Gatchablog

Taking Home of the White Shadow to a new direction

2011-03-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

I'm struggling with a decision right now. The bill has arrived for the web hosting for my sites, and frankly, I'm wondering if it's worth it. Should I let it go, should I find a new venue for it, or should I just sent out another check?

The site has been a source of pride for me (up since 1995, remodeled twice, frequently updated until two years ago), but now, when I look at it, the sheer volume of work needed to update the HTML and get it out of the nineties staggers me. I don't receive a lot of feedback, maybe one email every three months.

What do you think?

More about Imagi's Gatchaman Teaser Video

2010-08-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

It appears Imagi Studios is fishing for sponsors for their Gatchaman movie again. They've added a second teaser film to their web site here. Notice the difference in uniforms/armor between the two teasers; each teaser was done at a separate stage. Both of them bear a more than passing resemblance to the NTT Gatchaman campaign commercials done in 2000: here and here

In another interesting tidbit, 411mania offered the following as part of their interview with Dave Wilkins (of Splatterhouse game fame):

Jeffrey Harris: You did concept art for the new feature Gatchaman movie. Recently a new trailer came online for the movie. Have you seen this new trailer yet?

Dave Wilkins: I've seen the trailer.

Jeffrey Harris: So . . . is this movie actually going to come out? What is going on?

Dave Wilkins: It's been up and down. I'm not really sure. I really hope it does because a lot of super talented guys worked on it . . . great, great guys put a lot of great work in there and just being a Gatchaman fan I hope it does.

Jeffrey Harris: When you were conceptualizing those characters, was your vision of Berg Katse the Berg Katse?

Dave Wilkins: Yeah and that's exactly what we called him. It wasn't Galactor. It was the original.

Jeffrey Harris: So was it going to be the transsexual, gender-bending Katse? In the original animation he was both a man and a woman.

Dave Wilkins: Right. He was pretty hardcore. In my version, he's more monstrous and alien than anything. But I don't know how he ended up.

Read the entire interview here.

The Imagi Gatchaman Movie... Not Dead Yet?

2010-07-16T19:03:00.001-07:00

Just when we'd written off Imagi, the studio that had been working on the Gatchaman CGI feature film, here comes this post on Twitchfilm.net. Also interesting was the fact that a blog referring to an "old" Gatchaman preview on Felix Ip's blog (an excellent source of Gatchaman info) is now deleted....

Hmm, I'm still a little skeptical, but if Imagi is indeed rising, Phoenix-like from the ashes of bankruptcy to forge ahead with the Gatchaman film, bravo!

Check out the Twitchfilm post: There are five demo/preview reels with Gatchaman action. Is this what might have been, or what could be?

GatchaCon Update

2010-07-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

GatchaCon takes place this year, as it has for the past thirteen years, at the San Diego Comic Con (July 22-25, 2010), and this time, I can make it! The main Gatchafan activities at the con will be our daily lunchtime meetings in the table area in the Sails Pavilion. Look for a group of folks in black GatchaCon t-shirts around noon on all four days. We might also have the "battle flag" with us—a black flag with the bird-head insignia in red. You can't miss it. Come by and say hello. We're a friendly bunch.

Unfortunately there's no Gatchaman programming in the convention schedule this year, but Battle of the Planets fans will be interested in the Cartoon Voices II panel (Sunday at 11:15-12:30, Room 6A), which will include Janet Waldo, the voice of Princess. Gatchaman fans will be interested in the Dark Horse panel featuring Yoshitaka Amano (who worked as a character designer during all three series). Amano will also be signing autographs at the Dark Horse Comics booth (2615) on Saturday from 11:00-12:00, and on Sunday from 1:00-2:00. You'll need a ticket to attend the signing; someone at the Dark Horse booth should be able to offer more information.

While it isn't Gatchaman, other Tatsunoko programs will be shown in the Anime Room in Marriott Hall 6. Friday and Saturday, Tekkaman Blade runs at 11:40am and Casshern Sins will run at 5:45pm.

A thorough search of the dealer's room always seems to yield some sort of Gatchaman merchandise. Try Anime Link (Booth 400) and AnimeEd.com (Booth G09 and G10) for cels. Alex Ross's booth (Booth 2419) might have some art he did for the Gatchaman DVDs/Top Cow Battle of the Planets comic covers. It also wouldn't hurt to swing by the Capcom booth to see if they have any goodies from last year's Tatsunoko vs. Capcom promotion.

Hope to see you there, and as always, big thanks to Tatsunokofan for the information.

Reviving Interest in Gatchaman

2010-06-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

Spotted at the June 19, 2010 Hey, Answerman! column on the Anime News Network site:

Fans of old stuff! I'm sure there's a particular old series/movie/whatever that you really love, that the new crop of fans is completely uninterested in. Why is this, do you think? What steps would you take to reverse that?

To which writer JR Turbyfill replied:

I grew up at a time when Anime was not really even called anime and came on either in the afternoons during the week, or early Saturday morning. I remember watching Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) and Starblazers (Space Battleship Yamato)... Today, with the advent of YouTube, Crunchyroll, Hulu, etc., we now have the ability to watch the iconic stories that really paved the way for anime to be the popular niche entertainment that has inspired a now growing trend of properties in Hollywood, for better or worse. Sadly, these classic stories that I loved were bittersweet to watch again. Alas, even though I watch them as I am being scorned by the new generation of fans, some who are almost young enough to be my children, I begin to understand why "my anime" is different than "their anime."

I would say the chief reason the younger / newer fans do not find enjoyment in the shows that made it possible for their shows to be presented as anything more than an import / rarity is the evolution of anime as a medium in general. All the shows I enjoyed as a child were pretty much a Hero, Space epic, or Giant Robot / Mecha show. This is only a fraction of the broad spectrum of anime that permeates through society today. [...]

So, how do we get the new school to "give props" to the old school? That's tricky, especially in this volatile time in the industry. There have been several attempts, such as the new Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles or the 3-part modernized OVA of Gatchaman, but these received a lukewarm response outside of their fanbase. Though Gatchaman is / was to be a CG feature, Astro Boy showed that without a major marketing push and great story to back it, the property will die, screaming. There is a possibility of driving interest by doing a live action re-boot, ala JJ Abrams' Star Trek or Nolan's Batman Begins. The trick with this being successful would be a HUGE budget, BIG names, and LOTS of marketing. The properties that could be deemed worthy would be small in number. If they were re-imagined in animation, I would think the best avenue for success would be to emphasize another genre that is more marketable these days (i.e. Gatchaman as a moe vehicle, with a possible bishonen relationship between two of the members). [...]

The bottom line is, if an old property is to be revived, re-packaged, and re-introduced to the masses in an effort to garner new fans, it's going to need more than the love of the old fans to get it. Some of the older fans don't always find the new stuff exciting, either. Some even find the newer, grittier, more sexual and violent themes to be to much for an animated show. I don't mind it if it makes sense, but I have no intention of letting my child see Black Lagoon when I have Gatchaman to fall back on. At the end of the day, maybe it's better to leave the old property alone, as not to alienate the old-schoolers. Even though I have learned to enjoy new stuff like FMA, Soul Eater, and GITS, I still like my old stuff. It was good enough for my generation, it should be good enough for theirs. Now get off my lawn!

You can read the entire letter here.

The poster is repeating some of my old soapbox points: Lots of marketing, huge budget, strong story (all the latest released Gatchaman efforts, especially the OAV, suffered from weak stories). As for a bishonen love interest between Ken and Joe, while that's not my cup of tea, Gatchaman fans all over the globe have been doing this in fanfic and doujinshi ever since the show first aired. That being said, I would not be that enthusiastic about a moe Gatchaman, and I'd be just tolerant of a grittier and more violent Gatchaman. Maybe this is a show that's better left well enough alone.

You don't have to get off my lawn, but don't trample the flowers, 'kay?

What are your thoughts?

Gatchaman Concept Posters

2010-06-20T07:09:00.001-07:00

Check out the Gatchaman concept design posters over at Felix Ip's blog. Even though the movie is just a fond wish now, the concepts are fun!

More Gatchaman Pachinko Games

2010-06-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Japan has cranked out a few interesting Gatchaman pachinko/pachisuro games lately. Here are some animation highlights/CG bonus footage from the Sammy game, "Gatchaman, the Bonds of Fate":

And the footage for the "Gatchaman GR" game from Okazaki Sangyo (http://www.okazakisangyo.com/slot/gmngr/index.html):

For more information about the Sammy game, check out their permanent link at http://www.sammy.co.jp/japanese/index.jsp

As always, thanks Tatsunokofan!

Gatchaman Video Games Featured on 411mania.com

2010-05-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

There were more Gatchaman-based games than just Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Check out this article (WARNING: Scrolling to the bottom of the page might be Not Safe For Work) on 411mania.com, which describes and provides videos of gameplay from Tatsunoko Fight!, the Battle of the Planets game for the Commodore 64, Gatchaman, The Shooting and a preview of the Gatchaman pachisuro game.

There are at least two games the article left out. One was a Korean game and the other was Gatchaman Access, which can loosely be called a game—it was mostly a Flash presentation of the OAV character designs that had puzzles, a trivia quiz, and lots of Easter eggs featuring design illustrations.

EDIT: I completely forgot about the two Gatchaman pachinko machine games, the online games that were part of the 2000 NTT Gatchaman campaign, and the mid-90s PC9800 computer game. (Thanks, Tatsunokofan!)

More of What Might Have Been

2010-05-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Joe and Jun getting to know each other from a 2008 screen test for Gatchaman. Starts at 0:29.

Thanks, Springie!

What Might Have Been

2010-04-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Now that Imagi is dissolved, certain things start surfacing, such as this trailer to the Gatchaman film that will no longer happen:

Isao Sasaki Makes Appearance at Honolulu Festival

2010-03-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

Isao Sasaki (the voice of Condor Joe and singer of many anime themes including the themes to Gatchaman II and Fighter) will be making an appearance at the Honolulu Convention Center on Saturday, March 13, between 3:15 and 3:30 pm for the Honolulu Festival. I haven't heard of him making appearances at foreign events before.

Wish I could be there!

For more info:

http://www.honolulufestival.com/

Facebook link

Zero Da, Zero Da, Zero Da! JT Uses the Gatchaman Theme to Promote Coffee

2010-03-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Gatchaman theme song is being used to advertise a new coffee drink, the JT "Roots Triple Free" (triple meaning 0 calories, 0 fat and 0 sugar). The lyrics have been tweaked to promote the song ("Zero da" instead of "Dare da"), though you can see the original lyrics posted beneath the commercial version. They've also riffed off the Gatchaman title type. The commercial features a comedy group called The Neptunes and the song is sung by singer/songwriter Sunplaza Nakano*.

You can see the commercial in its entirety on the Roots Triple Free Web site. The shorter TV version is here.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

* Sunplaza Nakano = Nakano Sun Plaza, a large mall in Tokyo that's the home of Mandarake, the ultimate anime/manga otaku mecca and a great place to shop for Gatchaman stuff.

Gatchaman Voice Actors Earn Lifetime Achievement Awards

2010-02-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

For the 4th Annual Seiyuu Awards, three members of Gatchaman's voice cast will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their work. These seiyuu (voice actors) are Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X) and Tessho Genda (various guest characters throughout the first series, including both Masaki and Oniishi).

The awards ceremony takes place on March 6th in the UDX Theater in Akihabara, Tokyo.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Imagi Shuts Down

2010-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Imagi has officially shut down. There is still a possibility they could farm out labor to other companies, but I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for the Gatchaman movie.

Source: ABC News

Bad, bad news from Imagi

2010-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

It started with news that Imagi had shut down their LA offices. Now, according to Felix Ip's blog, it looks like Imagi is shutting down and laying off their people in Hong Kong as well. They may find funding and continue with the Gatchaman movie, but right now, it's looking like a long shot.

It was fun to follow while it lasted. My condolences go out to the hard-working staff at Imagi.

UPDATE: According to this post on the Anime News Network:

"According to the Ming Pao Daily News paper, the layoffs are short-term and that the company is still operating on minimal staff as it continues to seek new investments. However, the newspaper also reports that company faces a critical decision next week on whether to be liquidated, depending on the outcome of investment talks. The studio underwent a round of layoffs before the Chinese New Year's holidays last year, only to rehire its animators after obtaining new financing to complete Astro Boy."

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Condor Joe Debuts

2009-10-13T18:59:00.001-07:00

Annnnd... here he is. Condor Joe is revealed in the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom game in all his roaring glory. Read all about it on ign.com here. Better yet, see him in action on the video here.

If they didn't get Isao Sasaki (the original voice actor) to do his voice, they found somebody darned close. All his mannerisms are there, ramped up for 2009.

As a Joe fan, I think I'm in love again...

UPDATE: Isao Sasaki's name is reported to be in the game credits! Awesome!

Paul Dini and Joe Asakura

2009-09-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Paul Dini Explains What Happened at Imagi

Some time ago, Paul Dini was chosen to write the screenplay for the Imagi Gatchaman movie. Then, without warning, his name vanished from all mention and mention of Gatchaman vanished from his Web site. In this interview from 411mania.com, Dini explains what happened... well, as much as can be explained, anyway:

"I was working on it in the fall of 2007, I guess that's when the writer's strike was, and I worked on it from August to December of that year with Kevin Munroe, the director, and a very good art team. And I was contracted kind of a period of around that time, and then we made our presentation to the rights holder and then they said they were undecided on how to go at that point and my deal was essentially up, so they said OK we may call you back, we may go a different way. So I have no idea what if anything of mine is in the movie, the finished picture. I know that Kevin was let go a few weeks after that, and I think the project went into some sort of turnaround development at some point. Toward the end it was getting more and more confused. The more that Kevin and the artists and I were more united in our take on the picture, new producers came in that were less sure of anything and very antsy about everything. So I don't know, the whole thing sort of spun out of control. I left once my deal was up and basically, that was that. We'll see what happens. I think they proceeded with different writers and different producers. Definitely, they got a different director, and we'll see what ultimately comes out of it. I've seen the same trailer that everybody else has seen, and I did recognize some of the same basic setups and scenarios from some of the storyboards that we worked on together, but that's about it."

Click here to read the entire interview.

Condor Joe Joins the Fray in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom?

A member of the Shoryuken Forum unearthed a list of filenames for images in Capcom's Japanese Web site. In addition to the main characters, there is images/oncharactor_btn_joe.jpg

Hmm...

The image is not available yet, but I'd keep an eye on the site for when Joe makes his debut.

Gatchaman Episodes and Artwork

2009-09-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this from Dragon*Con in Atlanta. There's no Gatchaman news to be found yet, but we're getting a lot of "Where did you get those shirts?" inquiries on our GatchaCon (San Diego) T-shirts from previous years. We're telling 'em to Google the Tatsunoko Fan Club Web site and see if there are any extras for sale. We haven't met any fellow fans from the Gatchamania forum or the fan who was supposed to come dressed as Berg Katse, but it's a very, very big con.

A couple of news items of interest:

Gatchaman II and Fighter Episodes Online

There is a Korean Web site offering episodes of Gatchaman II and Fighter online. They are in Japanese with Korean subtitles (no English, sorry), but the episodes are complete. Choose the episodes by episode number. There are two episodes missing: G-II #48 and G-Fighter #4, and the site can run slowly if there are a lot of users. But they're free!

Gatchaman II: http://tinyurl.com/ksdarp

Gatchaman Fighter: http://tinyurl.com/lzx6ew

Amano Gatchaman Art for Sale

If you were wondering what to do with your extra $20,000 inheritance or lottery winnings, you can pick up an Amano Original piece for 1,890,000 yen, excluding shipping and handling of course. If that is out of your price range, you can pick up the "Amano Galaxy Members Cards" for 1,090 yen or the Amano Galaxy Postcard Set for 2,100 yen.

New art: http://amanogalaxy.com/p/html/ag/#go

Amano Galaxy Goodies: http://www.ggood.jp/p/category/top/detail.php?c=top&ca1=amanogalaxy

Also, check out the rest of Amano's links for Gatchaman art he has done over the last few decades.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan, for both updates!

ADV is no more

2009-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

ADV, the company responsible for releasing the Gatchaman series in English, is no more.

Today, the company posted a notice on its Web site describing the liquidation of its assets. Part a sign of the economy, and part a sign of the times, it's not unexpected, but still sad.

News link: http://www.homemediamagazine.com/studios/adv-films-sells-assets-16906

Notes from GatchaCon

2009-08-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sadly, there was no GatchaCon t-shirt for this year was because the person responsible for the shirt design and printing suffered some recent injuries. Hopefully he will recover soon!

There were some interesting promotions at the Imagi booth: fans could dress up as Ken and get their pictures taken in front of a Gatchaman-style background. There were also some Gatchaman freebies. There will probably be more at the 2010 Comic Con. Save your money for next year, because from what I've heard, the con (admission and lodging) is getting more and more expensive.

Check out the nice Gatchaman G-2 poster as well as the posters of the rest of the team here on Felix Ip's blog. (Thanks, Reboekah!)

GatchaCon 2009 at San Diego Comic Con: Details

2009-07-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tatsunokofan added a comment on my last post. I think it needs to be put out in the open:

Here's a somewhat more detailed list of the Gatchaman-related things that are going on at the Comic Con next week.

For meeting up with other fans, we'll be gathering for lunch at noon each day of the convention, meeting up at the tables provided in the Sails Pavillion on the top floor of the convention center. Most of us will be wearing GatchaCon T-shirts, though I do know that as least one Jun costume will be be there too...

In the Dealers Room, Imagi will there in booth 3635, next to the Paramount Home Entertainment booth. Most of their booth will be purposed for promoting Astro Boy, but if their set-up at Anime Expo is any indication, they should have a small space dediated to Gatchaman and will be showing the video clips they showed there. It's likely that they'll have some of those Gatchaman watches to give away as well!

Also in the Dealers Room, Capcom will be at booth 5113, across from Electronic Arts on the first row of the East Side of the convention center. They'll be promoting many of their upcoming game releases, which will likely include Tatsunoko Vs Capcom. They usually have demos of these games available for people to play, so if you've always wanted to pit Ken or Jun against Megaman or Chun Li, this may be your chance!

There will also be several sellers in the Dealers Room who usually have some Gatchaman items, including Anime Link (Booth 415), Nichibei Anime (Booth 814), AnimeEd.com (Booth 5435), and Fantasia Toyz (Booth 701).

As far as convention panels go, Imagi is having a panel for Astro Boy on Thursday from 10:15 to 11:15 in Room 6BCF. The panel will feature stars Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell, as well as Director David Bowers and Producer Maryanne Grager, all there to talk about their film. Admittedly, it is unlikely that Imagi's Gatchaman film will get more than a passing mention at this panel, but you never know!

On Friday, there will be a "Capcom: Fighting Games" panel from 2:30 to 3:30 in room 5AB. This panel will be focused on Capcom's newest fighting games, and Capcom game producer Ryota Niitsuma will be on the panel to talk about Tatsunoko Vs Capcom.

In the Anime Rooms, alas, no Gatchaman is scheduled. On the other hand, Nurse Witch Komugi will be shown on Thursday night from 11:05 to 11:30 in Room 25AB. The schedule doesn't specifiy which Kogumi story will be shown, so there is a chance (Or perhaps you could ask) that it will be the second story, where Komugi transforms into a parody of the Science Ninja Team in order to fight her foe.

So, if there's anyone here who's planning on attending the Comic Con, I hope we'll see you there! Just come up and say, "Hi!" We don't bite -- really.

Thanks again, Tatsunokofan!

Got Goodies?

2009-07-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

More on the die-cast models: Art Storm has posted some close-up pictures of the die-cast Gatchaman toys.

View Set A (G-1, G-2, Red Impulse plane)

View Set B (G-3, G-4, GodPhoenix)

I have to say the level of detail in these is astounding.

According to the Art Storm site, these sets run at 24,800 yen per set and are scheduled to go on sale in December 2009. If you have an extra couple hundred dollars burning a hole in your bank account, Hobbylink Japan is accepting preorders, with a 5% discount if you order before August 1. Visit Hobbylink Japan at http://www.hlj.com and do a search for "Gatchaman." I've ordered Gatchaman items from them and been happy with their service.

(Thanks, Tatsunokofan!)

Gatchaman Episodes on Veoh: If you've gone this long without getting copies of Gatchaman on DVD, you can now view all the episodes online at Veoh: http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/gatchaman I noticed that they also have the NTT Gatchaman commercials with SMAP.

(Thanks, Fiona!)

GatchaCon News: Sadly, I am missing GatchaCon this year, for the first time since it started. There will be some Gatchaman fans attending, though fewer than previous years. If you are headed to the San Diego Comic Con, check the pavilion under the "sails" (where the lunch tables are) for a group of fans in black GatchaCon t-shirts. Also, since Imagi was there last year, I'm sure they'll have a booth on the dealer's floor this year. Go check out their Gatchaman preview.

And let me know how it went!

More Imagi Promotion Materials

2009-07-04T01:13:00.001-07:00

The Screenweek Blog has some new screen shots of some promotional materials for the Imagi Gatchaman movie, apparently being promoted at Anime Expo 2009 in Los Angeles. In addition to the Joe poster we saw earlier, there's a group poster and a shot of a digital watch that seems to be a freebie. [link]

Also, someone filmed the promo at the booth and put it up on YouTube. EDIT: Better versions have surfaced. Here they are:

Thanks, Springie!

More Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Screens

2009-07-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here are more screen shots from the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom game, courtesy of Capcom's Web site: [link]. It's sad that Ken seems to be the recipient of the attacks demonstrated on the screens, but the profile pictures of him [link] are just lovely.

Gatcha-Movie Update

2009-06-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

Imagi Update: It has been confirmed that Jun Falkenstein is no longer on the Gatchaman Movie project. According to her blog, she is back with Disney.

Live Action Gatchaman Move News: It has been a long while since we've gotten any news on Japan's planned live action Gatchaman film. Apparently, the concept is still alive: On June 19th, it was announced that Takara-Tomy (who now owns Tatsunoko Productions) has purchased 2.83% of the available stock in Nikkatsu, the studio that created the live action Yatterman movie and who has the rights for the live action Gatchaman movie. In turn, Nikkatsu will produce live action films based on Takara-Tomy products such as the Rika-chan fashion doll line, and adaptations of further Tatsunoko animated properties. The plan is to release one Takara-Tomy-based film a year.

There was no specific news about the live action Gatchaman film in the press releases. But, since the Yatterman live action movie was a major box office success, hopefully, this will stimulate work on the Gatchaman film.

Thanks Tatsunokofan!

Get Gatchaman T-shirts

2009-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

GatchaCon T-Shirts

For the past twelve years, fans have held GatchaCon at the San Diego Comic Con. One of the highlights of GatchaCon was the cool t-shirt design released every year. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to GatchaCon this year, and I don't know the current status of this year's T-shirt designs. However, Jason H. managed to find a few designs printed for past years and want to make them available to fans again. There aren't many left and there are no plans for reprints, so get them before they're gone for good!

To see the available t-shirt designs and details, Visit this page at the Tatsunoko USA site. If you are interested in ordering any shirts, please write to Jason at: tatfanclub(at)aol.com (replace the (at) with @). (Thanks, Jason!)

Uniqlo Shirts in NYC

If you happen to be in New York City, the Uniqlo Gatchaman t-shirts have been spotted for sale in Uniqlo's New York Soho branch. Sizes and stock are extremely limited, so, like the GatchaCon shirts, get them before they're gone!

Audience Test Results for Gatchaman (2011)

2009-06-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

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!

Imagi News, Capcom News

2009-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Douglas Glen, CEO of Imagi, resigns. According to the press releases, Imagi's project such as Astro Boy and Gatchaman are not affected. Check this link at Anime News Network for details: http://tinyurl.com/ot7z3f

Thanks, Trudi!

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom game confirmed for US. Capcom has made their announcements for the upcoming 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June: the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom title will be released for the Nintendo Wii in America and Europe. Details here at Gamespot: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6209856.html

Video Parody: Gatchaman Abridged

2009-05-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this Gatchaman parody dub by someone with an excellent sense of comedic timing. I'm not sure why he's using the "G-Force GoS" names, though. Not Safe For Work unless you have earphones (naughty words are only selectively bleeped out).

Thanks, Springie!

Catching Up: Cool Bits and Pieces

2009-04-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some neat bits and pieces I've been meaning to post here:

Gatchaman Featured at Taipei Toys Exhibition

From Kena's blog: check out her photo album of the Gatchaman goodies exhibition in Taipei: http://photo.pchome.com.tw/kcc20051225/

Fighting Ken and Jun

And a video: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom featuring Ken and Jun

Deviant Fanart

And some really nice fanart of Jun on DeviantArt. This piece made today's "Daily Deviations," which is somewhat of a big deal in deviantART Land.

swan by ~dangerousllama on deviant ART

Ken Design Sketch

Last, but not least, Felix Ip's blog has a nice concept sketch of Ken.

New Gatchaman T-shirt Designs from Uniqlo

2009-04-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Japanese clothing manufacturer Uniqlo has released the first of at least two Gatchaman T-shirt designs. The first one, featuring clips of the characters' faces, is here: http://store.uniqlo.com/jp/CPaGoods/056653-09 The second design, due out by the end of this month, will be white with a small bird head symbol over the left breast. Both shirts will cost 1,500 yen each.

The site, of course, is in Japanese, and Uniqlo doesn't do overseas mail orders. However you may be able to order through Celga.com

There's even a video commercial for the latest line of shirts, including the Gatchaman design:

Many thanks to Tatsunokofan for the information!

The Latest Gatchaman Movie Poster Features... Joe!

2009-03-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Spotted in the Tatsunoko booth at the Tokyo International Anime Fair and posted on the Gatchakan Blog: A poster for Imagi's upcoming Gatchaman movie, and it's Joe! Check out the Gatchakan site and scroll down.

The release date still appears to be 2010.

New Die-Cast Toys of the Gatchaman Vehicles

2009-03-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Japanese company Art Storm has announced a December release of a set of high-end die-cast toys of the original Gatchaman vehicles. The vehicles will be 10-15cm in length.

They'll be released in two sets of three vehicles each:
Set A: G-1, G-2, and Red Impulse plane. (Link to image)
Set B: G-3 (with Jun riding) G-4, and Godphoenix. (Link to image)

The only bad news is the price. If you thought the Cho Shin Gokin Godphoenix was expensive, hold on to your hat. The vehicles only come in sets, and each set will cost 24,800 yen.

When these items come available at the end of this year, and if you have about $510 burning a hole in your pocket, I suggest checking Hobbylink Japan to order.

Thanks to Tatsunokofan for the info and photos!

Gatchaman Goodies from the Amusements Expo '09

2009-03-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Whoops! Been way too long and I have a few news items to catch up!

Spotted at the Amusement Expo 2009 held in Makuhari Messe back in February:

Figures of Ken and Joe, based off an Ippei Kuri illustration. Check out the image here. These figures will be released in July, but are available for preorder from Hobbylink Japan (Ken: http://www.hlj.com/product/TAT459335100-A Joe: http://www.hlj.com/product/TAT459335100-B)
A 1GB Flash memory in the shape of Ken's boomerang. The "nose" comes off to expose the USB connection and the "blades" open and close. Not sure of the release date for this.

These goodies will be offered as prizes from game machines at Japanese game centers, and unfortunately, won't be available for purchase from stores. However, I'm sure they'll be popping up on Yahoo! Japan Auctions and eBay.

Happy Hunting!

Thanks to Tatsunokofan for the info!

Gatchaman vs. ...Spider Man?

2009-02-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sooo... Looks like our heroes will be once again venturing into comics, though this time not alone, as they did under the Top Cow label. According to the Topless Robot blog:

"Marvel [...] partnered up with old-school anime studio Tatsunoko to make a series starring both Marvel's superheroes and Tatsunoko's anime characters, which include Gatchaman (a.k.a. Battle of the Planets)"

[Link]

Many thanks to Joe Lombardo for the info!

In Gatchaman movie news... Nothing has really changed since last post. The Gatchaman movie is still planned. We shall see.

So what's new with the Imagi film? A follow-up

2009-01-26T21:31:00.001-08:00

According to i09.com, the American branch of Imagi is indeed shutting down, but only temporarily until its next round of expected funding arrives. The Hong Kong branch is currently closed for Chinese New Year. Production on Astro Boy is set to continue, and Gatchaman is set for release November 2010... providing it gets funded.

All the gory details are here: http://io9.com/5139671/cool-your-boot-jets-astro-boy-still-zooming

So what's new with the Imagi film?

2009-01-25T22:02:00.001-08:00

Following the Imagi Gatchaman film has been like riding a roller coaster. First we get news that Imagi has been rated a "going financial concern," which is worrying, but not devastating... yet. Felix Ip's blog mentioned that all is moving along according to plan. But then, in light of the current recession and many companies shutting down worldwide, comes the rumor that Imagi is temporarily shutting down. If this is indeed happening, could this lead to a permanent shutdown? Stay tuned...

Here's the link from First Showing: http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/01/25/imagi-animation-is-out-of-money-and-temporarily-shutting-down/

Hisayuki Toriumi, Chief Director for first Gatchaman series, passes away

2009-01-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Hisayuki Toriumi, the Chief Director/Supervisor of the first Gatchaman series, passed away of heart failure on January 23, 2009. He was 67 years old.

Much of the pivotal work in Gatchaman belonged to Toriumi. He directed 32 episodes of the first series—#1 ("Gatchaman vs. Turtle King"), #39~40 ( the Jigokiller two-parter), #53 ("Farewell Red Impulse"), #78 (Joe's confession aboard the Marine Satan), #81 ("Fight on Gallactor Island"), #102 (Berg Katse's unmasking), the final episode, and the 1978 Gatchaman Feature Film. He also acted as a writer, co-writing the following episodes with Satoshi Suyama: #22 ("Firebird vs. Fire-Eating Dragon"), #53 ("Farewell Red Impulse"), #71 ("The Immortal Gov. X"y), and #92 ("The End of Crescent Base")) and five episodes on his own (#52 ("Secret of Red Impulse"), 68 (Micro Saturn), #88 ("Iron Snake #828"), #102 (The unmasking of Berg Katse), and #105 (The series finale). In my own opinion, these were some of the most suspenseful and involving episodes in the entire series.

Mr. Toriumi wrote a novel version of the Gatchaman feature film that added some details to the events in the movie (and unlike the movie, it also involved what happened in #81, "Duel on Gallactor Island"). He later became an accomplished novelist with over two dozen titles written.

He remained active in the animation industry until 1998, and acted as a mentor to director Mamoru Oshii. Funeral services will be held Monday, January 26 in Hachioji. He is survived by his wife, Hiroko.

Thank you, Oshii-sensei, for the inspiration.

New Polyresin Jun figure available

2008-09-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

There's a brand new polyresin figure statue of Jun coming out! A company named R.A.W.S. ("Real Art Work Series") is producing the Jun figures as a limited edition of 300. The 28cm x 9.7cm x 9.7cm figure is mounted on top of a base designed to look like Jun's yoyo, and the base bears a serial number. It retails for 14,800 yen
(15,540 yen, after taxes), roughly US $137.00.

The Jun figurine is scheduled for release in late November/ early December, but you can preorder. If you don't know of a good Japanese hobby store, try CD Japan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/goods/goods_detail.html?KEY=NEOGDS-1224#) and Hobbylink Japan (http://www.hlj.com/product/HAP80337). I have dealt with Hobbylink Japan and a good friend can vouch for good service from CD Japan. He also mentioned that CD Japan has a preorder deadline of September 25th—better order soon!

Gatchaman Teaser at Cinema Blend

2008-09-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

If you have had difficulty accessing Imagi's site, you can now view the Gatchaman trailer here:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/First-Look-At-Gatchaman-10084.html

Quick Gatchaman teaser at Imagi's site

2008-09-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Imagi has put up a very brief teaser video featuring a little action with Joe's car and our first view of the Godphoenix. The Imagi site also has a collection of still shots from the video, some of which you may have seen on Felix Ip's blog here and here. Check 'em out.

Imagi's site: link

Cosplay at Comic Con

2008-08-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I had to leave San Diego early and miss the Masquerade, and there was a Gatchaman entry this year:

Phil Foglio does a nice introduction:

Here's a longer video of the contestant. The music is Animetal's rendition of the Gatchaman theme.

And here's an earlier contestant from 1998's Comic Con, this time in the OAV version of the costume. The music here is from the American commercial for the OAV.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Imagi Updates

2008-08-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

Felix Ip, the Art/Creative Director at Imagi, has some very interesting images posted on his blog. Screenshots 01 features renders that weren't available at the time the trailer was run at Comic Con. Screenshots 02 features images from the trailer. According to the blog, character designs were modified after the trailer.

Gatchaman Screenshots 01

Gatchaman Screenshots 02

Also, from the comments, I would not expect Imagi's Gatchaman film to release until 2010. From the looks of their promotion, Astro Boy is definitely showing first.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There has been a lot of fan feedback on Felix Ip's site, and he appears to be listening. Go express your opinion.

Also on Butterboom.com, here are the newest pics of the logo and the team, taken from an Imagi sell sheet for the Gatchaman licensing company. The logo I saw at Comic Con. The team I didn't.

News from Gatchacon

2008-07-23T23:10:00.001-07:00

Gatchacon, the unofficial con-within-the-San Diego Comic Con, is under way. This year's t-shirts feature a schematic of Battle of the Planets robot narrator 7-Zark-7 and the slogan, "He Thinks So You Don't Have To." Finally we get to see where his FOSDIC is.

Imagi has a booth at the con this year, and their major push is the movie, "Astro Boy" (to the tune of Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong") along with an ad for an older project, "Cat Town," and the demo reel from Gatchaman. In the Gatchaman reel, we see glimpses of Jun and a little bit of Ken in uniform plus a flash of the G-1, but the focus is on Joe in his civilan car stealing a suitcase of cash(?) from some thugs and evading some seriously scary gunfire. He looks good, and the demo is impressive... But this is an old demo before Imagi changed their ideas and their staff.

I have heard some of the ideas being bounced around for the latest version of the movie, and to be honest, although these ideas have supposedly been scrapped as well, I'm not encouraged. Something about how Gatchaman was an ancient legend worshipped since the day of the samurai... Bleh. That's been done to death in other films. As it stands now, according to current press releases about Imagi, the movie has been pushed back to 2009, and that interferes with Tatsunoko's Japan release of the live action Gatchaman movie. Things aren't looking good for this film, and I dearly hope I am wrong about this.

Capcom vs. Tatsunoko: Fight!

2008-05-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Imagine Ken Washio battling Street Fighter's Ken.

According to Brian Ashcraft's post at the Kotaku blog, Famitsu Magazine has announced that Capcom is putting together Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes, a fighting game featuring its characters pitted in tag battles against Tatsunoko's best heroes... the Gatchaman among them. Other characters slated for inclusion are Ryu (Street Fighter's, not Gatchaman's), Chun-Li, and Casshern.

EDIT: Check out the screen shots from the game at Famitsu.com: Link

Bits and Pieces: Movie info, Gatchaman article, and Gatchaman cameo in Yatterman

2008-05-12T22:16:00.001-07:00

Kevin Munroe on leaving Gatchaman:

In the following interview on IESB.net, Kevin Munroe discusses his new project with Dylan Dog and his reasons for parting ways with Imagi and the Gatchaman movie project. Here's an excerpt:

"With Gatchaman, I guess you can say it came down to creative differences. I’m a little heartbroken to walk away, as I’m still a huge fan of the property and its potential. But I’m glad that at least we got to share a little of my version of the movie in those images we released last year. "

Comic Book Resources article on Gatchaman

And here's an article on Tatsuo Yoshida and one of his greatest creations, co-written by pro-fan Jason Hofius.

Gatchaman cameo on new Yatterman series

The characters from other Tatsunoko series often make cameos in episodes of "Yatterman," and here's the latest (not to be confused with the sighting of Ken and Jun at the takoyaki stand a few posts ago). Observant fan "Zeiderbeck" posted to the Yahoo! Battle of the Planets Mailing List about a Gatchaman sighting on the new "Yatterman" television series. The special one-hour broadcast on May 5, 2008, "One Night Only! Doronbo vs.
Monta Mino! Join Us in a Battle of Brain-Teasers! A Special Episode
Guest-Starring Gatchaman and the Mach Five!" features the voice talents of Katsuji Mori (voice of Ken and Go Mifune from Mach Go Go Go) and silent appearances of the rest of the team and Dr. Nambu. The episode also contains an old Japanese Gatchaman in-joke: a snippet from a typical schoolyard parody of the theme song:

"Chikyuu wa hitotsu! / Warereba oketsu!"
("There is only one Earth! / Split it, and it looks just like a butt!")

Looks like this latest guest appearance could be fun!

Link to Jun Falkenstein's blog

2008-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, news is out that Jun Falkenstein will be the new director of the Gatchaman movie. Thanks to a post by David Labraccio on the BotP Mailing List at Yahoo Groups, I found her blog at Stone Falcon Productions.

Here's an excerpt of particular interest:

One of the things that's bothering me a little bit right now is that fact that the film I am working on has a fan following (of the source material). No, the fans aren't what's bothering me - in fact, that part's pretty cool. What's bothering me is, I know that the minute they announce me as director, all these fans will run over to my IMDB page, look me up, and see that pretty much the biggest directing credit I have is 'The Tigger Movie' - and then they will freak out, because how dare I direct their beloved (INSERT FILM TITLE HERE LATER) when "all I have done" is this rated G film for little kids. Oh yes, they will freak out. And you know what, I can't say that I will blame them.

So with that in mind, I started these 'journal entries' to not only document the process of directing an animated feature for those interested, but also to attempt to convince worried fans that I'm actually a pretty big geek and fan of the genre - and that I have no intention of softening down the film when the source material is so kick-ass.

I don't know how this is going to turn out, so as a fan I'm not quite willing to wail and gnash my teeth quite yet. Wait and see.

New Gatchaman movie director

2008-04-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Just got a tip in this very here blog that Jun Falkenstein has been chosen to direct the Imagi Gatchaman film. I confirmed this, and here are Falkenstein's other works:

Everyone's Hero (2006) Storyboard Artist

The Tigger Movie (2000) Director, Screenplay

Quest for Camelot (1998) Story

Party at Sam's (1997) Director of Photography

Keep those tips coming, folks!

More Gatchaman Movie Changes...

2008-04-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

There was new mention of the Imagi Gatchaman movie from insider Charlie's Blog.

An excerpt:

"The original vision for the film was fun and a bit edgy---appealed to me. The project's been through lots of changes, rewrites (like any film), ended up with a different director recently. The vision's changed since I first joined, and seems to be going towards a younger Power Rangers audience---I wanted to see a Gatchaman that I would love to see, and didn't want to see it go this direction, so I departed from Imagi and took an Art Directing/Character Designing gig on Thundercats."

Now, looking back at the writing on the Battle of the Planets comic, the word "edgy" does not necessarily indicate a good thing. Nor does "Power Rangers audience" indicate a bad thing. I don't think Imagi's TMNT had been especially edgy and had maintained the general feel of the original comic. So again, this may not be horrible, awful news.

On the other hand, I really liked the preliminaries I had the opportunity to see at Imagi, and I liked the direction it was going under Kevin Munroe. I can't help but feel apprehensive about the replanning.

Read the entire posting: here

Thanks, Anonymous, for the link.

Bloody Disgusting Gatchaman Movie News

2008-04-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

BloodyDisgusting.com has posted that Kevin Munroe has been signed on to direct the film adaptation of Dylan Dog, a horror comic. Apparently, this means he's no longer holding the reins of the Imagi Gatchaman film. Imagi hasn't posted any official news about this, but the Gatchaman portion of Imagi's web site has eliminated the "Staff" section that contained Munroe's name. Read the blogpost here:

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/11822

First, Paul Dini was slated to work on the project, but then the Gatchaman section disappeared from his forum. Now Kevin Munroe is leaving. I'd had high hopes after meeting him, hearing his plans and seeing his work with TMNT.

Could this mean that the Gatchaman project is being reimagined, or is it slated for cancellation? I've got a bad feeling about this.

Imagi launches marketing department

2008-03-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

I was just commenting to a friend that we haven't heard any news on the upcoming Gatchaman movie at all. Is it being shelved? In this case, no news is not really good news.

This latest news release from Active Anime says that Imagi has just set up a full marketing department for its features, which will include Gatchaman and Astro Boy in 2009. The term, "slated for worldwide distribution," however, has me wondering if these features will be relegated to video instead of theatrical release.

The news article is here:
http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/2864/36/

Ken and Jun make a cameo in new Yatterman episode

2008-02-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

Ken andJun make a quick cameo in Yatterman 2008, Episode 2. Possibly a reference to the upcoming films in Japan?

Here we see Ken and Jun in Osaka, enjoying some takoyaki at the 9:09 mark on the video. You can watch the entire program with fansubs at Crunchyroll.com.

Thanks to the BotP Mailing List for the news!

Original Gatchaman screenwriter, Jinzo Toriumi, succumbs to liver cancer

2008-01-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

I just received the following release--not sure of the source, but confirmed the information on the links:

Jinzo Toriumi, a screenwriter who first began writing during the "revolutionary era" of Japanese television animation on Mach Go Go Go (Speed Racer), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets/G-Force), and Yatterman, has died on Thursday. He was 78. He succumbed to liver cancer in a hospital in the Tokyo neighborhood of
Shinjuku. He leaves behind his wife, Kazuyo.

Toriumi was born in 1929 in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido. After trying his hand at writing scripts for live-action films at Nikkatsu, he began writing animation scripts at Mushi Productions for Mighty Atom (Astro Boy) in 1964. He then devoted himself fulltime to television animation at Tatsunoko Production in 1965. There, he contributed to Casshern, Tekkaman, and Time Bokan. He later began writing for such Sunrise works as Armored Trooper Votoms, Yoroiden Samurai Trooper (Ronin Warriors), and Mister Ajikko. He also wrote the novel versions of Gatchaman, Shin Heiyuden, and Dororo, as well as the Anime Scenario Nyumon (The Introduction to Anime
Scriptwriting).

He used the Anime Scenario Nyumon book as a vocational school teacher for future generations of scriptwriters. He also chaired Ohtori Koubou, a support group for scriptwriters. He received the (Scenario) Scriptwriting Award from the Japan Writers Guild on May 26, 2000.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun, animeanime.jp

Thanks for the information, Jane!

Surreal Gatchaman parody on classic variety TV

2008-01-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

By nature, Japanese variety television is just plain weird. Therein lies its charm.

In these two videos, you'll see an attempt to recreate the Gatchaman opening credits in live action.

and...

I think these date back to 1995 or so because I remember seeing the first one on network TV. The poster of the video didn't provide any information.

From there, it gets weirder. In these videos, Gatchaman goes to Shinjuku to demonstrate two new Science Ninja techniques: Science Ninja Technique Park Clean...

...and Science Ninja Technique Pizza Wait for a Minute, where they use their Ninja Skillz (no bicycles or elevator to climb 13 floors) to deliver pizza within the 15-minute delivery time limit. I think the customers are probably too freaked out to complain.

What's kind of funny is near the end of the park video, there are people asking our heroes who they are. Haven't they heard of Gatchaman? No? Kids these days....

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Gatchapin now available on DVD

2008-01-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

First post for the new year...

As of December 12, 2007, episodes of "Go Go! Gatchapin" are now commercially available. Released by a company named Liverpool, the DVD retails for 1,980 yen and is sold only through 7-11 convenience stores and through the online shop run
by BS Fuji, the satellite network that airs the series.

For your 1,980 yen and postage, you get 20 episodes featuring the battle between Gatchapin and Pierre Katse, plus two additional Gatchapin stories (Gatchapin goes shopping, and Gatchapin scopes out an amusement park). The episodes are entirely in Japanese, with no subtitles or dubs. It is a series aimed at young kids and comprises live action skits full of cartoon gags which are easy enough to understand in plain Japanese. The DVD is Region 2 encoded, so you'll need a code-free DVD player to watch it outside of Japan.

For more information:

Liverpool site

7-Dream site

BS Fuji Online Shop

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Some link updates and a request

2007-12-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

If you want to buy Gatchaman Kewpie merchandise, these links allow you to shop in English: www.strapya-world.com

"Jun's Joint" is a friendly little fansite for screenshots, animations and fanfic. Stop by and take a look: http://junsjoint.com/

A new BotP/Gatchaman fansite: http://www.fairlight65.com/. You'll find screen shots, desktops and screen savers, too.

One of the major Gatchaman sites, Transmute! Gatchaman, BotP and G-Force, has moved to GatchOnline.com. The webmistress has overhauled the site as well.

Which reminds me, I keep saying I'm going to renovate "Home of the White Shadow." Maybe this will be the kick in the pants that gets me going. To anyone out there who's a web wizard, would there be any way to link a feed from this blog into a window on the title page? I'd love to integrate the two.

Gatchfanfic.com is undergoing some tweaks and updates, both to recover from a hacking attempt and to integrate a new fanart section. If you like fan work, this is the site to visit.

And now, the request: If you send me email, please refer to Gatchaman in the title of your mail. This makes it easier for me to find it amidst the spam. I answer all my mail, so if you haven't heard from me, drop me a line.

December '07 Gatchaman Movie Update

2007-12-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

There's a new Imagi Gatchaman movie article on iesb.net: Link

The article covers a lot of known territory, but it throws in a few tantalizing tidbits we didn't know, and a couple we were suspecting. And there's a brand new teaser shot from the film. Go read the article and then come back here. I can wait.

***

A few thoughts:

As I mentioned on the site, I had the honor of visiting Imagi Studios in 2006 and seeing some of the preliminary sketches and talking with Kevin Munroe. I was impressed by his enthusiasm for the series and willingness to work with the series premise instead of "reimagining" it. The article confirms this: "Fans of the franchise can breathe a sigh of relief, Munroe and Tanaka definitely consider themselves Gatchaman purists and say the whole point is to stay as close as possible to the original versions..."
I was impressed with TMNT when it came out, but one of my concerns was for the human characters' faces. They disturbed some people. Will the same techniques work for Gatchaman? According to the article: "In keeping with that goal and staying away from the 'pretty but porcelain' limited facial movement look of typical CG, Munroe is testing some more extreme facial structures in order to get the subtleties just right." Imagi also plans injecting more realism into the Gatchaman designs.
As I was told in 2006, the story will be an origin story, explaining how the battle between the ISO and Galactor began. It sounds like Imagi will be putting more of an "alien invasion" spin on this, a la Battle of the Planets, but technically, since Sosai X is an alien, the idea could work. It's nice to see they're keeping Utoland (where our heroes live) in the movie, even as the translators at ADV change Utoland to "Jutland" (why?), though the futuristic city will be a more Blade Runner style dark metropolis.
It looks like Imagi is still going for a PG-13 rating, but may change the title. The article points out that "G-Force" is already taken.
And here's a nice little tidbit for potential Gatchacon attendees: The team behind Gatchaman hopes to reveal some goodies at San Diego Comic Con 2008. Maybe even a trailer and a booth? I got my con membership (if you're going, buy your membership now before they sell out), and I need to scan the travel sites for airfares.

O tanoshimi ni!

Spanish soundtrack to BotP to be released

2007-12-17T16:05:00.001-08:00

Tatsunokofan, our resident expert on Gatchaman and BotP merchandise news, posted this new information on the BotP Mailing List:

When Battle of the Planets aired in Spain during the 1980s, the series was given a new theme song. This song was titled "Comando G" (As G-Force was renamed 'Commando G' in Spain), and was sung by a kids group named Parchis. Parchis also recorded three other BotP-related songs, though the other three songs were not used in the series. Instead, they were released on a pair of EP records, as well as appearing on various Parchis LP records.

One of these LP records was titled "Comando G," and included both the new theme and a song for Zark titled "Zark-7," as well as songs like Spanish language versions of "Video Killed the Radio Star," "Animals, Animals, Animals," and "Man Gave Names To All the Animals."

Well, the Comando G LP record has finally be released on CD, thanks to a Spanish music comapny named Divucsa. Along with the 10 tracks that were on the original LP, they also added another of the Parchis BotP songs, "La Batalla de los Planetas." The covers for this disc can be found at the Divucsa website at this link.

If you're wondering what the songs sound like, they were included as part of the bonus material on one of the ADV Gatchaman DVDs, or you can see some music videos that the Parchis did for them on YouTube:

Comando G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDIkoQJcp5g

La Batalla de los Planetas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7lU-yvmS80

Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a place where you can order the CD, though I do know that it can be found on eBay, if you wish to look there.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Merchandise update from Japan

2007-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Gatchaman TV series re-release: All three Gatchaman TV series (Gatchaman, Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter) will again be released on DVD via a subscription service. The DeAgostini Company is offering the DVDs individually, three episodes per DVD, at a rate of one DVD per week for 68 weeks. The first DVD will cost 790 yen (about $7.00), but the remaining 67 discs will cost 1,790 yen (about $16.00) apiece. The first DVD is scheduled to ship February 5, 2008.

The subscription offer is limited to residents of Japan. If you want Gatchaman episodes, I recommend the ADV DVDs. (Gatchaman II and Fighter episodes are not available in English outside of fansubs.) Where collectors might be interested in the DeAgostini releases is in the packaging: Instead of coming in the standard DVD case, the discs will be packed inside a booklet which will include episode guides, an art gallery, production notes, and other goodies. I don't have any information whether any of this is new material. Subscribers can purchase a special binder to hold the booklets. There are also bonus goodies: a Gatchaman mouse pad, and different figures of the characters.

The DeAgostini web site is here: http://www.de-club.net/gtd/

Kotobukiya Gatchaman cell phone RPG game: As of December 12, Japanese cell phone users can visit a handful of store chains and, for a 525 yen fee, load the Gatchaman game onto their cell phones. This web site has all the information and shows animated screen shots of the game: http://www.kemco.jp/applipage/07_game/gatchaman_i_a.shtml

Once again, this is available to Japan residents only. But with the upcoming Gatchaman movie, the US may start seeing merchandise like this for the US market.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

I LOL'd

2007-12-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

"Sosai Tim" just launched his Gatcha-Funnies site, featuring captioned scenes from Gatchaman, G-II and G-Fighter. Some are a teensy bit blue, some are OK, and some, like this one, had me laughing out loud. Go check out the site.

G-Force Action Figures, Part 2

2007-11-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Gatchaman featured on Let's Anime

2007-11-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

Let's Anime is a new blog all about classic anime written by one of the best old-school authorities on the subject that I know. And his latest entry features Gatchaman and its many versions. Check it out!

http://letsanime.blogspot.com/2007/11/your-scientific-ninja-team-gatchaman.html

Cool custom G-Force action figures

2007-11-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

More info on the G-Force action figures featured in ToysREvil

A few posts back, we found an interesting photo in the Toysrevil blog. To follow up, Thierry of Limited Toys Design wrote me with some new photos of his custom-made G-Force action figures. Check these out--fully articulated figures with meticulous attention paid to detail.

As you can see from his site, Thierry creates custom action figures you won't see anywhere else. He grew up with UFO Grendizer (Goldorak), Battle of the Planets, Captain Harlock, Captain Comet and many others. He'd always wanted 12" figures of the whole G-Force team and the bad guys. Since Medicom never went past the Mark and Jason figures ("Too difficult to find a girl body, kid body and fat guy body," one Japanese toy rep told me once), he figured it was up to him to create the figures.

For Mark, Jason and Princess, he used standard 12" action figure bodies. For Keyop, he used an articulated body from a different scale. Tiny provided the biggest challenge, being shorter and wider than the others. He modified an 11" body with a larger suit.

He sculpted and molded the heads with helmets, and the visors are molded in a tainted clear resin. He also did custom modeling on the belt buckles as you can see below.

These custom models are available for sale for the following prices, plus international shipping:
Mark: 170 euros
Jason: 170 euros
Princess: 150 euros
Keyop: 150 euros
Tiny: 200 euros

He requests half the amount in advance to confirm the order and the rest when the figures are ready to ship. He needs 2 months to create the whole team. You can pay via Paypal (add 3.5 % for the fees), by international money order or by credit transfer.

Contact Thierry at info@limitedtoysdesign.com

Here are links to more photos:

MARK:
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/8045/mark02dy0.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/742/mark03dw3.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4743/mark04yx9.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2251/mark05an4.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/944/mark06qb0.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5341/mark07bb6.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8048/mark08ya8.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3152/mark09ln1.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5919/mark10ak0.jpg

JASON:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/713/jason02sj8.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8272/jason03un6.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5389/jason04tz7.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3946/jason05cb3.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1733/jason06ss5.jpg
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9928/jason07mp8.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/9839/jason08cu9.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/7266/jason09yp2.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2904/jason10ad8.jpg

Links of Interest

2007-11-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Imagi is profiled by Business Week magazine:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2007/gb20071015_727073.htm

Roland Kelts plugs Gatchaman: While promoting his new book, "Japanamerica," author Roland Kelts interviewed at Imagi, and he puts in a plug for their upcoming films, describing the importance of the classic anime AstroBoy and Gatchaman. To find the interview, go to http://www.imagi.com.hk/web/ and look in the "What's New" section at the bottom of the Imagi home page.

Gatchaman Keitai Update

2007-10-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

We have more details about the Gatchaman cell phones being released in Japan. The following links show some of the skins and features of the new Gatchaman cell phone. Even better, a special gift offered to those who purchase the cell phone is a Gallactor action figure set--three goons per package to gang up on the heroic Science Ninja action figure of your choice. Too cool! And too frustrating for the non-Japanese collectors out there.

http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/special/815T/fan/gatchaman/index.html

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Somethin' going on at ToysREvil

2007-10-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thierry from Limited Toys Design offered the ToysREvil blog a sneak peek at some 1/6 scale action figures of our favorite heroes in bird suits:

http://toysrevil.blogspot.com/2007/10/limitedtoysdesign-g-force-teaser.html

Another interesting coincidence is that "Thierry" was Jason's name in the French version of Battle of the Planets.

Thanks Tatsunokofan!

Imagi signs with Hot Toys for upcoming high-end Gatch toy line

2007-10-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here's the press release:

IMAGI ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH HOT TOYS FOR GATCHAMAN
AND ASTRO BOY TOYS

Hong Kong (October 23, 2007) – Imagi Animation Studios (Imagi) today announced that it has entered into a licensing relationship with Hot Toys Ltd. (Hot Toys) for collectors' action figures based on the studio's next two CG-animated feature films, Gatchaman and AstroBoy. Under the agreement, Hot Toys will design, manufacture and globally distribute highly detailed 12-inch models of the principal characters in the two movies.

The Gatchaman and AstroBoy toy lines are expected to include high-end collectible figures. "We are delighted by the new collaborative relationships we have formed with Imagi, which extends our collectibles product line to CG-animated film-related characters. Many of the Hot Toys staff are long-time fans of Gatchaman and AstroBoy, including myself. With our experience in producing classic AstroBoy collectibles and other finely crafted products, the Gatchaman and AstroBoy collectibles will closely replicate the look and story line of the films," said Howard Chan, President of Hot Toys. The toy lines will ship with the release of the two films, to maximize impact and generate greater interest in both the movie and toys. Gatchaman is slated to release in Spring, 2009 and AstroBoy in Fall, 2009.

"Hot Toys has demonstrated an ability to craft collectible figures with an extraordinary level of detail and realism," said Felix Ip, Imagi's Creative Director. "Imagi's richly-detailed CGI characters are a perfect fit with Hot Toys' meticulous modeling approach."

These high-end figures probably won't be cheap--think in the realm of $90-150. Wowwee/Wah Shing Toys will probably be releasing the lower-priced goodies. The Hot Toys Web site is at www.hottoys. com.hk

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Future Web site to watch

2007-10-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Dini Cartoons.com has a Gatchaman forum for the upcoming Imagi movie. No activity yet, but that could change.

http://www.dinicartoons.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Thanks Reboekah!

Gatchaman: 1972 - 2007

2007-10-02T04:23:00.000-07:00

The first episode of Gatchaman premiered on October 1, 1972. Happy 35th anniversary!

To celebrate, you can download a Gatchaman desktop image from the Tatsunokommunity Page (scroll down to the bottom lower right). Every once in a while, you'll find Gatchaman comics, news and images, so it's a good page to keep watching.

http://www.tatsunoko.co.jp/tatsunocomm/index.html

New releases in Japan: Gatchaman goodies

2007-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Summer's barely over, and it's time to start thinking about Christmas. If you have a Gatchaman fan on your shopping list, here are a few new goodies coming out:

Kewpie Gatchaman update:The Kewpie Gatchaman cell straps will be followed next month by a ballpoint pen with a Kewpie Ken figure on it. You can see a picture of it at the bottom of this page:
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/keitai/149-099187/

By the way, does anyone else find the naked "Medama Oyaji" Kewpie (the one with the eyeball on its head) vaguely disturbing?

Look for Gatchaman "Squeeze" Kewpie figures to come out in December.

Gatchaman children's goods: The Fotoist store chain is carrying a line of clothing, lunch boxes, notebooks, etc. with Tatsunoko characters on them. The Tatsunoko Web site has photos of the actual products here:
http://www.tatsunoko.co.jp/tatsunoko_style/index.html

Prizes from Daily Yamazaki: If you bought enough merchandise from the Daily Yamazaki store chain between August 1st and August 27th, you were entered in a drawing for a Nintendo DS Lite that came with an original carrying pouch with Tatsunoko Style Gatchaman characters on it or book cards (used to pay for rental books). One of the three cards had the Tatsunoko Style Gatchaman characters on it. You can see additional pictures of the prizes at:
http://www.daily-yamazaki.co.jp/ca/070801/index.html
and at:
http://www.daily-yamazaki.co.jp/ca/070801/pop-indoor2.html#

Gatchaman keitai RPG game: Kotobuki Solutions announced the upcoming release of a Gatchaman-themed RPG game to be played over cell phones. The game will be available through several outlets in Japan starting in December. The press release is here:
http://www.ksol.jp/information20070807.html (Site in Japanese only, no pictures.)

Tatsunoko cell phones: The SoftBank online shop is working with fanfun.815t to release a series of Tatsunoko-themed cell phones. The phones are supposed to be available by the end of September, but there's only a "Coming Soon" notice on the Web site.
http://onlineshop.mb.softbank.jp/wos/html/feature_fan-keitai.html

Once again, thanks to Tatsunokofan for the scoop!

And now, the Gatchaman movie poster

2007-09-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

IESB.net now has a snippet from the Kevin Munroe interview and a new Gatchaman movie poster. Check it out.

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3351&Itemid=99

Thanks again, Tatsunokofan! Y'know, I really need to start Googling Gatchaman news again, or I'm going to have to turn in my fan card. ;-)

Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Company to distribute Imagi Gatchaman movie

2007-09-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

From a new press release from the Imagi Web site:

IMAGI ANIMATION STUDIOS ENTERS INTO GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
WITH WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Hong Kong (September 27, 2007) – Warner Bros. Pictures, The Weinstein Company and Imagi Animation Studios agreed upon principal terms for the worldwide distribution of the feature films Gatchaman and AstroBoy. The announcement was jointly made by Jeff Robinov, President, Production, Warner Bros. Pictures; Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company; Imagi Co-CEOs Douglas Glen and Francis Kao; and brokered by The William Morris Agency.

The new pact builds on the success of TMNT, Imagi's first theatrical motion picture, also distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company. TMNT opened in March 2007 at the top of the U.S. box office.

"Imagi is breaking new ground with big action pictures done entirely in CG animation," said Robinov. "It's an exciting new genre, with the potential of attracting big mass market audiences."

"TMNT had the kind of beautifully choreographed action sequences you'd expect from Hong Kong animators," said Weinstein. "The next two films will confirm Imagi's reputation as the world's leading action hero animation studio."

"We are delighted to be allied with the marketing and distribution power of Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company," said Glen. Added Kao, "We're making Hollywood-style movies with Hong Kong-style excitement and stories that are fusions of Western and Asian themes."

From what I've heard, the budget for Gatchaman is about $40 million. The budget for TMNT, also distributed by Warner, was around $35 million, so we're looking at a budget with about the same scope.

This is good news indeed. Each step increases the possibility we'll see this movie in theaters. And I'm still full of warm fuzzies about the Paul Dini news.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Paul Dini to work on Imagi Gatchaman Screenplay

2007-09-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Looks like they're bringing out the big guns! Here's a press release recently posted on Imagi's Web site (http://www.imagi.com.hk):

PAUL DINI ON BOARD IMAGI ANIMATION STUDIOS' "GATCHAMAN"

Hong Kong (September 21, 2007)– Paul Dini has been signed to collaborate on the screenplay for Imagi Animation Studios' upcoming CG-animated motion picture, Gatchaman. Announcement was made by Francis Kao, Co-CEO & Chief Creative Officer. "We are excited to have Paul on our talented Gatchaman team," said Kao. "His extensive background in animation and superhero comics will contribute greatly to this ambitious action movie."

"The original series was one of the classics of early anime, and the film will be very true to the Japanese source material," said Dini. "As a studio, Imagi is constantly breaking the boundaries of animated adventure. Not only are their action sequences amazing, but their characters are driven, complex and play for life-or-death stakes. It's a great environment for a writer with a rather dark
take on animation."

Writer-producer Paul Dini's career spans animation (Batman: The Animated Series), television (Lost) and comics (Detective, The World's Greatest Superheroes) . The winner of multiple Emmy, Eisner and Writers Guild of America Awards, Dini is also currently masterminding the DC Comics 2007 weekly series Countdown. His creations Jingle Belle and Mutant, Texas continue to appear frequently from Dark Horse, Oni Press and other publishers. Dini and his wife, magician Misty Lee, have also launched a popular series of Internet shorts featuring their puppet creation, Little Rashy.

Gatchaman is based on the successful Japanese franchise created in the early 1970s by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. Aired in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets and G-Force, the TV series soon became one of the top syndicated shows. Scheduled for release in early 2009, Gatchaman is a big, effects rich movie set in a future world grappling with environmental and technological issues. The story focuses on five reluctant heroes whose remarkable genetic code makes them Earth's only hope of defeating extraterrestrial invaders.

Kevin Munroe (TMNT) is the director of Gatchaman, being produced by Lynne Southerland.

Thanks to the eagle eyes of Tatsunokofan!

New Kevin Munroe interview at Imagi Web site

2007-09-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Imagi has just updated their information on the upcoming Gatchaman CGI feature film with this new interview with director Kevin Munroe. From the main page, click "What's New" and then the interview title.

I can't comment on this immediately because my browser is gagging on the Flash used on the site. More once I get access to another computer.

http://www.imagi.com.hk/web/main.php

New Gatchaman Exhibit in Taiwan

2007-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Kena (who was responsible for the big 30th anniversary Gatchaman exhibit in Kaohsiung) writes in to report another Gatchaman show. This one is in Taichung, Taiwan, at the Chungyo Department Store from August 22 to September 4, 2007. Kena loaned the store items from her collection to display. Check out her photos of the exhibit here (as well as some cute kids doing cosplay):

http://photo.pchome.com.tw/kcc20051225/014/

Thanks, Kena!

"Inspired" series from Korea: "007"

2007-08-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some research and some poking around YouTube for Gatchaman parodies and spinoffs. A YouTube search revealed clips from a Korean series called "007." The art is straight Tatsunoko, with designs borrowed from both Gatchaman and Mazinger (which isn't a Tatsunoko series). I haven't found any other information online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmeV2PLInIQ

Has anyone heard of this show?

Another Robot Chicken link

2007-08-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, a Battle of the Planets parody appeared on a new episode of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken: "Squaw Bury Shortcake." I have a hard time getting the Flash player to work on Adultswim.com, so here's a link to a more user-friendly version:

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66404/detail/

Since Robot Chicken's claim to fame is its off-color and violent humor, this is definitely Not Safe for Work.

Poor Tiny!

Followup: French release of '78 Feature Film

2007-08-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

I just received more details about the Dybex French release of the 1978 Gatchaman feature film:

"First of all, yes, it does come with both a Japanese and a French language track, as well as a French and a Dutch subtitle track. I ordered the 2-disc Prestige Edition, with the movie on the first disc, and the bonus material on the second. I assume the standard edition simply has the disc with the movie.

"The bonus material is duplicated from the Japanese movie DVD release from last year, with the addition of optional French subtitles. Apparently the Dutch are out of luck there, since there are no Dutch subtitles on the bonus goodies. There is one added bonus goodie, a 6 and a half minute 'Making of the French Version' video, showing the actors for Joe, Jun, and Jinpei dubbing their lines and featuring interviews with the actors for Joe and Jinpei, as well as with the Producer for the dub. This new video has no subtitle options.

"The additional bonus items in the package include 5 postcards featuring familiar images (Three publicity shots, the cover to the movie program, and the Ippei Kuri artwork done for the DVD release) and a reprint of the movie program (As was also included in the Japanese release). The program reprint has been translated into French and rearranged so that the pages are in a left-to-right order instead of the Japanese right-to-left. They also added three original articles; 'The Origins,' giving a history of Gatchaman, 'The American Massacre and the Diffusion in Europe,' talking about the creation of Battle of the Planets and it's distribution across Europe, and 'The Film,' which covers the death of Tatsuo Yoshida just as the Anime Boom began with the release of the first 'Space Cruiser Yamato' film and the work that went into creating the film itself.

All in all, not a bad package, especially for someone who knows French. I still might go back and buy the standard release, just because I like the packaging for that one a bit more than what was used for the deluxe release."

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Imagi makes plans for Gatchaman toy line

2007-08-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2007: At last, I've caught up with my original news page!

Imagi has secured a manufacturer (Wah Shing Toys) and distributor (Wowwee Ltd.) for a line of Gatchaman movie toys, and the release date has been delayed to 2009 (big surprise).

According to the article, "The Gatchaman and Astro Boy toy lines are expected to include action figures, vehicles, playsets, robotic figures, activity toys, and plush."

Full article:
http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/7223

Here's a cool link to a pitch image for the feature film: http://artgerm.deviantart.com/art/Shining-Force-62693511

Dybex releases '78 Gatchaman movie on DVD

2007-08-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2007: Dybex is releasing the Gatchaman movie on DVD in French. No, it's not the upcoming 2008 film; it's the first series compilation that was released as a theatrical feature in 1978. There are two versions of the DVD: a standard version and a 2-disc deluxe version ("Gatchaman Edition Prestige"). The Prestige version appears to contain the same bonus material as the Japanese release along with a booklet and five postcards. The movie is supposed to have both French and Japanese audio tracks, and French and Dutch subtitles.

More information here:
Gatchaman link: http://www.dybex.com/details.cfm?idvd=348
Gatchaman Edition Prestige: http://www.dybex.com/details.cfm?idvd=341

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

GatchaCon 2007 Report

2007-08-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

GatchaCon took place at the San Diego Comic Con, July 26-29, 2007. The con itself was a low-key event, mainly because no new activity was noted in the merchandise or media areas (no movie news--sorry). Unfortunately, Gatchaman was misprinted on the con anime schedules, but was replaced by other programs. Attendance for this year's San Diego Comic Con broke previous records and sold out for several days (especially Saturday).

GatchaCon Con Kits and Screenings: We had two offsite screening parties, one of some truly horrendous Gatchaman-related programs and one of Battle of the Planets episodes on film. The Gatchaman screening party featured the video demos from the new Sammy Gatchaman Pachisuro game. Followed by the horror that is Winx Club, a PBS cartoon which comprised a wandering, incoherent storyline, Bratz-type plastic characters, cloyingly cute mascots, and worst of all, the guest stars: the "Science Ninja Team P-Force/Patchaman." (Gaah! Awful! AWFUL!) Next, the short episodes of "Gatchapin vs. Pierre Katse" were a mercy by comparison, with Gatchapin playing "Road Runner" to Pierre Katse's Wile E. Coyote. I found the Gatchapin shows to be cute overall (hey, it's for little kids). Then we watched little Spanish kids dancing and singing the "Commando G" theme song. The finale of the Gatchaman screening party was a video account of the "Battle of the Planets: Peril of the Preying Mantis" Shockwave game, mainly featuring crummy jokes about Zark's ineptitude and Zoltar's lipstick between virtually unplayable game sequences. It was like the game's creators didn't really care and just wanted to get the product out there. At the Battle of the Planets party, our "takeaway gift" was a CD of two audio stories from La Bataille des Planetes, Adventures de la Force G in French ("Hold-up Spatial" and "La Lune de Feu"). The con t-shirt and kit featured Gatchaman's 35th anniversary and had art of the firebird on the back. I think I've found a new favorite shirt.

Merchandise: There was no new merchandise on display this year. We found old DVDs, a couple of cels and some paintings at the Alex Ross Booth.

Next year: Next year's GatchaCon takes place at the San Diego Comic-Con, July 24-27, 2008 at the San Diego Convention Center. We hope to see more information due to the upcoming feature films.

30th Anniversary in Taiwan: Corrections

2007-08-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2007: One week prior to the opening of Comic Con, I received a phone call from friends offering me round-trip tickets to San Diego. So I made it to Comic Con this year! (Woohoo!!!) Sincere thanks to Tatsunokofan and Barrdwng!

I need to make some corrections and give credit where credit is due regarding the Taiwan Gatchaman 30th anniversary celebration mentioned earlier (Gatchaman premiered in 1977 in Taiwan). An extremely dedicated fan with the handle "Kena" arranged the Gatchaman anniversary event at the Ya Gallery in Kaohsiung. Preparation for the event took her seven months. Kena contacted fans from Japan, Korea, the Philippines and the United States, and these fans contributed the art and merchandise for the displays (plenty of cool stuff in there, with a lot of merchandise I'd never seen before). The event drew over 9,378 attendees and strong media coverage during its opening weekend. Here are more links to news reports on YouTube and other sources:

Gatchaman 30th Anniversary in Taiwan:
http://photo.pchome.com. tw/kcc20051225/
Gatchaman News, ERA-N, TTV: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=IVpKuAQcpLI
Gatchaman, BotP, TVBS, SETN News: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=KKO18VQUFB0
Gatchaman, BotP, ETTV News, Kena: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jn17erV00gE
Gatchaman News, FTV: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=YB54XKBNuK8
Children's Gatchaman cosplay: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=BIwc3bPZTCI and http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=DPE4oGBVzNg
Video coverage of some of the treasures at the exhibit: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=D8SbuCjtrMs
"Gatchaman" - Kena TVBS: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=L8SoObCbz9g
"Gatchaman" - Kena: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=MIjQx99Txtc
Gatchaman CTV Set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blzI5Sq8ShE
Gatchaman 30th Anniversary in Taiwan blog: http://blog. xuite.net/ kena/gatchaman

Thanks, Kena!

Kewpies, and 30th Anniversary in Taiwan

2007-08-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2007: First Gatchaman Snoopy, then Gatchaman teddy bears, and now... Gatchaman Kewpies. The Run'a company will release a line of 53 mascot phone straps based on "Kewpie-ized" Japanese pop-culture figures, including our favorite heroes in bird suits. You can see all five at: http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kabutomusichan/diary/200707100000/ If you absolutely must have one for your cell phone, they go on sale September 13, 2007 for 520 yen each. Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Gatchaman's premiere in Taiwan, fans organized a special event at the Chih-Mei Gallery in Kaohsiung. The event, running from July 14 to July 25, 2007, had over 4,000 visitors and strong media coverage during its opening weekend. The event includes displays of fan art, merchandise, and some really cool items including a coin-operated Godphoenix amusement ride. You can see a photo gallery of the event here: http://photo.pchome.com.tw/_manage/my_photos.html?s=s07&n=kcc20051225&b=9 There's also a cute video of kids dancing to the theme song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Og0rtQDdE Thanks, Kena!

Live action movie logo, Eagle 5 game

2007-08-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2007: I have to admit, the first time I saw this, I thought, "OWWW! There's a bird symbol stamped into my chest!" Nikkatsu has released a publicity sheet for the upcoming Gatchaman live action movie slated for 2008 or 2009 in Japan. The sheet doesn't offer much that we didn't already know--it describes the basic premise of the show, that it's a timeless anime classic, etc. Unfortunately, there's still no release date. The packet says, "Production to be Determined." You can see the entire promo sheet with Japanese text here. Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Meanwhile, plans for the Yatterman movie are in full swing. You can see the promo for it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OPzQAugys8 Note that it's safe for work, but rather disturbing. Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

In other news. the Japanese game site 4Gamer.net has a couple of articles about a Korean SD (Super Deformed) Gatchaman game called "Eagle 5." The game appears to be in Beta stage. The article is in Japanese, but there are photos and a downloadable wmv movie (click around the links): http://www.4gamer.net/news.php?url=/news/history/2007.06/20070629154914detail.html

Imagi offers peeks at preliminary art

2007-08-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2007: Ain't It Cool News just posted some new concept art from Imagi at www.aintitcool.com/node/33008, as well as the logo. It looks like Imagi's going all Blade Runner with the Utoland city designs, and I like the ad sneaked in for Sapporo Beer (my favorite!). There's even some concept art of Ken, Joe and I think Ryu and Jinpei (in the back). Looks like they're keeping the numbered t-shirts, and I hope they go with the longer hair (such a trademark of '70s Gatchaman). I'm not nuts about Joe smoking (the whole trained athlete thing, it gives me flashbacks of choking in Tokyo's ever-present cigarette smoke, and only the villains smoked in Gatchaman). I know a lot of fans see him with the feather shuriken in his mouth and figure a cigarette is the next best thing. But that's me being the picky old-school fan.

Robert Mark Kamen to write Gatchaman Movie

2007-08-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2007: Imagi has selected a screenwriter for the Gatchaman CGI feature film. From Imagi's June 13 press release:

Los Angeles, June 13, 2007 - Robert Mark Kamen has been signed to write the screenplay for the upcoming CG-animated motion picture Gatchaman, it was jointly announced today by Imagi Studios Co-CEO & Chief Creative Officer Francis Kao and Co-CEO Douglas E. Glen.

Kamen will work closely on Gatchaman with producer Lynne Southerland and director Kevin Munroe (TMNT). Scheduled for completion in late 2008, Gatchaman will expand the visual boundaries of CG animation through dynamic camera work and action sequences.

"Imagi is breaking exciting new ground in the animation industry by making big action movies in pure computer graphics. It is a privilege to be working with such an innovative team of artists," Kamen said.

A veteran writer who has authored 18 produced feature films since 1979, Kamen's credits include Taps, The Karate Kid and its sequels, A Walk in the Clouds, The Power of One, Lethal Weapon 3, The Professional, The Fifth Element, Kiss of the Dragon, Bandidas, the Transporter movies and the upcoming Taken, starring Liam Neeson. Kamen has enjoyed a writing partnership with the prolific French producer and director Luc Besson for 14 years.

"We are thrilled to have Robert on the Gatchaman team. His commitment to creating strong characters, as well as his vast experience in the action genre, make him a perfect fit for this groundbreaking animated movie," Southerland said.

Gatchfanfic.com has a new format

2007-08-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

May 26, 2007: All's quiet on the Gatchaman movie news front. I've been keeping an eye out for news releases. In the meantime, I've added a link or two to the Links page. The Gatchfanfic.com site is in the process of going automated and the site's stories are being transitioned over to the new format. Plus authors are adding new stories, so this is definitely the site to watch if you're into fanfic.

For those of you interested in purchasing the Gatchaman II and Fighter soundtracks, you can now find them on Amazon.com. Both are listed at $38.99 new.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Nikkatsu announces LIVE ACTION Gatch Movie

2007-08-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

April 12, 2007: So. Wow.

According to Anime News Network and Variety.com, Nikkatsu Corp. announced it has greenlit LIVE ACTION movie adaptations of both Gatchaman and Yatterman. Yatterman is slated for a spring 2009 release date and will be directed by Miike Takeshi, with character and mecha designs by Katsuya Terada. I'm not sure if this is just for Yatterman or both films. For now, the info seems to be mostly about Yatterman. I didn't see explicit information about it, but I'm assuming this is a Japanese-language movie release only.

This live-action film should not be confused with Imagi's CGI Gatchaman movie (projected for 2008/2009) that I've been describing up til now.

And as a side note, I saw Imagi's TMNT recently, and I really enjoyed it. I don't know anything about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I loved the characters, and this film made me want to go buy the comic. Friends who were fans of the comic assured me that the property was treated very well. I think if Kevin Munroe and Imagi do for Gatchaman what they did for TMNT, we'll be seeing a great movie in 2008.

Reviews of Imagi Gatchaman Movie teaser

2007-08-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

March 22, 2007: Many fans I've talked to are concerned whether or not the Gatchaman 2008 characters will resemble the originals. At the time I visited Imagi, I didn't see much by way of character designs, and what I did see didn't really resemble the characters as we know them. However, Harry Knowles at Aintitcool.com has some more current information: "Those faces - it is Mark and Jason and my favorite design was Tiny. [...] They're not made to look HUMAN exactly, but a slight hybrid between animation and living beings." See the entire article, plus larger versions of the concept art from Imagi's Web site at http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31981.

Aaaaand... while I was Googling for Gatchaman news, I found a description of the two-minute Gatchaman 2008 trailer at Butterboom.com. Never mind the use of Battle of the Planets character names. That confusion is going to be common. The trailer was screened today at the 2007 Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum in Hong Kong.

Music and Movie News

2007-08-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2007: First, about the Gatchaman II and Fighter music CDs: Gatchaman II has a total of 78 minutes, 5 seconds of content. Gatchaman F's disk has 78 minutes, 48 seconds of content. Plenty of music for the price.

With the premiere of the TMNT movie coming in a couple of days, there has been a little more action on the proposed 2008 Gatchaman feature film. Imagi's Web site refers briefly to Gatchaman in an interview with TMNT director Kevin Munroe (from the main page, click "What's New," then "Q & A with Kevin Munroe"). Click "Our Films," then "Gatchaman" to see the gallery of concept art. Looks like they're going for the popular dark, gritty look with a couple of influences from the OAV.

Gatchaman Soundtracks/"Knocked Up"

2007-08-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

February 9, 2007: Some sightings and news tidbits:

Gatchaman II and Fighter soundtracks to be commercially released: What makes this particularly newsworthy is that, while the opening/closing and image songs from those series have been released in years past, the actual soundtracks have not. This should be of particular interest to collectors and to fans of Gatchaman II and F.

The two "Tatsunoko Music Museum" CDs (one for each series) will be released April 4th, 2007 by Sony Music Entertainment' s Be Smile label. I don't have any information on how many tracks or what extras will be included, but I've been told the collections will be very thorough.

Gatchaman II Original Soundtrack (BSCH-30055): 2,800 yen
Gatchaman Fighter Original Soundtrack (BSCH-30056): 2,800 yen

The CDs are available for preorder through Amazon Japan and CD Japan, among others. Shipping restrictions apply.

G-Force sightings: Outside of Amano's work, it can happen! Here are three sightings of our teenagers in bird suits in the general public:

http://marillanokichi.blogspot.com/2007/01/tatsunoko-done.html

http://drawn.ca/2007/02/09/son-of-rambow/

Actor Seth Rogan wears a homemade G-Force t-shirt in the trailer for the film, "Knocked Up": http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1550103&sdm=web&qtw=480&qth=300 (Thanks, Michael!)

Pachislot King game for Playstation

2007-08-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

January 27, 2007: Yesterday, Banpresto launched their web site for the "Pachislo King! Science Ninja Team Gatchaman" game (see below for details). The site has photos from three different modes of gameplay (Capture mode, Mission mode and Gallery mode) and links at the bottom of the screen for news, the Taiyo site and possibly cell phone accessories (the news and mobile links don't appear to be working yet).

The game will be available February 22nd. You can purchase the game from Play Asia for US$49.90 plus shipping, but please note that you must have a Japanese or chipped Playstation 2 machine in order for the game to work.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Pachisuro, Active anime tribute, Imagi News

2007-08-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

January 21, 2007: Three news items:

First, on the site for the Gatchaman slot machine, there was a section for a Gatchaman game for the Playstation 2. Although there's no information about the game on the official site, Tatsunokofan has managed to dig some up. The game is titled "Pachislot King! Science Ninja Team Gatchaman," and is being produced by Banpresto. The game retails at 5,040 yen, and will be released in Japan on February 22nd. No word on whether this is a version of the slot machine game--no images from the game have surfaced yet.

Second, Activeanime is doing a tribute to Gatchaman on their site. You'll find some extra tidbits featuring the Gatchaman voice actors at ADV and the Gatchaman screenings at the Alamo Draft House. It's worth a look.

Third, here's the latest interview with Kevin Munroe, director of the (possibly) upcoming Gatchaman 2008 movie. Nothing quite new yet, but it looks like the project is still alive and well!

Gatchaman slot machine

2007-08-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

January 1, 2007: As of 12/22/06, Taiyo Games has announced a new Gatchaman slot machine for future release in pachisuro parlors across Japan. The web site offers a Flash intro and a look at the machine, with more to follow. Link: http://www.taiyo-slot.co.jp/gatchaman/index.html

New! Gatchablog

2007-08-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm creating this blog as a backup to my News page on the Home of the White Shadow site. Since I expect news to be picking up with the upcoming release of the two Gatchaman movies, I wanted something that will help me and my readers track news items. The only drawback is the possibility of losing all this information--if Blogger goes down, so does the news.

Let's see how this works out. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!