Bubblegum Crisis, you ask? It was (for 1989) very cyberpunk. Avenging vigilantes in the year 2032 fought the corporate evil of Genom, who committed crimes against humanity with artificial life forms, nick-named 'boomers'. To combat the boomers, the vigilantes donned advanced Hardsuits with incredible technical abilities. Despite paying homage (ripping off?) more parts of Bladerunner (Harrison Ford) than you can count, in reflection it's pretty obvious that BGC2032 was Japanese pop with a late 80's 'hard' edge thrown over it. However, the Hardsuit designs and premise were quite memorable.


Ten years later, they re-made the series in Japan, keeping the names, places, and general premise of the story. That's where the similarities ended. Called Bubblegum Crisis 2040, the Hardsuits were almost exact, but sleeker and lacking an unrealistic, endless supply of energy. The character designs were changed and made more personable (characterization in BGC2032 was not a high priority for the creators), and the overall look and feel modernized to fit a cyberpunk those of us in the post-Matrix/Gibson/Stephenson world are familiar with. Added to it was a soundtrack that, while still having enough pop to make it palatable to the Japanese public, was filled with screeching guitars, occasional yelling into a microphone, and heavy bass riffs. All in all, a worthy effort (and more entertaining than the original).