• Burst Angel

    2004

    published in Empire No.74, Sydney
    Complete Collection

    2007

    The Bubblegum Crisis legacy seems unending in anime. Burst Angel parlays the iconic elements of classic otaku-servicing product, as another bevy of babes burst out of their clothes and through buildings in a riotous spectacle of foreplay and gunplay in a crime-ridden futuristic Japan. Such a description fits both the veneer and the heart of Burst Angel, making it on the one hand a focussed and solid genre vehicle, and on the other an uninviting prospect for those not enamoured by ‘l’amour en armour’.

    The babe crew of Burst Angel are identikit composites of the genre’s mainstays: the ditzy Meg, the kiddie-porn-cute Amy, the cold boss Sei and the grudge-bearing solipsist Jo. Boy-identification is provided by Kyohei, a chef student hired part-time to cook this mercenary team. The series progresses (sometimes unevenly) revealing facets of their fractured personalities. This never interferes with either the precision with which Meg’s boob and crotch movements are rendered, or the relentless cuteness of Amy’s affected gesticulations. For further penile pleasure, the mechanical design and 3D CGI modelling of Jo’s ‘Angel’ rig plus the numerous cybots she battles are impressively mobilised with ultra-real movement while retaining an anime-drawn surface.