Warning : The following post contains nudity/adult content.

AD.Police 25:00 HRS is a manga spin-off of Bubblegum Crisis, a Japanese cyberpunk OVA series from the late 1980s. Heavily influenced by Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner, the plot revolves around an all female team of mercenaries called the Knight Sabers who battle nefarious cyberdroids “Boomers” created by the mega-corporation Genom.

The manga is made up of 8 short stories and is told through the case files of Inspector Leon McNichol, a side character in Bubblegum Crisis. The Knight Sabers still appear from time to time, but take on more of a supporting role in the comic.

I first read this manga some 20 years ago; the copy I owned back then was a badly printed, heavily censored Chinese version, so I’m really happy to finally find this original Japanese print. The very graphic depiction of violence and gore shocked me a bit as a kid, but the impactful stories ( in particular case file no.1 : The Man Who Bites His Tongue ) and beautiful art work really left a deep impression on me.

Tony Takezaki’s art style is really versatile, ranging from the serious and sombre (above right), at times reminding me of Otomo’s style, to the completely whimsical and funny (below). In the final chapter ( see the 2 last images of this post ) he pays homage to US comics by illustrating in a archetypal Marvel/DC style.

A tiny gem of a manga, with great stories and art work, albeit a little on the gory side. The comic comes with full English translations and also reads from right to left, which is actually kind of strange considering its a domestic (Japanese) release.

“AD. Police 25:00 HRS Manga AD.ポリス25時 トニー たけざき 漫画” book details :

Dimensions – 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
Softcover, 152 pages.
B&W, In English/Japanese

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