Gatchaman |
Battle of the Planets |
G-Force |
Eagle Riders |
Gatchaman '94 |
|
Gatchaman |
Battle of the Planets |
G-Force |
Eagle Riders |
Gatchaman '94 |
NOTE: There is a live-action Sentai (battle team) show out there which is similar to Gatch, although the two don't really have anything to do with each other. If you're interested, head over to the Jetman website to see what Gatch might look like in live-action.
Why not take a look at a tongue-in-cheek introduction to the different variations out there before you dive into all the data?
Gatchaman -- The OriginalIn 1972, Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman was produced by Tatsunoko Productions and 105 episodes were released on Japanese television for a two-year run. The basic plot was simple: an alien presence had come to Earth and was behind a terrible terrorist organization bent on taking over the planet. Earth needed a band of heroes trained to fight the organization that had come to be known as Galactor. The International Science Organization (ISO) had just the team necessary: Science Ninja Team Gatchaman!
Following the success of the first series, in 1978, and again in 1979, sequels were made, entitled Science Ninja Team Gatchaman II and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman F (Fighter), respectively. The television series ran as follows:
A movie was made, compiling scenes from the first series, and released on July 15, 1978.
Each of the three series featured different mecha and bases of operation:
Main mecha (Gatch, Gatch II, Gatch F) ==== ===== God Phoenix New God Phoenix Gatcha Spartan Solo mecha (Gatch, Gatch II, Gatch F) ==== ===== G-1 Eagle Sharp Gatcha 1 G-2 Condor Attacker Gatcha 2 G-3 (Sonic Car) Autoswan Gatcha 3 G-4 (Helico Buggy) Swallow Helico Gatcha 4 None Horned Tank Gatcha 5 Bases (Gatch, Gatch II, Gatch F) ===== Crescent Base G Town Gatchaman Base?
Recently (starting in October '94, and released in the U.S. in '97), a set of 3 OAVs were released, updating three original storylines from Gatch I for the ' 90s. They are as follows:
In addition to the storylines, the character designs, birdstyles, and mecha were all updated, as well. The new Gatchaman has a sleek, sharp look to it, which may or may not be to your taste... I strongly recommend the music video at the end of volume 3, however, if only to hear Gatchaman no Uta as a techno-mix.
The OAV was released in the U.S. by Urban Vision and can still be found at chain video stores such as Suncoast and Media Play. The dubbed versions retail for $19.99, while the subtitled tapes retail for $29.99.
NOTE: The subtitled version of OAV #3 was originally released with a mis-timed script (and no music video at the end). If you find that your copy is one of the early ones, you may return it to Urban Visions for a free replacement (minus postage costs). Send your video to
Urban Vision Entertainment 5120 West Goldleaf Circle Suite 280 Los Angeles, CA 90056
Battle of the PlanetsIn 1979, Sandy Frank Productions acquired the U.S. rights to distribute Gatchaman. Character names were changed and footage was edited to remove much of the violence, and Battle of the Planets was born.
The new names were as follows:
Ken: Mark
Joe: Jason
Jun: Princess
Jinpei: Keyop
Ryu: Tiny Harper
Nambu: Security Chief Anderson
Soosai X: The Lumimous One (or Great Spirit)
Berg Katse: Zoltar (male), Mala (female), Agent S-9 (female).
Red Impulse: Colonel Cronos
Director Anderson: President Kane
Keyop was the one who was most changed, having gained a speech impediment and been classified as a human clone, grown from a single cell (which, apparently, accounts for his speech problem). The others are still fairly recognizable, although Zoltar is now purely male, with his female counterpart (the female captain) being his sister, Mala.
Their birdstyles, to my knowledge, were never mentioned.
The original 105 episodes were edited down to a mere 85, and much of the continuity inherent in a continuing-format series was lost, since it was believed that American kids wouldn't want to sit through a continuing saga (I suppose nobody watched Star Blazers, then...). Because much of the original footage was cut, new characters were added in, using new animation (7-Zark-7 and 1-Rover-1, as well as footage of Mark and Princess popping by to say "hi" to the little guys). Probably to cash in on the Star Wars craze at the time, 7-Zark-7 was somewhat R2-D2-esque.
Additionally, the plot was altered a bit. Now, the entire Galactor organization was from another planet (Spectra) and was attempting to take over Earth.
BOTP was blessed with a decent voice cast, which reads as follows:
Mark: Casey Kasem
Jason: Ronnie Schell
Princess: Janet Waldo
Keyop: Alan Young
Tiny: Alan Dinehart
Anderson: Alan Dinehart
The Great Spirit: Keye Luke
Zoltar: Keye Luke
Col. Cronos: Keye Luke
Pres. Kane: Alan Dinehart
Zark: Alan Young
Susan: Janet Waldo
BOTP enjoyed a good following, and was the show which began the magic for many of its fans.
BOTP also enjoyed an international following. In Spanish, it was called Commando G, with slightly different character names: Marc, Jackson, Princessa, Kio, and Timmy.
The French version was entitled La Bataille des Planetes, with the following names: Marc, Princesse, Allumette, Kipo, Thierry.
In Italian, the show was Gatchaman - La Battaglia dei Pianeti, with the following names: Ken, Joe, Pritijen, Gimpy, and Ryu. This version was odd in that the first 85 episodes were those translated by Sandy Frank and dubbed into Italian. The series then finished up the original Gatchaman series with the original video, including Joe's death. They also kept the Japanese names in this part of the series.
G-Force: Guardians of SpaceIn the mid-'80s, Ted Turner obtained the U.S. rights to Gatchaman (although I'm not sure exactly when and what the terms were), and Fred Ladd worked on its second American incarnation : G-Force: Guardians of Space. Using different voice actors and different character names (painful to some), most of the original 105 episodes were released, mostly intact. The plot was kept close to the original, and much of the haphazard cut-and-paste that went on during BOTP didn't happen with G-Force. Only a few characters suffered in the translation, namely Katse and X. Katse was again translated as purely male, with X as his computer-guide.
The character names and voice actors were as follows:
Ken: Ace Goodheart (voiced by Sam Fontana)
Joe: Dirk Daring (voiced by Cameron Clarke)
Jun: Agatha June / Aggie (voiced by Barbara Goodson)
Jinpei: Pee Wee (voiced by Barbara Goodson)
Ryu: Hoot Owl / Hootie (voiced by Jan Rabson)
Nambu: Professor Benjamin Brighthead (voiced by Jan Rabson)
Katse: Galactor (voiced by Bill Capizzi)
G-Force ran for a very short time during the '80s (only a few episodes were shown). Recently, however, it has been given a second wind due to the Cartoon Network and has shown more episodes than its original run in the '80s offered. Check your local listings for air times. European cable viewers can catch G-Force on the Sci-Fi Channel at 0800h GMT.
Eagle RidersIn the fall of 1996, Saban came out with the latest installment of Gatchaman: Eagle Riders. Eagle Riders combines Gatchaman II and F, and is the first time, outside of fan copies, these series have been seen in the Americas.
From what was shown in the U.S. (only the first 13 episodes, though the rest will be shown in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand), the Vorak (a race of androids) have returned to wreak havok upon the world when their new leader, Mallanox, arrives from space (or so they said at the beginning). The team is reassembled, minus Joe who "died" in their last battle with the enemy.
In this respect, it isn't too different from the original. The team reunites with Joe and gets together to fight the enemy (although the fact that they're fighting androids does get a bit... er... overdone at times). A couple episodes are cut completely and pieced together in an order that's almost backwards from the original, in order to better accomodate the timeslot.
The problem comes in when they transition into Gatch Fighter. Mallanox is revealed to be Dr. Aikens' daughter (and a female!), but instead of redeeming herself at the end, is transformed by Cybercon into her next incarnation...
Happy Boy
Really.
Not having seen any of the later episodes, I can't give my personal opinion, although I have heard that the dark mood of the original series didn't lend well to the childrens' programming Saban intended for the show. The episodes are rumored to have been cut and spliced together to such an extent that the plot is almost unrecognizable.
Of course, anyone who has seen these episodes should feel free to e-mail me in order to send in a review of their own.
Although episodes have stopped showing here in the U.S., they are still being shown in Europe and Australia. European viewers can check out Eagle Riders on Fox Kids at 1400h GMT weekdays (cable/satellite).
The character names and voice actors are as follows:
Ken: Hunter Harris (voiced by Richard Cansino)
Joe: Joe Thax (voiced by Bryan Cranston)
Jun: Kelley Jenar (voiced by Heidi Noelle Lenhart)
Jinpei: Mickey Dugan (voiced by Mona Marshall)
Ryu: Ollie Keeawani (voiced by Paul L. Schrier II)
Nambu: Dr. Thaddeus Keane (voiced by Greg O'Neill)
Dr. Pandora: Dr. Aikens (voiced by Lara Cody)
Auto: Piemur (voiced by Dena Burton)
X: Cybercon (voiced by Peter Spellos)
Gel Sadra: Mallanox (voiced by R. Martin Klein)
Other details of interest include the name change of the New God Phoenix to the Ultra Eagle, and the names of the mecha, indicating some different birdstyles attributed to the team:
G-1: Super Hawk
G-2: Falcon Tracker
G-3: Dove Cycle
G-4: Bird of Paradise
G-5: Owl Cat
All in all, it's nice to see Gatchaman on television, in one form or another. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for professionally subtitled episodes. (Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?)
Jennifer Nolan | jnolan@bit-net.com
