The Spin Off/Bubblegum Crisis Prequel is what you'd expect from a Cyberpunk themed Noir anime from the 90s. As the name suggests, they are separate files from the AD Police where each one tells its own story, stories that however much simple has its discussions well implanted in the work.
"Phantom Lady" focuses on sex dolls called Boomer that for mysterious reasons have become aggressive with human beings, especially with men who use them for sex, those who are not able to satisfy them end up being murdered for bringing them frustrations instead of pleasure for them, which ends up being a dilemma brought by the work itself, which satisfies a humanoid machine that shouldn't even have feelings? And how do these distinguish sensations without even possessing humanity?
"The Ripper" talks about femininity, social problems about equality in the labor market, and the extent to which bodily changes make us stop being human or even have an individuality. The positive point of this episode is that for a moment the work leaves the AD organization aside and focuses on the perspective of the newcomer to the city and the common police, Iris, who has an innocent look at the terrible city of MegaTokyo as for the how violent are the crimes committed by the Boomers, but thanks to this and the antagonist, a discussion is created about what makes us human.
"The Man Who Bites His Tongue" follows the premise of a soldier severely wounded in combat but still retaining his services through severe changes in his body, becoming almost completely a machine, with no emotions or memories of his past life, this he wonders if he still makes sense of continuing "alive" just to maintain his function as an officer of the law. The episode is also about criticizing human greed over what will bring them personal advantage without giving importance to those who might harm themselves with such actions.
AD Police Files despite bringing several themes and questions he doesn't take any steps out of his comfort zone, he never goes deep in his discussions beyond the casual, which in a way is positive since with a weak cast it's hard to go beyond what is shown on screen, leaving us viewers to discuss what little is delivered. As interesting as the main duo Gina and Leon seem to be, they are just that, the first is a tough and attractive policewoman who wears a mechanical prosthesis, but despite wondering if that makes her less human, we have no conclusions from her. In addition to a tear and an expression of doubt, the latter is a novice who despite his inexperience makes himself effective, and demonstrates a personal and traumatic reason for joining the task force facing the Boomer dolls, but nothing more so that make us at least have sympathy for the character.
Merits I have to give to the miniseries is the ability to not get stuck in good manners, talking and showing sexual scenes freely, as Gina for example makes it clear how much she likes sex, and even though these scenes sometimes seem to be just The author's personal fetishes somehow fit into the discussions brought up on screen. Highlight for the soundtrack that encompasses everything that these three episodes bring, with an entire album dedicated to each chapter, the songs are largely responsible for involving us in the shallow story.
Fortunately this little Spin Off of a series brought us a new version in the future, which I consider positive since this anime has a great proposal, which needs more time and care to be worked on, this is a curiosity for those who liked Bubblegum Crisis or for fanatics in Cyberpunk universes of the 90s.
