is a 12 episode anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series directed by Hiroki Hayashi

Hiroki Hayashi

' is a Japanese animation director.- Direct-to-video animation :* 1988 Revenge Road * 1989 Explorer Woman Ray* 1990 Sol Bianca * 1992 Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki* 1995 El-Hazard...

 released in 2004. Though the basic premise is in keeping with its predecessors Burn Up!

Burn Up!

is a 1991 Japanese anime original video animation release. It concerns a special group of police officers called Team Warrior who are often given special assignments in the police department....

and Burn Up Excess

Burn Up Excess

Burn-Up Excess is an animated Japanese television series, directed by Shinichiro Kimura and produced by AIC. It aired from 1997 to 1998, ran for 13 episodes, and 4 volumes of videos were released on VHS and DVD in North America by ADV Films....

it is an entirely new series with some new and some old characters, and a very different art style.

Like Burn Up W

Burn Up W

is an anime OVA directed by Hiroshi Negishi and released in 1996. It was soon followed by a series version called Burn Up Excess though it occasionally lacks continuity with the series. The OVA consists of four episodes, chronicling Team Warrior through more missions...

 and Burn Up Excess

Burn Up Excess

Burn-Up Excess is an animated Japanese television series, directed by Shinichiro Kimura and produced by AIC. It aired from 1997 to 1998, ran for 13 episodes, and 4 volumes of videos were released on VHS and DVD in North America by ADV Films....

, the series centers on a busty police officer and martial artist name Rio Kinezono, who just wants to find love in her life... so much so that she often changes around her living arrangements just to attract the right man. So far, the only man she was able to attract is her perverted superior, Yuji Naruo... and he's being protected by Matsuri Tamagawa, his overly-zealous girlfriend.

Rio is also a member of a super-secret squad known as "the Warriors". Her teammates are Maya Jingu, a quiet girl but an extreme gun-nut, and Lilica Evett, a shy and insecure telepath.

Characters

Although many of the characters in Burn Up Scramble share the same names as characters from Burn Up W

Burn Up W

is an anime OVA directed by Hiroshi Negishi and released in 1996. It was soon followed by a series version called Burn Up Excess though it occasionally lacks continuity with the series. The OVA consists of four episodes, chronicling Team Warrior through more missions...

 and Burn Up Excess

Burn Up Excess

Burn-Up Excess is an animated Japanese television series, directed by Shinichiro Kimura and produced by AIC. It aired from 1997 to 1998, ran for 13 episodes, and 4 volumes of videos were released on VHS and DVD in North America by ADV Films....

, the characters are all given various changes in terms of art design, personality, and plot.

Rio Kinezono

Rio is the character that most resembles her counterpart from W and Excess, bearing very similar character designs and personality traits. Still blond and large breasted, this version of Rio is just as good at physical combat as her previous incarnation. She is even able to dodge bullets fired at her.

While still quite violent when she gets outraged, Rio does appear to be more tame and less wild in normal social situations. Also, unlike the previous Rio who seeks a wealthy man to marry so she can quit her job and live off his money, this Rio seems to genuinely just want to find a good guy to fall in love with. For this reason, Rio rejects the advances of Yuji Naruo, even though he's obviously quite well off, because he comes off as an insincere lady's man.

In trying to find love in her life, Rio often has more faith in horoscopes and lucky colors in finding a man. However, despite all this, everything seems to go wrong for her in the end. Some examples are that one date cleaned out her savings and left. Another just dated Rio on a bet. And on a night before New Years, which was the night she met Yuji, she found out that her boyfriend had a boyfriend of his own, which afterward she proceeded to destroy the nightclub they were in.

Maya Jingu

Maya is drastically different from her predecessor in W and Excess in almost every way. Visually, her character design is changed quite a bit. The previous Maya had short green hair, and a figure as robust as Rio's. The new Maya is significantly shorter, and less well endowed. Her appearance is quite close to that of a young girl's.

Maya is also quiet and soft-spoken, a big difference from the previously excitable Maya. Also, while she is still an expert marksmen and still seems to enjoy causing destruction with her guns, Maya doesn't seem to have the nearly sexual lust for guns as before. Maya also has a bad habit of bluntly pointing out Rio's shortcomings, for which Rio reacts by giving Maya painful noogies on her temple, or other damage which seemed convenient at the time.

Maya's other hobbies is collecting toy bears, and in one episode has Rio obtain a top prize bear as payment for losing a training bet. She also has the unusual habit of collecting automatic pistols... and giving them names. And being unusually overprotective of them, like a mother bear with her cubs.

Lilica Evette

Of all of the characters, Lilica received the most amount of changes from her previous version. While the other characters do share at least one personality trait similar with their previous version, Lilica has only her name in common with the Lilica of Burn Up W and Excess. The previous incarnation of Lilica was a cheerfully energetic computer and tech expert. This Lilica is more of a shy, insecure, and slightly clumsy psychic, but when she gets drunk, she becomes more uninhibited and somewhat daffy.

Appearance wise, Lilica was changed greatly as well. The previous Lilica was flat-chested and sported pink hair, as well as being quite short. The new Lilica is around the same height as Rio, has a figure to match, and has short orange hair and a tanned complexion. She also looks up to Rio, addressing her with the honorific 'senpai'.

Because of the possible danger her powers present, Lilica is outfitted with magnetic wrist and ankle restraints, which are often reserved for the most dangerous of felons. However, because of positive interaction with others (especially with Rio), Lilica's powers have now increased, and these restraints are now useless.

Lilica's powers are many. One of these is a modified dowsing

Dowsing

Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...

 technique, using a crystal pendant to locate potential felons by using a map. Another is a form of automatic writing, except it is a drawing. Although the drawing usually appears as meaningless scribble, a clue to a crime or potential crime could be found within the lines.

Warriors Commander

Never seen among the general police population, this woman is the creator and commander of the Warriors. Answering to the central police committee, she had gathered Rio, Maya and Lilica, and she is the one who hands out their assignments.

Yuji Naruo

While visually quite similar to his character in the previous series, this Yuji is changed quite a bit in terms of plot. While the previous Yuji was a low-level perverted policemen, this Yuji holds the rank of Head Chief, and is portrayed as a smart, well educated officer from a wealthy family. Also, rather than just a perverted camera otaku, Yuji in Scramble is shown as a fairly successful lady's man. He still does serve as comic relief, since Rio still rejects his advances, causing him to be beat up by her a lot. But no matter how much Rio rejects him, he is still actively pursuing her.

Matsuri Tamagawa

Matsuri is Yuji's current girlfriend, and a police officer as well. While she is oblivious to Yuji's attentions to Rio, she has noticed Rio as a threat to her marrying Yuji in the future, and has constantly threated Rio about staying away from him, obviously ignorant to the fact that Rio is not interested in Yuji, not to mention that Rio could possibly injure her if pushed too far.

Obviously, Matsuri seems to be a little more interested in being more "upwardly-mobile" in social stature because Yuji comes from a wealthy family. Ironically enough, her rivalry with Rio stems from believing Rio is using Yuji for her own benefit.

Episodes

External links

• (Official Site Japanese)