Information about Gatchaman

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Gatchaman art by Alex Ross
科学忍者隊ガッチャマ? (Scientific Ninja Troop Gatchaman)
Genre	Adventure, Science Fiction
TV anime
Directed by	Hisayuki Toriumi
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Network	Fuji TV
Original run	October 1, 1972 – September 29, 1974
No. of episodes	105
TV anime: Gatchaman II
Directed by	Hisayuki Toriumi
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Network	Fuji TV
Original run	October 1, 1978 – September 23, 1979
No. of episodes	52
TV anime: Gatchaman F
Directed by	Hisayuki Toriumi
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Network	Fuji TV
Original run	October 7, 1979 – August 31, 1980
No. of episodes	48
OVA: Gatchaman
Directed by	Akihiko Nishiyama
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
No. of episodes	3
Released	October 1, 1994 to April 1, 1995

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (科学忍者隊ガッチャマン, Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman, literally Scientific Ninja Troop Gatchaman), often shortened to Gatchaman, is a 5-member superhero team which comprises the main characters in several anime originally produced in Japan by Tatsunoko Productions and later adapted into several English-language versions. It is also known by the abbreviated name Gatchaman or the English-language name . The original series, produced in 1972, was eponymously named Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman and is most well-known to the English-speaking world as the adaptation entitled Battle of the Planets.

A feature film version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (film) will be produced by Imagi Animation Studios for release in 2008.

Description

The original 1972 Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman series was followed by two sequel series, Gatchaman II (1978) and Gatchaman F (1979). In 1994, the original series was remade as a condensed OAV series. Additionally, the original and sequel series were adapted and translated into several English-language versions, with the most well-known being Battle of the Planets. Because the English-language versions are notoriously inconsistent not only with one another but also with the original Japanese series, viewers most familiar with the English versions often experience some confusion upon re-examining the series after a long hiatus.

Created in the wake of the hugely successful Henshin Boom started by Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider in 1971, this series was notable as being one of the most successful anime attempts to emulate the American superhero genre with many of its conventions such as colorful costumes, powers and secret identities. It also established the convention of the five member hero team that has been emulated in later series, most notably the successful tokusatsu Super Sentai series (which was adapted into English as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers many years later), in fact, the Sentai series Choujin Sentai Jetman was in many ways a homage to Gatchaman.

Plot and character summary

Best described as a sci-fi action anime, recurring themes of Gatchaman involve conservation of nature, environmentalism, and responsible use of technology for progress and advancement. The series is centered around five young superhero ninja in the employ of the fictitious "International Science Organization" to oppose a group of technologically advanced villains, known as Galactor, from trying to take control of the earth's natural resources. The operational leader of Galactor is an androgynous masked antagonist, Berg Katse, who is later revealed to be a shape-shifting hermaphroditic mutant acting on the orders of an alien superior, Leader X. The most common recurring plot involved Gatchaman opposing giant monster mecha dispatched by Galactor to steal or control various natural resources (water, oil, sugar, uranium, etc). These Mechas were often animal based. The main characters featured always wore either teen fashions with numbered T-shirts showing their rank in the team, or caped battle uniforms styled after various birds.

Most of the team were in their late-teens, apart from Jinpei who was about eleven. They included: Ken Washio, the team leader; Joe Asakura, his second-in-command; Jun, the team's electronics and demolitions expert; Jinpei, the youngest and reconnaissance expert; and Ryu Nakanishi, the ship's pilot.

They also used various signature weapons and mecha style vehicles which each had a more mundane looking disguised form. To change modes, each member is equipped with a special wrist device that, aside from being a communicator and tracking device, enabled the change when the proper gesture and voice command, "Bird Go!", is given. Their vehicles are docked in the team's main vehicle, the GodPhoenix, a supersonic plane capable of underwater travel and minor spaceflight as necessary. The GodPhoenix is armed with an unspecified but large (roughly 30+) number of BirdMissiles that are fired from a rack system mounted atop the center section. After the original GodPhoenix was destroyed by an octopus-based mecha, an improved version carried a pair of Super BirdMissiles in twin drop down pods from the bottom center section. In addition, when necessary, the plane can temporarily transform into a massive bird of flame like the legendary Phoenix to escape danger although the process is highly taxing to the team.

Adaptations and changes

The original series was shown on American television in 1978, in heavily edited form, as Battle of the Planets (BOTP for short). The series was shown again on American television in 1986 and 1995 in translated form as ; while this version cut out much less of the original, and had a much more faithful translation, the voice acting and the background music (not to mention the Americanized names chosen for the characters) were widely panned. The two sequel series, Gatchaman II and Gatchaman F were combined into one and translated as Eagle Riders in 1996, with yet more changes to audio and character names.

ADV Films released the uncut version of the series with an all-new English 5.1 dub, on DVD starting June 14 2005. This release includes all 105 episodes, with all footage left in. The dub aims to be a faithful translation, without attempts to sanitize the show for younger viewers (meaning there is profanity and utterances of the word "kill"). All violent scenes have been left in as they were in the original Japanese broadcast.

Team variations across different versions

Gatchaman	Ken Washio	Joe Asakura	Jun	Jinpei	Ryu Nakanishi
Battle of the Planets	Mark	Jason	Princess	Keyop	Tiny Harper
G-Force	Ace Goodheart	Dirk Daring	Agatha June	PeeWee	Hoot Owl
Eagle Riders	Hunter Harris	Joe Thax	Kelly Jennar	Mickey Dugan	Ollie Keeawani
OVA (Dub)	Ken the Eagle	Joe the Condor	June the Swan	Jimmy the Falcon‡	Rocky the Owl
Rank	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5
Bird Uniform	Eagle	Condor	Swan	Swallow	Owl
Weapon	Razor boomerang	Pistol	Yo-yo	Bolo	Piloted the team Mecha, "GodPhoenix"
Mecha	Airplane	Race Car	Motorcycle	Dune Buggy
Japanese seiyū	Katsuji Mori	Isao Sasaki	Kazuko Sugiyama	Yoku Shioya	Shingo Kanemoto
Japanese seiyū (OVA)	Masaya Onosaka	Kōji Ishii	Michiko Neya	Rica Matsumoto	Fumihiko Tachiki
Voice actor (BOTP)	Casey Kasem	Ronnie Schell	Janet Waldo	Alan Young	Alan Dinehart
Voice actor (G-Force)	Sam Fontana	Cam Clarke	Barbara Goodson		Jan Rabson
Voice actor (OVA Dub)	Eddie Frierson	Richard Cansino	Lara Cody	Mona Marshall	Richard Epcar
Voice actor (Eagle Riders)	Richard Cansino	Bryan Cranston	Heidi Noelle Lenhart		Paul Schrier
Voice actor (ADV Dub)	Leraldo Anzaldua	Brian Jepson	Kim Prause	Luci Christian	Victor Carsrud

‡Although he was obviously the Swallow, Jimmy called himself the Falcon.

Other character variations across different versions

Gatchaman	Battle of the Planets	G-Force	Eagle Riders	OVA (Dub)
Dr. Kozaburo Nambu	Chief Anderson	Dr. Benjamin Brighthead	Dr. Thaddeus Keane	Dr. Kozaburo Nambu
ISO Director Anderson	President Kane	Anderson	Cmdr. Todd	Director Anderson
Red Impulse / Kentaro Washio	Col. Cronos	Red Impulse	Harley Harris	Red Spectre
Berg Katse	Zoltar	Galactor	Lukan	Solaris
Sosai (Leader) X	O Luminous One / The Great Spirit	Computor	Cybercom	Lord Zortek
Galactor	Planet Spectra		Vorak
Gel Sadra (Gatchaman 2)			Mallanox

Other notable changes

Gatchaman Identity change command	Battle of the Planets Identity change command	G-Force Identity change command	Eagle Riders change command	OVA change command (English)
Bird, Go!	Transmute!	Transform!	Eagle Mode, NOW!	Ken Eagle One Transform Joe Shapeshift, Condor June Swan Mode, Now Jimmy Falcon Tracker Activate

Gatchaman 94 OVA

A series reboot, it used updated character designs and altered backgrounds.

Gatchaman Movie

Main article: Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (film)

Popular Culture References

• It is agreed among both anime and tokusatsu fandoms that Gatchaman was the originator of the Sentai concept and set the bar for all transforming hero teams; from Super Sentai to Magic Girls and beyond.
• In 2000, NTT East produced two animated and two live-action television commercials for their ISDN service featuring a more updated version of Gatchaman, featuring members of the J-Pop boy group SMAP.
• In 2003 this anime series was aired in Taiwan which the opening song was performed by famous hip pop boyband ENERGY.
• Gatchaman is one of many anime series in which its five main heroes have different features wherein two of its members, one of them the leader are both thin and of the same height, another one being the most overweight, one being the shortest and youngest and another one being the only female member. Other anime featuring the same line-up are Golion, Voltes V, Combattler v, Digimon Frontier, Voltron and Flame of Recca.
• Gatchaman became the inspiration of Choujin Sentai Jetman in the order, except the swallow is a girl in the later years. Before that, it seemed to have inspired the idea of Goranger.
• Gatchaman receives an homage from the animé-inspired Teen Titans series. In one episode, Robin dons a "flight suit" resembling the Science Ninja team's bird-like uniforms after ejecting from his R-cycle. In another episode Robin is seen throwing a red and gold "Razor boomerang" at the leader of the "Hive Academy" while trying to save Cyborg from an undercover mission.
• The opening credits of Gatchaman began with the five heroes' silhouettes flying across the screen at high speed. At the beginning of each episode of The Powerpuff Girls the three titular heroines dart across the screen in a similar manner before that episode's title card.
• The D.O.C. titled the ninth track of his 1989 release, No One Can Do It Better, "Whirlwind Pyramid" in an homage to Gatchaman. He even shouts "Transform" (a-la the G-Force dub) during a break-down section midway through the track.
• The original Character Designer for the Gatchaman characters is Yoshitaka Amano, who later went on to create designs for Vampire Hunter D, and Final Fantasy, among other projects.
• In the webcomic Sluggy Freelance, the main characters, Torg and Riff, accidentally teleport to a dimension filled with anime characters filled with parodies of the main characters from "Battle of the Planets" as well as "Voltron" and other anime of the same genre.
• On the Gachapin website, the character can be seen dressed in the outfit of Eagle.^[1]

Episodes list

1. Gatchaman Versus Turtle King
2. The Evil Ghostly Aircraft Carrier Appears
3. The Giant Mummy That Summons Storms
4. Return of the Iron Beast Mecchadegon
5. Ghost Fleet From Hell
6. The Grand Mini-Robot Operation
7. Galactor's Giant Airshow
8. The Secret of the Crescent Coral Reef
9. A Demon From the Moon
10. The Massive Underground Monster War
11. The Riddle of Red Impulse
12. The Giant Eating Monster Ibukron
13. The Riddle of the Red Sand
14. The Fearful Ice-Kandar
15. The Fearful Jellyfish Lens
16. Mechanica, The Indestructible Machine
17. The Grand Insect Operation
18. Revenge! The Whale Operation
19. Hell's Speed Race
20. A Critical Moment for the Science Ninja Team
21. Who is Governor X?
22. The Firebird Versus The Fire Eating Dragon
23. Massive Violence of the MechaBall
24. The Neon Giant Laughing in the Dark
25. The Magma Giant, Emperor of Hell
26. The God Phoenix Reborn
27. Galactor's Witch Racer
28. The Invisible Demon
29. Galack X the Devil Man
30. Kamisorar, The Guillotine Iron Beast
31. The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu
32. The Grand Gezora Operation (1st Part)
33. The Grand Gezora Operation (2nd Part)
34. The Evil Aurora Operation
35. The Angry Blazing Desert
36. Little Gatchaman
37. Renjira, the Electron Iron Beast
38. The Riddle of the Mechanic Jungle
39. Jigokiller, the People-Eating Flowers (1st Part)
40. Jigokiller, the People-Eating Flowers (2nd Part)
41. Killer Music
42. The Great Breakout Trick Operation
43. A Romance, Destroyed by Evil
44. Galactor's Challenge
45. The Sea Lion Ninja Team of the Night Fog
46. Gatchaman in the Valley of Death
47. The Devil's Airline
48. The Camera Iron Beast, Shutterkiller
49. The Fearful Mechadokuga
50. Trachadon, the Dinosaur Skeleton
51. The Revolving Cateroller Beast
52. Red Impulse's Secret
53. Farewell Red Impulse
54. Gatchaman's Blazing Rage
55. Desperation of the Mini-Submarine
56. The Hated Bird Missile
57. The Evil White Sea
58. Hell's Mecha-Buttha
59. The Secret Monster Mecha Factory
60. Science Ninja Team, G-6
61. The Phantom of Red Impulse
62. The Snow Devil, Blizzarder
63. Massacre of the Mecha Curve Ball
64. A Christmas Present of Death
65. Super Bem, the Synthetic Iron Beast
66. The Devil's Fashion Show
67. Certain Death! The Gatchaman Fire
68. Particle Iron Beast, Micro-Saturn
69. A Cemetery in the Moonlight
70. United! Death Girls
71. Governor X, the Immortal
72. A Swarm! Invasion of the Mini Iron Beasts
73. Pursueing Katse!
74. Secret of the Birdstyles
75. Jumbo Shakora, the Ocean Devil King
76. The Bracelets Exposed
77. The Successful Berg Katse
78. Mortal Combat! 10,000 Meters Under the Sea
79. Stealing the Gatchaman Information
80. Revive! Boomerang
81. Duel on Galactor Island
82. Aim for the Crescent Coral Reef!
83. A Desperate Ring of Fire
84. Smog Fiber, the Spiderweb Iron Beast
85. That's G-4
86. Galactor's Plan to Corner the Market
87. Patogiller, the Triple United Iron Beast
88. Iron Beast Snake 828
89. A Trap Sprung in the Crescent Base
90. Matangar, the Armored Iron Beast
91. The Plan to Destroy Crescent Base, Complete
92. The End of the Crescent Base
93. Counterattack! The Underground Torpedo Operation
94. Electric Devil Beast Angura
95. Giant Devil Men, United Ninjas
96. Now, the Invasion of Gallactor's Headquarters
97. Leona 3, the Spaceship With No Tomorrow,
98. Grape Bomber, the Spherical Iron Beast
99. The Wounded G-2
100. Gatchaman, 20 Years Later
101. The Sniper Group Hebi-Cobra
102. Countermove! Checkmate X
103. G-2's Death Wager
104. The Evil Grand Black Hole Operation
105. Earth's Destruction! 0002

References

External links

• ADV Films official Gatchaman site
• Gatchaman - Home of the White Shadow
• Gatchaman
• Gatchaman,BotP, G-Force
• Gatchaman Links List
• Gatchaman Archives Message Boards
• IMDB Entry
• Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Tribute band
• Hip Hop tribute band
• Kena's Gatchaman Base-Under the sea
• Gatchamania.net - Gatchaman, BotP, G-Force Fic and Fanart Forums
• Sluggy Freelance Parody
• Japanese Gatchaman Stamps