Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: Difference between revisions
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This was one of the very first [[Anime|anime]] to which [[The United States|American]] audiences were exposed in the late 1970s<ref>but NOT the first anime that American audiences were ever exposed to -- that honor most likely goes to [[Astro Boy]] in the early '60s</ref>. The original series appeared on
The show revolves around five heroic teenagers in bird suits who use [[ninja]]-type weapons. Each hero drives a special vehicle which combines with the God Phoenix mothership, which is then able to fire missiles and convert to the Kagaku Ninpo Hinotori ("Science Ninja Art: Firebird", or "Fiery Phoenix" in ''Battle of the Planets''). ''Gatchaman'' was, in fact, the very first place the concepts of [[Five-Man Band]] ([[The Hero|hero]], [[The Lancer|cool guy]], [[The Chick|token female]], [[Kid Appeal Character|precocious kid]] and [[The Big Guy|big guy with a hick accent]]) and [[Combining Mecha]] intersected. The heroes mostly waged battles against the [[Monster of the Week]] built by the evil Galactor crime syndicate/terrorist army, which was ultimately led by Sosai ("Leader") X, an alien supervillain who wanted to rule the Earth, and Berg Katse, a mutant who could shift genders at will.
''Gatchaman'' first appeared on American television in 1978, syndicated as ''[[Battle of the Planets]]'', which has its own page.
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In the mid-80s, after the popularity of ''BOTP'' waned and Sandy Frank was trying to find a new way to market the series, Turner Broadcasting Services became interested and acquired the rights to produce a new adaptation. In 1986, Turner hired Fred Ladd to reissue ''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' as ''G-Force, Guardians of Space''. Although the stories were much truer to the original, the budget was much lower than that of ''Battle of the Planets'', while the voice acting, dub names, and ''horribly, horribly repetitive'' background music were considered by a lot of fans to be very inferior.
The second and third series were then localized by Saban in 1995 as ''Eagle Riders''. As bad as Gatchaman was edited for consumption, the later two series were downright butchered into one series, with some episodes even merged with others and a plot twist manufactured to tie both series together. Only 13 episodes of Eagle Riders saw the light of day in America, as the rest of the series would be aired only overseas.
For years, the first series was not available in the US uncut, with the last twenty episodes (including the series finale) unseen until 2005, when [[ADV Films]] announced the ambitious project to dub ALL 105 episodes into English for release on DVD. Which they did, finishing up the series in five box sets. However, the rights for all of the English-language adaptations expired after Sandy Frank's license lapsed in 2007, which included this version as ADV had sub-licensed the title, leaving fans to [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]] for it and the older dubs.
A lot of older American anime fans [[Gateway Series|saw it as kids]] from one or another syndicator, and have a nostalgic soft spot for it. Many critics do consider it to be a historically important anime. Considering its competition in its time in the realm of [[Superhero]] animated television series was ''[[
The series was [[Revival|revived]] in 1994 as a 3-episode [[OVA]] with character designs by Yasuomi "''Mezzo Forte'', ''Kite''" Umetsu and a soundtrack by Maurice White of the band "Earth, Wind, and Fire". A CGI [[Revival]] film animated by Imagi Animation Studios (who rose to fame with the fourth ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' film) was scheduled for release in 2010, but the project entered [[Development Hell]] and never came out. More recently, Ken, Joe, and Jun have appeared as playable characters in ''[[
Check the ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
{{tropelist|page=Gatchaman}}
* [[The Abridged Series]]: [http://gatchablog.blogspot.com/2009/05/video-parody-gatchaman-abridged.html Well, there's ONE episode but it would be great if someone decided to continue.]
* [[Alternate History]]: The first series takes place in 2001, an indeterminate amount of time after the Third World War. Many countries shown in the series are [[Captain Ersatz]] versions or hybrids of a few different ones, save for some like Japan. There at least THREE different countries based off of America in the series, all meant as separate entities yet with similar naming scheme (Ameria, Ameris, and Amerishima).
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* [[Big Red Button]]: The firing button for the God Phoenix's bird missiles.
* [[By the Power of Greyskull]]:
{{quote|
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]
* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]: Science Ninja Technique Tornado Fighter.
* [[Chest Insignia]]
* [[Clothes Make the Superman]] - The costumes, called "Bird Styles" enable the team to use a few special techniques (usually involving [[Everything's Better
* [[Combination Attack]]
* [[Combining Mecha]]: The God Phoenix.
* [[Compilation Movie]]: One was released in Japan in 1978, which compiled key moments from the series into a 2-hour theatrical feature meant to reacquaint viewers with the original series before the premiere of the ''Gatchaman II'' series a few months later.
* [[Cool Plane]]: The God Phoenix, again.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Gatchaman Fighter is a much darker series, especially in the final episodes with regards to casualties and deaths of longtime series characters, such as the death of Nambu, Ken on the verge of dying from use of the Hypershoot, Z's "Poison Apple" plan, and the team's final confrontation against Z. The ending itself has Gatchaman presumed dead, sacrificing their lives to destroy Sosai X once and for all.
* [[Distress Ball]]: Everyone picks it up every now and then due to stubbornness or overconfidence.
* [[Dub Name Change]]: Only the ADV Films dub kept everyone's original names.
* {{spoiler|[[Earthshattering Kaboom]]}}: {{spoiler|The fate the Earth would have faced, hadn't Joe used his feather in the earthquake machine in the first season finale.}}
* [[Everyone Knows Morse]]: The drummer of a rock band [[Brown Note|captured by Galactor]] manages to smuggle out a distress signal this way.
* [[Everything's Better
** The episode where Joe is put in a spinning cylinder.
* [[Fauxtastic Voyage]]: Used to foil a mass prison breakout launched by Galactor.
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* [[Hot Wings]]: The God Phoenix's "Firebird" mode.
* [[Humongous Mecha]]
* [[In the Name of
{{quote|
* [[Last-Note Nightmare]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYcREjNUHGc Warera Gatchaman], the opening theme of the first sequel, Gatchaman II. You're listening to a rousing song about how awesome the Gatchaman team is, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, the song ends with a nasty [[Scare Chord]].
* [[Limited Animation]]: In some episodes, it's painfully obvious that columns of identical-looking people are running out of buildings or whatever.
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{{reflist}}
{{Wizard top 50 anime}}
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[[Category:Toonami]]
[[Category:Trope Makers]]
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