Review: ADV Gatchaman Box Set 9

Cover art for box 9Released by: ADV Films
Release Date: 17 October, 2006
Price: $34.99 suggested retail price; sale prices may vary
Contains: Episodes #96-105 + bonus disc
Languages: Japanese, English subtitles, English dub
Region: 1 (US)
Extras:



Attention Vibrator Unit! Our Black Hole Operation should begin momentarily, but before that, commence Operation Vibrate!
--Berg Katse

This box theme uses the red bird-head symbol over black. Funeral colors as we say farewell to one of our heroes.

Some comments about the translations: The translations of these final episodes are the hardest for me to review. Until now, the only English language material I've had to rely on are the fan translations and the ones I've done on my own. Naturally, my word choices aren't the same as the ADV translation staff's, and sometimes these clash. Add to that my fannish devotion to staying as close to the original Japanese in inflection and meaning as possible, which sometimes makes for some stilted English with a lot of footnotes. ADV's purpose was to make the dialogue as easily understandable to American sensibilities as possible while fitting in the allotted time space for each speaker.
That being said, I thought there was a bit of weirdness going on with the translations in these final two volumes. The subtitles were long and required speed-reading to shoehorn them into the episodes. And in at least one spot, we had the sub saying one thing while the dub said another (#103: Joe said he valued his life in the sub, but that he valued his teammates' lives in the dub--the sub is correct). In spots, the dub voices seemed strained, with the fake silly accents rushed (the doctor in #102 couldn't make up his mind if he was East Indian or French). On the other hand, kudos to Brian Campbell for making a crucial moment for Joe actually superior to the original and to the sub (Joe's weary, "Tsukareta ze" moment in #103).
Rant: Using the word, "frickin'" in either a sub or a dub is just stupid and ruins the moment. Don't do it.

Comments about the extras: The voice actor Q&A session came from ADV's solicitation a few months ago for viewer questions. This was a nice idea, and the presentation was kind of cute (pardon while I airplane-geek over the spiffy Cessna 195). It ran a bit long, though.

Episode commentary: Unfortunately, I didn't find much of interest here. Director Charles Campbell mentions "an upcoming live-action Gatchaman film" [note: it'll be CGI, not live], and Gatchaman II/Fighter are casually mentioned. However, there is no information to the effect that ADV plans to continue with those series.

Episodes: All of the episodes are worth a good look. The weakest in the bunch, in terms of plot and art quality, would be "Gatchaman 20 Years Later" (the episode also seems to be the one that had suffered the most damage in storage). The rest are of top quality, and episodes #102-105 have never been released in English. It shouldn't take you long to see why--by kid-vid standards, they're brutal.

Volume 17:
Joe and Ken begin to fight in #101#96: "Storm Galactor's Headquarters!" Released in Battle of the Planets as "Vacation on Venus," this episode takes our heroes to the American Midwest where they unlock the mystery of a damaged "Death Buffalo" kachina mecha. Witness road rage in the back canyons, spaghetti-serving fashion disasters and misguided vigilantes with underwater ranches in the desert! Seriously, it's a fun episode.
#97: "Leona 3, the Spaceship with No Tomorrow" Galactor knocks the ISO space shuttle, Leona 3, off course and turns it into a missile targeting the nuclear power plant on the island of Sainan. If the astronauts don't make the ultimate sacrifice, thousands will die.
#98: "Grape Bomber, the Spherical Iron Beast" Joe's health problems, witnessed back in #78, are back, and are sapping his strength and confidence. A blinding headache causes Joe to lose control of his car, hit an old lady, and miss a mission, and an angry Nambu responds by sending him on a special assignment: to bring back the scientist who created Galactor's Grape Bomber mecha. Will Joe be able to carry out his mission and restore his confidence, or will he lose it all?
#99: "The Wounded G-2" A fall on deck during a battle aggravates Joe's illness, and now his symptoms are revealed for the whole team to see. When he fails to hold the Tatsumaki Fighter ("Whirlwind Pyramid" in BotP) together, Ken sends him back to the ship to rest, but there's no rest for the weary, and Joe begs for a half-second of clarity in order to save his team.
#100: "Gatchaman 20 Years Later": Ken is sent to bodyguard Dr. Maxim on a plane trip to the Arctic Sea to dispose of some crucial microfilm. A Galactor attack sends Ken 20 years to a grim future where Galactor has taken over, and a grown-up Jinpei now heads the security forces.

Volume 18:
#101: "The Sniper Group Heavy Cobra" Released on "Battle of the Planets" as "The Conway Tape Tap," this episode begins with the team's leader and second-in-command facing off in a back alley. G-1 is worried about G-2's performance in the past few episodes, and G-2 wants G-1 to mind his own damn business. The Gatchaman episode shows what happens during the resulting "man to man talk." Joe later plots to show Ken and Jun that he is still capable of fighting on the team, and he accomplishes it with style. For now. This episode has some of the most outstanding art and action scenes in the Gatchaman series.
#102: "Reversal! Checkmate X": From this point on, none of these episodes have previously been released in English outside of fansubs and bootlegs. Dr. Nambu has been studying the information on Katse he obtained back in #88, and Katse wants both him and his research stopped. Galactor's seemingly effortless capture of Nambu is interrupted by Condor Joe, who had mistaken one of their agents for a medical doctor. But Katse has a surprise waiting for Joe: the Megaziner primed and ready to zap him out of Birdstyle. Joe gives as good as he gets, however, and Katse's true face is revealed to the world.
#103: "G-2 Risks Death": This title says it all. Now that his identity has been revealed, it's a simple matter for Galactor to track down and capture a gravely ill Condor Joe. Aboard the enemy mecha and face-to-face with Katse, Joe proves that there's nothing as dangerous as a cornered Condor. However, his illness saps his strength, and Joe is captured and badly beaten. Joe manages to escape, but winds up in a bed at a quiet mountain clinic, where he overhears a doctor tell Nambu that Joe has ten days at most to put his affairs in order. One of those affairs is at a place called Cross Karakoram (translated oddly in the show as "Karakoram Cross," but then again, they got "Jutland" out of Utoland, which I also don't understand). So Joe heads to the Himalayas and Galactor's motherbase at Cross Karakoram for the final showdown.
Red Impulse members Oniish and Masaki rejoin their leader.#104: "The Evil Grand Black Hole Operation": The Science Ninja Team is distracted by two things: their search for Joe and a decoy catfish mecha that is presumably causing earthquakes (culture note: according to Japanese mythology, earthquakes were caused by the thrashing of giant underground catfish). By the time our heroes get on the right trail, Sosai X's plan to destroy the Earth, the Black Hole Operation, is already in full swing. Meanwhile, at Cross Karakoram, a dying Joe is revived by a nasty drug cocktail so Katse can taunt him a little longer. Masquerading as Galactor soldiers, the last two members of Red Impulse obtain Joe's bracelet and use it to call the Science Ninja Team into the base. However, the two soldiers pay dearly for this, and in the ensuing explosion, Ken and the others are locked outside the base.
#105: "Earth's Destruction! 0002": Sosai X wants to destroy the Earth with a neutron reaction within the Earth's mantle. The Science Ninja Team wants to get into the base to stop Katse and this Black Hole Operation. A dying Joe wants to let them into the base. And so the series reaches its dramatic conclusion. Translation note: Good job on Joe's farewell speech and Ken's final words to him.



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