AD Police Files

Plot

Set in the same futuristic world of MegaTokyo as a prequel to Bubblegum Crisis, AD Police Files has rogue androids, or boomers, being taken on by a special task force called the AD Police, instead of the Knight Sabers. Set in time to take place 5 years before Bubblegum Crisis, this series is much closer to Bladerunner and other similar movies.

AD Police is more intent on exploring and portraying the life and psychology behind the boomers. What it means not to be human and how the boomers are struggling with it, and what are the unintended perils and consequences of technology gone wild.

The main characters include rookie cop Leon McNichol from Bubblegum Crisis and Inspector Jeena Malso, his partner. Leon McNichol is a dedicated officer and considered one of the aces in the K-11 and K12S powered suits.

Considering that it's meant to serve as an introduction to Bubblegum Crisis, its noteworthy how dark and mature AD Police Files is, with a grim and gritty streak of impending doom running through all three episodes.

Episodes

The plot is nothing unusual, which is only to be expected, if you have already seen Bubblegum Crisis. Starting with a personal vendetta, working its way to some gruesome murders in Episode 2 and ending in Episode 3 with an exploration of how a human is converted into an enhanced machine and the associated conflicts.

The Episodes
File 1: The Phantom Woman
File 2: The Ripper
File 3: The Man Who Bites his Tongue

Animation

The animation and sound-tracks are tolerable, but nothing fantastic. Look at it this way, Bubblegum Crisis was a path-breaking series. AD Police files were produced in order to cash in on the brand. In order to attract fans, AD Police goes Hollywood and all the episodes are drenched with extreme violence and graphic scenes. The short music videos at the end of each episode reflect this tendency to go overboard to attract fans with something over and beyond the original. And they do succeed in this effort, to some extent. Fans of sci-fi mecha action today would vote for AD Police Files over Bubblegum Crisis.

If you're looking for cute females in AD Police Files, you’re in for a disappointment. AD Police Files does not do cute. It’s dark, sexy and scary, and it’ll blow your mind. It’s a blast, but only if you are a hardcore anime fan who's tired of watching cute and cuddly romantic fantasies.

The popularity of this series resulted in several spin-offs. Spin-offs included manga AD Police 25.00 and the television series AD Police.

Overall, AD Police Files is a rather dark and sadistic anime and so wont appeal to all.