Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

The year is 2032, seven years after the Second Great Kanto Earthquake decimated Tokyo. The city has risen again, though, reborn as MegaTokyo, built from the labors of mechanical work-horses known as "Boomers." Originally created to benefit humanity, the mysterious corporation known as Genom now produces Boomers with incredible destructive power as a new type of advanced weaponry, capable of disguising themselves as humans. So launches the AD Police, a new special unit trained to counter the ever-increasing Boomer-related crimes. Alas, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of crimes and disparity in strength, the AD Police poses little opposition to the Boomers. Enter the Knight Sabers, a mysterious vigilante force wearing powersuits more advanced than the and the citizenry's only hope for protection. Led by Sylia Stingray, Priscilla "Priss" Asagiri, Nene Romanova and Linna Yamazaki, these beautiful girls race to take out any Boomer that steps out of line.

• Tinsel City (1987) - As the curtain of night falls, a show has begun in a dark corner of the city. Armored vehicles, carrying members of the AD Police, the Special Crimes Control Unit, gather at an expressway interchange where a Boomer, its entire body a cluster of weaponry, is on a rampage. Even heavily armed, the AD Police are no match for such brutality and advanced technology. Suddenly, women donning specialized battlesuits enter the fray, bringing a quick end to the Boomer's attack. They call themselves the Knight Sabers. But soon another job comes calling and the Sabers enter into their first conflict with the colossal corporation known as GENOM. (45 minutes)

• Born to Kill (1987) - At a GENOM laboratory, the development of an upgraded Boomer unit is interrupted by a devestating explosion that claims the lives of the scientists involved. A young Chinese woman, Irene, the fiancé of one of the dead scientists, swears to expose GENOM's involvement. Linna, a close friend and member of the Knight Sabers, worries about Irene's safety as a group of assassins close in for the kill. Moving from MegaTokyo to Yokohama Chinatown to the Kawasaki Industrial Zone, Linna, Sylia, Priss and Nene find themselves diving headlong into another confrontation with GENOM. (28 minutes)

• Blow Up (1987) - The battle between the Knight Sabers and GENOM heats up. Mason, the mastermind behind Cynthia's kidnapping, is a confidant of Quincy, the man who rules the corporation with an iron fist. And while Quincy's Super-Boomer project inevitably ends in failure, Mason's ambition sets him upon a path from which there's no turning back. Who is the mysterious Mason? And why is he so set on turning MegaTokyo into a battlefield? (26 minutes)

• Revenge Road (1988) - Tearing up the highways in the dead of night, hellbent on vigilante-style revenge, is J.B. Gibson, a man filled with despair, fueled by hate, and driven by the desire to avenge his beloved Naomi. His battle-steed is an HMJ Griffon, brought back to life by Gibson and a brilliant engineer named Dr. Raven. It helps Gibson transform the highways of MegaTokyo into a circuit of slaughter as he mercilessly hunts down members of the Outrider biker gang. But soon the vigilante attracts the attention of the Knight Sabers, the only ones capable of preventing a greater tragedy. (38 minutes)

• Moonlight Rambler (1988) - High above MegaTokyo hovers Genaros, an artificial space island from which two women, Sylvie and Anri, attempt to escape. Their destination? Earth, where they hope to gain true freedom. However, after a vicious Boomer attack, Sylvie and Anri narrowly survive a crash on the planet's surface, where Leon and Daley of the AD Police are dispatched to the scene. Unbeknownst to the women, their ship contains a DD Battlemover, a prototype weapon that the Space Development Corporation will stop at nothing to retrieve. (43 minutes)

• Red Eyes (1989) - Have the Knight Sabers gone bad? A recent attack on a GENOM warehouse certainly makes it appear that way. Fortunately, the real Knight Sabers come out of hiding for a showdown with their imposters. As Leon settles back to watch the makings of a good show, Daley interrupts to inform him that someone has kidnapped Callahan. Leon grudgingly leaves the Sabers' battle to pursue Callahan's abductors, Largo and Anri, who are taking him to GENOM Tower. As fate would have it, though, Priss bears witness to Anri's actions and sets out in pursuit. (49 minutes)

• Double Vision (1990) - Told over the course of a week, this OVA finds the AV Police investigating an attack on a GENOM lab and what Leon suspects to be the concealment of a new type of Boomer and the emergence of a mysterious threat dubbed Vision. When Leon and Daley check out a new GENOM artificial island in Tokyo Bay, and catch Quincy on an inspection tour. Afterward, they head for the St. Regis Hotel, where McLaren is taking his R&R under the watchful eyes of the Knight Sabers. (49 minutes)

• Scoop Chase (1991) - For once the Knight Sabers seem to have the chaos in MegaTokyo under control. Only a few rogue Boomer attacks have been reported and the city appears to be safer than ever. Sadly, it's too good to be true. When an upstart young reporter sets out to reveal the identities of the Knight Sabers, they find themselves distracted, and at the worst possible time as Dr. Miriam Yoshida of the Ebisu Corporation joins forces with GENOM and plots to attack the AD Police building. (52 minutes)

Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While the OVA stories themselves (produced over the course of several years) may vary in quality, the 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentations do not. And that's a very, very good thing. Though certainly dated by 2025's anime standards, the animation here is clean and nicely remastered. It may not exactly be "crisp" or "razor sharp" but it reproduces the original cels with a faithfulness that shouldn't be understated. Each OVA looks better than it ever has, with vivid colors, piercing primaries and deep, inky black levels. Contrast isn't overpowering either, allowing that patented dusty hues of classic anime to survive the remastering process intact. It's a specific aesthetic and a nostalgic one. Detail is excellent too, without anything in the way of ringing or aliasing. Likewise, macroblocking and banding are kept to the absolute barest of minimums (I believe I noticed all of three easily dismissed instances) and the OVAs have plenty of room to breathe on the set's two BD-50 discs.

Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Faithful remains the name of the game when it comes to Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mixes. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, prioritization between voices, effects and music cues is spot on, and only the dated thinness and tininess of the production's sound design reduces the impact of the results. Again, these are the OVAs as they were created in the late '80s and early '90s, so be careful not to hold them up in apples-to-apples comparison to modern anime's LFE-thumping, 5.1 surround qualities.

Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Kenichi Sonoda Interview from 2024 (HD, 34 minutes)

• Recut Music Videos (HD) - Eight in total: "There's a Hurricane Tonight," "Mad Machine," "Wild and Scarred," "Victory," "Crisis: Run with Anger," "Devil and Angel's Kiss," "Soldier of Roses" and "Rock Me."

• Music Video Collections (SD) - "Hurricane Live 2032" (with Episode 4 promo), "Hurricane Live 2023" and "Bye^2 Knight Sabers: Holiday in Bali."

• MEDIAOCD Trailers (HD)

• Original Episode 5 Promo (SD)

• Blu-ray Trailer (HD)

• Character Art Gallery (HD)

• Mecha, Props and Background Design Gallery (HD)

• 48-Page Booklet - Featuring interviews with the voice cast, writers and showrunners.

Bubblegum Crisis: Perfect Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's plenty to love about Bubblegum Crisis and its 1987-91 OVAs. Yes, some are better than others, but fans of classic decades-past anime will still have a blast with the fully hand-drawn mech vs mech animation, the heart, humor and chemistry of the characters, and the good vs. corporate evil stories. The 2-disc Perfect Collection Blu-ray set has plenty to offer too, from its excellent remasters to its strong video presentations, solid DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks, and its supplemental package.