[Guyver Spawn]

What I finished recently in the last week:

A.D Police (1990 OVA) - For my Bubblegum Crisis marathon, I decided to watch A.D Police next. This was the first anime in the Bubblegum Crisis series that I saw on Starz back in 2000. As a 9 year old kid, I thought it was so damn awesome. After over a decade later, I re-watch it and I still think it's pretty good. Nowhere as bad as people make it out to be.

The animation is pretty good, but could have been better. The original Bubblegum Crisis had amazing animation for its time while the animation in A.D Police feels a bit lackluster. The large amount of detail put in the animation is nowhere as good compare to Bubblegum Crisis. However the action scenes are very well animated and the large amount of blood use in this anime is always awesome.

What I like about A.D Police is the atmosphere because it's very dark and gritty. The atmosphere really captures the mood of the anime. A.D Police feels very different from Bubblegum Crisis and I like that. It makes A.D Police to be it's own anime instead of trying to copy & paste Bubblegum Crisis. Bubblegum Crisis did had a good share of serious and violent moments, but it still felt like a PG-13 anime while A.D Police is pretty much R rated. A.D Police is filled with blood, gore, nudity and even sex. That's what makes A.D Police fun to watch. This anime was made when you had ultra violent blockbusters from Paul Verhoeven and it's too bad that we don't get those type of movies anymore.

The music is in this anime is great. A.D Police offers a lot of great songs and I found myself humming to most of them after the anime was over. The music feels very dark and futuristic which is the tone that the anime is going for. The dub is alright, not bad or great. I would suggest to watch it in sub instead because the voice acting is pretty hammy at times. I was told the Manga UK dub is better, but not by much.

The biggest issue with A.D Police is the story in my opinion. This anime is only three episodes long and there could have been so much more to be done. A.D Police feels like it should have been a six episode OVA series instead. I love Leon McNichol and i feel like that he hardly does much outside of the first episode. The supporting cast in this anime is pretty lackluster too since I didn't care much about them. I do like that we do get definition and elaboration of what Boomers actually are, and their role in society since the original Bubblegum Crisis never really went over that.

Unlike other OVA titles like M.D Geist, at least A.D Police try to add some themes like "How a human mind can inhabit a machine", "Losing touch of your humanity" and "Can machines feel pain?". Too bad these themes are poorly executed in A.D Police.

Overall, A.D Police (1990 OVA) is a fun spin-off title in the Bubblegum Crisis franchise. The writing may be not great, but the action, music and atmosphere make up for it. If you are looking for philosophical content similar to Ghost in the Shell, you are not going to find in this anime. If you just want a fun dark sci-fi action anime, I suggest to check it out. Grade: 7/10

Bubblegum Crash - This was the only Bubblegum Crisis anime that I never saw growing up. So I finally saw this anime and I have no idea on what to think really? It has some good moments, but everything else sucks.

The animation is not bad, but it feels lackluster compare to Bubblegum Crisis. The anime is lacking the amazing detail and the dark brooding cityscape of Mega-Tokyo. The animation looks and feels cheap compare to the original. The action scenes are nicely animated and that is probably the best thing about the animation in this anime.

The music is pretty good, but the song are not as memorable compare to the songs in the first anime. The dub is mostly on the same level as the first anime. The sub version is pretty good and nice to see the other voice actors voice the characters one more time. I'm not a fan of the new voice actress for Priss, but I got used too it.

The story is the biggest issue with this anime. So when did Mega Tokyo was cool with the idea of Boomers being used in Mega Tokyo? Also what happen to the rest of GENOM after Episode 8 in the original anime? Also what happened to Sylvie and Anri (the sexaroids)? I take it nobody else seems to remember anything either. Largo is somehow back despite being killed off in the first Bubblegum Crisis anime. I don't get how he return despite being blown off into bits.

I guess it was nice to see what the other Knight Sabers was doing after the first anime series ended and seeing them want to move on. However that is throw out of the window pretty quickly later on. I did enjoy Episode 2 since the Boomer with the human mind-set was pretty likeable. The other episodes are okay...I guess.

Bubblegum Crash is a very forgettable sequel and is a total let down. I can see why people never wanted me to watch it for many years. Bubblegum Crisis can stand on its own and has a decent story with good characters. Meanwhile Crash feels very rush and is poorly put together. Bubblegum Crash is the Dragon Ball GT of the Bubblegum Crash franchise. It's not god awful, but it could have been so much better. It has some good moments, but you can skip this one unless you want to see what happens next after Bubblegum Crisis. Grade: 5/10

One Piece Film: Gold - I'm not the biggest One Piece fan (I was a big fan before it was dubbed in English), but my friend wanted me to show this movie to me. I haven't read or seen the series in a while, so the movie was nothing too spoil heavy. The movie was pretty fun to watch. The animation was great and I love the setting in the movie. Big fans of the series will love the movie and probably consider it to be the best in the series. As a causal fan, I enjoy it. It was a bit long, but I didn't mind watching it. I will probably check out the dub one day. Grade: 7/10

Scramble Wars - This was a fun short and silly crossover. It was cool seeing these characters together in one big race. The interactions that we had with these characters from Artmic was a lot of fun to see. This anime is like Wacky Races with characters from Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, Genesis Survivor Gaiarth and many others.

There was some funny moments that did give me a good laugh. I have a soft spot for SD type of anime, so I'm glad that I watch this. If you are a fan of Bubblegum Crisis or SD anime, I would give it a watch. It has some good moments and I enjoy it over Bubblegum Crash any day. Grade: 6/10