Hi all,
Yeah, it's hard to believe
Gatchaman is 50! As of today in Japan, it's already October 1st!
I've been watching for any special posts or mentions from Tatsunoko or anyone else, but I haven't seen anything yet. I was hoping for an announcement or statement or something official. Other than a gathering of the Ninja Team voice actors a few days ago, nothing else has happened. I wish I could have been there for that!
I hope everyone does something fun on the first. I'll help to remember it with the
Ninja Team at 50 viewing event, and I hope to see a lot of fans there!
Just for fun, here's a quick version of how I first learned about
Gatchaman, if anyone cares to read.
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I saw
Battle of the Planets in the US from 1978 - 1980, and even after a move took us to a place where it wasn't airing, I never forgot about it. I used to make drawings of the team and the Phoenix, with my memories and the Western Publishing comic books as my only sources for pictures. Then in 1984, when I attended my first comic book convention, there was a seller with Japanese books who had these on their table:
"Whoa, Mark!"
What an amazing find! Two books full of
Battle of the Planets picture stories! Well... except they weren't. Once I had time to look through them more closely, I found out pretty quickly that there was no 7-Zark-7 and they showed a lot of images I'd never seen!
I took one of the books to a nearby Japanese book store to ask what the title was. So it was probably late 1984 or early 1985 that I first heard the name, "Gatchaman." Thanks to those two books (and a
Captain Harlock guide book), I started to learn Japanese so I could figure out what in the world was going on.
Then
Voltron and
Robotech happened and fueled more interest in Japanese animation. I followed things loosely, and read magazine imports once in a while. I lucked out in late 1990 because I picked up a copy of
Animedia magazine that included a full-page ad for the whole, uncut
Gatchaman series on LaserDisc. I can still remember where I was when I saw that ad and how surprised I was. I made it my mission to GET THAT SET!
I freaked out when I saw this ad staring back at me (but *gulp* that price!)
Fortunately I was already a LaserDisc fan so I didn't have to buy a whole new setup just to see it - although I probably would have! I did have to find an importer, however. I ended up going through a place that advertised in the US
Animag magazine, from San Fransisco, California, called Laser Perceptions. It took a few weeks, but I got the
extremely expensive (about $1,600) and *heavy* set delivered in early 1991. Finally! I was able to enjoy the entire series as intended.
It was a long wait, but worth it. What a
great series. I loved it as
Battle of the Planets, but seeing the original made me an even bigger fan.
Gatchaman just seemed to hit all the right notes - plenty of drama, comedy, action and emotion. There were surprises and twists I didn't expect, and that made it that much more enjoyable. I still couldn't fully understand all of what I was hearing (having concentrated more on written Japanese), but I could get enough. It wasn't until I finally met more fans in person and online in 1996 that I was able to broaden my appreciation of the show.
I'm glad I found it, and continue to be a huge fan!
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I'd love to read how anyone else first discovered
Gatchaman and what's kept you interested!
Happy 50th anniversary,
Gatchaman!!!