By Alison L. Roberts

Priss in action.

Blade Runner meets Dirty Harry, add at least one conspiracy theory, cast women as the leads and set it to a pop-rock soundtrack.

Imagine being a financier today and hearing that description. An unusual selection of influences was melded into a unique piece of living, anime history. Among the most notable homages are the many parallels to the 1982 movie Blade Runner. Off the top, Priss and Leon are named after two of the movie's "almost human" robots, referred to as replicants. (Priss and her band go by the name Priss and The Replicants.) MegaTokyo is a megalopolis, in the vein of Ridley Scott's version of future Los Angeles: a seamy city where decay and gross overdevelopment serve to exaggerate each other. The concept of boomers, biomechanical beings meant to serve humans, was derived from Blade Runner's replicants. Finally, both, at some point, ask the question "What is it to be human?" The above pitch's second component, Dirty Harry, is not an actual influence, but it is representative of two important BGC plot concepts: individuals so enraged that they take the law into their own hands and revenge. Frustration with the current boomer situation is one of many reasons for the formation of the Knight Sabers and plays an important role in Leon's actions later in the series. And almost every character has a personal cause, or specific vendetta, that moves the plot at some point within the OAV's intertwining story arcs.

Another significant reason for BGC's success can be attributed to Kenichi Sonoda's original, and very popular, character and mecha designs. Each of the main characters is realistic, to a degree, and their personalities are very much reflected by their outward appearances. The hardsuit designs are among the most-recognized in all of anime and a testament to Sonoda's well-documented love of all things mechanical, from cars to guns. (Sonoda later went on to create the "girls'n'guns" anime and manga, Gunsmith Cats.)

The last, but not least, significant component in the Bubblegum Crisis mix is the series' '80s-style soundtrack. The music, often performed on-screen by Priss, the resident rock-star, is used to set the mood and, at times, forward the plot. Standouts include the first episode's opening song, "Konya Wa Hurricane" ("There's a Hurricane Tonight") and "Mad Machine," to name just a few among several, j-pop/rock classics.

Priss sings at her "day job."