Simulwatch - Gunsmith Cats/Riding Bean/Bubblegum Crisis/Crash/AD Police/Parasite Dolls [all complete]

[Neil.T]

Episode 1

♪ Konya wa hurricane... ♪

And so begins our eight-episode OVA. This is my third viewing of Bubblegum Crisis, and I'll be trying to offer some language and translation insights as per previous simulwatches.

So I'll kick off with this observation: in the scene where Priss discovers Cynthia, both the subtitles and the dub have her ask "Who're you, lady?"
In Japanese, the spoken dialogue is "Oba-chan wa?"

You may have noticed that Priss looks momentarily miffed upon hearing that line, but suppresses her reaction. The reason for this is that the term Oba-chan literally means "auntie" and can be used as a generic term by a younger speaker towards an older female stranger. This choice of term reveals how the younger speaker perceives the age of the older addressee*. Priss is annoyed by the girl's choice, as she would've been expecting her to use the term onee-san instead, which a lot of anime viewers will already be familiar with as it means "big sister". It, too, is a generic form of address that can be used towards an older female stranger.

You know, as I was typing that, I started to wonder whether the name Cynthia could also have been rendered as "Synthia" in reference to her artificial origins. I wonder whether the name was a deliberate choice on the part of the writers.

I actually really liked the waves and water animation.

Yeah, I liked that, too — particularly the shot in the corridor where one torrent of water was hit by a second, heavier one, changing its direction in a realistic fashion.


*I'm bordering on going off-topic already here, but in one of our previous simulwatches, Evangelion, we saw young Rei use the term Obaa-san towards Dr. Naoko Akagi. In this case, Akagi would've been expecting to hear the above term Oba-san, but got Obaa-san instead. Obaa-san is yet another generic form of address, this one meaning "granny"!

What a difference a long vowel sound makes.
The consequences in this case were murderous.


. . .

And I just discovered that I've missed the Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean simulwatches. I forgot to add this thread to my Watched list. Oops.

 

[ayase]

Gunsmith Cats: Episode 3 - Like Tears in Rain



Sorry I'm late, will probably bypass Bean for now and jump straight into BGC after writing this post.

So this is in fact the first episode I've watched in HD after heading home for Christmas and picking up my KS set (along with those for Bean and BGC and all my Shirow manga, expect some long overdue Dominion posts shortly) and as expected, it looks absolutely bloody gorgeous. I didn't expect to still be able to take screencaps though it has been a bit more of a laborious process, but worth it to see some of these wonderful backgrounds in all their HD glory. Much like the featured cars, they really don't make 'em like this any more. I'm very much looking forward to re-watching the first two again now simply to marvel at the visuals.

I think there's a hint of Blade Runner about the setting for the showdown, and a cheeky touch of Die Hard with Radinov's last attack.

Absolutely. All three episodes very much have their own feel, and each seems inspired by a different aspect of Sonoda's admitted (and fairly obvious) influence of Hollywood action movies and TV shows. If episode one was the cop show and episode two the car chase, then episode three is very much the action film. Indeed the cars don't get much of a look in at all here, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the thrilling and yes, rather Blade Runner-esque showdown in the empty building undergoing refurbishment.

If I have one criticism of this episode, it's that the non-Radinov focused political plot gets tied up a little too fast and neatly, but there's probably not a lot that could be done about that. OVAs were always a time/quality tradeoff, and I think I would rather have the quality. The plot really hasn't aged well though, has it? I mean, are we really expected to believe American political candidates and civil servants would get involved with former Russian GRU operatives in order to influence elections in their favour?

I'm actually kinda angry that theres never been a full length Gunsmith Cats series.

It's not something I ever really questioned much in the past, but yeah, it does seem deeply strange that there was never any more.

While I don't know, I have to presume the intention was there, especially given the ending of this final episode which seems to set the stage perfectly for a TV continuation. It was after all fairly common in the '90s for successful OVAs to graduate to TV shows, but I guess in this instance it just didn't happen. In some ways that's a shame, but in others less so, since '90s TV budgets were certainly not '90s OVA budgets, and it would have had trouble living up to this great little series.

 

[Neil.T]

as expected, it looks absolutely bloody gorgeous.

Crikey, those screencaps look detailed. Look at all the little lights in the skyscrapers. (And I love the sense of perspective on the sky in that shot: the clouds really look like they pass overhead and then behind the "camera".)

I've got the old ADV DVD of Gunsmith Cats, so I'll probably rewatch that after Bubblegum Crisis and drop any thoughts into a single post, just for completeness' sake. I watched the commentary tracks on the Riding Bean Kickstarter BD only quite recently, so I know that there's nothing for me to add to what's already been well said here. Gratitude to @Morbo once again for the BD.

The plot really hasn't aged well though, has it? I mean, are we really expected to believe American political candidates and civil servants would get involved with former Russian GRU operatives in order to influence elections in their favour?

. . .
*tries hard not to snicker *

 

[HWR]

Bubblegum Crisis Episode 1: Tinsel City

Just a starter note that I didn’t watch either Gunsmith Cats or Riding Bean, simply because I don’t own either of them, though would like to at some point.

Going into this blind I wasn’t quite expecting that full-length musical number but it was very catchy. I’m loving the soundtrack in general so far tbh. I also got a chuckle or two out of the “boomers” terminology, which takes on a very different meaning in the context of the story.

The animation is also pretty solid, I do love the older hand-drawn style of anime, especially when it’s given a good Blu Ray transfer. The climax especially was quite visually impressive.

Story-wise I am intrigued to see what the next OVA has to offer as I have enjoyed the feel and atmosphere presented so far.

 

[ayase]

Bubblegum Crisis: Episode 1 - The Genom Guns


mfw WMD already took all the Boomer jokes.

I should probably begin with the disclaimer that I consider Bubblegum Crisis to be humanity's crowning achievement, which nothing before or since has ever come close to equalling. It perfectly combines so many things I love - Mr. Sonoda's wonderful character designs, the detailed and technical high contrast aesthetic (just look at the Boomers and the Sabers' Hard Suits, look at the way flat black is utilised for shadow and contrasted with bright neons). The usage of dark cyberpunk and hard sci-fi concepts, but in playful (Sylia and Priss' alter egos are the friggin' owner of a lingerie shop and the front of a rock band, both of which are pretty amusing when you think about it, but they're not played for stupid laughs like they could be) and exciting ways, which also ties in to our protagonists being what I consider the best kind of strong female characters - They certainly have different personalities and lives but they're all just demonstrably good at what they do and get on with the task at hand. See also: Motoko Kusanagi. I haven't checked my MAL in a while but I'm fairly confident my top two are BGC and GitS: SAC. My appreciation of both of these shows' protagonists play a huge part in that.


Leon, man of taste that he is, chills and watches the girls at work.

Then, of course, there's the music and its related brilliant choreography with the action. How many animated productions can you think of that begin with a nearly seven minute long music video which then almost immediately segues into another one? Not nearly enough, that's how many. I love BGC's music to bits, it is peak '80s pop-rock. I own the Complete Vocal Collection on CD, it's one of the first things I load onto any new phone or music player and despite my limited knowledge of Japanese, I'm fairly confident I know the lyrics to all the songs after listening to them so much over the last decade. They're wonderful and emotive, even when not paired with the accompanying visuals, a couple of them even send shivers down my spine in the best of ways.


All things considered, there are worse ways to go.

I am, therefore, very grateful for BGC's existence. But it's still always a somewhat bittersweet experience to revisit it, as it inevitably leads me to question - Why can't we have animation like this any more? Why can't we have music like this any more? Where did that sense of the future (something I've touched on before in our Dominion simulwatch) as a place that could be dark and terrifying but also fun and exciting go? But there are many more episodes to go and plenty of time to write further on these subjects, so for now I'll leave you with this cameo of Panthro from ThunderCats advertising Iraq(?) because why not.

 

[Neil.T]

for now I'll leave you with this cameo of Panthro from ThunderCats advertising Iraq(?) because why not.

Why in the hell did I not notice that when I watched it earlier today?
Is that from the opening stages of the episode?


I can also well imagine that someone's already concocted a Bubblegum Crisis drinking game where you down whatever anytime the studio's name AIC makes a cameo appearance. And the same anytime some random Engrish pops up.

Did anyone else notice the "KING OF BEER BUDWEISER" in the lower left of an AD Police copter's HUD near the start of the episode?

 

[ayase]

Why in the hell did I not notice that when I watched it earlier today?
Is that from the opening stages of the episode?

It's about mid-way through, when the Sabers are discussing their tactics. It changes from a generic girl picture just as the screen is about to leave the panning shot, so it's fairly easy to miss. I'd never noticed it before.

 

[Neil.T]

It changes from a generic girl picture just as the screen is about to leave the panning shot, so it's fairly easy to miss. I'd never noticed it before.

And I'm gonna ask the necessary question now: as a fan, how many times has ayase watched BGC so far? Roughly?

 

[ayase]

And I'm gonna ask the necessary question now: as a fan, how many times has ayase watched BGC so far? Roughly?

In all honesty, this is only the fifth time (twice in SD, twice in HD) I try not to over-watch things, the same holds true for films I love. They stick in my memory so I don’t feel the need to watch them over and over. If you asked me how many times I’ve listened to the Vocal Collection however... Easily over a hundred.

 

[Professor Irony]

Bubblegum Crisis Ep1 - B.O.R.G.A.R.



Oh, it is good to be back. This is the only the second time I've seen BGC in HD; the first was a few years ago on a friend's TV that had some kind of motion smoothing effect switched on and, dear god, it looked terrible. It was enough to put me off watching the BDs for fear that the show was just like that now, so it's a great relief to see it looking crisp and lovely.

That said, I think the show (at least at this point) is kind of a triumph of art design over animation, per se. There are some great individual cuts, particularly the Geigeresque spreading cables towards the end, but the visual attraction of the show is the look, more than the movement. And what a look it is. I'm absolutely in agreement with ayase on this one - when they made Bubblegum Crisis, they really nailed that particular brand of neon noir.

Still worth mentioning for anyone experiencing the show for the first time though, that BGC, like a lot of anime around the time, owes quite a debt to Walter Hill's cult action-fantasy, Streets of Fire.

Something I had never noticed before!



Lanjary is my favourite month of the year.

Other thing that might be a small spoiler?

Spoiler

Had completely forgotten that Leon ends the episode by asking aloud of Priss "I wonder if she's a..." I had it in mind that the speculation about Priss's sexuality was based purely on the vampire episode.

Did anyone else notice the "KING OF BEER BUDWEISER" in the lower left of an AD Police copter's HUD near the start of the episode?

There are lots of little easter eggs like this in the series - now that the show's in HD, it's always worth paying close attention whenever there's English text on screen.

There is more I could write, but it is late and I need to go to bed...

 

[ayase]

Other thing that might be a small spoiler?

That always felt to me like an in-joke for the audience - Everyone watching is of course aware that Priss is a Knight Saber, but Leon’s missing this and instead of asking that question, is instead questioning her sexuality since she doesn’t seem interested in him.

Cue Neil to tell me the vocabulary is all wrong for that to be the case

Though I’m aware of its influence on BGC, I’ve never actually seen Streets of Fire - I’m not entirely sure I want to. I feel like it would be akin to hearing a disappointing original version of a song that you’re only familiar with and love as a cover version.

 

[Neil.T]

Cue Neil to tell me the vocabulary is all wrong for that to be the case

Funnily enough, I did actually want to come back to that line even before you said that.

I'll rewatch the end of episode 1 when I get home from work. I remembered that line in the subtitles from before when I watched the episode yesterday, and it kind of jumped out at me. The original dialogue was Japanese-level vague with what Leon did/didn't say, and I was left feeling like the subtitles had added something to the blank that might not have been originally present. I find this kind of stuff very interesting, so I'm glad you and the Prof brought it up.

I shall check later and be back.

 

[Professor Irony]

Though I’m aware of its influence on BGC, I’ve never actually seen Streets of Fire - I’m not entirely sure I want to. I feel like it would be akin to hearing a disappointing original version of a song that you’re only familiar with and love as a cover version.

Yeah, I can get that. Streets of Fire is interesting because of how influential it was on what followed, but the story and dialogue are so corny that it's hard to watch with a straight face - I believe it also flopped pretty hard on its original release. It kind of doesn't surprise me that it might do better in Japan though; as a piece of visual storytelling, it's pretty effective and it feels like something you could follow without having to pay much attention to what the actors are saying.

 

[Neil.T]

Lanjary is my favourite month of the year.

Another thing I missed!

And...

B.O.R.G.A.R.

... Another thing I had to Google. I clearly do not know my memes.

#####

Right. So... Leon's lesbian line.

To give you an idea of how awkward translation from Japanese can be, take Leon's line after Priss gives him the brush-off.

Japanese dialogue: "Sore wa nai ze!"

Subtitles: "Brrr! Chilly!"

Dub: "Hey! Where ya goin'?"
[as she speeds off]

Very different interpretations, aren't they? The most conventional translation of that common Japanese phrase in this context would be things like:
"Aw, come on!"
or
"Don't be like that!"

Believe it or not, its actual literal meaning is more akin to "There is none of that."
Broken down syntactically, he's telling her "As for that, [there is] none."

That should give an idea of how difficult it can be to translate even seemingly simple lines from Japanese.


So, on to the line in question.

Japanese dialogue: "Kanojo... ittai?"

Subtitles/dub: "I wonder if she's a...?"

The subtitles appear to be drawn from the dub for this line. The key word in the original dialogue is ittai. It's found in phrases such as "Kore wa ittai?"
That would be variously translated as "What the heck/hell/on earth is this?"
It conveys being mystified by the thing at hand.

Personally, I get no sense whatsoever from the original dialogue that Leon is pondering Priss's sexuality. Japanese dialogue is quite often a lot plainer and more straightball than some dubs would have you believe, often to the point of mundanity where some bits are practically a colourless interjection. I've got to guess that the dub writers added that angle to jazz things up a bit, basing it on perhaps a more Western (and dare I say more chauvinistic) interpretation of the situation — like if you were to view the scene without sound and write your own quip based on what had come before.

I don't know BGC well enough to remember the vampire episode that the Prof mentioned (though we'll be getting to that with episode 5, I believe), but... perhaps AnimEigo have reflected something in that one back onto the earlier episode? Of course, we know how closely Robert Woodhead and co. have worked with Kenichi Sonoda et al during their subsequent Kickstarter campaigns, so... perhaps they were able to get some kind of inside info on the intent of that line. Who knows?

I really believe, though, that Leon's original line was doing no more than playing up Priss's air of mystery.

I know that post was a lot to digest in one go, but I hope it mostly made sense of things. I hope it wasn't too disappointing either!


Episode 2 musings on the way next.

 

[WMD]

Bubblegum Crisis episode 2

Even though this episode is shorter it was still able to slow down the pace and give a but of a feel for the world were in. Getting a glimpse or 2 of shopping districts and restaurants, we get a better feel for how news is reported in this world. I enjoyed all that even if it meant the final third went by super fast! Oh you're a SUPERBOOMER? Whatever!

Much like episode 1 the animation is top notch. The level of detail in background and establishing shots is really amazing.

When this guy appeared on screen at the start I immediately thought this guy is a bad man.


It was also a bit weird that the final song at the end was a jaunty 80s pop tune that sounded like a christmas song while we looked out over a graveyard.

Edit: also is this Roy from Gunsmith Cats?

 

[HWR]

Bubblegum Crisis Episode 2: Born to Kill

Despite being a shorter episode this still allowed for a good time and had yet more boomers threatening our heroes. I also like how the OP was incorporated into the episode, especially as I tend to skip them with anime watching usually after the first or second time.

Everything that appealed to me from the first episode is still here too: the music, animation and action set pieces still impressed and I appreciated the slower parts also, especially When they showcased more of the world of BGC. Something as simple as a shopping trip is welcome in displaying more of this world than dingy back alleys and metallic landscapes.

 

[Neil.T]

As my earlier post was so long already, here are some closing thoughts I wanted to give on Leon's lesbian line that there wasn't the space for before.

My own personal interpretation of that line, in terms of what would make an appropriate subtitle, would be:
"What's the deal with her?"

I reckon that would retain the open-endedness of the original dialogue.

I still doubt the subtext found in the dubbed version, because I think if it had been present in the original, it would've been more explicit. It would probably have been something to the effect of:
"Kanojo-tte... are ka na."

That would translate as "I wonder if she's... like that."
It's the kind of thing I've heard being used in anime before.

In Japanese, are is a word meaning "that", but can also be employed in this way, too.


Lastly, I should mention that the subtitles I quoted in that previous post are taken from AnimEigo/MVM's 4-DVD UK box set. I take it the same subs are used on the Kickstarter BD?

Moving on now.


Episode 2

And here we find another of the Prof's aforementioned Easter eggs. Did anyone else notice that the passwords displayed on screen for the "Black Box" were titles of songs from the series? There was "Kodoku no Angel", "Remember" and, everyone's favourite anisong, "Mr. Dandy".


Oh, and as a quick footnote to this post, going back to ayase's episode 1 screencap of ThunderCats character Panthro's cameo appearance, I went and had a look at the actual panning shot in the episode itself, and the text under the video billboard reads "IRAQ fair". So... there.
None the wiser.

 

[WMD]

The language stuff is really interesting. It would be great if we could know what the intent of the translation was.

I've in several Funimation episode commentaries where they say their focus is on translating meaning not words for the dubs. They seemed pretty open about the fact their sub tracks are completed as quickly as possible with minimum effort and are just a straight word translation, whereas a lot more effort goes into the dub script to actually understand the meaning of what's going on and translating that properly.

This is especially important for comedies where a lot of jokes/word plays/references dont translate at all and jokes have to be rewritten to give the same experience to English speakers.

 

[Professor Irony]

A couple of things I meant to mention for episode one that I hadn't picked on up before:

Quincy's little bit of exposition suggests a war is going on in one of the polar regions and Genom are profitting off it. Some things never change...

Leon's comrade suggests they should back down and wait for the army to tackle the boomers. This struck me as significant as we never see anyone other than the Knight Sabers and the AD Police actually fighting them - maybe if the series had gone on for longer, they might have picked up this idea again?

Also I just really like the little gag with Nene and Sylia riding the bus in full armour.



Bubblegum Crisis ep2 - Born to Grill



I've known writers who use subtext, and they're all cowards.

This ep is one of the only times in the series we get much development for Linna - of all the main characters, her personality seems to be the least established. I'd even forgotten she was an aerobics instructor at this point (it must be Crash that places her as a stockbroker). Irene gets a pretty rough deal too; as if 'we were going to get married when the project was finished' wasn't a big enough red flag, having her actually say 'if I disappear, get those vigilantes to avenge me'? Yikes. Press F. The boomer villain team are quite fun though, even trotting out the old fingernail razor-blades, as I think all cyberpunk stories are legally obliged to.

I may have been a bit hard on the animation before, the battle against said boomers at the end of the episode was noticeably better than I remembered (probably that smoothing effect wrecking it again), but the real highlight here for me is the music. While the consistently high standard makes it difficult to pick favourites, I do feel Mad Machine is a particular standout. It's just a shame that the episode fades it out before the brilliant guitar solo.

As no-one's brought up the dub yet, it's worth mentioning that the songs were all re-recorded in English for that version. They had a pretty good stab at There's a Hurricane Tonight in particular, but the English Mad Machine is a disappointment, with tinny sounding synths, some odd stressing of certain lyrics and a weak rendition of the solo. It's interesting that the practice of dubbing songs seems to have died out now, but perhaps it's no great surprise. About the only time I can think of where it really worked was Tenchi Muyo, where I think the English version was prepared by the original studio, who had access to all the proper assets for the music and so on.

The language stuff is really interesting. It would be great if we could know what the intent of the translation was.

One thing I did wonder about is whether Bubblegum Crisis would have been an established favourite on the tape-trading circuit before AnimEigo released their official translation (I think the AnimEigo release would have been after the series was complete?). I feel like Neil is right and the line in Japanese wasn't intended to read as Leon questioning Priss's sexual preference, but if BGC already had enough of a following to make fan-speculation over things like Priss's sexuality a known element, it seems entirely possible the translator might have been acknowledging that. Equally, it could just be a complete coincidence though. Without retroactively reading anything into it, as ayase said, it does just feel like a knowing wink to the audience about Leon inexplicably not realising that Priss is a Knight Saber.

 

[WMD]

As no-one's brought up the dub yet, it's worth mentioning that the songs were all re-recorded in English for that version.

I did wonder that at the time but forgot to check! I am watching the English version.

It's interesting that the practice of dubbing songs seems to have died out now, but perhaps it's no great surprise. About the only time I can think of where it really worked was Tenchi Muyo

I've always really liked the dub versions of the intro and outro songs for Negima?! Also the intro for Ouran (though the ending for that was awfully out of tune.)