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Gatchaman OVA

Gatchaman (ガッチャマン) aka Gatchaman '94 is a three-part (OVA) remake of the original anime. It was released in Japan from 1994 to 1995, and was a collaboration between Tatsunoko Production and Artmic.

Overview[]

This version of Gatchaman is set in the year 2066 where the evil leader of the nation of Hontwal is threatening to take over the planet. Scientists from the International Science Organization are disappearing and only five young heroes, the Science Ninja team, can stop the disaster.

While retaining some concepts and adapting the most popular points of the first series, plus some elements included from Gatchaman Fighter, the entire cast was redesigned and new voice actors were appointed.

The OVA went into pre-production planning in 1993, to follow after Tatsunoko and Artmic's OVA remake of Casshan. Sketches for the OVA would be previewed at the end of Nippon Columbia's LONELINESS: LEGEND OF CASSHAN music video LD and VHS release, giving viewers a look at what would be coming up soon.

Like Casshan, this project was planned as a media mix with a light novel series to accompany the episodes, but plans sharply diverged during production of the series especially regarding the ending.

Episodes[]

  1. "Gatchman VS Turtle King" (Harmony Gold: "The Dragon King"). Released October 1, 1994.
  2. "The Mysterious Red Impulse" (Harmony Gold: "The Red Spectre"). Released January 1, 1995.
  3. "Final Countdown 0002" (Harmony Gold: "The Final Countdown"). Released April 1, 1995.

Staff[]

  • Original Work: Tatsuo Yoshida and Tatsunoko Production
  • Planning: Koki Narushima (Tatsunoko), Toshimitsu Suzuki (Artmic)
  • Executive Producers: Minoru Yoshida (Nippon Columbia), Ippei Kuri (Tatsunoko)
  • Storyboards and General Direction: Hiroyuki Fukushima
  • Director: Keitaro Motonaga (episode 1), Akihiko Nishiyama (episodes 2 and 3)
  • Screenplay: Hideki Kakinuma (credited as "Artmic")
  • Supervisor: Hiroshi Saito (Nippon Columbia)
  • Mechanic Designs: Kimitoshi Yamane
  • Mechanic Director: Shuichi Kaneko
  • Character Design, Animation Director: Yasuomi Umetsu
  • Art Director: Jiro Kono
  • Director of Photography: Akihiko Takahashi (episode 1), Toyomitsu Nakajo (episodes 2 and 3)
  • Sound Director: Masafumi Mima
  • CG Director and Designer for Leader X: Yasuoki Matsumoto
  • Digital Video Effects: Futoshi Sugiura
  • Color Specification: Naomi Koyama
  • Special Effects: Masahiko Murakami, Kimi Yamamoto
  • Editing: Takeshi Raiyama, Hiroshi Adachi, Keiko Mizuta
  • Development: IMAGICA
  • Recording: Tomio Yamada
  • Effects: Yasuyuki Konno
  • Sound Production: Magic Capsule
  • Recording Studio: New Japan Studio, Aoi Studio
  • Music: Maurice White, Bill Meyers
  • Music Production Cooperation: Stella Music
  • Producers: Takashi Yoshida (Nippon Columbia), Hirotoshi Okura (Tatsunoko)
  • Animation Production: Tatsunoko Production
  • Production Cooperation: Artmic, Artland
  • Production: Nippon Columbia

Voice Cast[]

  • Ken: Masaya Onosaka
  • Joe: Koji Ishii
  • Jun: Michiko Neya
  • Jinpei: Rica Matsumoto
  • Ryu: Fumihiko Tachiki
  • Dr. Nambu: Ikuya Sawaki
  • Red Impulse: Unsho Ishizuka
  • Director Anderson: Yonehiko Kitagawa
  • Berg Katse: Kaneto Shiozawa (male form), Ai Orikasa (female form)
  • Leader X: Nobuo Tanaka
  • President Beoluke: Shigezo Sasaoka
  • Count Rosmandos, Giuseppe Asakura: Hirohiko Kitagawa
  • United Nations Forces Operator: Takashi Nagashima
  • Chairman Mullen: Satohiko Nakajima
  • Dr. B: Tomohisa Aso
  • Submarine Captain: Hiroo Egawa
  • Alan: Koji Tsujitani
  • Captain Devil Snake: Ryuzaburo Otomo
  • Secretary General: Tomomichi Nishimura
  • Dr. Kirkland: Masaharu Sato
  • Submarine Operator, Galactor Henchman: Kazunobu Chiba
  • Female Jupiter Ninja: Junko Iwao
  • Donaldson: Takeshi Aono
  • General Clintos: Daisuke Gori
  • Soldier: Hidekatsu Shibata
  • Dr. Kessler: Takehito Koyasu
  • Katarina Asakura: Kyoko Terase
  • Blackbird: Shinichiro Miki
  • Galactor Henchmen: Kazunari Miyazaki, Kunihiko Yasui, Kazuhiro Nakata, Yasunori Masutani, Koichi Tochika

Light Novel Series[]

See article for further information

Three light novels, based off the early story concepts of the OVA, exist as a parallel look into the universe. They were published through Asahi Sonorama's Sonorama Bunko, written by Hideki Kakinuma and illustrated by Yasuomi Umetsu.

  1. Firebird, Fly! (October 31, 1994)
  2. The Cinderella Strategy (January 31, 1995)
  3. Farewell, Condor! (April 30, 1995)

International Adaptations[]

USA[]

 The OVAs were licensed by Urban Vision through Harmony Gold USA and were released on VHS and DVD through 1997. At Anime Boston 2013, Sentai Filmworks had announced that they have rescued the OVA series along with the original 1970s series for a DVD re-release in October of that year.

There are two dubs of the OVA: The original Harmony Gold/Urban Vision release, as well as a 2013 redub by Sentai Filmworks. The latter reunited the cast of the ADV Films dub of the Gatchaman series, and was done to maintain consistency with that version.

Trivia[]

  • In the first OVA episode, the door on Ryu's boat rental shop has a life preserver ring with the numbers "19 72" on it. This is a reference to the year the original series debuted.
  • This OVA would itself be followed by an attempt by Tatsunoko and JC Staff to remake Hurricane Polymar in a similar fashion (Artmic had underwent a bankruptcy, so the other studio had changed). Unfortunately, due to Tatsunoko going over budget on the 2 episodes of Polymar that were released and sales performance being poor, the final episode was not greenlit and this revival approach done via OVAs ceased.
  • Katsuji Mori was approached to voice Red Impulse for the OVA series, but he declined, having wanted to reprise his role of Ken instead.
  • Jun's scene in episode 1, as originally scripted and storyboarded, had her in a ballet performance. Yasuomi Umetsu suggested altering this to a shower scene, but was vetoed due to Joe already having a shower scene before her. A compromise was reached in which Jun could have a more fanservice-laden scene to Umetsu's preferences, with her being depicted in a swimming lesson.
    OVA Easter egg

    A little easter egg for the fans...

Gatchaman media
TV animation Science Ninja Team Gatchaman · Gatchaman II · Gatchaman Fighter · New Gatchaman (unproduced)· Good Morning Ninja Team Gatchaman · Gatchaman Crowds · Battle of the Planets: Phoenix Ninjas (unproduced)
Movies Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie · Gatchaman (2011 - unproduced) · Gatchaman (2013)
Adaptations Battle of the Planets (movie) · Eagle 5 Brothers · G-Force: Guardians of Space · Eagle Riders· Battle of the Planets: The New Exploits of G-Force (unproduced)
Other Gatchaman (OVA) · NTT Gatchaman · Tachimals Theater · Infini-T Force · Time Bokan: Royal Revival
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