Gatchaman (OVA)

Gatchaman (ガッチャマン) is a three-part original video animation (OVA) based on the popular 1970s anime Gatchaman. It was released in Japan and the United States during the mid-1990s. This version of Gatchaman is set in the year 2066 where the evil leader of the nation of Hontwall is threatening to take over the planet. Scientists from the International Science Organization are disappearing and only five teenage heroes, the Science Ninja team, can stop the disaster.

Characters
The re-naming of the various characters and terms in Gatchaman OVA are highlighted and correspond to their Gatchaman equivalents.

English cast

 * Ken – Eddie Frierson
 * Joe – Richard Cansino
 * June – Lara Cody
 * Jimmy – Mona Marshall
 * Rocky – Richard Epcar
 * Dr. Nambu – Michael McConnohie
 * Chief – Michael Forest
 * Kirland – Clifton Wells
 * Solaris – R. Martin Klein
 * President Beolute – Jeff Winkless
 * Kesslor – Kirk Thornton
 * Commander – Barry Stiger
 * Lord Zortek – Ralph Votrais

Japanese cast

 * Fumihiko Tachiki as Ryu the Horned Owl (G-5)
 * Kouji Ishii as Joe Asakura the Condor (G-2)
 * Masaya Onosaka as Ken Washio the Eagle (G-1)
 * Michiko Neya as Jun the Swan (G-3)
 * Rica Matsumoto as Jinpei the Swallow (G-4)
 * Ikuya Sawaki as Dr. Kouzaburou Nanbu
 * Kaneto Shiozawa as Berg Katse
 * Nobuo Tanaka as Sosai X
 * Takeshi Aono as Donaldson

Design
In the OVA series, the characters' designs and ages were changed along with other elements as part of the process of "updating" the series for modern audiences. Ken, who had long hair in the original series, was given short hair. Joe was redesigned with more of a "bad boy" image, given a tattoo and made a smoker — His car was also updated to a Shelby Cobra. Jun originally had long green hair but has short brown hair in the OVA, has developed physically and has worked as a model in the past. Jinpei is renamed as Jimmy and given more of a "street kid" look while his position on the team becomes "hacker". Ryu is now the oldest at 25, he was originally 17, and his hairstyle is changed to a blonde and purple mohawk. The GodPhoenix was also redesigned and appears to be larger than the original. The Red Impulse squadron had only three members in the original series while in the OVA continuity there are more.

Music
New music was composed for the OVA by Maurice White (of Earth, Wind & Fire) and Bill Meyers, with additional music by Bob Sakuma from the original TV series. The ending theme "Let's Fly" was performed by Lance Matthew. A music video at the end of the third episode features an updated version of the "Gatchaman Song" by Ichiro Mizuki.

Availability
The OVA was released in Japan on the following dates:


 * Volume 1, "Gatchaman Vs. Turtle King": 10/1/94
 * Volume 2, "Secret Red Impulse": 1/1/95
 * Volume 3, "Final Count 0002": 4/1/95

In the US, the video was distributed by Urban Vision, with the following release dates:


 * Gatchaman OAV Vol 1, "The Dragon King": July 29, 1997
 * Gatchaman OAV Vol 2, "The Red Specter": August 26, 1997
 * Gatchaman OAV Vol 3, "The Final Countdown": September 16, 1997

Initial batches of the subtitled VHS release were recalled due to subtitle timing errors.