Review: ADV Gatchaman Box Set 2
Released by: ADV FilmsRelease Date: August 16, 2005
Price: $44.98 suggested retail price; sale prices may vary
Contains: Episodes #13-24 + bonus disc
Languages: Japanese, English subtitles, English dub
Region: 1 (US)
Extras:
- Episode commentary of #23 by Victor Carsrud (Ryu)
- Episode commentary of # with Luci Christian (Jinpei) and Charles Campbell (ADR director)
- Profile of Joe: Text character bio of Joe the Condor
- Character Sketches: Joe, his car and his weapons.
- "What is Gatchaman": Sketches from episode #20 (the infamous "Puppy Episode") and background on Gatchaman's creators
- Model sheets from the episodes on the disc
- Audition Footage of Brian Jepson (Joe's voice actor)
- Interview with Brian Jepson
- Gatchaman publications
- Clean opening and closing animation
- Gatchaman karaoke
- Interview with Alex Ross
- Gatchaman manga Vol. #1: "The Freezing Iron Beast: Ice Creamer"
As with Box 1, I still have issues with the lack of episode information on the covers or in the menus. The voice acting appears to be improving as the acting staff begins to hit their stride (though I am still annoyed by the narrator). There are a few typos in the subtitles, but overall, the translations continue at their current quality.
It appears that each release/box set will be patterned after a major character. Volumes 1 and 2 were dedicated to Ken, with the DVD label design in his uniform colors and the DVD extras comprising Ken information and design sketches. Volumes 3 and 4 belong to Condor Joe, so the extra goodies include Joe's character sketches, a writeup on Joe (factually, I have no complaints; as a biased Joe fan, I wouldn't have described his character/life as quite that messed up), interview with Brian Jepson (Joe's voice actor for the dub) and footage of the auditions for Joe's voice part (some of these are hilarious, and I do think Jepson was their best choice). There are more episode commentaries with Luci Christian (Jinpei) and Victor Carsrud (Ryu's voice actor) Carsrud's comments are, by far, the most entertaining. You won't find much insight on the episode or background, but Carsrud's sense of humor makes the commentary worth listening to. Another interesting extra is an interview with Alex Ross (the artist who painted the DVD covers as well as the covers to the Top Cow BotP comic). Ross articulates the artistic strengths of the Gatchaman series better than any other editorial I've encountered.
Episodes: At this stage, the series begins venturing into territory uncharted by Battle of the Planets. However, the episodes, "Mystery of the Red Sand" (#13), "Hell's Speed Race" (#19) and "A Critical Moment for the Science Ninja Team" (#20) were released as G-Force GoS episodes. Episode #20, known among fans as "The Puppy Episode" has the dubious honor of being one of the silliest and most senseless episodes in the series (yes, this is the one where Condor Joe attempts to rescue an orphaned puppy and gets missile shrapnel embedded in his brain... and Dr. Nambu tries to get the shrapnel out using a centrifuge). Once you see it, I recommend you read the MST3K G-Force parody by Jane Hamilton. We are still early in the series, and the episodes are still directed at younger audiences, so there is still a focus on campy retro-style adventure rather than the drama that highlights later episodes. The best are yet to come (the next set promises some of the highlight episodes of the series, such as "Gallactor Witch Racer" and the "Gezora" two-parter). Recommended episodes for Box Set 2: "Fearful Jellyfish Lens" (#15) and "Firebird vs. Fire Eating Dragon" (#22).
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