By Alison L. Roberts

Insert from volume one of the U.S. DVD release from ADV Films.

One of the most daunting tasks for any creative type has to be the "follow-up."

How do popular musicians dig in for their sophomore album, knowing that their first broke records and forced them into the public's consciousness? What can a writer do to keep the loyal fans on board and still prevent his or her works from becoming so formulaic that their relevance is lost? How can the sequel to a popular movie or television series possibly capture the imagination of the audience and maintain the standard of quality set by the original?

Similar questions were in the minds of fans when plans for a Bubblegum Crisis (BGC) television series were announced in the mid-1990s. After all, the original Bubblegum Crisis — and its team of crime-fighting heroines — was a hard act to follow. . .

The unprecedented success of the original Bubblegum Crisis, produced and distributed by Artmic and Youmex, was a combination of both artistic excellence and fortuitous timing. Conceived at the height of Japan's mid-1980s economic and anime boom, the eight-episode, direct-to-video (OAV) series was released intermittently between 1987 and 1991. The market for home videos was increasing exponentially as households started to consider VCRs almost a necessity, rather than a luxury. BGC's mix of storytelling and characterization, illustrated in a live-action style by AIC (El Hazard, Tenchi Muyo!) and punctuated by the music of the era, fast became a favorite among fans looking for something to play on those new VCRs.

Linna, appearing on volume two of the U.S. VHS release.

Quality costs money, and unfortunately, all booms eventually go bust. The series' original 13-episode story arc was cut short when one of its producing companies fell onto hard financial times. In 1991, an attempt to continue BGC with the three-episode Bubblegum Crash OAV miniseries was met with a lukewarm public response. The breakup of the original creative team and a change of voice actors for one of the story's leads (Priss) had taken their toll. In the end, the original Bubblegum Crisis remained unfinished — a circumstance that only added to its allure as the years passed.

However, the lack of new episodes did not diminish the impact Bubblegum Crisis had on its fans, and the series' popularity continued to grow posthumously. It is no wonder, considering the general response to Crash, that these same fans were concerned when rumors of a BGC television series surfaced in the mid-1990s.

The newest incarnation of the Knight Sabers, in civilian garb.

Issues of timeliness and legality played an important role as the newly-assembled creative team planned what would become known as Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 (BGC2040). Hiroki Hayashi, whose early directing jobs included the original OAV series, was chosen to helm the new television series — placing the property under the guidance of someone who knew what made BGC special and, possibly, had insight as to where it may have headed, given the opportunity. The producers, AIC and JVC, had legal roadblocks as well: They were not allowed to recycle the original series' popular character designs.