Remember the One Where...: The Story

 

Since its creation in the early 1970's, various episodes of Tatsunoko's Gatchaman I (1972-74) series have been translated into English.

First there was Battle of the Planets: most often called "G-Force" by fans; it ran from 1978-79 and thereafter in syndication.

Second, Turner Entertainment's Cartoon Network created G-Force: Guardians of Space (1987, 1995). The Cartoon Network's translation of Gatchaman was truer to the original dialogue, and required new voice actors and a different kind of episode editing.

In 1994, Tatsunoko re-created and re-released the Gatchaman story in three parts in an Original Animated Video (OAV), which is comparable to a direct-to-video release in other parts of the world. Though the retelling had the flashiness of modern anime, the story and characters were both lost.

Finally, Saban Entertainment (creators of the Power Rangers) bought the rights to Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter, merged them into a single show, and called the resultant disaster Eagle Riders (1996-1997). Twelve episodes were shown in the US; over 60 were aired in Australia. Neither version of Eagle Riders offered satisfactory closure.

Ex magazine's editor penned Science Ninja Team Aspirin, a take on all of these transformations, and how each one has been worse than its predecessors.

The Original Series

Though the Gatchaman story is over 30 years old, it is one that has a staunch following, and fans are often referred to (or refer to themselves!) as Gatchamaniacs.

There are three installments to the original Gatchaman storyline: Gatchaman I (105 episodes), Gatchaman II (52 episodes), and Gatchaman Fighter (48 episodes). The original Gatchaman plot had thus 205 episodes, "making Gatchaman one of the longest-running drama series in anime history."

According to a Japanese source, it is also "one of the most important anime in the history of Japanese animation." It set the standards for the team show, wherein a group of characters must work together against a greater evil. Many later anime movies and series adopted the idea of compiling the individuals' vehicles or bodies into a larger weapon or machine. In addition, the adult nature of Gatchaman changed the face of animation. The heroes of Gatchaman swear, are witness to (and are sometimes perpetrators of) extreme violence, and one member of the team even dies at the end of the first season. Perhaps due in part to these elements, Gatchaman was Tatsunoko's most successful superhero anime.

Gatchaman follows the adventures of five young heroes: Eagle Ken (Washio), Condor Joe (Asakura), Swan Jun, Swallow Jinpei, and Owl Ryu (Nakanishi). The team takes its instructions from Dr. Kozaburo Nambu, director of the International Science Organization. Together, they fight the forces of Galactor, headed by the alien being Sosai (often translated as "Overlord") X and his various commanders: Berg Katse (Gatchaman I), Gel Sadra (Gatchaman II), and Count Egobossler (Gatchaman F).
On October 1, 1972, Tokyo's Fuji Television premiered the very first episode. Originally dubbed "Birdman," the show's creators renamed it "Gatchaman" at the last minute. The title is onomatopoetic and is meant to be echoic of mecha crashing into one another.

According to another source, Ken, the titular hero, was the "reason a team was formed. He was so good that he didn't really need a team;" rather, the team was an arena "for the leader to do all his things. He was sort of the 'teacher' to his team, and made use of the special talents they all possessed." Furthermore, "Ken was almost always right, and when he wasn't, it was because of outside circumstances. The others were 'humanized' characters that dealt with their problems. Jun's affection for Ken...Jinpei and his overzealousness...Joe and his foolishness...and Ryu for being the most 'human' of them all...he actually had a normal life. Ken and Joe were opposite sides of the same coin: Joe was the impatient, foolhardy side to Ken's quick, decisive leadership qualities.

"With the shock from what fans referred to as The Death of Joe, Gatchaman broke ground. [The show] had taken a character and shown his steady decline and eventually his demise. 'We knew it would be shocking....but not that   shocking.' Melodramatic though it was, it would cause fans to rejoice for the interesting twist, and saddened by the loss of what was quickly becoming a popular character. 'From the beginning, we decided that Ken would be [everything] a hero should be -brave, cunning, etc- but as we entered into this, we saw that the fans were really for Joe and   Ken. And then Joe (as the series ended) had become a fan favorite."