Hiya,

Bubblegum Crisis is my favorite anime. A Blu-ray was released in Japan in 2009 and AnimEigo want to port it to the US, and to help this process they're doing a kickstarter. For $50 you can help make this a reality and get a copy of the set your troubles along with some other goodies. This is totally a no brainer. Knight Sabers, Sanjo~!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...on-blu-ray-set

About time that actually went up.

Not a bad price at all, considering that Animeigo's been doing the "only release in an overpriced collector's set" thing for at least a decade longer than AniPlex.

I went with $40 pledge on the 1st day. I'm not the biggest fan of the franchise, but wanted to support something like this.

Also fixed the AnimEigo typo on the thread title.

EDIT: the total amount has already surpassed the original pledge goal.

Is this worth a blind buy?

How has an anime fan never seen Bubblegum Crisis?

*Looks at DVD box set of this series sitting on shelf for several years, makes mental note to watch it sometime...*

slinks away from thread in shame.

I'm biased, I think it's like the coolest thing in the world. Big 80s hair, awesome 80s music. Heavily drawing upon Blade Runner and Streets of Fire. Likeable characters. Cool parts, sad parts. I think it's got everything. But I can also see where it might be an acquired taste.

The proper gentlemanly response...

For many Americans, Bubblegum Crisis was the very first straight-to-video (OAV) anime we got to see back in the early 1990s. (I borrowed the tapes from a colleague back in 1992.) So there is some nostalgic value for some of us. Is it the greatest thing ever? No. There are so many better OAV productions from that period (Midnight Eye Goku, Spirit Warrior/Peacock King, Tenchi Muyo, etc.) , but it does have historical significance. If you can rent it, why not?

As far as I know, it was also the first anime to a DVD release.

Yeah, Tenchi Muyo was the one for us. They were playing it late nights on Cartoon Network and the wife and I loved it.
BC isn't super long is it? I'll try to squeeze it in sometime.

There are 8 OVAs in Bubblegum Crisis proper, most are standalone, 5 and 6 are basically a two-parter.

1 - Tinsel City - 45min
2 - Born to Kill - 30min
3 - Blow Up - 25min
4 - Revenge Road - 40min
5 - Moonlight Rambler - 45min
6 - Red Eyes - 50min
7 - Double Vision - 50min
8 - Scoop Chase - 50min

If you watch the first 5 minutes or so of Tinsel City (In Japanese I would strongly advise) you would probably get a decent sense for if you'd like the series or not.

To be honest, I don't remember the first anime DVDs. That's a good question. Anyone remember for sure if it was Bubblegum Crisis?

I checked my notes. I came to DVD in January 2001 and I got my first anime review copies on DVD in February 2001. (Previously, I'd been getting screeners on VHS.) Here are the first ones I received:

2/20/01
Received Dragon Ball Z DVDs from Goldhil Home Media
DRAGON BALL: MYSTICAL ADVENTURE
DBZ: BARDOCK, FATHER OF GOKU
THE HISTORY OF TRUNKS
CAPTAIN GINYU: ASSAULT
CAPTAIN GINYU: DOUBLE CROSS
TRUNKS: MYSTERIOUS YOUTH
TRUNKS: PRELUDE TO TERROR

2/13/01
Received 3 SF DVDs from Manga Video
STREET FIGHTER ALPHA THE MOVE
STREET FIGHTER II-V Vol. 1 (eps. 1-7)
STREET FIGHTER II-V Vol. 2 (eps. 8-14)

I thought the first domestic release anime dvd was Toshinden, the one based on that crappy playstation 3d fighting game.

I also thought that US Rendition's releases of Gunbuster and Dangaioh predated BGC, though it is kind of a blur to me. I loved those clam shelled cases, though. I remember being amazed that Gunbuster was getting a subbed release...

Yeah, I think you're right about Gunbuster and Dangaio, it's just that I didn't see those till years later when I picked up the tapes in a used video bin. I loved Gunbuster and thought it was better than BGC and wished I'd seen it first. Dangaio isn't bad either. (The original release was spelled Dangaio, but Manga's English-dubbed, cut-down re-release, which infuriated fans, was called Dangaioh.)