A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve
A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve is a 1999 cyberpunk anime television series. It is set in a rebooted universe of Bubblegum Crisis, as it is a prequel to the series reboot, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.
A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve premiered on TV Tokyo on April 7, 1999 and ran until its conclusion on June 30, 1999.
Background
In 1999 Tokyo was ravaged by an enormous earthquake, leaving the city a desolate wasteland. The government functions relocated to the surrounding suburbs, leaving the former capital to deteriorate into a slum. Reconstruction of the area was thought impossible until a company named Genom, a corporation that made humanoid machines called VOOMERS, began to implement a plan to rebuild Tokyo in 2005. Tokyo has been reborn as "Genom City", a metropolis completely under the control of Genom. This resurrection did not come without a price, as overdrive accidents concerning illegal VOOMERS produced by "Packer Syndicate" have been on the rise.Plot
The story is based around the lives of Sasaki Kenji and Hans Kleif, two young A.D. Police Detectives who find themselves forging a bond after being forced to work together in order to stop the rogue VOOMERS from turning Genom City back into an urban wasteland. Kenji is a loner who is known for his lack of teamwork. It is this attitude that causes many of his previous partners to be injured or even killed. His latest partner, Paul, was heavily injured during their last mission together and it is said that nobody is willing to work with Kenji. He goes to his favorite bar and has a fight with a man named Hans. When he goes to his office the next morning, he is informed that Hans is actually his new partner.Throughout the series Kenji, Hans, and the rest of the A.D. Police Force find themselves pitted against Liam Fletcher, the series' main antagonist and a leading figure in the Packer Syndicate. The series features different members of the police force responding to BOOMER-related situations and growing closer, not only as a unit of police officers, but as a group of friends. The series places an extremely heavy emphasis on the growing relationship between Kenji and Hans although others, such as the romantic connection between Kenji and Kyoko, also play an important role.
Characters
;Kenji Sasaki;Hans Kleif
;Hideaki Kurata
;Nancy Wilson
;Jose Collins
;Karen Jordan
;Mary Malone
;Kyouko Miyano
Cast
Additional voices
English: Dean Turner, Hilary Haag, Jay Hickman, John Gremillion, Kelli Cousins, Kevin Charles, Mark Laskowski, Melissa Cybele, Monica Rial, Rick Peeples, Shawn Taylor, Ted Pfister, Tiffany Grant, Vic Mignogna, Victor CarsrudReception
Critical reception of A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve has been mixed. Anime News Network gave the series a rating of A− subbed, and B dubbed. They considered it more dark and suspenseful than A.D. Police Files, and stated that "the characters have more depth, and there are elements in the series that would glue just about anyone to the screen, whether it's the confrontation with the boomers, or just curiosity as to what's going to happen to everybody." They praised the characters for being likable, and called the series "just all-around exciting."Issac Cynova of THEM Anime Reviews was far more critical, as he gave the series a rating of 2 out of 5 stars, and called it a poor-man's version of NYPD Blue. He praised the story but criticized the animation and the characters, stating that the two main leads "come off flatter than the proverbial pancake."