Having had mixed perceptions of the original Bubblegum Crisis and hearing of the Tokyo 2040 spinoff expanding on what the 1988 OAV series didn't do, I decided to give BGC Tokyo 2040 a shot. While this take on Bubblegum Crisis didn't really wow me, there were aspects of it which made me enjoy it more over the OAV series. The series still features Sylia and the Knight Sabers dealing with mad boomers and corrupt activity within the Genom corporation with the girls still a likeable bunch. The characterizations with many of the prominent characters have changed a bit from their 80s counterparts with how you enjoythem depending on how you liked them ten years earlier. Here are some examples:

1. Sylia mostly works in a supporting role with the Knight Sabers for this series and isn't so stoic in this spinoff as she has angry mood swings whenever the subject of Genom is brought up.

2. Priss is more aloof in Tokyo 2040 as she keeps distant from the other Knight Sabers throughout much of the series, along side potential love interest and AD Police officer Leon who isn't as smooth-talking as he was in the OAV.

3. Sylia's brother, Mackie, is more polite, plays a bigger role in this series and isn't prone to perversion as his 80s counterpart.

The series does expand on its back story on Sylia so we come to know what connects her to the boomers, why she opposes Genom and how she formed the Knight Sabers, a major improvement over the OAV. The major characters that represent Genom aren't completely evil either as the chairman of the company aspires for humanity and boomers to coexist, Brian Mason having enough depth where he has justification for his actions against the chairman's orders and boomers being used for more mundane purposes besides military use. The series starts off at first as a "monster of the week" type plot where the Knight Sabers deal with a random mad boomer in each episode. However as Mason's goals slowly start to unravel, his plans kick in during the second half of Tokyo 2040 to start off an engaging ongoing plot as said plans jeopardize more than the people of Mega Tokyo. With the original Bubblegum Crisis being notable for its soundtrack, the music for Tokyo 2040 is given as much love here with its mix of rock and techno musical tracks that blend in quite well with the everyday and tense scenes seen throughout the series. And while shortcuts with the animation were apparent for me, character designs and scenery were well drawn with a good amount of detail.

The series isn't without its flaws however. Like the original series, I still found the other Knight Sabers to be quite underdeveloped compared to what we learn about Sylia. In addition, the quality of the plotting for the final episodes to the series left quite a bit to be desired for me as deus ex machina seemed to take place for the Knight Sabers to overcome a seemingly powerful foe and it becomes a bit too centered on making Priss into the heroine who saves everyone in the end. I was also left with some questions over what happened in the series finale with events and characters.

While not the major improvement I was hoping to get out of the Bubblegum Crisis franchise, Tokyo 2040 still offered enough with its plot and characters to give it a better quality feel for me than the more style-driven OAV series.