Gatchaman Collector's Box 1 - Anime Jump
- Anime Jump
- Mike Toole
- 06/29/05
- click here
"This is one of the finest releases of the year, bar none."
"Gatchaman is a fantastically fun series..."
Gatchaman is quite possibly the single most influential anime series of all time. If you haven't seen some permutation of the show itself (Battle of the Planets, perhaps, or G-Force, or Eagle Riders), you have undoubtedly seen a series that's taken influence from it, be it Sailor Moon or Samurai Pizza Cats or Galaxy Angel or Dragonball Z. Ippei Kuri didn't mess around when he created this series. He knew what kids wanted-- he knew that they wanted high drama, dastardly villains, gallant heroes, terrific action, and hair-raising thrills, so he stuffed Gatchaman full of them. He also threw in a rogue's gallery of hilarious villains of the week, an eerie, compelling supervillain, and five pretty iconic heroes. His efforts are pinned together by the labors of Tatsunoko (who, at the time, employed a grunt animator and character illustrator named Yoshitaka Amano, the man who'd go on to define the look of the Final Fantasy games) animators, and by Bob Sakuma, who provided the show's cheesy, funky, spastic, experimental music.
But what's Gatchaman all about? It's about our fabulous modern world, of course! As the world edges ever closer towards peace and harmony, efforts to create beneficial technology and clean up the environment are spearheaded by the far-reaching International Science Organization, chaired by the stuffy Chief Anderson. But the ISO is facing a crisis-- their valiant mission is being hindered by Galactor, a shadowy terrorist group. Fortunately, the ISO's flamboyant Dr. Nambu has engineered his own solution to the problem-- the Science Ninja Team, Gatchaman! Gatchaman appear to be five ordinary teenagers, but they're secretly lethal martial artists, marksmen, engineers, demolitions experts-- you name it, Gatchaman can do it. Also, they dress like color-coded birds. And they each get cool special vehicles and weapons. That's a good thing, though, because Galactor aren't a gang of insurgents with C4 and submachine guns, they're a super-scientific nest of costumed villains funded by a mysterious alien invader, and they use giant robots and fantastic vehicles to facilitate their mischief.
As you can tell, this show has everything. Its first episode is one of the greatest first episodes of any anime, ever-- it comes off as hokey now, of course, but for its time there was really nothing like it. The Science Ninja Team are introduced in short order, to the tune of a blazing orchestral crescendo, and they leap right into action, literally murdering an entire roomful of green-suited Galactor henchmen. Before the episode is over, the team has confronted the first of Galactor's many lieutenants, taken down a giant turtle-bot, argued over whether to use their most powerful weapon, and used their flashy desperation move to escape from the crisis. It's breathless, mile-a-minute stuff, and it's aged amazingly well.
For me, what makes Gatchaman fun to watch is its iconic cast of characters. While Gatchaman pioneered a whole host of anime cliches-- if it seems too familiar to you, it's because it's such an incredibly influential series-- it also was one of the first shows to try and sell its characters as sex symbols, whether it's leader Ken the Eagle's chivalrous airs and flowing locks to Condor Joe's smoldering glare and chiseled features, to Swan Jun's pouting lips. (People still talk about this *hit. Hi, Patrick!) That's just window-dressing, though, because the characters are simply amusing. Ken's gallantry is a little forced because he's a troubled kid with a missing dad; Joe is out for revenge, and argues constantly with Ken over when it's appropriate to use the ship's devastating Bird Missiles; Jun, as assertive as she is, ends up playing big sister to the team when she isn't openly fawning over Ken. Jinpei is an obnoxious kid, kind of line Spritle from Speed Racer only with neck-breaking ninja techniques. And Ryu? Ryu mostly just loves to eat, because he's the fat guy. I can totally relate.
The dub is what Aura Battler Dunbine's dub should have been; it occasionally takes liberties, but knows when to play it straight. It's boiling over with warm, distinctive performances; as Ken, Leraldo Anzaldua doesn't have the fire and energy of Casey Kasem, but he's still got charisma to spare. He's backed up admirably by the likes of Brian Jepson as Joe and Edwin Neal as Berg Katse, but it's really George Manley's breathless narration that gives Gatchaman that Saturday morning appeal. Gatchaman's dub, after just these first two volumes, feels practically essential; it lacks the weird charm of its predecessors, but in terms of quality it outshines them both.
Gatchaman might be old, but it doesn't matter. Rose-colored glasses simply do not come into play; Gatchaman's one of those shows that really is as good as you remember it being when you were little. Every episode brings a new life-and-death struggle for the Science Ninja Team. Every episode introduces new, grotesque villains, each of them carrying a chilling ultimatum from above-- defeat Gatchaman or DIE! Each episode has robot monsters, kung-fu combat, and the flamingly androgynous Berg Katse screaming and ranting about the gigantic underwater construction machinery he's building to try and steal the world's supply of gold. To top it off, the animation has aged really, really well. The video looks great, and there are some jaw-dropping shots of big, ambitious camera movement in the early episodes that wouldn't even be attempted by most animation studios today.
Cast aside your dubious memories of 7-Zark-7 and that *ucking robot dog. Gatchaman is a fantastically fun series, presented in excellent condition, brimming over with episodes-- six per disc!-- and extras. This introductory box set includes a disc of extras, but most of them are just curiousities-- the best extras are on the series discs, and they're bits called 'Gatchaman Karaoke.' Rather than sing-along sequences, these features are actually dub-yer-own episodes, with music and effects but no dialogue. The possibilities for fan-dubbing are endless! Gatchaman is truly top-notch-- it's got good subtitles, a wonderfully accessible new dub, and a collector's package that even casual fans can afford and enjoy. This is one of the finest releases of the year, bar none.
Posted on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 (Archive on Friday, July 29, 2005)