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Scramble Wars review darktruth
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Originally released on video and Laser Disc separately in 1992, Scramble Wars is a similar take to Hanna Barbera's "Wacky Races" involving Artmic characters from the original Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force and Genesis Survivor Gaiarth series. The plot in this super deformed OVA is pretty much self-explanatory: the Knight Sabers (from Bubblegum Crisis), Gall Force girls (Gall Force) and Ital and Sahari (from Genesis Survivor Gaiarth) are pitted against each other in a racing competition held by the Genom Corporation for a trophy supposedly worth 10 billion yen.
Set in the Gaiarth world, Scramble Wars follows the characters' tactics as they plan how to win the race. There are Sylia and Macky with their Silky Doll Wagon, Priss and her Motoslave, Nene and Linna in the Mini Patrol Car, the Gall Force girls with their Starleaf ship, and Ital and Sahari's "Bird-Horse". Also included in the race is a boomer (who looks quite cute when super deformed) sent in by Genom's chairman Quincy to stir things up. What follows next are wacky, outrageous and hilarious pursuits of each competitor displaying their utmost desperation to win the race, using their vehicles to sabotage each other's plans of being the winner. It is left as a surprise to who actually wins the race but the ending and result of each character's actions will probably force a laugh out of you. There are also some very special brief (blink and you'll miss it) appearances of characters from other series, including Leon, Daley, Vision and Mason who are all from the original Bubblegum Crisis series, and some characters from Riding Bean. I should mention here that I found Sylia incredibly hilarious and different from her usual calm self, from laughing like a creepy maniac and giving Priss the finger to going to extreme lengths to win the race by setting up bombs; she was undoubtedly the highlight of this OVA.
Even if you've only seen one or none of the series involved in this race, chances are you'll understand the overall plot, since this is funny and outrageous enough to be watched alone without knowledge of those series. Despite this, there are some jokes and humour which would need some understanding of the original series to understand but these are minor and don't really deter from the silliness of the overall story. If you ever wanted to see any wacky or completely silly anime in the early 90's then Scramble Wars is a great choice to watch and have a good laugh.
Scramble Wars was later released alongside Artmic's "10 Little Gall Force" on VHS as "Super Deformed Double Feature" which contained extras including a look into Kenichi Sonoda
working on Gall Force, the Japanese trailer for Gall Force 3: Stardust War, the making of All My Love (Ending Theme for Scramble Wars) and the All My Love music video. The original Laser Disc version of Scramble Wars contained the final two extras.
~ darktruth
