Eagle Riders

1996: Saban Entertainment: The First Western Translation of Gatch II and Fighter

In 1996, Saban Entertainment tried something new. Using footage from Gatch II and Fighter rather than Gatch I, the company created Eagle Riders.

Saban had great success with its first Tokusatsu, the Power Rangers, and went on to add similar shows like VR Troopers, Beetleborg, and eventually Eagle Riders to their lineup.

Thirteen episodes ran Stateside, all of them translated directly from the first episodes of Gatchaman II; Australia and parts of Europe got the full 65-episode run, most of which were rewritten to fit together. However, the watcher feels no more closure after watching 65 episodes than s/he feels after watching 13. Gatchaman does not defeat Happyboy (Egobossler) and his goons. In fact, it looks like Happyboy is way ahead when the storyline reaches its Oh We Were Supposed To Write An End? stage.

Hunter Harris, Joe Thax, Kelly Jenar, Mickey Dugan, and Ollie Keeawani

If you're an Eagle Riders fan, you know the characters as Hunter Harris, Joe Thax, Kelly Jenar, Mickey Dugan, and Ollie Keeawani. Dr. Thaddeus Keane is the team's mentor, Dr. Aikins is his new redheaded colleague, Mallanox and later Happyboy are the villains, and Cybercon is the evil mastermind heading the Vorak organization.

Since this is the first time Gatch II and F were used, the characters also have different weapons than in any other translation. The Gatch II weapons (most notably Hunter's disc, Joe's super-feathers, and Kelly's ribbon) are featured more prominently, but Hunter does get a sword before all is said and done.

Kudos to Saban for finally giving characters besides the two male leads last names. Heidi Lenhart, the voice of Kelly Jenar, did a great job of making Kelly a stronger, more competent character than most of her other incarnations.

Villains

Though Count Egobossler puts in a few appearances in the final third of the series, Gelsadora is the main villain. As in the original, Katse shows up in photographs on the wall and therefore warrants a mention. The characters do have to make references to the past (i.e. Gatchaman I), to explain things like Joe's attempts to hide his cybernetics.

Vehicles

Unfortunately, the Gatchaman II vehicles (aka the Chicken Ship/s) are prominent and, like Battle of the Planets, the show is definitely intended for children. For example, each time they leave for a mission, Hunter (Ken) has everyone sound off (one team member's is "All Eagle Riders accounted for and present," like there are 50 of them instead of 5), and when they're done, he says, "Eagle Riders, what's our mission?" Their response: "To defend the global good!" Zark would be proud.

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La Force G: La Patrouille des Aigles