Sunday, June 14, 2009

Audience Test Results for Gatchaman (2011)

Recently, Imagi held a small audience test at a Warner Brothers studio in Burbank CA to gauge the response to Gatchaman by their teenage target audience. The audience saw a brief trailer, some still scenes, image boards and production art. Then they were given a questionnaire. (One question asked about romance in the storyline and whether there should be a Ken-Jun-Joe love triangle.) A Japanese lady who went to the test wrote about it in her blog (link).

The highlights:
  • The release schedule is being pushed back to 2011. (Not a big surprise considering Astro Boy is yet to be released.)
  • It's confirmed that Nambu is now of African descent and sports the "Afro Samurai" look. His goal is to gather teenagers to fight the alien menace that is Katse and Gallactor.
  • As you might have guessed, the selected teenagers don't get along at first. Joe, a bad-boy street fighter with a vendetta, refuses to join, and the others attempt to beat some sense into him at a construction site. Only after, through some fault of his, Nambu gets captured by Gallactor does Joe join the team. (Wolverine in a bird suit, anyone?)
  • Imagi Joe more closely resembles OAV Joe than original Joe.
  • Jun's action scenes are cool, but she's not as sexy. Her mini skirt birdstyle seemed to get high marks, though.
  • Jinpei and Ryu seem more noticeable in the Imagi version.
  • Katse loses both his mutant nature (appearing entirely male) and his sense of humor.
  • The audience seemed unhappy with the quality of the CGI, claiming the movements were not very smooth.
  • There seems to be a little bit of confusion about the title: "Gatchaman" vs. "Gatchamen."
Say this with me, fellow fans: We were afraid this would happen.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

2 comments:

buffalostyle said...

Based on how the test went, it looks like it could do fairly well if the CGI is tightened up. The title needs some work though.

Christina M. said...

yeaaaahhh go figure....the most anticipated movie around and they want to procrastinate.... as far as the love triangle, jun and ken yea, but why get joe involved?? that would cause too much drama for the show... Love the trailers! They make me even more impatient... The title does need some work... I think they should use Gotchamen, because its about 5 members, not just one... I'm hoping they clean up the art work a little...It's not bad, but they seem...well...kinda stiff to me. Just my opinion.

Signed yours truly,
Gotchafan for life!!