Almost all the e-mail I get these days is about the BGC TV series. People want to know what I think about it. What do I think? I'm not too keen on it. I don't like any of the AIC remakes and this one is no exception. It has its good points, but it has even more bad points. I'm not crazy about it like I am about the OVA series. Sorry. But since people asked, here's my little breakdown for the BGC 2040 Knight Sabers.
Sylia Stingray
Priss Asagiri
Linna Yamazaki:
Nene Romanova
Overall
Pro:
-She's gleefully intimate with other women. Touching them, complimenting them, practically molesting them... She actually makes them feel uncomfortable with her openly sexual attitude. Other women seem to find her awfully attractive and act flattered as anything when she sweet talks them.
-Aside from Nigel, she doesn't seem to think much of men.
Con:
-She's a saleswoman. Of course she's going to sweet talk people. She approaches everyone the way a businesswoman approaches a potential customers. She could be exploiting natural, sexualized charm, not trying to get a date.
-Aside from Nigel, she doesn't come into contact with many men. She also holds men (her father, Mason, Quincy) responsible for her suffering. She may hold all men responsible for the indiscretions of a few.
-The only character she seriously chases is Nigel, and we know they go all the way. We never see her take her interest in women any further than innuendo.
Summary:
I'm going to annoy people by saying this, but I think she's 100% pure heterosexual hyper-tension energy. She's a tease, but aside from causing a little commotion with her comrades and selling a pink dress to a mousy, modest customer she doesn't do anything very suspicious with women. She's the sort of gal who could indulge in bisexual pleasures just for fun, but when the chips are down I think she's straight.
Pro:
-She takes an instant liking to Linna even if she tries to hide it.
-Her bandmates make lewd jokes about her attracting women.
-She wears a power suit on strage. 0_0
-She looks kind of manly in general. I'm talking Gertrude Stein manly, but kinda butch manly. -_-;;
-Her relationship with Leon is so superficial I want to puke whenever I see them together.
Con:
-I refuse to list cons.
Summary:
Would have made a great Radclyffe Hall-style "invert," but the writers chickened out and decided to make her go straight at the last second. Cheap bastards.
Pro:
-Starts stalking Priss and is desperate for her approval. She even inquires not very carefully about Priss' sexual orientation. She's very curious, isn't she?
-Turns down a promising arranged marriage in order to run her own life. That may not seem so strange to westerners, but most Japanese women settle down and get married. Linna rejected the chance for mass-produced bliss.
-Acts sort of infatuated with Sylia. The first thing she does when she sees Sylia is remark on how beautiful she finds her.
-Any time a man comes on to her she pushes him away. She's not your traditional country girl.
-Come on! It's OBVIOUS!!
Con:
-Nope, can't think of any.
Summary:
The facts speak for themselves.
You're kidding, right? Absolutely straight.
What really cheeses me off about BGC 2040 is that it showed so much promise as a tasteful, intelligent examination of female relationships. You've got such a diverse crew this time! Then the writers revealed their lilly livered true selves and all that promise was washed down the drain. This is a sexually complex series that doesn't do itself justice.