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Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2025 3:16 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
Tatsuo Yoshida or Ippei Kuri?
Some modern interviews and backstage info says Ippei Kuri is the one. But I happen to think it was Mr Tatsuo Yoshida who is the one to credit. I wanna know for sure.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2025 4:05 pm
by LadyMallanox
From what I’ve seen/heard It’s a toss up between people, Tatsuo is credited for doing some of the original character designs (he drew the initial design for Katse that eventually became the Turtle King Commander) and he definitely threw his own ideas in there (Red Impulse is basically an Expy of Racer X/The Masked Racer, I’m pretty sure speed racer is majority Tatsuo Yoshida’s work.) but from what I’ve seen it’s hard to say what ideas and designs belong to him, Ippei Kuri, and/or the directors.
I imagine that him and his brother probably came up with the general idea for the story and characters, then let the directors go ham.
Of course I don’t really know, and a lot of this information came from the Fandom wiki… and I have a hard time trusting the person who wrote it considering they insist Gel Sadra is a Futa (according to them that’s the Japanese term for intersex but I’ve literally only ever heard it used for weird ass unrealistic fetish porn I don’t want to explain to people who are majority several decades older than me. And even if that’s true then just say she’s intersex.)
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2025 7:34 pm
by SparklingNeon
Hi! I'm sure The Other Jason can help fill in some things here and mine might not be too great, though as for that matter with the wiki you mention...I and some others have noticed that, there have been ATTEMPTS to edit out that one rogue editor's vandalisms about Gel Sadra and Berg Katse, but he persists and it's been a pain. All I'll say is that's a fairly recent problem that came up this year, and shouldn't really have any place there or being dignified, aagh. Anyone else is welcome to help try to curb that, since it appears the Tokupedia hub guys don't want to (in fact, in risk of getting off-topic, those guys have wanted to delete the wiki as they think it's "irrelevant and unneeded", but feel like maybe they should merge the Tatsunoko wikis?).
Though the way I've heard things and how it looks, in regards to the designs, Tatsuo Yoshida drew the five Science Ninjas, Dr. Nambu, Red Impulse, and that initial Berg Katse. Ippei Kuri is said to have drawn the finalized Katse after the old one was accidentally assigned to the Turtle King Commander. Red Impulse's civilian design is believed to have been drawn by Yoshitaka Amano, at least from the descriptions of the settei sheets that went up on Mandarake a while back.
But then, there's also been talk that Amano contributed to Nambu, Katse, and Jun, and I'm curious how that all goes. Amano seems to have been behind guest character designs for the most part, but it would be interesting to know more about that in the eventual artbook.
Story-wise, the planning for Gatchaman came from Jinzo Toriumi, Satoshi Suyama, and Akiyoshi Sakai. Hisayuki Toriumi (no relation to Jinzo) as director refined or entirely rewrote some ideas and intent as the show went along, and his decisions shaped a lot of the later half. But well, there are other people that can say it way better, haha.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2025 10:08 am
by LadyMallanox
SparklingNeon wrote: Sat Nov 22, 2025 7:34 pm
Hi! I'm sure The Other Jason can help fill in some things here and mine might not be too great, though as for that matter with the wiki you mention...I and some others have noticed that, there have been ATTEMPTS to edit out that one rogue editor's vandalisms about Gel Sadra and Berg Katse, but he persists and it's been a pain. All I'll say is that's a fairly recent problem that came up this year, and shouldn't really have any place there or being dignified, aagh. Anyone else is welcome to help try to curb that, since it appears the Tokupedia hub guys don't want to (in fact, in risk of getting off-topic, those guys have wanted to delete the wiki as they think it's "irrelevant and unneeded", but feel like maybe they should merge the Tatsunoko wikis?).
Though the way I've heard things and how it looks, in regards to the designs, Tatsuo Yoshida drew the five Science Ninjas, Dr. Nambu, Red Impulse, and that initial Berg Katse. Ippei Kuri is said to have drawn the finalized Katse after the old one was accidentally assigned to the Turtle King Commander. Red Impulse's civilian design is believed to have been drawn by Yoshitaka Amano, at least from the descriptions of the settei sheets that went up on Mandarake a while back.
But then, there's also been talk that Amano contributed to Nambu, Katse, and Jun, and I'm curious how that all goes. Amano seems to have been behind guest character designs for the most part, but it would be interesting to know more about that in the eventual artbook.
Story-wise, the planning for Gatchaman came from Jinzo Toriumi, Satoshi Suyama, and Akiyoshi Sakai. Hisayuki Toriumi (no relation to Jinzo) as director refined or entirely rewrote some ideas and intent as the show went along, and his decisions shaped a lot of the later half. But well, there are other people that can say it way better, haha.
It looks like that one particular thing has been fixed since, I was remembering an older update lol.
Though still, some actual citations would be nice. And lord forbid “I saw it in a Gatchaman fan magazine” is NOT a good citation, I mean that’s not even a credible source
If you can’t find the actual information, at the very least don’t present it as a fact.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2025 3:41 pm
by Stardust
SparklingNeon wrote: Sat Nov 22, 2025 7:34 pm
Hi! I'm sure The Other Jason can help fill in some things here and mine might not be too great, though as for that matter with the wiki you mention...I and some others have noticed that, there have been ATTEMPTS to edit out that one rogue editor's vandalisms about Gel Sadra and Berg Katse, but he persists and it's been a pain. All I'll say is that's a fairly recent problem that came up this year, and shouldn't really have any place there or being dignified, aagh. Anyone else is welcome to help try to curb that, since it appears the Tokupedia hub guys don't want to (in fact, in risk of getting off-topic, those guys have wanted to delete the wiki as they think it's "irrelevant and unneeded", but feel like maybe they should merge the Tatsunoko wikis?).
Though the way I've heard things and how it looks, in regards to the designs, Tatsuo Yoshida drew the five Science Ninjas, Dr. Nambu, Red Impulse, and that initial Berg Katse. Ippei Kuri is said to have drawn the finalized Katse after the old one was accidentally assigned to the Turtle King Commander. Red Impulse's civilian design is believed to have been drawn by Yoshitaka Amano, at least from the descriptions of the settei sheets that went up on Mandarake a while back.
But then, there's also been talk that Amano contributed to Nambu, Katse, and Jun, and I'm curious how that all goes. Amano seems to have been behind guest character designs for the most part, but it would be interesting to know more about that in the eventual artbook.
Story-wise, the planning for Gatchaman came from Jinzo Toriumi, Satoshi Suyama, and Akiyoshi Sakai. Hisayuki Toriumi (no relation to Jinzo) as director refined or entirely rewrote some ideas and intent as the show went along, and his decisions shaped a lot of the later half. But well, there are other people that can say it way better, haha.
In reference to the vandalisms against Gel Sadra and Katse, I have to wonder if it's the same individual that was trying to start an issue on the Gatchaman Facebook page. Something about saying Katse was gender confused or some garbage like that. I know the artist for the Gatchaman comic book and I discussed it and we both agreed that's not understanding Katse at all.
I chose to not argue with the individual, it was a hill I did not want to die on. However someone else did try to set him straight.
Also thank you for the appropriate term for Katse, I was trying to remember it the other day.
As for Amano, I could see that. Of course I had to go look at the artbook I have on him. There are a few Ken and Joe drawings in it for sure. Also lots of Vampire Hunter D.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2025 7:12 am
by LadyMallanox
I really need to just clock my ranty ass out of this conversation before I convince this entire fandom to hate me but I really think people end up over complicating Katse by trying to apply real world logic to him.
He’s not a realistic character by any stretch of the imagination, he entirely shifts between sexes (tbh because of this I don’t think “intersex” is actually the right term, hermaphrodite is actually closer based on how it’s applied to animals. From what I know Intersex only exists as a term because humans with intersex conditions… don’t do that), he’s technically two people in one body, and he worships a computerized space alien.
When you stop trying to pretend he’s anything adjacent to reality, he’s a lot easier to understand. 30 something year old mentally ill man in a cat costume who can turn into his nutjob sadist sister with excellent taste in business apparel. He’s an unwanted dumb**** and she’s a washed up child prodigy. That’s tragic enough honestly, I’d probably nuke the van allen belt too if that was me.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2025 3:28 pm
by Bobkat
Perhaps you should.
We try really hard here to stay friendly.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2025 8:44 pm
by SparklingNeon
On another note and leaving that whole matter aside, I feel with how some information has become easier or more clarified over time (although some things will remain a mystery), it can be said there are a few different "masterminds" behind the franchise and other Tatsunoko works depending on what one considers that.
The Yoshida brothers? Sure.There are also the planners who came up with the series and characters, the chief directors for each series that helped shape the overall tone and story, the other character and mecha designers...the voice actors can also be said to have brought a certain color as well, even if there seemed to be a bit of confusion and divisiveness in the '70s over "fans that appreciate the animation techniques" vs. "fans that like the characters and voice actors". I feel like both the techniques and the character creation can be enjoyed in their own ways though, the animation helps bring things to life and give that certain image, but you also need effective characters.
Re: Who is to be credited as the mastermind behind Gatchaman?
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2025 10:37 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi all,
I'll see if I can get a more detailed answer soon. It will likely be quite long and I want to have the time to write it up nicely. SparklingNeon is correct on all the names so far and what they did. Tatsuo Yoshida is the acknowledged creator of Gatchaman, but many more people contributed to shape the series into what we saw.
On the other topic, no problems there. I didn't really think anything was getting out of line. I would just ask for no swearing please. I edited the example that was posted already. Other than that, talk on!