Forum - View topic

The Mike Toole Show - I've Got You, Man

Depending on your feelings about old-school Gatchaman, however, you may find the show polarizing. I've talked to fans invigorated with this new-look approach, but I've also talked to fans who think Gatchaman Crowds is undeserving of the fine Gatchaman name, which apparently should only be reserved for the very best bird-themed superhero cartoons.

I think it would also be interesting and illuminating to ask younger folk who had no prior experience with Gatchaman as to what they think of Crowds.

and even if you're put off by the extent of the departure, it's worth a look just for Mamoru Miyano's inspired, looney-tunes performance as Berg Katze.

The aforementioned terrible, added-in animation from Sandy Frank...almost invariably involved the exploits of 7-Zark-7

This new set includes Gatchaman ’94, complete with a new dubbed version by ADV's TV cast.

After a CG film by the studio IMAGI was derailed by bankruptcy

I think it would also be interesting and illuminating to ask younger folk who had no prior experience with Gatchaman as to what they think of Crowds. The show took the franchise into the twenty-first century, and the social-media aspect to it definitely should hit home to most Generation Ys. But does the rest of the show work? I think that at the very least, before it should be judged on how it fares compared to the rest of the Gatchaman franchise, Crowds has to prove that it is a good show in its own right. I think that it definitely displayed a unique voice, loads of energy and some great concepts that are relevant to our modern world. But I also believe that it was atrociously executed. Perhaps if it had been simply a modernised version of the original series - like Space Battleship Yamato 2199 was - then it could have been a solid series.

Um Mike, not sure where you got your information, but I'm pretty sure Hanna-Barbara didn't do the newly-added footage for BoTP.

I am a little puzzled by what you mean by "atrociously executed", though. As far as I was concerned, it was really only the ending and a bit of OD's characterization that was rushed through. Given that it was only 12 episodes, I thought it was handled pretty well.

Quote:

I think it would also be interesting and illuminating to ask younger folk who had no prior experience with Gatchaman as to what they think of Crowds.

It was successful enough to have announced second season, so I suppose it must have been popular among new fans.

Battle of the Planets fascinates as an early example of how early anime got here to the states. Those 7-zark-7 scenes are hilariously awful, but some of the stuff they managed to keep from the original series I thought was kind of cool, and hearing old-school voice actors Casey Kasem and Alan Young was a treat. Obviously I didn't see it in its original run. I'm a little too young for that, but it was neat seeing what Sandy Frank made out of the original cartoon. I may have to check out that puppy episode though.

Crowds... ick. Did not dig in the slightest mostly due to Hajime's obnoxious antics, or really any character for that matter. I thought they were all flat and unlikable. Certainly the original Gatchaman wasn't an example of complex characterization, but for as simple as they were you at least wanted to see them save the day. Didn't help that the new aesthetics felt all over the place and the CG costumes (admittedly they weren't used often) were ugly. Sorry, I could not get behind the Crowds hype, and I'm baffled at how they'll continue this story with a second season when the first season barely had enough story for 12 episodes.

Philmister978 wrote:

Um Mike, not sure where you got your information, but I'm pretty sure Hanna-Barbara didn't do the newly-added footage for BoTP.

You're correct, Hanna-Barbera never got themselves involve with anime. This was all Sandy Frank work.

Another great article, Mike!!! Thanks for doing this. Nice retrospectives on Gatchaman.

Wasn't H-B involved with "Ultraman: The Adventure Begins"?

leatherhead333 you theory is wrong on so many levels.First for every single split cours anime that has come into existence,we know that they will be split cours before they start airing,not after the first cours has ended.Second the gap between two cours is never bigger than one season,the gap between two seasons of Crowds will be at least a year(if they planned it as split cours,they sure planned it badly).And third,you are completely ignoring the TV ratings,time-slot and who the producer of the show was. It aired late at night( 3 a.m. I believe),had 1,7 rating(very high for late night slot) and is almost entirely produced by NTV(the broadcaster).All of this really indicates that the second season was created due to its TV ratings,and that it was not planned as split cours.