History: From Then to Now
...continued...The Translations
Battle of the Planets
First there was Battle of the Planets: most often called "G-Force" by North American fans; it ran from 1978-79 and then in syndication through 1985.
Around the world, it was translated again and again: Batalha dos Planetas (Portuguese), Comando G or Fuerza G (Spanish), La Bataille des planètes (French), Strijd der Planeten (Dutch), Wojna Planet and Załoga G (Polish).
G-Force: Guardians of Space
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.
This version, too, was translated into languages besides English; for example, G-Force: Defensores do Espaço (Portuguese)
The OVAs
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.
Eagle Riders
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.
Other Iterations
NTT Commercials
In September of 2000, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) East released a series of animated and live action commercials featuring the J-pop boy-band SMAP dressed up as the Kagaku Ninjatai, all in the name of promoting NTT's ISDN service.
Top Cow comics
In 2002, Top Cow did a run of comic books. Though there were a lot of exciting things about them, there were also some things that weren't so exciting. Thanks to a number of factors (storyline, portrayal of characters, some of the drawing, and a lot of politics), they steadily sold fewer and fewer copies, and eventually Top Cow gave up.
Homages
Gatchaman influences appear all over the popular media, some more obvious than others.
- In one Teen Titans episode, a character puts on a uniform that resembles the Gatch team's uniforms.
- One of the Simpsons' openings, Marge is wearing Princess' uniform.
- Gatchaman influences can be seen in Chojin Sentai Jetman and Voltron.
- Time Bokan includes Gatchaman cameos
- Nurse Witch Komugi includes a 5-minute Gatchaman parody