Review: ADV Gatchaman Box Set 4

Released by: ADV Films
Release Date: December 20, 2005
Price: $44.98 suggested retail price; sale prices may vary
Contains: Episodes #37-48 + bonus disc
Languages: Japanese, English subtitles, English dub
Region: 1 (US)
Extras:

• Episode commentary by Edwin Neal (Berg Katse)
• Episode commentary by Sarah Alys Lindholm (senior translator)
• Profile of Jinpei: Text character bio of Jinpei the Swallow
• Character Sketches: Jinpei, his buggy and his weapons
• Model sheets from the episodes on the disc
• Audition footage of Luci Christian (Jinpei's voice actor)
• Interview with Luci Christian
• Gatchaman publications gallery: Gatchaman in English
• "The Demon Five in Concert"
• Clean opening and closing animation
• Gatchaman karaoke
• Gatchaman manga Vol. #1, Chapter 3: "The Firebird vs. the Fire Breathing Dragon"

And to the young lady who's singing: I don't care what crap comes out of your mouth, but you can't make any intelligible words, understand? Okay, let's go platinum. Roll the tape!
--Berg Katse, "Murder Music"

Just one damn thing after another!
--Jinpei, "Murder Music"

The menu formatting hasn't changed from the previous boxes, so the same issues exist. Watching the subs and dubs together, there are larger discrepancies between translations and the dubs. Fans have written me to complain that what's coming out of the characters' mouths in the subs is not what's coming out of the original script. Especially in the Jigokiller episodes, where Ken calls out for Jun in the original script, yet curses out Gallactor in the dub. I can see why ADV does it: to better suit the mouth movements and attempt to create smoother dialogue in English (let's face it--a straight Japanese to English translation is going to sound stiff). So I offer the following caveat: If you want accuracy, watch the Japanese with the subs. If you want a smoother English-language view, watch the dubs. There will be departures in meaning.

The more I watched the dubs, the more polarized I become toward watching the subs. There are two reasons for this: First, because the voice actors have their own intepretations of the dialogue, some of the intonations change. Where Ken might be painfully adhering to his duties in the Japanese version, he sounds defiant in the dub. Where another character may be serious in the original, he'll sound joking in the dub. Another problem is that I grew up watching Battle of the Planets, and in some of the dialogue, I can hear different words from the Battle of the Planets voice actors. This was especially noticeable in "Gatchaman Burns with Rage," when Katse is gloating at the Science Ninja team as they stood in their icy prison. I kept hearing Keye Luke saying, "While you're cooling your heels...." It was distracting.

This box theme is dedicated to Jinpei, with the DVD label design in his uniform colors and the DVD extras comprising his information and design sketches. The box cover features the Battle of the Planets publicity poster art that appeared in Previews when the BotP comic was first released. I'm not sure if the painting of Katse's face was added later or included in the original painting, but just not used. The art in the DVD jackets made previous appearances as BotP comic covers.

The extras disc contains some annoying errors. For example, a couple of the episode model sheets (mostly those dealing with the G2 and the Godphoenix) are upside-down. Director Anderson's airplane from #46 is labeled, "Director Kane's airplane" (President Kane was the name used for Director Anderson in Battle of the Planets). The Gatchaman Publications Gallery contains Battle of the Planets books--stuff more suited for display on the Rhino Battle of the Planets DVDs, not the Gatchaman DVDs. People are getting confused enough between the two versions. And why, why are we treated to footage of that woman singing the Demon 5 song? The BotP reference is cute, but not that funny.

Of the disc commentary, the comments of the chief translator had some interesting tidbits. She goes to explain some of the difficulties trying to translate the wordplay used in the series (names for people and places). The original Tatsunoko staff had a fondness for puns. She also describes some of the difficulties she had explaining "Gatchascience," or some of the strange scientific theories used in the show. Some are wrong by current standards while others are "Well, let's babble something cool-sounding and hope nobody notices" before the age of recordable video.

Episodes: DVD Volume 7 contains the best selection of episodes, though Volume 8 is also entertaining (my favorite in the bunch is #45, "The Sea Lion Ninja Team in the Night Fog"). "The Mysterious Mechanical Jungle" (#38) is non-stop action, and you may pity Ken during his little adventure in the sewer. The Jigokiller two-parter (#39-40) brings up the question, what would the Kagaku Ninjatai do without Jun? If you like intercharacter drama, this is the storyline for you. "Murder Music" (#41) gives Edwin Neal (and the rest of the cast) the chance to ham it up with awful music puns when Berg Katse harnesses a popular rock n' roll band for evil (for the first time, I recommend the dub, because it's just so silly, it just can't be missed--crank it up to eleven and rawk on, dudes!). "The Great Breakout Trick Operation" (#42) shows how Gallactor obtains its squadrons of disposable goons, and provides a great look at Ryu, who gets caught up in the charade. Note: The more I watch the dubs, the more I am liking Victor Carsrud (Ryu). He does a great job.

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