Gatchaman
| Gatchaman | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン | |||||||||
| genre | Science fiction , action, drama | |||||||||
| Anime television series | ||||||||||
| title | Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman | |||||||||
| Original title | 科学 忍者 隊 ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン | |||||||||
| Country of production |
 Japan
|
|||||||||
| original language | Japanese | |||||||||
| Year (s) | 1972-1974 | |||||||||
| Studio | Tama Production , Tatsunoko Production | |||||||||
| length | 25 minutes | |||||||||
| Episodes | 105 in 1 season | |||||||||
| Director | Hisayuki Toriumi | |||||||||
| production | Ippei Kuri | |||||||||
| music | Bob Sakuma | |||||||||
| First broadcast | October 1, 1972 on Fuji TV | |||||||||
| Anime television series | ||||||||||
| title | Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman II | |||||||||
| Original title | 科学 忍者 隊 ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン II | |||||||||
| Country of production |
Japan
|
|||||||||
| original language | Japanese | |||||||||
| Year (s) | 1978-1980 | |||||||||
| Studio | Tatsunoko Production | |||||||||
| length | 26 minutes | |||||||||
| Episodes | 100 in 2 seasons | |||||||||
| Director | Hisayuki Toriumi | |||||||||
| production | Ippei Kuri , Tomoyuki Miyata | |||||||||
| music | Hiroshi Tsutsui | |||||||||
| First broadcast | October 1, 1978 on Fuji TV | |||||||||
| Original video animation | ||||||||||
| Country of production |
Japan
|
|||||||||
| original language | Japanese | |||||||||
| Year (s) | 1994-1995 | |||||||||
| Studio | Artmic , Artland | |||||||||
| length | 45 minutes | |||||||||
| Episodes | 3 | |||||||||
| Director | Hiroyuki Fukushima | |||||||||
| Offshoot | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Gatchaman ( Japanese ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン ) is a franchise of anime series and films about a group of five superheroes. The first series came out in Japan in 1972. The science fiction series is one of the first with a group of five heroes and was formative for subsequent productions.
content
The world of the future is threatened by an alien organization called Galactor. To save humanity, scientist Dr. Kouzaburou Nambu with young people the team of Gatchaman, equipped with ninja combat equipment and modern technology in bird costumes fight the threat. The ever new machines that are dispatched by Galactor and terrorize the earth must be defeated by the five. Their brave leader is the eagle Ken Washio, plus the unpredictable Condor Joe Asakura, the giant Ryu Nakanishi in an owl costume, the little Jinpei the swallow and the girl and swarm of men Jun as a swan.
Production of the first series
The first anime was the series Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman in 1972 based on an idea by Tatsuo Yoshida . In the production of Tama Production and Tatsunoko Production led Hisayuki Toriumi Director. Tatsuo Yoshida created the character design together with Yoshitaka Amano and Mitsuki Nakamura and Tsuneo Nonomiya were the artistic directors . The mecha design comes from Kunio Okawara and Mitsuki Nakamura. The animation work was directed by Sadao Miyamoto and Shū Yamada was responsible as the producer .
Gatchaman was preceded by several series of Tatsunoko that tried out better animation techniques and effects. Tatsuo Yoshida as head of the studio wanted to develop this further in the new series and at the same time explore the relationship between humans and science. Since he had success with ninjas as a topic in his previous career, this was interwoven with modern technology. The series should combine traditional Japanese design as well as that of the 1960s and 1970s. The heroes' costumes, in turn, were inspired by American superheroes. The story should convey a message that modern technology and science must be used carefully. The heroes use it for good, but their opponents try to use this technology against humanity.
Publications and subsequent animes
The 105 episodes were broadcast on Fuji TV from October 1, 1972 to September 29, 1974 . Episodes 22 and 37 were also shown at the Toho Film Festival in 1973. Initially, only about 50 episodes and one year of running time were planned, but due to its success, the series was extended for another year. This was followed by broadcasts on US television and Mexico under titles such as Battle of the Planets and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in the 1970s, and later in Colombia and all of Latin America and Spain. The US version, which consisted of only 85 episodes, was heavily edited under the direction of Sandy Frank and changed names and parts of the story. The changes were also based on the recently successful film Star Wars , which was also the reason for the license purchase for Gatchaman . Many of the explicit violence scenes in the original have been cut out and new scenes have been added. These contain two added robots, scenes in the ready room and from flying through space, as in the changed story the team is now traveling through space. The total edits cost about $ 4.5 million. After the rights of Sandy Frank expired, Turner Broadcasting produced a new version, which consisted of the Japanese original and the new American material. Due to a lack of success, this was initially only broadcast in full in Australia. Only repetitions in the 1990s were complete in the USA.
In 1978 in Japan initially a compilation of several episodes was released as a feature film, also directed by Hisayuki Toriumi based on a script by Jinzo Toriumi . The film was released in Japanese theaters on July 5, 1978 and was also shown in Taiwan. From October 1, 1978, Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman II followed on Japanese television on Fuji TV . After 52 episodes for a second season came under the title Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman F . The broadcast was completed on August 31, 1980 with a total of 100 episodes. Hisayuki Toriumi was again directed, with Hiroshi Sasagawa added in the first season and Seitarô Hara in the second . The character design comes from Akemi Takada and Yoshitaka Amano , Kunio Okawara was responsible for mechadesign . The producers were Ippei Kuri and Tomoyuki Miyata . The anime was translated into English, edited by the licensee Saban Entertainment to 65 episodes, with changed names and history and published as Eagle Riders . The 52 episodes of the first season also came out in French.
Further implementations followed from the 1990s:
- 1994/1995 the original video animation Gatchaman with 3 episodes of 45 minutes each. The production, directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima at Artland and Artmic , is a remake of the first series. It has also been published in English, Italian, French and Tagalog.
- In 2000, the short series Gatchaman 2000 of four one-minute episodes came on Japanese television, which advertised an ISDN provider.
- In 2006, a computer animation was announced, initially for 2008. After several postponements, the project was officially discontinued in 2011.
- The heroes of Gatchaman had several guest appearances in the series Tachimals Theater , shown on Yomiuri TV in 2010 and 2011 .
- A series of 2 minute episodes, also produced to promote the game Monster Hunter Tri, came out in 2011. Under the title Ohayō Ninja-Tai Gatchaman , rather humorous stories were told with the five heroes.
- In 2013 a new series started under the title Gatchaman Crowds . The first 12 episodes each lasting 25 minutes were continued in 2015 under the title Gatchaman Crowds insight with another 13 episodes. The production was now back to Studio Tatsunoko Production, directed by Kenji Nakamura .
synchronization
| role | Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) |
|---|---|
| Joe Asakura the Condor | Isao Sasaki |
| Ken Washio the Eagle | Katsuji Mori |
| Jun the Swan | Kazuko Sugiyama |
| Ryu Nakanishi the Horned Owl | Shingo Kanemoto |
| Jinpei the Swallow | Yoku Shioya |
music
The music in the first series was composed by Miki Kasamatsu and Bob Sakuma. The opening songs are Taosozu! Galactor ( 倒 せ! ギ ャ ラ ク タ ー ) by Columbia Yurikago-kai and Gatchaman no Uta ( ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン の 歌 ) by Masato Shimon. the international version had the song Comando G von Parchis instead. The end credits were accompanied by the songs Gatchaman no Uta ( ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン の 歌 ) by Masato Shimon and Taosozu! Galactor ( 倒 せ! ギ ャ ラ ク タ ー ) from Columbia Yurikago-kai. Les Archanges was used internationally by Michel Barouille.
The music for the new series from 1978 comes from Hiroshi Tsutsui . Season one opening credits is Warera Gatchaman ( わ れ ら ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン ) by Isao Sasaki and Columbia Yurikago-kai and the credits are underlaid with Ashita Yumemite ( 明日 夢 み て ) by Isao Sasaki and Mitsuko Horie. The opening credits of the second season have the song Gatchaman Fighter ( ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン フ ァ イ タ ー ) and the closing title is Bokura no Gatchaman ( ぼ く ら の ガ ッ チ ャ マ ン ). Both songs are by Isao Sasaki and Columbia Yurikago-kai.
Video games
To Gatchaman appeared four video games:
- In 1986 a game of the same name for the micro-gen was released for the US version Battle of the Planets for Atari ST , Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum .
- In 1994 Family Soft brought out the game Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman for PC in Japan .
- In 2002, Bandai released Gatchaman: The Shooting for PlayStation .
- In 2007 Banpresto released Pachi-Slot Gatchaman for PlayStation 2 .
In addition, the heroes of Gatchaman appeared in several games in the Tatsunoko series. The fighting games always feature characters from several series of the studio.
Further adaptations
As a result of the US publications in the 1990s and also with the title Battle of the Planets , a three-part OEL manga was published by Image Comics from November 1999 . For Top Cow Productions, David Wohl and Munier Sharieff were responsible for the story and Alex Ross, Edwin David and Wilson Tortosa for the drawings. The coloring is from Shane Law.
In Japan, on August 24, 2013, a real-life version of the material was released in theaters. Directed Gatchaman led Toya Satō , the film was made at Nikkatsu Studios . In 2019 at San Diego Comic Con, a real-life film was announced under the title Battle of the Planets .
reception
When it first aired in Japan, Gatchaman was an instant hit. Jason Hofius calls the series a milestone in the animation quality of series of that time. With realistic character development and deeply worked out characters, elaborate animation, designs and music, new standards have been set. The success in the USA was not as great as expected from investor Sandy Frank, but after a while it brought him around 15 million dollars. The reason for the reluctant success is seen in the extensive editing that defused the action scenes. This missed the trend towards more action and suspense in American cartoons at the end of the 1970s, according to the Anime Guide . But the American version opened the US market for Japanese science fiction series, albeit heavily edited, and so in 1984 Voltron followed on US television.
Although Gatchaman was not the first anime with a group of five heroes, this series, with its different characters and the group dynamics that emerged from them, shaped subsequent works. The strong involvement of science was also a premiere and the protagonists traveled around the world for their fights and not only, as in previous series, repeatedly defended their hometown. Above all, anime with superhero groups, so-called Super Sentai , were shaped for decades, but others such as Gundam and Voltron were also influenced by Gatchaman . In a 2001 survey by Animage magazine , Gatchaman was ranked 10th most popular anime.
Web links
- Entry to the anime and the sequels at Anime News Network (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopedia. Revised & Expanded Edition . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2006, ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5 , pp. 49 f .
- ↑ a b c d Jason Hofius: GATCHAMAN! The story of Tatsuo Yoshida and his greatest creation. In: Comic Book Resources. May 11, 2008, accessed November 22, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Trish Ledoux, Doug Ranney: The Complete Anime Guide . Tiger Mountain Press, Issaquah 1995, ISBN 0-9649542-3-0 , pp. 19th f .
- ↑ a b c Fred Patten: Watching Anime, Reading Manga - 25 Years of Essays and Reviews . Stone Bridge Press, 2004. pp. 57, 223f, 364.
- ↑ GATCHAMAN RETURNS… TO THE BIG SCREEN! SciFi Japan, accessed November 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Scott Green: Imagi Gatchaman CG Movie ... Looked Dead ... Coffin Now Nailed Shut. Retrieved November 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro, Anthony D'Alessandro: Russo Brothers' AGBO Studios Developing 'Grimjack Comics' & Japanese Anime' Battle Of The Planets' - Comic-Con. In: Deadline. July 19, 2019, accessed November 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Patrick Drazen: Anime Explosion! - The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation , p. 9. Stone Bridge Press, 2002. (English)
- ↑ Animage Top 100 Anime Listing . Anime News Network . January 15, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2019.