Battle Of The Planets E20: Magnetic Attraction

"An indestructible metal ball."
-Princess-

"Fast ball!"
-Keyop-





Musings Of A Sci Fi-Fanatic has often gushed over the quality of sketch work utilized for Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974) and thus Battle Of The Planets (1978-1980). And please excise from your mind the quality of the American made animation contributions to the adapted material from Japan. Strictly speaking to the quality of animation assembled by Tatsunoko Production, at times the art is nothing short of staggering in its beauty. As it turns out it was no easy task to find that caliber of artist for the series. Without them Science Ninja Team Gatchaman likely would not have been the enduring classic it is today. This was indeed a labor of love.



In an article called Inside Tatsunoko Production in Newtype USA (August 2004), president of the company Ippei Kuri discussed the difficulty of that mission.

As producer on Gatchaman Kuri had great difficulty locating animators that could manage the complex character designs of the series. Kuri recalled, "I really thought we were going to have to stop broadcasting it as a result."



Kuri referred to the big-eyed simpler character designs of Osamu Tezuka that were popular in the day and also much easier to draw and thus animate. Tatsunoko had no interest in making animation in this style. Kuri further expounded, "Tatsunoko was the only company to take on the challenge of producing realistic works. When we went to get staff and subcontractors, they didn't want to participate because Tatsunoko was making realistic things they wanted to watch, not make. For the most part, they couldn't draw realistically. So in the end we basically had to train them as we went. So getting staff for it was a big problem" (p.22).



Thankfully the company managed to get the staff required and thus Science Ninja Team Gatchaman continued for a total of 105 episodes.

In America, Sandy Frank edited from that complete series a total of 85 Battle Of The Planets episodes.

We continue our look at both amazing series in its adapted American form with Battle Of The Planets, Episode 20, Magnetic Attraction.



The focus of the episode is on a large black metal ball fixed with any number of destructive weapons.

Mark's leadership is put to the test when Jason challenges his decision-making. Mark wisely wants to sit tight and assess the ball's weaknesses whilst Jason is about attacking blindly with his hot head. The two would often be the center of tensions on the series.

At the end of the day Jason yields to Mark and assures him he was always in charge as Mark goes solo and enters the ball leading it to its destruction at the hands of a giant magnet inspired by one of Keyop's toys.



When Mark appears to be dead again in the fiery ball tears are shed by the rest of the team once again at his brief loss. Do tears prove Keyop was human after all?

But it isn't long before Mark flies out of the sky. His loss as ephemeral as it was in The Sea Dragon. In that aforementioned entry he was rescued from the ocean. Here he flies from the skies as thoughts of his deadly fate were premature and the team can rest at ease.



There are some moments of emotional subtext between Mark and the team when his leadership is put to the test which is important and rather moving in spots.

By and large Magnetic Attraction isn't all that magnetic to the memory apart from that silly (though interesting conceptually as an enemy and one that would be revisited in series like Neon Genesis Evangelion), black ball.

The tensions between Mark and Jason and the emotional complexity between team members is also notable. The animated realism of these heroic, fantastic adventures was stunning making the series truly something to behold and shining an artistic light on its human characters at the center of the animated drama.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman Title: The Mecha-Ball Runs Wild.
Up Next: The Musical Mummy.
 

 

Battle Of The Planets E19: The Sea Dragon

"Let's see if he'd like to drag a little with us."

 -Jason-

It's a mostly well-known fact to fan circles of Battle Of The Planets, the American adaptation of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, that our fearless, young, orphaned heroes, Mark, Jason, Princess, Tiny and Keyop were actually translated from their Japanese counterparts.

In Japan, the heroes are Ken the Eagle, Joe the Condor, Jun the Swan, Ryu the Owl and Jinpei the Swallow respectively.




In keeping with our effort to continue to shed light on the classic, beloved, heralded by few, anime series Battle Of The Planets we dig deeper yet again.

President Ippei Kuri of Tatsunoko Productions lent some insight into the avian motif behind the characters of his company's Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in Newtype USA. Ken Washio (washi translates as Eagle), or Ken the Eagle, highlights Kuri's efforts to run with the cloaked bird style for their superhero look. Who doesn't like a good cape?

 

Kuri noted, "Everyone wanted to put color on everything. So white stood out the most" (Newtype USA, August 2004, p.19). It's fairly well-known that good guys wear white and Ken or Mark, as he is affectionately known in the USA on Battle Of The Planets, was indeed the epitome of the good guy with the symbolic Eagle as a soaring majestic bird of nobility.



But truth be told Tatsunoko worked in a rather different bird for Mark's costume? Kuri sought to incorporate a bird of pure white and ultimately decided upon the crane. Kuri and company worked in crane markings for Mark's helmet. Red and black details infused into the character's uniform were based upon the crane, not the Eagle.

 

 

 

And with that, without further adieu, we look at another Mark-centric mission in Battle Of The Planets, Episode 19, The Sea Dragon.

Tatsunoko’s animation sparkles and shines yet again in this memorable Mark entry in the series. G-Force are tasked by Chief Anderson to travel to the planet of Aquatica to remove Spectra who has taken residence there.

 

In the first part of the entry Mark humorously inquires with his team family if anyone wants out because the adventure ahead will be daunting. Once again underlining the strength of family and family loyalty the team makes it clear each and every one of them is on board the Phoenix.

Upon arrival to Aquatica the team must face a robot Sea Dragon on the water planet. Mark wasn’t overstating the perils that await the team as the team is literally knocked around to the point of temporary defeat.

 

To date this writer can’t recall the team beating that is put on display here. It is brutal and each and every team member is knocked unconscious. The Phoenix is nearly torn apart and left to take water at the bottom of the ocean. Mark attempts to right the ship and save the team but alas is too weak.

The Sea Dragon does a splendid job of highlighting the fact that even heroes don’t win every battle. This is underscored by the severe beaten the team takes leaving them to be rescued by a civilian force and returned home.

For the second portion, the Phoenix is rebuilt completely and the team returns to Aquatica to finish the job using a devastating device called the Frigid Midget that freezes everything within a 500 yard radius and well covers all aboard the Sea Dragon including the Spectran Goons.

 

Mark is tasked with the mission of planting a weapon aboard the ship.

This episode includes an unforgettable scene that I recall from childhood where Mark is stuck in a corner with the encroaching cold surrounding him closer and closer by the second with his life in peril. The tension and suspense is palpable as the walls essentially close in as Mark waits desperately for the ship to break apart without taking his own life.

 

He hangs on as the Sea Dragon breaks apart from the extreme cold. He leaps to the ocean to be rescued by the rest of his team. Tatsunoko once again pencils a gorgeously warm image of Mark waving against a sunset backdrop offering us the convention of the rescue shot. The sun setting as the mission is completed. All in a day’s work for G-Force.

 

Once again, the animation is truly glorious and some of the stills are ravishingly penciled and it is a stunning looking entry in the series. One of the hip words for kids today when something is awesome or cool is 'fire' well The Sea Dragon is fire and it's worth seeing.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman Title: The Firebird Versus the Fire-Breathing Dragon.

Up Next: Magnetic Attraction.

Battle Of The Planets E18: Mad New Ruler Of Spectra

"Who wants a horse-machine race?"

-Tiny Harper-

 

"They're not mechanical horses. They're galloping dynamite."

-Tiny Harper-

Star Wars (1977) arrived and set the tone for space opera and sci-fi adventure films for the next many decades. It was undeniably a craze and everyone and their brother were looking for ways to manifest the popularity of Star Wars and infuse it into their own productions. Of course today we have Star Wars and Marvel films like saturation bombing.

At the end of the 1970s Sandy Frank acquired rights to Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974), which predated Star Wars, purchasing access to the series from Tatsunoko Productions and hastily applied a space theme to the Japanese hero series.



Suddenly, the team of young heroes were traversing space in search of the latest evil to quell from planet Spectra. The original series wasn't of the same mind at all, but rather a persistent team of young people assembled to protect Earth at all costs never traversing the stars at all.

For Battle Of The Planets 7-Zark-7 was born (along with 1-Rover-1 and sexy artificial intelligence Susan), a robotic accompaniment a la R2-D2, to pull in young viewers even though it eschewed the intent of the original Japanese TV series.



Nevertheless, Frank, the creators and writers slap-dashed some relatively haphazard American animation onto the series, appending an already perfect original, slashed some of the graphic violence and re-worked the stories accordingly with an expert voice cast. It was ingenious really particularly the all-star voice cast featuring Casey Kasem, Janet Waldo and more.

A year after Star Wars, the American Battle Of The Planets was a success with kids across America, maybe not to the degree of Star Wars, but enough that today it still retains its fans, like this writer. The original is beautiful, but it's a testament to Frank that he Americanized it to some degree of perfection.



Some have referred to Battle Of The Planets, or Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, as but a mere footnote in anime history, but it really was a much bigger deal that that and even saw a resurgence at the turn of the century with a new comic book line and new toys. In Japan, there are still diecast ships and books created in support of the Tatsunoko classic. A live action adaptation was even produced, albeit not a particularly good one. An animated film was conceived, but fell apart as well. These were real missed opportunities when you consider the quality and effort put into something like the live action Attack On Titan (2015) adaptation of the anime series, the latest Japanese sensation.



Frank's efforts to transform Battle Of The Planets, despite a few that seemed mildly disjointed, were met mostly with success. Episodes generally rang true in terms of character and action with the occasional head scratching that accompanies a young person's series, but viewed through more mature eyes.

But for Battle Of The Planets, like Star Wars, G-Force was often taking the adventure to the stars.

As for Battle Of The Planets, Episode 18, Mad Ruler Of Spectra, it's hard, high-flying space adventure is brought down to a more equestrian-styled earthbound tale, still, somewhere in space.



Visually the episode can be best remembered for the cyborg horses, which seems like a more fitting title for the entry (ahhh The Cyborg Horses).

Mad Ruler Of Spectra refers to the old scientist who created those wild, machine horses. He's abducted by Spectra to use his intellect. His creations are applied against Earth. He agrees to work with Spectra initially for the gift of supreme power for which he temporarily replaces Zoltar so that Spectra can get what it needs out of him. It's all in the business of villainy. Zoltar had nothing to worry about really despite his unintentionally funny objection to the move. The Luminous One quickly puts the nefarious Zoltar back in power. Smart to keep your evil minions in check though. G-Force must rescue the old scientist and save Earth yet again.



Not a terrific entry by any stretch. Not much in the way of emotional subtext happening in this one.

Still, the horse animation is impressive. Far from the home stretch of Battle Of The Planets, Mad Ruler Of Spectra receives a mild nod of approval by a horse's nose.



Science Ninja Team Gatchaman Title: Who Is Leader X?.
Up Next: The Sea Dragon.