Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman

[Brian G Turner]

This classic animated TV series from the 1970's was mentioned in another thread yesterday, and since then I haven't been able to get the dramatic theme tune out of my head.

Mark, Princess, Tiny, Cheops, and Jason - with their unusual bird-like costumes, and interesting character dynamics - and, of course, that iconic ship:

It's interesting to read up on the original Japanese anime, which apparently went by the title of "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman". Wikipedia provides further information, suggesting extensive dumbing down for Western audiences, including the addition of 7-Zark-7 - even as a kid it seemed like he didn't fit it right with the rest of the cartoon. It's a shame that Jun and Ryu became simplified to Princess and Tiny, as their original names are cooler.

I'm not sold on the original theme tune, though.

 

[HareBrain]

including the addition of 7-Zark-7 - even as a kid it seemed like he didn't fit it right with the rest of the cartoon.

You're right -- and all that nonsense with the mainframe, "Susan".

Having just watched the Japanese opening titles, it's interesting that the enemy are translated as Galactor, but was it ever clear in the original that they were from space? They're described as "the evil of the world" and from memory, all their devices came from under the sea or suchlike.

I remember as a kid a lot of speculation about whether Zoltar(?) was a man or woman. I thought the supreme leader was pretty cool, but I couldn't work out why he was always shown slightly to the left side of his fiery screen rather than in the centre.

 

[Onyx]

That was something American versions seemed to get right - Robotech's theme is also much better than any of the three original animes'.

 

[Onyx]

Having just watched the Japanese opening titles, it's interesting that the enemy are translated as Galactor, but was it ever clear in the original that they were from space?

Yeah, I'm not sure if the Phoenix is even a spacecraft in the Japanese original. The '90s OVA is entirely terrestrial.

 

[Toby Frost]

Gosh, this takes me back. I had forgotten the underwater robot, the uncertain gender of Zoltar, the spaceship turning into a fiery bird and the tubby chap eating things. "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman" is a great title for an anime - exactly the sort of slightly convoluted name I expect sounds terrific in Japanese. One of my best memories was wondering what shape the enemy vehicle would be in each episode: would the little vehicles combine to make a snake, or a dragon, or some kind of dinosaur?