What a dreadful disappointment Bubblegum Crisis turned out to be. The episode I inflicted on myself featured a lacklustre plot about a vengeful motorist in a Batmobile, and I only managed half of it before falling asleep (literally, not figuratively).<br /><br />On the plus side, the animation is superb, I won't contest that. Both the beauty and action scenes are handled with genuine style and panache. And while we're praising, there was a half decent effort to convincingly portray a disturbed individual slipping into insanity.<br /><br />But all that is ruined, utterly and completely by the genre silliness. The whole concept of the "gal group kicking ass" is childish, but it doesn't have to be and childishly handled. What is a simpering bimbo doing in the group? You'd evict her in a second. The essentially juvenile fantasy fulfillment grrl action jarred badly with the pretentions towards serious drama with the Batmobile driver. It was just a big old mess.<br /><br />I'll mention That Film again. Akira showed that you don't have to stick to the genre plot devices or risible charicatures to produce an anime film. I fell in love with Akira (yes, I know, pronounced AHkih'rah, not Ah-KEEra) and found the subtitled version far superior, and I've been waiting ever since for something of equal maturity. Monoke Hime came close, very close, but Bubblegum Crisis is just embarrasing. Avoid, avoid, avoid.