisis DVD box set in North America. We loved that series and it was the jewel in our crown at the time.
MJR and HCG need to a collaborative video. You two are both my favorite youtube personalities. Watching your videos three years ago inspired me to get back into gaming.
Jesus I'm subscribed to both for years now and I've only just found the series now and then I seen this review and then this comment and it just made me laugh I don't know what are your thoughts
Bubblegum Crisis changed my life. I was working a deadend job paycheck to paycheck and my friend invited me to a get together similar to yours where we all crowded around a tv to watch a vhs that had obviously been copied to the point of no return. What I saw blew my mind so much I resolved to quit my job, get a real career so I could save money to move to Japan, and learn Japanese so I could understand what I was watching ( no subs or dubs back then). Due to that I met my wife and achieved my dream. I’ve lived in Japan for 20 years now, and after becoming fluent I could finally understand what was going on 😊 Thank you BGC!
Ahh, the days when anime was special. Back then anime held something magical because it was so rare. If you came across a title at a mom and pop video store you knew you had to watch it. If you were lucky enough to come across an anime movie playing on TV, usually late at night, you'd watch. It was like catching a glimpse of a unicorn, you'd never know if you'd see another movie like it for a while. There wasn't sites to go to there wasn't stores that catered to anime or items from Japan and if there were they were incredibly few and far-between. Even the bad stuff holds a place in peoples hearts because it came at a time when the US was doing away with both weekday afternoon cartoons and saturday morning cartoons were being edged out by sports and news shows. Anime showed up at the right time, it filled a void for people who still wanted cool animation, but now the stories were more complicated, the characters were deeper and themes were more mature and the animation was more stylized. It was something that can't be replicated by anything else.
BGC is quite an influential classic, one of if not the more important cyberpunk anime's from the 80's/90's. It's wonderful to hear your passion about this because it's exactly how I felt when I watched it in my teens, still a wonderful series today and probably one of Kenichi Sonoda's best works.
Gotta thank you for making me discover BGC John. What an incredible anime... I am hooked. Ordered the blu-ray set and I have watched it 10 times by now The artstyle is exceptionnal, coloring is gorgeous and, as you said, the shading is nuts. In fact I don't himk I ever saw so many layers of shading in an anime. Oh and the chicks are drawn real well too B-)
I just finished "Bubblegum Crisis" a few minutes ago and just wanted to say thank you, Johnny for recommending this awesome anime. I'm a long time fan of yours but mecha anime have never really been my "go-to", however having caught up on my backlog of shows and looking for some good 80s/90s anime to watch I decided to give it a shot and I'm so happy that I did. I think I'll check out some of the other shows set in this universe, and also check out some more of your anime recommendations. Thanks again.
Man, that does bring back the memories. I had gotten into the anime scene in the late 80s (when I was a kid in the 60s you had Astroboy, Gigantor and the one I regularly watched, Speed Racer, but you didn't have the organized fans you had later), and had seen the ads from Animeigo for BGC (I recall $34.99 or 39.99 for a single OAV at the time; a bit out of my budget). A few years later I found an anime and game shop just north of Ohio State U called Neo Tokyo International; the guys running it were affiliated with the OSU Anime club, and were renting anime VHS and Japanese games. I joined soon after that and one of the early tapes I saw on the shelf was BGC. But here's the thing. I wasn't exactly enamored with the name "Bubblegum Crisis". Strangely, I fell into the trap of thinking that the name had a lot to do with the anime story. Granted, the writer of the series would explain about how the name reflects Japan's "bubble economy" and how he saw it as someone blowing a bubble out of bubblegum and the inevitable consequences. But I did eventually rent the first episode. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Enough that I ended up renting the entire series. When the series first came to DVD around 2000 or so I ended up getting it as well. I tried to get through the dubs that are on the DVDs but after a few minutes, went back to the Japanese original. I was just too used to hearing it in Japanese. But yeah, the series really screams 80s at you, from the style of the animation (aided and abetted by character designer Sonoda Kenichi, who also designed Gall Force and created Riding Bean, later reintroduced in his Gunsmith Cats manga) to the themes and heavy Bladerunner/Terminator influences. It just screams "classic". Hell, I should re-watch them tonight!
Yup Terminator and Blade Runner, that's part of what made me fall in love with this anime when I had first seen it. Sylia is like the female Tony Stark, minus being a douchebag lol. Freakin loved the music too.
Loving these stories of the late 80s/early 90s period when game importing, anime etc were such niche stuff yet you were still into them. What do you think of modern anime? Many people seem to think that the anime industry started catering too much to otakus in 2000s with all the shows like Lucky Star. Do you agree with that notion?
No doubt. I watch very little anime, but when ever I look at 80s/early 90s stuff, it's some dark cyberpunk/sci-fi thing with great old school animation. The prominent shows/movies of the day that I've seen are visually and tonally much closer Western comics/adult animation of the time (realistically proportioned human characters, slower pacing, not as much of giant eyes&rainbow colored spiky hair etc), so they aren't as off putting for the uninitiated. The same could be said of older Japanese video games. They were inspired alot by American movies, so the character designs were more realistic and the games looked more gritty. But during late 90s "anime aesthethic" started seeping into video games, and it started alienating some gamers. Compare old school shoot em ups with Death Smiles and Touhou (loli girls), Castlevania 4 with Dawn of Sorrow, Street Fighter 2, Streets of Rage and King of Fighters with BlazBlue, Tactics Ogre with Disgaea and so on.
In the old days, the line between a "good" anime and an "average" anime was a lot more blurred than it was now, because anime was still fresh and new to most people so there was a LOT more stuff that you just hadn't seen before. Now with modern anime there's just so MUCH of it, there's a huge gulf between good and average! And a lot of it tries to be "big budget" and have that clean sleek CGI look, to capture the otaku interest, so it all starts to run together. Really I think Cowboy Bebop was the last great "retro" anime show, and then the Internet took off and the otaku culture EXPLODED, like it became huge and all these manga and visual novel adaptations started to launch. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 show) was to me the one that really kicked off the new "era" of anime, and it's a fantastic series, but a lot of new anime is more derivative than ever before.
Good anime still exists…its just not the same thrill of finding the holy grail because searching on the internet is so much easier than hunting through import shops and second hand tapes….but then again the real *classics* seem to be one-offs in anime and derivative crap is taking over big time.
There are focus groups for animation, it's a medium and really huge in Japan (obviously), so huge that there's something for everyone. So while "good anime still exists" it's also true that there are genres meant for certain people, and what we all see as good is greatly varied due to that. I for one love finding good psychological anime since they are of the only genre I can binge watch.
I was 7 and my brother was in the navy, stationed in Japan, and sent home a care package with anime. It was all in Japanese, no subtitles....and I watched it all....it was f*ing amazing....I will always remember Bubblegum Crisis with rose colored glasses....
Mr. Dandy!!!!, VICTORY!, Asu e Touchdown!, and Don’t Forget are my favorite songs from the series these always get me hyped. Probably the best soundtrack for an anime after Macross and Cowboy BeBop.
Bubblegum Crisis and it's spinoffs are my favourite all-time Anime - especially the original Bubblegum Crisis, it's music, the stories - then the 2040 is pretty good too, don't forget AD Police and Parasite Dolls. I also have it on LD and the DVD set from Animeigo.
This was one my introductions to anime in the 90s when I was kid, aired late night TV here in Scotland, been hooked ever since. Bubblegum Crisis along with Fist of the North Star and Cyber City Oedo, all amazing stuff. Feel free to make more anime vids in the future guy.
Vids like this make me think back to the mid 90s when I'd stay up late to watch anime on like channel 300 something and going to Sun Coast Video to find anime VHS tapes. Good times.
My intro to BGC was done perfectly. The head of our local anime club (which, at the time it started, consisted of myself, my best friend, and the guy who started the club) showed us _Robotech: Sentinels_, since our most recent anime was _Robotech_. Then he broke out BGC 1-3 (which was all there was at the time). We were hooked right away. I don't know how many times I've watched 1-8, but it is still my favourite anime series.
MAN I LOVE BUBBLEGUMCRISIS, it's one of my favorites animes of all times and one of my top 10 cyberpunk THINGS I LOVE of all times, I love all the characters my favorites are Nene and Priss, I love the Knight Saber armors those are some of the best mech designs I have ever seen and it's really incredible that still no one have ever try to do a live action of this series. So cool to hear your story, I watch Bubblegum randomly for the first time on TV a channel in here used to put rarely anime randomly and one day put the first ova, I just watch an scene of Priss in her Armored bike and that seal the deal for me, was years later I could rent the entire series on VHS and I fall in love with the series, later I watch Tokyo 2040 on a channel called Locomotion and loved too. So cool to see you making a video of this awesome anime and your experience with it....btw I just get the Blade Runner Reference now lol, after all these years and I didn't get those easy references of one of my all time favorites movies XD.
There's something very special about the anime of that late 80s to very early 90s that's just so hard to describe to someone watching the art form today.
I very recently rigged up a 3D model of Priss' hardsuit to wear as an avatar in virtual reality. I've not yet worked on any weaponry or special effects for it, but using it with full body tracking is loads of fun just to move about in. The length that the leg design gives you makes it really fun to do kicks whilst wearing. : )
I had nearly the same type of introduction to BGC in the 90s as well. I love your description! People like you make Fandom so amazing. Love your energy! Keep the faith.
I've said it before I'm sure. But I freakin love the passion and love for these things you display. Thanks so much for always sharing the stories about why things are important to you and showing us your pure enthusiasm and love for those things. It's so much better than a sales pitch to see someone who actually truly loves something really gush over it. That's definitely part of why I love this channel. Too many people are fake, or just go along with what's popular right now. But you, you're real, you can't fake the passion and enthusiasm you show for these classic games and anime , especially when they're so closely tied to who you are as a person, both when you first experienced them and now. Thanks for being awesome
I'd been meaning to watch this show for years. As a child, a friend lend me some VHS tapes with the first two episodes of AD Police on - I really shouldn't have been watching them at that age, but I loved them! He later also showed me the first OVA of Bubblegum Crisis (although I don't think I got to see the whole episode) but I never got to see more, till recently - the same friend gave me copies of the Japanese Blu-Ray rips. I watched Episode 1 again a few months ago, and this video pushed me to watch the rest. I really enjoyed it! Coming from AD Police it was less dark than I expected, but I had fun watching it and felt very disappointed finding out there was meant to be more episodes but it was cancelled due to legal issues at the time. Very tempted to import the Blu-Ray set from America now, considering they won't be printed ever again... but I don't know if there's ever a chance it'll get a domestic release over here. Keep making anime videos, it's fun to see what you like as I find we have similar tastes. Do you like anything post-2000 though? I love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and I was wondering if you have seen it.
It was back in 94 when i had the pleasure of watching episode 1 on VHS (or was it Beta now?) it was not the kind of cartoon an 8 year old kid should be watching but heck at the end of the episode i wanted to see more from this sci-fi engorged cartoon but there wasn't more. It wasn't until i was 15 that i was able to watch not only episode 1 but all 8 OVA. Regardless of how long it took me to watch the entire OVA , that first episode i watched 7 years earlier made me fall in love with the genre and anime in general. It truly captivated my mind. Ill be 32 soon and i still feel like the 8 year old kid i was when i watch some of these BBG music videos around here , i cant get enough of it..
wow remember the days of fan subs and comic book conventions that you can actually walk around without bumping into someone ... good old days. Bubblegum crisis instantly became my favorite because of the music. i did the same, i was a big comic book- marvel guy then dropped it all after seeing real anime
I'm 39 and never watched this series. I really need to change that. It's been in my periphery for years and I'm certainly a fan of anime. Just never had a chance to watch it. Thanks for the fun memories. :)
I was blown away when I saw Bubble Gum Crisis on VHS back in the 80s. They had a "new" Bubble Gum Crisis 2040 series, but I like the origional series better.
While Robitech is great, BGC (first saw it in 1993) is truly the ULTIMATE anime. The MUSIC alone transported me to fictional MegaTokyo, where I never wanted to leave. I picked up ever Music CD and voice acted show on CD that was released on my first trip to Japan. :) I am 49 now, and have yet to be as overwhelmed as I was (and am) by Bubblegum Crisis. THANKS for doing this episode, Johnny. Really, thank you.
I had the same(ish) Comic convention experience. Except I watched Akira, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi and Nausicaa on an old Projection TV. Remember those old big screens, the room had to be pitch black or the top of the screen image would fade out. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Back in the day I watched Robotech and then in college (1994-95) I belonged to an Anime club where we bought the BGC VHS and recorded our own from them. It was sooo difficult to get copies and I probably had about 150 VHS tapes.
I found it as a VHS in a Good-Will when I was probably 12 or younger. It disturbed me quite a bit. It was my first experience of violence of that level (I didn't watch more than snippets of Star Wars Episode 3 until I was probably 14. I just REALLY didn't like that stuff. Well... except I still haven't bothered to finish watch Episode 3). My mom really didn't like all the swearing, and I swear it nearly made it so that we could have never watched anime again in the future, except that Pokemon had proven to be fine in the past. So it's fine now. But it REALLY freaked me out back then.
The first time I saw these I rented part 1 on vhs, after watching it I went back and rented the others. I just ordered the BluRay ultimate edition after watching this. So I have it on BD, DVD and LD now I need to find those original VHSs. Thanks for making this video.
I remember when bubble gum crisis came out on VHS,HCG.Man that takes me back when i wanted to buy it but i didn't have the money.I first watch it at a friends house and being sold on it.Though i didn't get the ova until the dvd release.The 80's for anime was really the golden era at least i think so.
It's always heartwarming to see you talking about things you grew up watching and loving during the 80s/90s I also grew up watching anime and playing video games during that era, so I know about Bubble Gum Crisis as well I was into Legend of the Galactic Heroes, City Hunter and Appleseed, those were my childhood anime, amazing stories.
I was given two tubs of comics a few years ago - all of them were 80's-90's anime magazines and mangas (which I think were smaller at the time). Some were from American companies. I'm so used to the modern style of anime, but the 80's-90's style looks so badass
I saw Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 like... 12 or 13 years ago on this program they used to have on Cinemax Action called "Animidnight" where they would play Anime at midnight until 4am. I caught the first few episodes of it and was instantly hooked. I would throw a VHS tape into the downstairs TV while it was on and record the episodes to watch later. Best part about it being on Cinemax: completely uncensored, even the ending parts where the girls are bare ass naked. I didn't know until after watching the show that there was the 80's version of it. If I can find DVDs of it, then I will definitely watch it.
Bob Woodhead did Anime Fandom a huge favor by acquiring the rights to BGC and distributing it subtitled on VHS and Laserdisc. The liner notes in the LDs are a great bonus feature!
I want to say I was 11 or 12 when I first discovered BC in Blockbuster. This was around 95 or 96 and anime was still largely undiscovered in the United States (pre-pokemon era) and I was completely blown away!
Just ordered my copy thanks for the memories I look forward to watching these again its been so long it will be like watching a new anime all over again.
I remember first seeing at a Creation Convention in NYC and this guy was selling a bunch of VHS tapes (unsubbed) of various anime and they were showing Bubble Gum Crisis and I bought the tape for $20. I was hooked from the word go and still watch anime today (and I am 50 years old) from the original cartoons like Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, Star Blazers and Robotech to the anime that comes out today in Japan. Anime is amazing!
I remember those days all too well. Watching DBZ in chinese 10 yrs before the boom here. Combing through rental stores for the odd Riding Bean or MD Geist OVA. The previews before the feature just made you say "Wow, I'd to watch that." Ahhhh... Memories.
Back when anime was special and...hate to say it... good, there were only 3 places I knew where to get these in Minnesota: a store called Title Wave, Suncoast Pictures, or mail order. Each video cassette came in a big plastic clamshell fully enclosed case, subtitled by AnimEigo (nothing was dubbed then) and they charged $40 each. $320 plus tax for 8 episodes was a huge investment for a kid back then but I didn't regret it, such an awesome series. I found out about anime from references and clues in video game magazines. Great video, thanks!
I remember getting old VHS of anime from this really cruddy mall. They were all really cheap too(they didn't know what they had). Bought them all. Eatman was my favorite. Sorcerer Hunters was awesome too...but Cowboy Bebop will probably forever be my favorite Anime.
I grew up on comics, with only a lukewarm appreciation for Japanese style, which I still hold to this day. However, earlier this year I discovered Bubblegum Crisis, if I had found it as a child, my entire outlook would have shifted heavily over. It's fantastic!
I didn't get to see this anime til I watched it on Starz Action Channel but I absolutely fell in love with it when I did. I ended up buying several memorabilia of it. Bubblegum Crisis, Fist of the North Star, Cyber City Odeo 808, and so on were some classics. I have the soundtracks to it also but I really wished that they had made a soundtrack of the songs done in english too cuz I would definitely buy that. It's awesome finding out how some people came to learning about anime and manga. Great job on the video review.
I just watched Scoop Chase last night for the first time. It was awesome! I never would have watched it without your recommendation! Now I want to watch them all!
Huh I didn't know there was an original Bubblegum Crisis I only saw bubblegum crisis tokyo 2040 when it used to be on Sci-fi channel like 2004 which I actually recorded on VHS lol
I too got into anime at a young age with Danguard Ace and the whole Force Five shows. When I first saw Megazone 23 and Robotech... my life was forever changed. Around 89 and 90, I really got into the raw anime. What I mean by raw is the anime wasn't subbed. The shows I watched were not marketed here. Some of the stuff was published in manga, but not subbed for the fans. Mai the Psychic Girl, Grey, Outlanders and so on were a niche market being published by Viz comics. I felt lonely in my teens because there was nobody else that watched anime that i knew. I finally met a group of anime fans and suddenly the world exploded with shows like Dragonball/Z, Urusei Yatsura, Saint Seiya, Wataru(Keith Courage). Devilman, and of course, Bubblegum Crisis.
thank you so much for that video! I've been searching for a decent Disk-Box of Bubblegum-Crisis for 6 years now! My girlfriend is a huge fan since the 90ies and now i could do her a favour with this bluray-box. Thanks again. Without your video, i wouldn't have known about anineigo.
i agree, Bubble Gum Crisis was MAJOR back in the day and still is one of my favorites. the early days of anime were quite literally "magical" everything was new and exciting and BGC was over the top! i was a member of a nerd colony known as Inland Empire Anime in the early 90's here in California. there were hard core older collectors that would go to Japan and buy thousands of dollars of laserdiscs and we would all daisy-chain our VCRs together to copy all of this wonderful anime. also, just like you said, the older guys were really cool and very helpful and willing to share all kinds of info about anime and Japanese culture. the early days of anime were much like the early days of video games; things were very secretive since there was no internet to spoil the surprise.
I love everything from the Bubblegum Crisis universe. Tokyo 2040 is probably my favorite since it's the first I ever saw. Even then I still love the original series and all the little spinoffs. It's great to hear someone talk about it at all and I really hope it causes more people to check it out.
I highly recommend the AD Police OVA series that was released in the early 1990's. It's a dark spin off prequel to Bubblegum Crisis with Leon as the main character. There was only 3 episodes made (originally there was meant to be 5 made) but they are very good.
Man, if you think it was nerdy to be at comic conventions, I used to run a table at comic conventions. It was just as you described though. A VFW or something filled with tables stacked with long boxes and comics for sale. Comic conventions were special, local events where you could have a sort of camaraderie with local people who had the same interests. The pre-internet world was better for niche hobbies in a lot of ways.
I have seen the BGC DVDs on you wall in your videos and have wondered if you'd do a video on them. I'm glad you did as I was also part of that underground anime scene. I still have many VHS dupes from that time. BGC was by far my fave. The music has been on my iPod forever. Genom Blows!
I just received this premium set in the mail today! Big fan of the series, so much that I ordered the B-Club Special art book back in the early '90s. Can't wait to watch it again!
I remember seeing this one years back on Stars Network here in the states, and they did a decent job at showing it by cleaning it up some. Good Anime indeed.
While listening to anime openings the other day I stumbled on Konya wa Hurricane and I really loved it so I plan to watch this soon. Looks nice from what I'm seeing online.
I got to watch Bubble Gum Crisis as a kid, but I was too young for it to have an impact on me. I've been thinking about rewatching it after I get done with my billionth viewing of VOTOMS.
I worked at M2K when we published the Bubblegum Crisis DVD box set in North America. We loved that series and it was the jewel in our crown at the time.
I LOVE BUBBLEGUM CRISIS !!!!! That was great anime! I like that none of the characters are preteens, they were just hot chicks in mech suits!
MJR and HCG need to a collaborative video. You two are both my favorite youtube personalities. Watching your videos three years ago inspired me to get back into gaming.
lol m2k
It was one of the first anime I remember watching as a child. It still holds a special place for me.
Jesus I'm subscribed to both for years now and I've only just found the series now and then I seen this review and then this comment and it just made me laugh I don't know what are your thoughts
Bubblegum Crisis changed my life. I was working a deadend job paycheck to paycheck and my friend invited me to a get together similar to yours where we all crowded around a tv to watch a vhs that had obviously been copied to the point of no return. What I saw blew my mind so much I resolved to quit my job, get a real career so I could save money to move to Japan, and learn Japanese so I could understand what I was watching ( no subs or dubs back then). Due to that I met my wife and achieved my dream. I’ve lived in Japan for 20 years now, and after becoming fluent I could finally understand what was going on 😊 Thank you BGC!
Wow❤
"Bubblegum Crisis Rocks!"
YES IT DOES
I love when you talk about old anime
Ahh, the days when anime was special. Back then anime held something magical because it was so rare. If you came across a title at a mom and pop video store you knew you had to watch it. If you were lucky enough to come across an anime movie playing on TV, usually late at night, you'd watch. It was like catching a glimpse of a unicorn, you'd never know if you'd see another movie like it for a while. There wasn't sites to go to there wasn't stores that catered to anime or items from Japan and if there were they were incredibly few and far-between. Even the bad stuff holds a place in peoples hearts because it came at a time when the US was doing away with both weekday afternoon cartoons and saturday morning cartoons were being edged out by sports and news shows. Anime showed up at the right time, it filled a void for people who still wanted cool animation, but now the stories were more complicated, the characters were deeper and themes were more mature and the animation was more stylized. It was something that can't be replicated by anything else.
I take your anime recomendations very seriously because Ive fallen in love with all of them
Thank you I appreciate it! I will always be honest and down to earth with all my reviews! I only review things that mean something to me :)
BGC is quite an influential classic, one of if not the more important cyberpunk anime's from the 80's/90's. It's wonderful to hear your passion about this because it's exactly how I felt when I watched it in my teens, still a wonderful series today and probably one of Kenichi Sonoda's best works.
Gotta thank you for making me discover BGC John. What an incredible anime... I am hooked. Ordered the blu-ray set and I have watched it 10 times by now
The artstyle is exceptionnal, coloring is gorgeous and, as you said, the shading is nuts. In fact I don't himk I ever saw so many layers of shading in an anime.
Oh and the chicks are drawn real well too B-)
I just finished "Bubblegum Crisis" a few minutes ago and just wanted to say thank you, Johnny for recommending this awesome anime. I'm a long time fan of yours but mecha anime have never really been my "go-to", however having caught up on my backlog of shows and looking for some good 80s/90s anime to watch I decided to give it a shot and I'm so happy that I did. I think I'll check out some of the other shows set in this universe, and also check out some more of your anime recommendations. Thanks again.
Man, that does bring back the memories. I had gotten into the anime scene in the late 80s (when I was a kid in the 60s you had Astroboy, Gigantor and the one I regularly watched, Speed Racer, but you didn't have the organized fans you had later), and had seen the ads from Animeigo for BGC (I recall $34.99 or 39.99 for a single OAV at the time; a bit out of my budget).
A few years later I found an anime and game shop just north of Ohio State U called Neo Tokyo International; the guys running it were affiliated with the OSU Anime club, and were renting anime VHS and Japanese games. I joined soon after that and one of the early tapes I saw on the shelf was BGC.
But here's the thing. I wasn't exactly enamored with the name "Bubblegum Crisis". Strangely, I fell into the trap of thinking that the name had a lot to do with the anime story. Granted, the writer of the series would explain about how the name reflects Japan's "bubble economy" and how he saw it as someone blowing a bubble out of bubblegum and the inevitable consequences. But I did eventually rent the first episode.
And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Enough that I ended up renting the entire series.
When the series first came to DVD around 2000 or so I ended up getting it as well. I tried to get through the dubs that are on the DVDs but after a few minutes, went back to the Japanese original. I was just too used to hearing it in Japanese.
But yeah, the series really screams 80s at you, from the style of the animation (aided and abetted by character designer Sonoda Kenichi, who also designed Gall Force and created Riding Bean, later reintroduced in his Gunsmith Cats manga) to the themes and heavy Bladerunner/Terminator influences.
It just screams "classic". Hell, I should re-watch them tonight!
Yup Terminator and Blade Runner, that's part of what made me fall in love with this anime when I had first seen it. Sylia is like the female Tony Stark, minus being a douchebag lol. Freakin loved the music too.
I watched this one when I was 9, such nostalgia, recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a good sci-fi anime from back in the day.
***** Indeed
My childhood, right there. Back when anime was half decent :(
If you want an amazing anime. Not half decent. try to watch igano kabamaru
@@apostolosfilippos I think you may have misunderstood me. Im saying anime back then was amazing.
Great story about how you became Otakunized. I guess this explains why we just got a pulse of orders for the set over the last few hours :)
Loving these stories of the late 80s/early 90s period when game importing, anime etc were such niche stuff yet you were still into them. What do you think of modern anime? Many people seem to think that the anime industry started catering too much to otakus in 2000s with all the shows like Lucky Star. Do you agree with that notion?
No doubt. I watch very little anime, but when ever I look at 80s/early 90s stuff, it's some dark cyberpunk/sci-fi thing with great old school animation. The prominent shows/movies of the day that I've seen are visually and tonally much closer Western comics/adult animation of the time (realistically proportioned human characters, slower pacing, not as much of giant eyes&rainbow colored spiky hair etc), so they aren't as off putting for the uninitiated. The same could be said of older Japanese video games. They were inspired alot by American movies, so the character designs were more realistic and the games looked more gritty. But during late 90s "anime aesthethic" started seeping into video games, and it started alienating some gamers. Compare old school shoot em ups with Death Smiles and Touhou (loli girls), Castlevania 4 with Dawn of Sorrow, Street Fighter 2, Streets of Rage and King of Fighters with BlazBlue, Tactics Ogre with Disgaea and so on.
In the old days, the line between a "good" anime and an "average" anime was a lot more blurred than it was now, because anime was still fresh and new to most people so there was a LOT more stuff that you just hadn't seen before.
Now with modern anime there's just so MUCH of it, there's a huge gulf between good and average! And a lot of it tries to be "big budget" and have that clean sleek CGI look, to capture the otaku interest, so it all starts to run together. Really I think Cowboy Bebop was the last great "retro" anime show, and then the Internet took off and the otaku culture EXPLODED, like it became huge and all these manga and visual novel adaptations started to launch. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 show) was to me the one that really kicked off the new "era" of anime, and it's a fantastic series, but a lot of new anime is more derivative than ever before.
Good anime still exists…its just not the same thrill of finding the holy grail because searching on the internet is so much easier than hunting through import shops and second hand tapes….but then again the real *classics* seem to be one-offs in anime and derivative crap is taking over big time.
Vyse Legendaire Very nice points!
There are focus groups for animation, it's a medium and really huge in Japan (obviously), so huge that there's something for everyone. So while "good anime still exists" it's also true that there are genres meant for certain people, and what we all see as good is greatly varied due to that. I for one love finding good psychological anime since they are of the only genre I can binge watch.
I was 7 and my brother was in the navy, stationed in Japan, and sent home a care package with anime. It was all in Japanese, no subtitles....and I watched it all....it was f*ing amazing....I will always remember Bubblegum Crisis with rose colored glasses....
Mad machine! i love the music
Miguel Gonzalez dude!!! I fucking love that song!!!
well poop now im gonna have to binge watch the seires again damn it!
HappyConsoleGamer YES!!!
Mr. Dandy!!!!, VICTORY!, Asu e Touchdown!, and Don’t Forget are my favorite songs from the series these always get me hyped. Probably the best soundtrack for an anime after Macross and Cowboy BeBop.
What an incredible fountain of nostalgia you are. Thanks for a great trip back in time.
Bubblegum Crisis and it's spinoffs are my favourite all-time Anime - especially the original Bubblegum Crisis, it's music, the stories - then the 2040 is pretty good too, don't forget AD Police and Parasite Dolls. I also have it on LD and the DVD set from Animeigo.
This was one my introductions to anime in the 90s when I was kid, aired late night TV here in Scotland, been hooked ever since. Bubblegum Crisis along with Fist of the North Star and Cyber City Oedo, all amazing stuff. Feel free to make more anime vids in the future guy.
I have a cell print of Priss frame from the original Bubblegum Crisis series, that is how much I love her
Vids like this make me think back to the mid 90s when I'd stay up late to watch anime on like channel 300 something and going to Sun Coast Video to find anime VHS tapes. Good times.
Having to buy boot-legged anime shows you're an OG. 👍🏼
My intro to BGC was done perfectly. The head of our local anime club (which, at the time it started, consisted of myself, my best friend, and the guy who started the club) showed us _Robotech: Sentinels_, since our most recent anime was _Robotech_. Then he broke out BGC 1-3 (which was all there was at the time). We were hooked right away. I don't know how many times I've watched 1-8, but it is still my favourite anime series.
MAN I LOVE BUBBLEGUMCRISIS, it's one of my favorites animes of all times and one of my top 10 cyberpunk THINGS I LOVE of all times, I love all the characters my favorites are Nene and Priss, I love the Knight Saber armors those are some of the best mech designs I have ever seen and it's really incredible that still no one have ever try to do a live action of this series. So cool to hear your story, I watch Bubblegum randomly for the first time on TV a channel in here used to put rarely anime randomly and one day put the first ova, I just watch an scene of Priss in her Armored bike and that seal the deal for me, was years later I could rent the entire series on VHS and I fall in love with the series, later I watch Tokyo 2040 on a channel called Locomotion and loved too. So cool to see you making a video of this awesome anime and your experience with it....btw I just get the Blade Runner Reference now lol, after all these years and I didn't get those easy references of one of my all time favorites movies XD.
BGC occupies a special place in my heart to this very day!
Nice video, still rocking in 2023 😊🔥
"What The Fuck Is Bubblegum Crisis lol" that got me laughing dude that would be a good meme hahahaa
I'm 39 and this takes me back bro. Thank you for such a kick ass video talking about one of my beloved animes.
There's something very special about the anime of that late 80s to very early 90s that's just so hard to describe to someone watching the art form today.
I very recently rigged up a 3D model of Priss' hardsuit to wear as an avatar in virtual reality. I've not yet worked on any weaponry or special effects for it, but using it with full body tracking is loads of fun just to move about in. The length that the leg design gives you makes it really fun to do kicks whilst wearing. : )
For the longest time, Bubblegum Crisis was my favorite series.
80's early 90's anime is just the best. Ninja scroll, ghost in the shell, Guyver. Man good times. still have all my VHS's
Bubblegum crisis is one of my favorite animes of all time
The prequel called Parasite Dolls is an awesome ova
I had nearly the same type of introduction to BGC in the 90s as well. I love your description! People like you make Fandom so amazing. Love your energy! Keep the faith.
I've said it before I'm sure. But I freakin love the passion and love for these things you display. Thanks so much for always sharing the stories about why things are important to you and showing us your pure enthusiasm and love for those things. It's so much better than a sales pitch to see someone who actually truly loves something really gush over it. That's definitely part of why I love this channel. Too many people are fake, or just go along with what's popular right now. But you, you're real, you can't fake the passion and enthusiasm you show for these classic games and anime , especially when they're so closely tied to who you are as a person, both when you first experienced them and now. Thanks for being awesome
I'd been meaning to watch this show for years. As a child, a friend lend me some VHS tapes with the first two episodes of AD Police on - I really shouldn't have been watching them at that age, but I loved them! He later also showed me the first OVA of Bubblegum Crisis (although I don't think I got to see the whole episode) but I never got to see more, till recently - the same friend gave me copies of the Japanese Blu-Ray rips. I watched Episode 1 again a few months ago, and this video pushed me to watch the rest. I really enjoyed it! Coming from AD Police it was less dark than I expected, but I had fun watching it and felt very disappointed finding out there was meant to be more episodes but it was cancelled due to legal issues at the time.
Very tempted to import the Blu-Ray set from America now, considering they won't be printed ever again... but I don't know if there's ever a chance it'll get a domestic release over here.
Keep making anime videos, it's fun to see what you like as I find we have similar tastes. Do you like anything post-2000 though? I love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and I was wondering if you have seen it.
It was back in 94 when i had the pleasure of watching episode 1 on VHS (or was it Beta now?) it was not the kind of cartoon an 8 year old kid should be watching but heck at the end of the episode i wanted to see more from this sci-fi engorged cartoon but there wasn't more. It wasn't until i was 15 that i was able to watch not only episode 1 but all 8 OVA. Regardless of how long it took me to watch the entire OVA , that first episode i watched 7 years earlier made me fall in love with the genre and anime in general. It truly captivated my mind. Ill be 32 soon and i still feel like the 8 year old kid i was when i watch some of these BBG music videos around here , i cant get enough of it..
Comic book conventions in the eighties is where I got bootleg movies back in the day
Johnny, please do more of this anime videos because i don't know a lot of these classics
Holy shit man your passion is infectious! Absolutely these OVAs, binged them and Crash just a few weeks ago.
wow remember the days of fan subs and comic book conventions that you can actually walk around without bumping into someone ... good old days. Bubblegum crisis instantly became my favorite because of the music. i did the same, i was a big comic book- marvel guy then dropped it all after seeing real anime
Had a similar experience when I first saw Battle Angel Alita and Macross II on TV as a 14 year old. Been hooked since.
I'm 39 and never watched this series. I really need to change that. It's been in my periphery for years and I'm certainly a fan of anime. Just never had a chance to watch it. Thanks for the fun memories. :)
The intro theme will haunted me for all my life, in a very good way.
I was blown away when I saw Bubble Gum Crisis on VHS back in the 80s. They had a "new" Bubble Gum Crisis 2040 series, but I like the origional series better.
this is a great story, also postcards ftw. i miss getting them with new anime sets. this looks like an awesome set
I watched BGC as a 7 year old in England. Im 27 and living in Japan listening to BGC soundtrack. So this was an important show for me.
While Robitech is great, BGC (first saw it in 1993) is truly the ULTIMATE anime. The MUSIC alone transported me to fictional MegaTokyo, where I never wanted to leave. I picked up ever Music CD and voice acted show on CD that was released on my first trip to Japan. :) I am 49 now, and have yet to be as overwhelmed as I was (and am) by Bubblegum Crisis. THANKS for doing this episode, Johnny. Really, thank you.
I had the same(ish) Comic convention experience. Except I watched Akira, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi and Nausicaa on an old Projection TV. Remember those old big screens, the room had to be pitch black or the top of the screen image would fade out. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Bubblegum Crisis was so rad. It was the first Anime I had on VHS. That and Escaflowne.
Back in the day I watched Robotech and then in college (1994-95) I belonged to an Anime club where we bought the BGC VHS and recorded our own from them. It was sooo difficult to get copies and I probably had about 150 VHS tapes.
I found it as a VHS in a Good-Will when I was probably 12 or younger. It disturbed me quite a bit. It was my first experience of violence of that level (I didn't watch more than snippets of Star Wars Episode 3 until I was probably 14. I just REALLY didn't like that stuff. Well... except I still haven't bothered to finish watch Episode 3). My mom really didn't like all the swearing, and I swear it nearly made it so that we could have never watched anime again in the future, except that Pokemon had proven to be fine in the past. So it's fine now. But it REALLY freaked me out back then.
The first time I saw these I rented part 1 on vhs, after watching it I went back and rented the others. I just ordered the BluRay ultimate edition after watching this. So I have it on BD, DVD and LD now I need to find those original VHSs. Thanks for making this video.
I love listening to his old school stories from back in the 80's!
I remember when bubble gum crisis came out on VHS,HCG.Man that takes me back when i wanted to buy it but i didn't have the money.I first watch it at a friends house and being sold on it.Though i didn't get the ova until the dvd release.The 80's for anime was really the golden era at least i think so.
It's always heartwarming to see you talking about things you grew up watching and loving during the 80s/90s
I also grew up watching anime and playing video games during that era, so I know about Bubble Gum Crisis as well
I was into Legend of the Galactic Heroes, City Hunter and Appleseed, those were my childhood anime, amazing stories.
I was given two tubs of comics a few years ago - all of them were 80's-90's anime magazines and mangas (which I think were smaller at the time). Some were from American companies.
I'm so used to the modern style of anime, but the 80's-90's style looks so badass
I don't really watch much anime these days, but when you say something is good, it's GOOD. Definitely going to watch this when work is slow tomorrow.
PREACH! picked up this up at my fav comic shop at the time anime titles werent in an abundance like today..I miss those days
I saw Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 like... 12 or 13 years ago on this program they used to have on Cinemax Action called "Animidnight" where they would play Anime at midnight until 4am. I caught the first few episodes of it and was instantly hooked. I would throw a VHS tape into the downstairs TV while it was on and record the episodes to watch later. Best part about it being on Cinemax: completely uncensored, even the ending parts where the girls are bare ass naked.
I didn't know until after watching the show that there was the 80's version of it. If I can find DVDs of it, then I will definitely watch it.
I used to watch Bubble Gum Crisis 2040 late night on SBS in the 90's. Still then anime fans were few and far between. Love it
Bob Woodhead did Anime Fandom a huge favor by acquiring the rights to BGC and distributing it subtitled on VHS and Laserdisc. The liner notes in the LDs are a great bonus feature!
Bubble Gum Crisis was one of the few VHS anime my local comic store had. I saved money for months and I still have the VHS :D
I really love BUBBLE GUM CRISIS OVA ep 1-4
I want to say I was 11 or 12 when I first discovered BC in Blockbuster. This was around 95 or 96 and anime was still largely undiscovered in the United States (pre-pokemon era) and I was completely blown away!
Just ordered my copy thanks for the memories I look forward to watching these again its been so long it will be like watching a new anime all over again.
I remember first seeing at a Creation Convention in NYC and this guy was selling a bunch of VHS tapes (unsubbed) of various anime and they were showing Bubble Gum Crisis and I bought the tape for $20. I was hooked from the word go and still watch anime today (and I am 50 years old) from the original cartoons like Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, Star Blazers and Robotech to the anime that comes out today in Japan. Anime is amazing!
I remember those days all too well. Watching DBZ in chinese 10 yrs before the boom here. Combing through rental stores for the odd Riding Bean or MD Geist OVA. The previews before the feature just made you say "Wow, I'd to watch that." Ahhhh... Memories.
it such a classic. I found bubble gum crisis at movie store in 92.
Still to this day, if you state that you're going to a comic book convention meet-up in high school, it's still sounds pretty bad
Very fitting you wear a Snatcher shirt, considering what inspired that game. :p
Back when anime was special and...hate to say it... good, there were only 3 places I knew where to get these in Minnesota: a store called Title Wave, Suncoast Pictures, or mail order. Each video cassette came in a big plastic clamshell fully enclosed case, subtitled by AnimEigo (nothing was dubbed then) and they charged $40 each. $320 plus tax for 8 episodes was a huge investment for a kid back then but I didn't regret it, such an awesome series. I found out about anime from references and clues in video game magazines. Great video, thanks!
I remember getting old VHS of anime from this really cruddy mall. They were all really cheap too(they didn't know what they had). Bought them all. Eatman was my favorite. Sorcerer Hunters was awesome too...but Cowboy Bebop will probably forever be my favorite Anime.
It was So...Titillating!!!
- HappyConsoleGamer 2014
I grew up on comics, with only a lukewarm appreciation for Japanese style, which I still hold to this day. However, earlier this year I discovered Bubblegum Crisis, if I had found it as a child, my entire outlook would have shifted heavily over. It's fantastic!
Love bubblegum crisis I remember watching that first episode soon many times.
I didn't get to see this anime til I watched it on Starz Action Channel but I absolutely fell in love with it when I did. I ended up buying several memorabilia of it. Bubblegum Crisis, Fist of the North Star, Cyber City Odeo 808, and so on were some classics. I have the soundtracks to it also but I really wished that they had made a soundtrack of the songs done in english too cuz I would definitely buy that. It's awesome finding out how some people came to learning about anime and manga. Great job on the video review.
Man I need more videos of Johnny talking old anime in my life.
I just watched Scoop Chase last night for the first time. It was awesome! I never would have watched it without your recommendation! Now I want to watch them all!
I still have my VHS copies of Bubblegum Crisis and Crash! Hell I even have A.D. Police too! Absolutely LOVE this!
Oh and Dominion Tank Police
Huh I didn't know there was an original Bubblegum Crisis I only saw bubblegum crisis tokyo 2040 when it used to be on Sci-fi channel like 2004 which I actually recorded on VHS lol
I too got into anime at a young age with Danguard Ace and the whole Force Five shows. When I first saw Megazone 23 and Robotech... my life was forever changed. Around 89 and 90, I really got into the raw anime. What I mean by raw is the anime wasn't subbed. The shows I watched were not marketed here. Some of the stuff was published in manga, but not subbed for the fans. Mai the Psychic Girl, Grey, Outlanders and so on were a niche market being published by Viz comics. I felt lonely in my teens because there was nobody else that watched anime that i knew. I finally met a group of anime fans and suddenly the world exploded with shows like Dragonball/Z, Urusei Yatsura, Saint Seiya, Wataru(Keith Courage). Devilman, and of course, Bubblegum Crisis.
My story exactly! so very cool!
thank you so much for that video!
I've been searching for a decent Disk-Box of Bubblegum-Crisis for 6 years now! My girlfriend is a huge fan since the 90ies and now i could do her a favour with this bluray-box. Thanks again. Without your video, i wouldn't have known about anineigo.
i agree, Bubble Gum Crisis was MAJOR back in the day and still is one of my favorites. the early days of anime were quite literally "magical" everything was new and exciting and BGC was over the top! i was a member of a nerd colony known as Inland Empire Anime in the early 90's here in California. there were hard core older collectors that would go to Japan and buy thousands of dollars of laserdiscs and we would all daisy-chain our VCRs together to copy all of this wonderful anime. also, just like you said, the older guys were really cool and very helpful and willing to share all kinds of info about anime and Japanese culture. the early days of anime were much like the early days of video games; things were very secretive since there was no internet to spoil the surprise.
4:58 preach brother! your enthusiasm is infectious!
One of my first animes and also one of the few that Blockbuster Video would always have in their tiny little anime section in the early 90's.
I love everything from the Bubblegum Crisis universe. Tokyo 2040 is probably my favorite since it's the first I ever saw. Even then I still love the original series and all the little spinoffs. It's great to hear someone talk about it at all and I really hope it causes more people to check it out.
the one i started with was Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 and its still one of my favorite series to date.
I highly recommend the AD Police OVA series that was released in the early 1990's. It's a dark spin off prequel to Bubblegum Crisis with Leon as the main character. There was only 3 episodes made (originally there was meant to be 5 made) but they are very good.
BGC is oddly one I've never watched. I've always had the opportunity to pick it up multiple times, but never have. Maybe its time for a watch.
Is Tokyo 2040 any good?
Gamer Logic
I don't find it as good as the original 2032. I'd watch the original, then Crash and theeeeen 2040
MackieStingray2040 Thanks! :)
Definitely sounds like I should stick with the original than first before checking out the later series. Thanks!
It has been remastered on Blu-Ray, catch that one. Its got great looks and sounds but its a seriously campy show…lol.
Man, if you think it was nerdy to be at comic conventions, I used to run a table at comic conventions. It was just as you described though. A VFW or something filled with tables stacked with long boxes and comics for sale. Comic conventions were special, local events where you could have a sort of camaraderie with local people who had the same interests. The pre-internet world was better for niche hobbies in a lot of ways.
I have seen the BGC DVDs on you wall in your videos and have wondered if you'd do a video on them. I'm glad you did as I was also part of that underground anime scene. I still have many VHS dupes from that time. BGC was by far my fave. The music has been on my iPod forever. Genom Blows!
I just received this premium set in the mail today! Big fan of the series, so much that I ordered the B-Club Special art book back in the early '90s. Can't wait to watch it again!
Bubblegum Crisis was one of my first animes. and yes it still to this day rocks.
I remember seeing this one years back on Stars Network here in the states, and they did a decent job at showing it by cleaning it up some. Good Anime indeed.
While listening to anime openings the other day I stumbled on Konya wa Hurricane and I really loved it so I plan to watch this soon. Looks nice from what I'm seeing online.
ruclips.net/video/zYQ4hojQKT8/видео.htmlsi=HkimRHC0LFzZ--Sn
I got to watch Bubble Gum Crisis as a kid, but I was too young for it to have an impact on me. I've been thinking about rewatching it after I get done with my billionth viewing of VOTOMS.
I love the references to Streets of Fire 🔥 in the beginning
Funny to think that I discovered Bubble Gum Crisis by googling Rob's T-Shirt in your PT Demo video.