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Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 2:08 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
While I LOVE Battle Of The Planets and I appreciate its innovations on the Syndication scene AND Kids TV in general (It really was like nothing else on TV at the time and it brought drama to the forefront of kids tv.), the version of Gatchaman me and most Latin Americans are familiar with is G-Force: Guardians of Space!

My most vivid memory of it was watching at like 3:00AM and see Aggie (Agatha June-Jun The Swan) be devoured by the evil flowers and NOT GETTING OUT in time to escape being seemingly burned to death by the G-Force team themselves. Naturally, I WAS HOOKED. I couldnt wait till next episode where drama intensified as the Hero Ace and the rest of the team despaired at such a cruel decision! Luckily his father Red Impulse was there to give him a... Beating!? Yes, the beating did work in getting him out of his funk and rescue Aggie once and for all!

Re: Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:03 pm
by The Other Jason
It's great to see a G-Force fan! It seems like that series got far more international exposure than Battle did. But it hardly got any airings here in the US until Cartoon Network in 1995. Youngsters here were never really given an opportunity to watch and get hooked like you did.

I got to see it first in a very short run it had on WTBS. I do not remember any advertisements to promote it. it was probably only shown at that point to plug in in-between airings of two other series. I'm sure I saw it simply because I used to watch a lot of reruns on the station and had it on the station when it aired. My initial reaction was disappointment that the show had new voices. But the WTBS airings didn't last long. My best recollection was that it was on for a full week and that was it. I do not think it was ever listed in anything like TV Guide.

I live in an area of the US that gets a significant amount of Spanish language television. When I later saw "G-Force" listed as being on one of those stations, I knew what it was and tuned in to record a number of them that way. I don't even speak Spanish very well, but it was nice to see the team back on TV!

It's nice to know the show did its job and made a new fan, with one of the very few two-parters, even! You started off with a great couple of episodes!

Re: Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 4:50 am
by KenTheEagle
In America, it aired for me back in 96/97 on Cartoon Network, unfortunately it fell back of my mind in obscurity till acquiring the ADV dub after extensive searching when I hit my teens. Sure, it didn't AGE well since the dubbing, and constant needing to add in a synth background noise during quiet moments is rather irritating; it did help me become aware of the series.

I just never could find anyone else into it, quite sadly, and kept it more to myself and evidentially forgotten about it till my friend helped me expose it to him.

Re: Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 2:06 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi Ken,
KenTheEagle wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 4:50 am In America, it aired for me back in 96/97 on Cartoon Network, unfortunately it fell back of my mind in obscurity till acquiring the ADV dub after extensive searching when I hit my teens. Sure, it didn't AGE well since the dubbing, and constant needing to add in a synth background noise during quiet moments is rather irritating; it did help me become aware of the series.
Sure, the constant beat and character names have always been the biggest criticisms of G-Force. But it's strongest point was that it adapted Gatchman a lot more faithfully than Battle did. It's just too bad it didn't have a chance to build a larger North American audience in the late 1980s as intended.

Re: Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:31 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
I love G-Force but I actually think Battle is the winner for me. Why? Because its heavy editing turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Countries that wouldnt touch anime before did now. Like the UK and Spain. I had known Spain was trying to curb violence in their kids programming but couldnt confirm it until I read about it here on Battle Of The Planets . info!

G-Force did get into more countries. But these countries already aired a lot of anime, especially uncut. So it wasnt such a big deal. Battle was a game changer.

Janet Waldo is also a sweet heart and is quite awesome. Same for Casey Casem!

Re: Fond Memories of G-Force: Guardians of Space

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:39 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi Cure DragonEagle,
Cure DragonEagle 255 wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:31 pm I love G-Force but I actually think Battle is the winner for me. Why? Because its heavy editing turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Countries that wouldnt touch anime before did now. Like the UK and Spain. I had known Spain was trying to curb violence in their kids programming but couldnt confirm it until I read about it here on Battle Of The Planets . info!

G-Force did get into more countries. But these countries already aired a lot of anime, especially uncut. So it wasnt such a big deal. Battle was a game changer.

Janet Waldo is also a sweet heart and is quite awesome. Same for Casey Casem!
I agree. The editing for Battle was done out of necessity for the time and the crew managed to create something not only interesting and highly enjoyable - but attractive to international buyers, which was crucial to its lasting success. I'm glad you learned about the Spanish efforts to remove violence from their programming from the site. I thought it interesting that Battle never really seemed to catch on there, despite the push it was given.

Both Janet and Casey were very kind to their fans (all of the Battle personnel, really). They both certainly did things for me that they didn't have to and I'm forever grateful for their help.