Just like Bubblegum Crisis, I have an improved review for the ADP TV series!
This is a not another story of the Bubblegum Crisis, rather a story all on its own. But being that its roots lie in the dark murky past of the Original AD Police Files, I'd classify that as a portion of my precious Bubblegum Universe. Being as much, means that a lot needs to be said about its various differences and how it stands out from the rest of the various BGC alternate realities. If you've watched this series and disagree with me in any way, or have something to point out, I would appreciate it if you were stand up and be counted. Email me tekyu@hotmail.com
AD Police was a originally another, darker look at the Bubblegum Crisis. It added in the depressing reality of a military force rampaging through the city with seemingly unstoppable jurisdiction with the clumsy and wreckless destruction of Boomers gone rogue. There was also a huge amount of twisted sex, violence and disturbing stories. A frightening contrast to the comparatively sugary BGC. This new series is a little different. Besides being in a different universe completely (No Leon in sight!), this series touts itself as a squad room drama much like NYPD BLUE, LAW & ORDER and HILL STREET BLUES as opposed to a gory set of murder mysteries and such as found in the original 3-part OAV. Meet Kenji and Han, the cowboys of the Genom City AD Police squad and see how they cope with love, loss, the stress of the daily job and the fight against Boomer crimes. Get ready for a whole new cast with fresh faces, concepts and designs all ready for the new millenium. Although it doesn't tie at all into the Tokyo 2040 series which is kind of depressing.
Why it sucks: I've got a LOT to say about this, so please bare with me as I elaborate on why this series is a renter and definately not a keeper, if you disagree than PLEASE speak up.
Why it rules!: It's the first real fresh idea to expand the BGC Universe by tossing out familiar characters entirely and starting from scratch. Mind you I'm referring to the cast, the story surrounding everyone is the same old thing only now this whole "Voomers" problem is made apparent. Japanese are notorious for not knowing how to handle consanants, and when they tried to make "VOOMER" into an acronym (VOodoo Organic Metal Extention Robot = VOOMER), they made something that is offensively stupid. Besides that they laid some groundwork where we now actually see the AD Police able to take down boomers with the Knight Sabres nowhere in sight!!! A Bubblegum first my friends! Not only that but the fatalities are remarkably low and the ADP seem to actually CARE for the well being of the civilians in the area and possibly MOST remarkable is that the civilians don't immediately fling feces at the ADP! :O Just weird...
Overall: This is one that's really hard to defend. The AD Police at not only sucessful at taking out boomers, they're not disliked even int he least by the people. The problem since the first BGC was that the AD POLICE couldn't hit the broadside of a barn themselves and even then, when they COULD hit something it often was nowhere near effective enough to stop their target. Take into example Leon's first mission on the strike team in the original ADP Files, it was a mess! Tons of cops were butchered by the mad boomer and the ADP not only tore up the street and wrecklessly damaged millions of dollars worth of property just GETTING to the crime scene, they shot the poor tea shop owner's store to frickin' pieces! The great thing about the original series was how it bounced its focus around giving a great spread of personality and understanding for each of the characters, including the various criminals or even the rogue boomers! Any one of the characters managed to garner favor one way or another because they weren't flat like the majority of the characters in the new ADP are. As kinky and violent as it was, the original was far superior to this entire 12 episode series.
To begin with, allow me to illustrate the opening scene in the first episode. We see Kenji ordering a meal at "McGenom's" or as my sister called it: "WhataGenom". The boomer at the counter refuses his paper money as two teenage girls gawk at the fact that "he's actually using paper money"! Oh yeah, THAT'S the future. After mumbling and handing the boomer his card, we go through a set of forced perspectives of Kenji's face, which stink of Masami Oobari (not that it's a bad thing, I just feel that they ripped him off when they made this). After paying, he depressingly wanders off until a number of regular police officers run past the window and Kenji stands there looking like a moron with his straw hanging out of his mouth. At least he finally took off his sunglasses... We find that a man with what appears to be a pipe bomb with a short fuse is holding a building hostage (with an UNIGNITED pipe bomb?) as he demands to see his wife. As the police hide behind bushes and nearby... stuff... Kenji wanders out with that straw STILL dangling from his face as the cops try to get a handle on the situation. Because sniping him would be so hard... Even with a handgun, the guy is so nuts he's making himself a great target! Head exposed and everything... Anyway, the cops determine that even IF they could find his wife in time, they doubt she'd want to come along. During this cowardly murmuring, Kenji... STILL with the straw... listens and then overhears one of the girls inside "McGenom's" who mocked him for his "retro paper money" say something along the lines of if she were his wife she would've put him out of his misery some time ago, or something like that. Kenji notices the mischievious look on her face and shortly after drags her toward where the cops are. The cops tell him to stay back, and he in turn tells them to step aside... without ever identifying himself as AD Police. The cops sort of slump because of course they are completely helpless to stop Kenji(?) as he drags the girl kicking and screaming closer to the mad bomber. With the hood of her jacket drawn over, Kenji tells the girl it's almost over, which obviously doesn't excite her in the least. The bomber is relieved to the point that snot and drool begin to seep out after Kenji says he's brought his wife, Yoshiko. Kenji gives the girl a rough shove after the bomber releases the woman he'd been holding hostage which unfortunately knocks off the girl's hood revealing her face. The bomber betrayed, he screams "That's not my wife! Yoshiko was never that pretty!!!" as he lights the fuse and as he gushes snot and froths at the mouth, he throws the pipe bomb toward the girl. This is where things get REALLY stupid... everything slows down as we see everything frozen on a cel save for a bullet in a matrix-esque moment. The bullet pierces through the pipe bomb forcing it to explode before the fuse burns up right overhead. Now instead of doing what an explosion is supposed to, the entire block is blanketed with a thick fog of smoke... because that's what bombs... do.... right? Nah. Would've... SHOULD have taken the entire block with it when it went up. At the very least the poor girl should've been scarred for life, but she's fine because... bullets into bombs equal... smoke.
Anyway! After the smoke mostly clears, the HUGE number of helpless police officers are led by a guy with a squirrel rabid for nuts in his shorts saying "We got him! Move in!" (thanks for coming all the way up from Texas for that line, Freddy) with everyone totally oblivious to what Kenji just did, the girl asks who Kenji is and he makes a face and says "Can't you tell kid? I'm AD Police."
The Japanese seem to identify with the stupidly wreckless heroes and we're talking a level of total incompetence that defies believability, Lethal weapon "I want to die! Every morning I think of a reason not to blow my head off with a hollow point" type of behavior. The hero, Kenji is so irresponsible that you expect him to be suicidal or just plain stupid! He's a notorious jinx who's killed 2 of his partners already and interferes with regular police jurisdiction on a regular basis all the while flaunting this in the face of his boss. By the time we get into the series we watch him lose his 3rd partner and then beat the crap out of his soon to be 4th partner. Kenji is sooo stupid I keep rooting for something, ANYTHING to just kill him off because of his idiocy. Kenji isn't even likeable!!! He's a prick! And his really REALLY cute, violin playing, pot smoking girlfriend (No human is that mellow... she's probably a boomer ^_^) is a bizarre contrast seeing her next to Kenji the stupid monkey. Tiptoeing along, we stop at Hans the suave and mysterious German cop with a bullet in his brain which apparently stole the memories of his past... good lord this is a shameless ripoff. Watch Blade Runner and you'll understand why. Hans is incredibly likeable and a fascinating character, seeing him paired up with Kenji is just sad as many of the other cops in his squad agree. His romantic interest with the cold as ice nurse is pretty trite, but it's WAY more enjoyable than watching the bad chemistry between Kenji and his girlfriend. Besides that which I will not spoil (even though you'll see it coming), there's the animation and the overall look to the series which piss me off. Being a TV series, the show has the same washed look that a lot of Japanese anime (and BBC programs strangely enough) have probably due to the film used. This I could live with if the animation for the overall series didn't suck and turn choppy every other scene. THEN there's the whole look to it, I swear Masami Oobari is going to hurt someone because the style right down to the stupid rounded look when you seem someone at an angle is a total rip off! Watch VIRUS or the Fatal Fury Trilogy and you'll understand what I mean, hell even the scanty armor bits look reminiscent to the kind of stuff you'll see in one of his works.
Whew! Hang on, I got more.
Okay, the boomers? They look ridiculous, and while to be honest I see something like that being far more likely to come about before we see boomers like in the bubblegum crisis... BUT I really doubt EVERY boomer would look exactly the same. In Tokyo 2040 Linna makes an observation about the more HUMAN looking boomers which are made so that people can feel more comfortable around the machines as they do their jobs. In this ADP series there are 3 types of boomers you'll see, period. One, the basic and wholly tacky, almost skeletal boomers which are EVERYWHERE!!! And they're the only ones that you'll really see throughout the series. Two, in the opening there's a Boomer that looks more humanoid in nature as it has a mouth, fingers and toes and what vaguely looks like external mussle tissue... but you never see any boomer like that in the show. Three, the super top secret organic boomers that you can't tell from a human being. The latter two are very rare and you'll only see about 3 of the organics, while the stupid looking halo bar type things are literally EVERYWHERE! No human looking boomers such as the boomers seen in Tokyo 2040 where the (mostly female boomers) looked like moving porcelain dolls or something of that nature.
Almost done, 2 more points to make.
The action... haven't seen anything this boring since... Geez, I can't even remember anything with action this dull. Kenji starts posing up a storm and then boomers squeal and explode, the tension is so thin you couldn't even use it as plastic wrap or even tissues! It's actually laughable when they try to hype things up, for example the squad hustles to the airport and we have to follow them through the long halls much of the way with a clumsy sound effect meant to sound like the group is in a big hurry. Now Seeing the animated shoulders and such combined with the sound effect should be more than enough especially with how much time they wasted showing it. But of course... that's not enough, the camera has to shake violently to make their speedy yet goofy trek THAT much more intense. And for being such advanced robotic creations... the Boomers can't hit the broadside of a barn, the only one that ever really hit anything was the one that stabbed Hans and that was because he started freaking out, not more than couple of feet in front of it.
Now for this "Drama"...
The drama in this series is composed of mostly Kenji's angst. He screams in frustration at damn near everything! I could see him checking his watch and screaming, looking to see the TP roll is empty and screaming or even watching a gameshow and screaming for no apparent reason. This neanderthal really has NO business being the star of this series! The bit players are more interesting than this guy, heck the boomers and potted plants are more interesting than this guy!!! >_< Nothing but angst and melodrama! And nothing makes sense in this world because Kenji's superiors keep telling him that if he pulls a stunt like he just did again (which he continues to do throughout the series as if to spite his bosses) he'd be fired, suspended, executed, spanked... But he's only given verbal slap on the wrist and a VERY minor suspension. It just goes to show how cardboard like everyone in this series is! Direct disobedience gets you a bullet in the head, or at the very least fired. His girlfriend tries to convey emotion pathetically every couple of eps in order to try and fool us she's either human or not rockin' the ganj. After Jose dies (yeah, I'll spoil that :P) Kenji cuts himself shaving and she goes to get a bandage, she gets upset and begins to express her concern for Kenji since he's in such a dangerous profession (not to mention that he acts like a true winner of the Darwin award when in the field) but she then cuts herself off blaming her worries on the parasite that lives in her neck... or something. Hans has totally understandable worries so I can't blame him and he's no drama queen like Kenji even though he actually has something legitimate to be dramatic about! The nurse who Hans swoons over is at least somewhat human, she not only has this mind blowing secret life but she doesn't angst or get weird and she herself has PLENTY to be dramatic about as well. The other guys don't really matter except for Mason ("Naycen" Mason??? What the hell??? I think they meant NATHAN ^_^) because he pops in and out putting everyone's lives in jeopardy and keeping the ADP in business.
That's it's new and different doesn't necessarily make it good, but it's a big step from the original ADP and a stupidly far jump from the BGC making it a worthy landmark. With a really cool collection of music the sound isn't quite Tokyo 2040, but it stands above much other anime out there in terms of a decent soundtrack that isn't pure pop. If you can stomach Kenji's crap enough to stick through the series there's lot of decent drama with Hans and Satomi, plus some great scenes with the bit players.
Probably the best thing about the series is the care with which ADV went through to ensure not only great voice acting, but an awesome adaption in the American culture. If you watch it subtitled they went for a more literal interpretation so you'll be able to tell exactly what they're saying and for the American dub they not only adapted it, they actually changed the script and added dialogue which better helped further the story along and fixed scenes of long awkward silence. So for all you dub haters, this is one to reconsider as is much of the current stuff being put out by ADV Films.
The original ADP Files was set about 14 years as I recall before the original Bubblegum Crisis, therefore it was a prequel showing the dark side of Megatokyo and the true ugly business of taking on the super powerful robots when they've gone out of control. It covered them on and off the job, the kind of filth they had to sort through in their cases and the horrifying reality of realizing that you are no match for something with ten times your strength, or possibly stronger. Seeing your team ripped to pieces effortlessly is nothing new for the ADP, thet's why there are so bloody many people on it (meaning there must be an awesome benefits package and super high pay in this job) because the the ADP is not simply a police force, but more of a military outfit. Then there's just how much you can suspend your disbelief, and personally I don't have any trouble with the original series! Boomers are after all made with living tissues and proteins and do in fact have brains, much of the one's seen in BGC are military grade boomers which Genom is testing on the poor people of Megatokyo and the ADP, then there's the occasional sentient boomer which craves freedom, revenge or even love.
The NEW AD Police Files shares the same weird flaw I find with BGC Tokyo 2040 in that when a boomer goes nuts, it can't simply be the violent, unpredictable, robotic thing we've all come to love, oh no. It has to sprout tentacles and often merge with stuff on a grand scale and spill all sorts of weird fluids in the process, but at the rate that this happens you'd think humans as a species would realize how frickin' dangerous these Boomers are!!! Nothing like in Tokyo 2040 where Genom supressed everything from the media and made the Knight Sabers appear to be Urban legends. Then there was the rep the ADP had in the original series, they couldn't go outise without getting a ration of crap from nearby citizens on a daily basis due to their often wreckless destruction of the city. The ADP in the new series blows things up left and right and endanger the lives of people far more often and irresponsibly than the entire collection of the original ADP and BGC series! The worthless cast (I mean the characters, NOT the voice actors) is flatter than cardboard cutouts. The few characters you can truly get attached to are really likeable, but THEY aren't the ones getting the screen time! You're stuck with that idiot Kenji posing arrogantly and getting into all sorts of trouble, not to mention commiting acts so totally irresponsible and insubordinate you'd have thought they'd exectute him before episode 6! There's also the lack of just mind blowing violence, not that I can't watch something without blood and guts, but the fact that we have super powerful machines who have every conceivable advantage over a human almost NEVER hitting their targets whilst the ADP are almost always crackshots. It's like saying that during the whole Human/Terminator war the terminators were running and hiding from the humans with their sticks and fire.
^_^; Personally, I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief with this entire series. ADP's advantage lies sorely on its excellent dub and adaption which out does Animeigo's work on the BGC Universe with the dubs of both the Original ADP Files and BGC which looked and sounded like pure garbage in comparison! Even though I am obviously not nuts for the the new ADP series, I can't get over how well this dub was crafted! And since the entire series is packed into one 2-disc volume, it's a decent buy for a BGC Completist or a Tokyo 2040 freak. Not the best anime by far, but a shining example of how far ADV has come in terms of cranking out a fantastic dubbed series. Truly ADV Films is a place of wonder ^_^ *does a little jig*