Oooooh ooooh ooooh, I know I just mentioned that I forgot what today’s challenge was, but now I’m excited! Because I absolutely love this topic. Blade Runner to this day remains one of my favorite movies, even if it is incredibly problematic (see: Rachel and Deckard’s relationship). I regularly listen to Vangelis’ soundtrack, and I cannot tell you how many times I have actually seen the movie. The Matrix or The Empire Strikes Back might be the only two movies that I have watched more than Blade Runner. Naturally, this means I picked up on almost every single reference the first time I watched Bubblegum Crisis. From character names – Priss and Leon, specifically – to the giant Genom Tower, the movie is referenced almost everywhere, but nowhere near in the same way that my favorite example is:

“Moonlight Rambler” is even more heavily influenced by the movie than the rest of the series, which is a difficult feat, but in particular, the plot is almost directly lifted from it: Boomers are attempting to escape their fates and end up killing some people in order to do it. The sympathy you feel for them is just as complicated as it is with the Nexus 6 models that die throughout the film; all they truly want to do is live without their overlords dictating what they are used for – in the case of the Bubblegum Crisis Boomers, they are literal sex dolls, which is actually another reference, specifically to Pris from Blade Runner.

The ending of the episode is just as tragic, too; only one of the Boomers survives, and her fate is left just as nebulous as Rachel’s. BGC is not nearly as fatalistic as Blade Runner, where at least people are fighting against the tyranny of an evil corporation instead of fleeing it, but this episode definitely resembles the movie more than other ones do, especially in terms of themes. It does offer a bit of hope, however; even though we may not know how everything turns out, at least they – Deckard and Rachel from Blade Runner and Anri from BGC – have the freedom to decide what they do in the moment, which is as true to life as it can be, I suppose.

Art Credit: FanPop