Battle Of The Planets: The Weapons

Every well-conceived character in Gatchaman (1972)/ Battle Of The Planets (1978) was also equipped with smashingly good weaponry along with those terrifically fitted uniforms.  Be sure to check out the original Gatchaman for a greater display of the graphic excitement by G-Force or in Gatchaman, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.

The Sonic Boomerang. Mark. Mark lived and died by The Sonic Boomerang.  Attached to his right side, the nifty gadget implements the use of sound waves to reach its targets.  The nose of the boomerang can also be unscrewed and filled with explosives or other small items.  The wings of zinging boomerang are extremely sharp and capable of cutting in flight. Mark also carries a small pouch of Astro Bombs on his left side.



The Multi-Purpose Gun/ Feathers Shuriken. Jason. Something of a weapon's expert and fanatic with an itchy trigger finger for The Phoenix bird missiles, Jason never leaves home without his Multi-Purpose Gun or a smattering of Feathers Shuriken.  His gun comes complete with cutting torch, drill and a firing cable mechanism.  His Feathers Shuriken can be deployed as throwing daggers or I believe explosives.



The Yo-Yo Bomb. Princess.  Both offensive weapon and programmable bomb, Princess is a true assassin with her expertise and use of The Yo-Yo Bomb.  It comes complete with metal string.  Other notable attachments include suction cups and spikes.  It's a nasty little gadget that would make 007 proud.



The Bolos. Keyop. Keyop can sometimes seem a little awkward or goofy, but he's truly skilled as a member of G-Force and his ability to handle The Bolos is proof of that.  The filthy little weapon is often thrown to strangle the enemy. They can also be fully loaded with explosives.



Our primer on Battle Of The Planets continues.  Unfortunately, I've been a little short-handed on images for Battle Of The Planets initially.  The good news is, beginning with the next post I'll be drawing exclusively from my own images.  The well was a little empty going into this and I was implementing a combination of web-extracted and camera-snapped images.  That all changes with the next post where I'll be utilizing my own shots.



It's tough to find clear, sharp shots on the net.  The colors are often saturated or flat.  We'll fix that going forward.  And for more exciting images of the G-Force team in action complete with weaponry stay tuned.

An image of the Yo Yo Bomb and Princess from the Imagi film that never happened.

Battle Of The Planets: The Characters

"The characters were ... dynamic.... They each had distinct personalities, which were not always so easily defined. Mark could be rash and bullheaded at times, just as Jason could be compassionate and understanding. Keyop could be surprisingly insightful and Princess would be sarcastic or crack a wicked joke....  The uncertainty of ... these characters ... was a big draw for fans....  Even the villains had interesting character development ....  Zoltar... had a wonderful duality that was absorbing to watch."

 

-G-Force: Animated: The Official Battle Of The Planets Guidebook, Jason Hofius and George Khoury, (p.28) commenting on the depth of character beyond the standard archetypes established for the series-

Our colorful primer to Battle Of The Planets (1978) here at Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic continues. If you weren't able to tell, we (me, myself and I along with a legion of others) loved the series here in the United States.  Of course, it had everything to do with the animation.  It was like nothing we had seen before, but beyond those gorgeous 2D surface penciled aesthetics the series also delivered the stories, characterizations, mech designs and weapons in glorious fashion.  Based on Gatchaman (1972), Battle Of The Planets was anime that had it all for children of all ages - even the big kids. It looks as hip and cool as it did forty years ago.  Can you believe it has been forty years? Now that is staying power.



Let's begin with those beloved characters of Battle Of The Planets.

The series revolved around five orphaned teenagers who comprised the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, better known as G-Force for Battle Of The Planets.  All were adorned with cerebonic implants and were essentially gifted assassins and much more. The idea of teenagers in anime certainly began very early on in Japanese anime as evidenced here.  The concept of the young and cerebellum-based implants would even appear later in Gunslinger Girl (2003). Gatchaman and thus Battle Of The Planets created concepts later found in anime here in their purest form.



Strong archetypes were indeed established.  This was readily apparent but beyond those patterned recurring symbols there was a depth and distinction to these characters rare in cartoons and they certainly had their impact on us as kids.

The Heroes. G-Force.



Mark. The Eagle. (1). The leader of G-Force and sometimes reluctantly so.  He's charismatic with those beautifully animated blue eyes. Mark is essentially the James T. Kirk of the group with the ladies without the desire to bed them. Mark is awkward with the ladies. This is given his loyalty to the group and sense of mission. He was orphaned at a young age (4) and raised by Chief Anderson with a strict sense of loyalty and mission to G-Force.  The group is his family.  It stands to reason he might be awkward in this arena and saves his affection for the opposite sex for Princess.

If anything Mark has often suggested a connection with Princess though it's never an open admission. Shippers, like myself, hoped for a love connection in much the same way we hoped a connection might be consummated between Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neil in Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007) or Judy and Don West on Lost In Space (1965-1968).

Though the leader of the band, there is a sense of burden to his role that weighs heavy on his shoulders and his heart. Though a strong leader and normally even-tempered Mark is hardly perfect and is given occasionally to sometimes hasty decisions. Unfortunately that is the nature of his command post.

His father is Colonel Cronus.  This fact is obscured for a time.  The relationship is strained before and after this discovery. Remarkably, the series dabbled with estranged relationships head on which was unlike most animation of the day.  In many respects the daddy issues exemplified here would be a precursor to more successful and complex undertakings within series dynamics like Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) between Shinji and Gendo Ikari, but one can see the parallels.

Mark butts heads with Jason and even Chief Anderson. In other words nothing is entirely black and white on Battle of The Planets including the outcomes of their battles.

Mark flies the G-1 which is also disguised as a Cessna before transmute into the Summit Jet (as noted on DVD).

His weapon of choice is the Sonic Boomerang.

The character is voiced by Casey Kasem (American Top 40). The character's name is Ken in Gatchaman.





Jason. The Condor. (2). Jason is the perceived second in command, but is not.  The antithesis of Mark often impulsive and hot-headed. Brave. Fierce.  He's often quick to push the fire button on the Bird Missiles of The Phoenix.  Shoot first and ask questions later.  Still, we are dealing with Spectra.  His itchy trigger finger places him at the forefront as chief gunner of The Phoenix. Jason is a bit of a hot-tempered bad boy or bad ass.  He's more a predator than Mark. He's arguably the most popular character in G-Force though I liked them all.

Still, despite a tough exterior Jason also shows a lot of heart for his team mates.

Whereas Mark keeps his distance from the ladies but draws the lovely ladies, Jason tends to fall for many of the bad girls or undercover Spectra agents.

Jason is a gifted race car driver and a top marksman, dart and knife thrower. He is essentially a weapons expert and sharpshooter.

Jason drives the G-2 which masks as a stock race car before transmute into a sophisticated, high-tech race car dubbed the Space Mobile (as noted on DVD).

His weapon of choice is the Multi-Purpose Gun as well as a plethora of Feather Shuriken.

The character is voiced by Ronnie Schell (Wait Til Your Father Gets Home). The character's name is Joe in Gatchaman.





Princess. The Swan. (3). Smart. Strong-willed. Wise. Poised.  Maybe she should have been the leader. Independent and more than capable, as evidenced in her spotlight attack on Spectra in the debut episode, Attack Of The Space Terrapin, Princess is indeed a significant player within G-Force.  She is an excellent technician, computer hacker and explosives specialist.

Princess appears attracted to both Mark and Jason.  She has a deep sisterly affection for Keyop.  Despite her lethal abilities there is indeed a maternal instinct at work within the team and it wouldn't be the same without her. She has a big heart.

Princess even has a good business sense running her own snack house.  Keyop lives with her and works with her.  Once again, I'm reminded of the relationship between Shinji Ikari and Misato Katsuragi in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Echoes of these dynamics would penetrate future anime classics.

Princess drives the high-powered G-3 Galacticycle (as noted on DVD) disguised as a motor bike before transmute.

Her weapon of choice is the Yo-Yo Bomb or Special Yo-Yo (as noted on DVD).

The character is voiced by Janet Waldo (Josie And The Pussycats). The character's name is Jun in Gatchaman.

And quite possibly the hottest chick ever with green hair.





Keyop. The Swallow. (4). Keyop is the youngest member of G-Force created from a single embryonic cell. He truly embraces the others as family.  He has been graced with a trademark speech impediment often imparting a series of bloops and bleeps.  To some it was annoying, to others it was part of his charm. making him adored by many.  As kids we sometimes mistakenly perceived him to be a kind of robot or artificial being like Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that was not the case. Princess is like a nurturing mother or big sister. Mark and Jason are like big brothers. Tiny is that and more as his best friend. Sometimes sensitive Keyop often aims at proving himself. Like any kid, he loves animals.  He takes to whales, seals, dogs, etc..  You name it.  My brother was much the same way growing up bringing home dogs, birds, snakes, chinchillas, etc..  It seemed like he came home with a new animal each week.

He drives the G-4 Star Buggy (as noted on DVD)disguised as a dune buggy before transmute.  It is also thought of as the Space Buggy, Helico Buggy or Widget.

His weapon of choice is the Bolos.

The character is voiced by Alan Young (Mister Ed). The character's name is Jinpei in Gatchaman.



Tiny Harper. The Owl. (5). Tiny is the chief navigator and pilot of the beloved Phoenix or G-5, a ship also capable of transmute into the fiery Phoenix.  He serves as backup to the team on all missions and is often left out of the action much to his disappointment.  Still, his role is critical as pilot of that fantastic Phoenix. I'd say that's pretty cool.  He has a healthy appetite for Space Burgers, but despite his deceptive girth, he is also very strong.  He's essentially the muscle man of the group.  Every super hero team has one and there's no better superhero team without actually officially being one than G-Force.

Tiny is the only member with a known last name.  He's as big-hearted as he is burly and strong. Tiny is his own biggest critic and is often quite harsh on himself.  He often feels a failure and has much to prove to his family, a father and brother.  They are the only living family to one of G-Force outside of Colonel Cronus as father to Mark.

His weapon of choice is his might and brawn.

The character is voiced by Alan Dinehart. The character's name is Ryu in Gatchaman.

So of course this was the five member super group that the kids fell in love with and thus was backed by several important supporting characters.

The Other Good Guys.



Chief Anderson. Founder, chief scientist, with a degree in astrophysics, and administrator for the International Science Organization or G-Force. He formed the Intergalactic Federation Of Peaceful Planets and is Chief of Security for that organization. He leads the war against Planet Spectra and its complex criminal web syndicate. His mission is to protect Earth and its allied planets. He is a mentor to the five members of G-Force. He is extremely intelligent and a stern task master who coordinates, assigns and oversees all missions.  He sometimes comes off harsh, but is essentially a man who cares deeply for the team and is committed to their success and is proud of the young team's achievements.

The character is voiced by Alan Dinehart. The character's name is Dr. Nambu/ Professor Kozaburou Nambu in Gatchaman.



Colonel Cronus. Colonel Cronus is a spy and mysterious figure who formerly headed The Red Rangers of Planet Riga as a general. Cronus is Mark's father. Cronus has saved G-Force and conversely G-Force and Mark have saved Cronus. Cronus is distant and purposefully established Mark's care within the hands of trusted Chief Anderson.  Cronus gave his son to Anderson's care some fourteen years earlier prior to embarking on a top secret mission against Spectra's Doomsday weapon the X-3. The X-3 was intended to destroy Earth's Van Allen Belt by leaving a radioactive wasteland. The relationship between Mark and his father is one that is indeed dysfunctional.  Cronus is not a loving father but a man dedicated to the mission and the fight against Planet Spectra. Echoes of this character personality can be found elsewhere in anime such as Gendo Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Cronus would one day sacrifice his life against a takeover of Planet Riga. Cronus is the pilot of the Red Impulse. *// The character is voiced by Keye Luke (Kung Fu, Green Hornet, uncredited in Godzilla Raids Again). The character is Kentaro Washio in Gatchaman.



President Kane. Kane is head of ISO. A powerful figure in the United Nations.  He is deferred to by Chief Anderson.

The character's name is Chief Anderson in Gatchaman (I know crazy).



7-Zark-7. 7-Zark-7 was a narrative device specifically created for Battle of The Planets and is not a character apart of Gatchaman. His role is intended to move the story along given Sandy Frank had created a space-faring adventure series and edits would occur.

7-Zark-7 watched over G-Force from Center Neptune with lovable robot compatriot 1-Rover-1 and sexy sweetheart Susan (voiced seductively by Janet Waldo), a disembodied computer voice of a robot from Pluto. 7-Zark-7 is indeed eager to interface with Susan for some face to face computerized intercourse. The robots were the Federation's first line of defense against Spectra in protecting G-Force.

7-Zark-7 is particularly keen to keep a close watch of Crab Nebula, home of Zoltar and Planet Spectra. Zark enjoys a love of oil lubricants and even showers in them. 7-Zark-7 was also originally designed by none other than beloved artist Alex Toth (1928-2006; The Herculoids, Space Ghost, Super Friends).  In fact, in many respects, for Americans stateside, Toth was to animation here what the very best animators were to anime in Japan.  Toth was a revered cartoonist and artist with a technique that surely remains as perfect as the work of Tatsunoko on Gatchaman. Toth literally died at the drawing table as many Japanese animators die today. The character is voiced by Alan Young who also handled the Keyop chores.

The Villains. Spectra.



The Great Spirit/The Luminous One/O Luminous One/The Luminous Spirit. You get the picture. The powerful head of the Spectra organization and alien ruler of Planet Spectra. A truly malevolent, dictatorial, chaotic, evil being. He oversees, directs and orchestrates Spectra's assault on Earth.  He is capable of taking physical form to save Zoltar and others if required but is generally a non-physical presence.  The mysterious alien life form is generally vicious and more than willing to sacrifice his own.  Zoltar answers to The Luminous One and Zoltar is his right hand. Subjugation of all is the Great Spirit's mission and devotion.

The character is voiced by Keye Luke. The character is Sosai X or Generalissimo in Gatchaman.



Zoltar. Leader of the Spectra organization who has vowed to destroy G-Force and the Federation in search of vital Earth resources. Zoltar loyally worships The Luminous One.  Zoltar is in command of the Spectra Goons and its various commanders. His/her appearance is fittingly cat-like given his game is in direct opposition to the bird team that is G-Force. He/she is a master of disguise, deception and lies. He/she is genius in the art of trickery, subterfuge, deception and even magic.  He/she is a master escape artist with an affection for mecha and bombs.

Is Zoltar male or female? In Gatchaman, the character is something of a mutant hermaphrodite taking both male and female form.  In that series he/she is a single entity, the result of cellular fusion as created by Sosai X. It's all very ambiguous in Battle Of The Planets which makes it such surprisingly good fun. There is a powerful allure to Zoltar in the fashion his/her character was written.

The mysterious Zoltar is just one of the many fascinating characters with varied layers in Battle Of The Planets and Gatchaman. His identity was revealed once by Mark, but the team was blinded by The Luminous One. Zoltar's sister is Mala. Whatever your perception, as a child, Battle Of The Planets' evil Zoltar played with our fragile little minds quite effectively.

The character is voiced by Keye Luke who also handled the O Luminous One chores. The character is Berg Katse in Gatchaman.



The Spectrans/The Spectran Goons. Hordes of Spectran Goons serve as cannon fodder to the Federation and G-Force.  The green-masked soldiers are not particularly intelligent. Think Stormtroopers, but pre-dating the George Lucas Star Wars creations. The characters are Gallactor Goons in Gatchaman.



The Galaxy Girls. An elite force of female ninja from Planet Spectra. Dangerous and well-armed with guns, bombs and other explosives. They assassinated Jason's parents when he was a child and nearly killed him.  The characters are the Devil Stars in Gatchaman.

The Blackbirds. Biker ninja. The characters are Blackbirds in Gatchaman. That was easy.



So that wraps up our Battle Of The Planets character primer.  If I sometimes confuse Gatchaman with Battle Of The Planets my apologies. This is in good fun and hopefully as complete as can be.



It was the characters, like the best in any series, that made Battle Of The Planets, like Gatchaman, so special.  To make the comparison, and I cannot stress and preface enough how the two animes are clearly very different in advance, but like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Battle Of The Planets glimpsed the lives of teenagers who certainly carried their fair share of burdens and flaws but faced great odds in the face of an alien apocalypse.



These were indeed real characters we loved because they were flawed.  They were damaged to a degree.  Most of all, these characters had feelings.  As kids we sensed that.  We picked up on these very real lives.  They weren't mere two dimensional animated figures to fill a time slot with a child's cartoon.  Tatsunoko and later Sandy Frank and Jameson Brewer infused these people with real personality and delivered a truly substantive artistic creation.



As tough as G-Force was as assassins there was a fragility there too.  Battle Of The Planets tapped into that vibe well.  It was overflowing with character even following the translation from Gatchaman. And like the best of Marvel Comics superhero teams that were pencilled and colored on the page in the very best of the 1970s like The Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four in the mighty Marvel manner, Tatsunoko brought their band of superheroes to life via animation. Fortunately for kids everywhere those colorful characters were energized and animated for television brought to life by Sandy Frank who saw Gatchaman's potential. It was extremely easy to relate to.  Thankfully, like Bill Murray, it was never lost in translation.

Science-Fiction Non-Fiction: Battle Of The Planets

"Interestingly, the staff listed as 'writers' on Battle Of The Planets were not all actual scriptwriters.  Showing once again what a unique situation the series provided, about half of the people listed as series writers actually had the job of sitting in front of a Telecine machine and watching the event that took place in the Japanese films (Gatchaman). They would write down the action they were viewing, and also jot down the length in seconds of each piece of spoken dialogue they heard. The film viewers did not understand or translate the Japanese, they merely made note of the timing of the words. Once this was done, these transcripts were given to the actual writers of the show in order to come up with a finished script."

 

-G-Force: Animated: The Official Battle Of The Planets Guidebook, Jason Hofius and George Khoury, (p.24)-

The quote struck me as funny since unknowingly I had approached viewing Gatchaman on Japanese import in a similar vein long before it was released officially here in the United States with subtitles via the nifty new Sentai Filmworks release.  You can read about that experience here.

Battle Of The Planets: The Episodes

Here is a look at the complete 85 wildly, kid-friendly (and geek-friendly), science fiction happy episode titles from the classic Battle Of The Planets (1978).

The series was completed for roughly five million dollars which was serious money in the 1970s for a cartoon series.  It was also the minimum required for syndication which is essentially why we never saw the complete 105 episode Gatchaman (1972) series run finished for Battle Of The Planets.  That's probably the most unfortunate shortfall.

Bottom line though, it was unadulterated escapist fun of the highest order and remains as much today.  But underneath those kid-friendly surfaces, something much deeper lurked within the hearts of our heroes and even its villains.  There was indeed a depth to this animated kids show that made for a much more substantive and satiating entertainment.

The UK release of Battle Of The Planets in its entirety.



Here are the titles that comprise the complete 85 episodes of Battle Of The Planets.

Attack Of The Space Terrapin/ Rescue Of The Astronauts/ The Space Mummy/ The Space Serpent/ Ghost Ship Of Planet Mir/ Big Robot Gold Grab/ Ace From Outer Space/ The Fearful Sea Anemone/ The Jupiter Moon Menace/ A Swarm Of Robot Ants/ Space Rocket Escort/ Beast With A Sweet Tooth/ Perilous Pleasure Cruise/ The Thing With 1,000 Eyes/ Microfilm Mystery/ The Alien Beetles/ A Whale Joins G-Force/ Mad New Ruler Of Spectra/ The Sea Dragon/ Magnetic Attraction/ The Musical Mummy/ The Fiery Lava Giant/ The Bat-Ray Bombers/ Race Against Disaster/ The Ghostly Grasshopper/ The Galaxy Girls/ Curse Of The Cuttlefish Part I/ Curse Of The Cuttlefish Part II/ Demons Of The Desert/ Siege Of The Squids/ Orion, The Wonderdog Of Space/ The Fierce Flowers, Part I/ The Fierce Flowers, Part II/ The Space Rock Concert/ Prisoners In Space/ Victims Of The Hawk/ Raid On Riga/ Seals Of Sytron/ Giant Gila Monster/ Capture Of The Galaxy Code/ Raid On A Nearby Planet/ Keyop Does It All/ Peaks Of The Planet Odin/ The Sky Is Falling!, Part I/ The Sky Is Falling!, Part II/ Raid Of The Red Scorpion/ Mammoth Shark Menace/ Fastest Gun In The Galaxy/ Giant From The Planet Zyr/ Secret Island/ Giant Space Bat/ Attack Of The Alien Wasp/ Decoys Of Doom/ Zoltar Strikes Out/ The Great Brain Robbery/ Raid Of The Space Octopus/ Silent City/ Peril In The Pyramids/ Rage Of The Robotoids/ The Alien Bigfoot/ Invasion Of The Locusts/ The Space Safari/ Museum Of Mystery/ Peril Of The Praying Mantis/ The Awesome Ray Force/ The Duplicate King/ Defector To Spectra/ Panic Of The Peacock/ Mission To Inner Space/ Spectra Space Spider/ Super Space Spies/ Cupid Does It To Keyop/ Tentacles From Space/ Island of Fear/ The Awesome Armadillo/ Invasion Of The Space Center, Part I/ Invasion Of The Space Center, Part II/ Save The Space Colony/ Charioteers Of Changu/ Vacation On Venus/ Rockets Out Of Control/ G-Force Defector/ Strike At Spectra/ G-Force In The Future/ The Conway Tape Tap. *released on DVD in the USA.







And until that day comes when Battle Of The Planets may by some glimmer of hope see the light of day as a full US release be sure to purchase the release of the entire Gatchaman series on Blu-Ray by Sentai.  It's nothing short of stunning.



You can see the list of matching 105 Gatchaman episode titles below.

Battle Of The Planets Vs. Gatchaman

"Always five acting as one. Dedicated! Inseparable! Invincible!"

We sure could use a little more collective, inseparable thinking in this country today.

Like most, my best moments to write seem to come when the spirit moves me.  In this case perhaps The Great Spirit moves me.

Where does one begin with an animation and series as revered as Japan anime Studio Tatsunoko's Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972-1974) (Gatchaman) or its American counterpart, Battle Of The Planets (1978-1985). Because sadly, it's truly not easy being a Battle Of The Planets or Gatchaman fan or maybe both.  It's a bit like being that sometimes youngest and forgotten child.  Of course, in this case, we're the much older children now.



I've been giving a lot of my time over to re-assessing the classic Tatsunoko series Gatchaman (1972-1974) and its American translation, under the direction of Sandy Frank, Battle Of The Planets (1978-1985).

Speaking of Frank, I'll be frank here. My loyalty runs deep for the series. I was raised and reared upon Battle Of The Planets.  It was entirely my own discovery too. And the images you see here at Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic taken from the television, actually began with a Kodak instant camera back in the day watching Battle Of The Planets on a less than impressive tube television. Battle Of The Planets is one of those series where it all began.  It was extremely formative and influential to me.

Mind you, without question, it was hardly the infusion of new animation and the inclusion of the Star Wars (1977; a year earlier)-inspired robot 7-Zark-7.  As a child I recalled wanting to edit 7-Zark-7 out of the product myself.  There was clearly a rub and even our young eyes knew that 7-Zark-7 never quite belonged.  7-Zark-7 was more an annoyance than a bona fide enhancement of the original series.  The American-infused animation, too, was also inferior to its Japanese source material.  Nevertheless, today, 7-Zark-7 isn't entirely Jar Jar Binks for me, but he definitely seems an odd fusion of R2-D2 and C3P0.

One can hardly make a case against the intended, uncut original Gatchaman series that gave birth to its bastard child Battle Of The Planets, but for those of us who arrived home from school and often navigated treacherous routes home to get there, it's hard for that bastard son to do any wrong in our eyes.  But Gatchaman on the whole is a beautifully, hand-crafted, perfect animation.  It's storytelling acumen and vision is untouchable in my eyes and you'll find no objection to it here.  Gatchaman is simply stunning and remains as powerful today as the day it was conceived.  It's no wonder it influenced so many American children including acclaimed artist Alex Ross.   It was simply like nothing we had ever seen. Yet, ironically, founder Tatsuo Yoshida was inspired by the American-based superheroes comic books.



To offer a touch of background, Tatsunoko was formed in 1962 and continues to endure its amazing run.  It's certainly notable for Mach Go Go Go (1967-1968).  Like Gatchaman, Mach Go Go Go was adapted for America as Speed Racer.  The company even had a hand in animation assistance to Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996).  The company was formed by Tatsuo Yoshida, Kenji Yoshija and Ippei Kuri. Gatchaman was created by Tatsuo.  Sadly, Tatsuo passed away in 1977 from caner just shy of learning what Sandy Frank would made happen with his property in the form of Battle Of The Planets on an international scale.

On the personal front, let me give you a sense of the hardship in being a fan of Battle Of The Planets.  I will share my story.

At one point just shy of Rhino releasing Battle Of The Planets on DVD (2001-2003) I began importing Gatchaman from Japan on DVD.  The Gatchaman series was released there in a series of volumes.  Of course, to view them, I needed to purchase a code-free, region free player so I could experience the series in its unedited and ultimately intended form.  Finding a reputable seller was a concern too.  This chain of events presented some challenges.  These amused The One To Be Pitied to no end.



Thus as my Gatchaman Japan import DVDs arrived it was a fact of life they would not be subbed or dubbed.  That's right I was working purely on visual stimulus, but Battle Of The Planets and thus Gatchaman was always a truly visual experience for me anyway.  So, it was a break I was willing to live with to experience this childhood favorite again.  My brain was going to do all of the translating work using strictly images.  So, I took to the Internet and found two exceptional Battle Of The Planets/ Gatchaman sites, both of which are sadly no longer. Fortunately, I printed the bulk of the contents from those sites at the time complete with episode lists for both Battle Of The Planets (85 episodes) and Gatchaman (105 episodes).  Those sites also provided extensive information on Gatchaman's two sequels, Gatchaman II (52 episodes) and Gatchaman F (Gatchaman Fighter) (48 episodes). The latter two have proven expensive to find at this point and Gatchaman F is well beyond my pay grade. So, I printed each and every page, created a binder book of them and planned to proceed with my Gatchaman experience.  I would be immersing myself in Tatsunoko's unedited masterpiece for the very first time.  It was a complete geek move I understand, but these were desperate times and required desperate measures with no sign of Battle Of The Planets or Gatchaman anywhere to be found.  So prior to each viewing I would read the summary narrative in English and then view the episode.  Of course these are fairly short episodes and we're not talking Shakespeare here so they were easy to decipher and follow a long. And before long my other half and I were speaking Japanese.  Okay, that's not true, but we were singing the opening theme song in Japanese with no idea what we were saying, but damn it was catchy.  In fact, little did I know Jameson Brewer was taking much the same approach to his translations with the limited window of time he was allotted with each entry.

But early on in the process, The One To Be Pitied often looked at me with crooked neck.  She noted this process one day.

Honestly, that's about the size of it Tiny.


"What are you watching?"  "Gatchaman," I replied.  "In Japanese?," she inquired.  "Well, yes." "There are no subtitles?" she noted.  "True."  "Is there an English language track?," she begged.  "Uh, no, not a one."  "And how is it exactly you are getting all of this?," she wondered.  "Well, I printed this here nice little binder book of Gatchaman summaries.  I read the summary and proceed to watch all of the anime action fun." "Of course, that makes sense" she responded with eye rolling.  And with that she carried on.

So at the time with my region free player I happily enjoyed the original Gatchaman series.  I was unstoppable until of course my code free player broke.  Well, things don't always go as planned and they don't make things like they used to as the cliche goes. My plan of attack on finally experiencing the Gatchaman series was cut short.  I reached episode 29 in my grading process and my region-free player choked and died. The fairly expensive item died. Into the trash heap it went.  With little enthusiasm for purchasing another player my gorgeous Japan import collection sat and collected dust with many unopened.  It was a monumental disappointment.

As I mentioned, word had arrived that Rhino would be releasing Battle Of The Planets for the first time on DVD.  Oh joy I thought.  I quickly went to ebay and sold off my entire Japanese DVD import collection in the hopes of recouping much of my money even though I was parting company with the original Gatchaman which I was really enjoying by the way.  It was a generally successful sales effort but a loss was still incurred.  Those are the breaks.



The good news was that Rhino was featuring the Gatchaman original episodes on each of their two episode volume releases.  This all might work out.  Right?  Wrong.

Little did I know, Rhino would fail miserably and deliver just a percentage of the original 85 Battle Of The Planets episodes.  The company just wasn't up to the task. How hard would it be to release them all in one collection?  The British pulled it off releasing Battle Of The Planets: The Complete Series (2004).  Yes, there they were - all 85 shining, delightful episodes in one Region 2 box.  But, operative word Region 2.  That set is now out of print and to watch them it would be back to the region free drawing board. Oh the injustice of it all.

So of course, like I said, I had Rhino. Rhino would deliver.  One would think.  But No.  The series was cut short and the plan to release Battle Of The Planets in its entirety stateside was terminated and shelved.  As of 2007, Sandy Frank's 30 year license for the series expired.  The shame of it all.



Well, new hope arrived in the form of ADV films who had recorded a new English dub for Gatchaman and released the series in its entirety, all 105 episodes, in 2005-2006.  The series arrived in nine, expensive, bulky limited edition sets with artwork by Ross.  That set also was discontinued. But, I was also generally underwhelmed by the English dub which brings me back to the crux of this post.

The Gatchaman English dub is indeed serviceable and perhaps with a little time I could get used to it.  Gatchaman has once again found a new home and been released on Blu-ray for 2013 by Section 23 films.  I'm committed to viewing it and if I can't take the English dub there is always the Japanese audio track with subtitles (this time).

But as a child of the 1970s I grew up with Battle Of The Planets and adored the series.  The reason it was adored was not 7-Zark-7, but genuine a professional, grade A, stellar voice cast that infused this handsomely animated series with real personality, character and emotional warmth and tension in equal parts.  Rarely will you find a voice cast as well assembled and memorable as the one hired for Sandy Frank's Battle Of The Planets.  A series like Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) may come closest with its then virtually unknown English voice cast.  But Frank assembled a cast of characters that brought the original Gatchaman to life here in the states.  Casey Kasem, Keye Luke, Alan Young, Janet Waldo, Alan Dinehart and Ronnie Schell comprised a group of characters that would resonate for years to come.  Apart from American Top 40 and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, in my humble opinion, Battle Of The Planets is the best thing Casey Kasem ever committed to recording.

The new English dub provided for Gatchaman is passable and pales in comparison to the distinct voices of the original Battle Of The Planets.



So when people discuss Gatchaman and Battle Of The Planets and refer to Gatchaman as the far superior product, most of us fans understand.  We get it.  We want uncut, unedited originals as much as the next guy and they aren't wrong.  Gatchaman is one of the finest in animation and storytelling.  But I believe I speak for a lot of Battle Of The Planets fans when I say we also want the original Battle Of The Planets thanks to those talents that brought that series to life.  It's simply irreplaceable to me.  Kasem, Waldo, Schell, Dinehart, Young and others genuinely knew how to bring a pensive or emotive moment to life on Battle Of The Planets.  They could hang on a scene, on a beautiful still shot of that animation and generate real power in a tearful moment with those voices.  The new dub is certainly average at best.  The voice talent that created the remarkable and glorious Battle Of The Planets deserves to live on, be memorialized on DVD and preferably Blu-Ray once and for all.  We fans are waiting people. My binder is waiting. We're not getting any younger.

So for me it was back to the drawing board yet again.  With Gatchaman II (1978-1979) and Gatchaman F (Gatchaman Fighter) (1979-1980) unlikely to ever be released along with Battle Of The Planets it was time to act once again.

With time passing me by, in the rear view mirror, and Sandy Frank losing the licensing rights to Battle Of The Planets, what recourse did I have?  Of course Region Free DVD Players have certainly come down in price since the first time I purchased one.

So first, I have resorted to the purchase of Battle Of The Planets, the complete series from the UK.  Mind you, the series has been out of print there and to obtain a new copy was not cheap and no easy task.  But it is done.

Second, a purchase of two used but Mint box sets for Gatchaman II, Japan releases, have also been purchased.  Both are out of print in Japan and not cheap.  But that mission was tackled and has been completed.

Third, Gatchaman F or Gatchaman Fighter, the second sequel to Gatchaman, is also out of print and requires a small bank loan and perhaps the sacrifice of one of your own and I'm simply not willing to go that far for the anime gods.  So, for now, Gatchaman F will remain elusive.

Finally, the purchase of a Code Free player is not far away.  And, fortunately, it's easily the least expensive of all the purchases to make this dream of watching these series a reality.

For me, to this day, the brilliant Gatchaman not withstanding, which is unquestionably a must own, Battle Of The Planets remains just as magical a creature and retains all that was special about it decades on.  And so the next time you hear someone rip Battle Of The Planets as the inferior offspring of the original feel free to courageously stand by the professional voice cast, producer, writer Jameson Brewer and Sandy Frank who made Gatchaman happen here in America giving fans a chance to rediscover the perfection of the original Tatsuo creation that is Gatchaman.  If not for them, we wouldn't be writing a word of it.  As good as Gatchaman has got it, our beloved Battle Of The Planets forever remains a (G)force with which to be reckoned.



Battle Of The Planets episodes officially released to date in the US:

The initial SIX volumes (2 episodes each) (2001-2003): Attack Of The Space Terrapin/ Rescue Of The Astronauts/ The Space Mummy/ The Space Serpent/ Ghost Ship Of Planet Mir/ Big Robot Gold Grab/ Ace From Outer Space/ The Fearful Sea Anemone/ The Jupiter Moon Menace/ A Swarm Of Robot Ants/ Space Rocket Escort/ Beast With A Sweet Tooth.

The Ultimate DVD Boxed Set (2003): Perilous Pleasure Cruise/ The Thing With 1,000 Eyes/ Microfilm Mystery/ The Alien Beetles/ A Whale Joins G-Force/ Mad New Ruler Of Spectra/ The Sea Dragon/ Magnetic Attraction/ The Musical Mummy/ The Fiery Lava Giant/ The Bat-Ray Bombers/ Race Against Disaster.

25th Anniversary Collection (2004): The Ghostly Grasshopper/ The Galaxy Girls/ Curse Of The Cuttlefish Part I/ Curse Of The Cuttlefish Part II/ Demons Of The Desert/ Siege Of The Squids/ Orion, The Wonderdog Of Space/ The Fierce Flowers, Part I/ The Fierce Flowers, Part II/ The Space Rock Concert/ Prisoners In Space/ Victims Of The Hawk/ Raid On Riga/ Seals Of Sytron.

The US releases give us a grand total of 38 of the original 85 produced Battle Of The Planets episodes.  Something smells in Denmark, or in this case with USA licensing.

Stay tuned for a complete list of Battle Of The Planets episodes.