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5.0 out of 5 stars
And now, we're getting good...., October 29, 2005
This review is from: Gatchaman Collector's Box 3 (Vols. 5 & 6) plus extra (DVD)
Summary Review: Contains eps 25-36, wherein the original source material starts to focus on individual characters and relationships. Don't miss #27, 31-33. Extras focus on original Japanese material and American voice auditions, and it's worth buying the set to get the extras DVD.
Disk 5 includes:
#25: The Magma Giant, Emperor of Hell. How do you fight a giant, lava Jesus Christ? Tune in to the episode to find out (it's a better episode than you might think).
#26: God Phoenix, Be Reborn!. Ryu is napping and misses Gatchaman's call to action. Stricken with guilt, he quits the team and returns to his fishing village. Ken follows to try to change his mind. Of course, even his simple hamlet isn't outside of Galactor's grasp. The two foil Galactor's plan, and Ken points out Ryu's heroism and he's reinstated.
#27: Galactor's Witch Racer. The ISO gets a message from Lucy, a Galactor agent who's willing to defect for $10M. Joe is chosen for a clandestine meeting w/Lucy, using the cover of an African Endurance race. The first of series of affairs Joe has with hard luck women, this ep's a keeper!
#28: The Invisible Demons. Galactor's collecting children with strong brain waves, hoping to harness them to create a giant monster. An avg episode, with Katse making another narrow escape.
#29: Demon Man Galack X. Jinpei and Ryu visit the orphanage where Jinpei grew up, and witness a kickboxing match starring Galack X. X turns out to be Galactor, but the plot is foiled by G-force. Introduces the fact that Jinpei is also an orphan, and starts to show the relation between Katse and the female captain.
#30: The Guillatine Iron Beast Kaisoral. A standard gallactor mecha vs. God Phoenix episode. Although unremarkable, compare the narration, tone, animation, and acting (American and *especially* Japanese) to earlier eps, and you'll find it really holds up.
++++COMMENTARY on ep30+++++ Pretty worthless commentary with Andy McAvin (Dr. Nambu). McAvin is more interested in talking about his ultra-lite (the little go-cart like planes) experience than anything about the show. The only thing I found interesting was that he didn't even know who Sosai X was--obviously it's just a job to him.
#31 The Plan... Assassinate Dr. Nambu. My favorite of the first 90 episodes. A team of female assassins is assigned to eliminated Dr. Nambu. Their first attempt is foiled by Joe, who recognizes the rose bomb and reacts like James Bond to save Nambu. Later, Joe meets a gorgeous lady on the track... no surprise, she turns out to be a Devil Star! This show has it all! Female assassins, Joe as a mean motor-scooter, the female captain, and a nice twist on "Murder on the Orient Express".
++++Commentary on ep31++++ George Manley (Narrator) and Charles Campbell (the director). Much better commentary. Their "schtick" can a little old, but they talk about (and know of!) Battle of the Planets and G-force, comparing and contrasting the differences between the versions. Manley also talks about the American voice actors (all positive), and seems genuinely interested in discovering how much previous American releases had cut out. He also makes comparisons to Star Blazers and Robotech, and speaks to the censorship that forced much of the watering down. It also makes brief comparisons to today's Justice League and Teen Titans, and points out cameos by Speed Racer's Mach 5 in the animation (cool!). Although it's probably the best commentary so far, it speaks to the entire series, and doesn't add anything to the actual episode; an episode that that's exciting enough to deserve it's own commentary.
#32 & 33: The Grand Gezora Operation. Our first two-parter starts as a Jun and Jinpei episode. They're double crossed and drugged by a female Galactor agent. Without them, the rest of G-force can't seem to beat the Gezora. An early exploration of the sibling-like relationships in the series, and (I believe) our first episode that establishes why the team needs to maintain their secret identities.
#34: The Diabolic Aurora Operation. A Gallactor ray gives Ryu the Brainwaves of a cat, and makes Nambu want to blow up the base. Throw-away plot, great acting and animation though.
#35: Burn, Desert Fire. In oil-rich Doria, a civil war erupts led by the Prince, who opposes his father's greedy behavior. Gatchaman gets involved, a Galactor nexus is discovered... a reasonably mature and entertaining episode.
#36: Two kids idolize and dress up as Gatchaman, stow-away on a Galactor ship, and hijinx ensue. Gallactor's plot this time is a deadly seaweed operation. Yeah, you can skip this one.
Extras DVD:
-Jun the Swan Profile: a text profile on her character and motivations.
-Character Sketches of Jun
-Episode Sketches: B&W design sketches... interesting
-Jun audition footage: Intersting to see the different takes on Jun--I thought a few of the actresses may have actually been better fits for Jun.
-Interview w/Kim Prause (Jun): This fireside chat with Prause is worth viewing once, but doesn't really shed any light on anything. Like most of the actors (except for Manley the Narrator), she takes it episode by episode and doesn't really know where the series is going or how it's changed. I'm anxious to see the actors interviews at the end of the series.
-Gatch Publishing Gallery: Great info on the wealth of Japanese literary material produced, ranging from kids books to promotional material for the 1978 movie (all the best parts of the show were cut up and re-released then as a feature movie)
-Gatch Manga: A look at the Japanese Gatch comic book. ADV gives a great presentation, showing the comic page with numbered panels and the respective translations.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Now this is more like it., October 26, 2005
This review is from: Gatchaman Collector's Box 3 (Vols. 5 & 6) plus extra (DVD)
With the episodes released in this third box-set, Gatchaman pulls out of the minor slump which affecting the episodes in the late teens and early twenties. While there are still a few turkeys in the batch - episodes 28, 29, and 34 - they are surrounded by other much more enjoyable episodes.
At this point, the acting choices of the dub cast also start to come together into a consistent whole. Edwin Neal as Berg Katse no longer appears to be trying out a different voice for the character in each episode, and Kim Prause's version of Jun is starting to grow on me. The overall cast performances are becoming more fun to listen to. While the seventies slang is still there, it's more integrated with slang from later decades (as in the first box set) and doesn't seem as distracting as it was in the second box set.
While I'm still not sold on George Manley's over-the-top narration either by his delivery or by the text he is given to deliver, I must say that Mr Manley provided what was to me the most enjoyable, intelligent and informative actor's commentaries included on these sets so far.
I heartily recommend this package.
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