Title: Gatchaman (NTT/SMAP Campaign) Air Dates: August - September 30, 2000 Number of Episodes: 4 commercials (2 live action, 2 animated), website Released By: Tatsunoko Productions Current Commercial Availability: Available (see bottom of page)

Gatchaman Resurrected?

Left to right: Ryu, Jinpei, Jun, Joe and Ken. Live photo at left is of Joe.

This isn't your parents' Gatchaman, either. This is much darker, more aggressive. The new birdstyles more closely resemble the outfits seen in current live-action "spandex & latex" sentai shows, with chains and spikes in addition to the trademark winged capes and beaked visors. Roly-poly Ryu the Owl has gone leaner and meaner. The Gallactor goons appear to have been inspired by Brian Bolland's artwork, with emphasis on lots and lots of big teeth.

Why? This was all part of NTT East's month-long ISDN promotion campaign. A special web site was set up that contained:

• Flash animations of the anime characters discussing how ISDN could make their lives easier. In one, Ken gets tired of all the "rules" regarding being online, and on another, Jun explains to Joe that with ISDN, he can surf and fax at the same time.
• Two Shockwave games featuring the Condor and the Owl.
• Interviews with the SMAP characters who played the Gatchaman characters in the live action commercial.
• Downloadable MPEG files of the anime versions of the commercials.
• A Gatchaman "novel," which you had to register to receive. (Frankly, it wasn't very good--lots of posing, grunting and swearing, but none of the stuff that makes Gatchaman fun.)

"Here, Mr. Goon, have an exploding dolly!" In the live action version, the doll giggles before it blows up and Jun is played by a guy.

Where is it now? Will there be more? The commercial campaign lasted only a month, through September of 2000, and then disappeared. There has been some merchandising (Zippo-style lighters with the new character designs on them, stickers and cards), but no other word. Could this mean that Tatsunoko is considering a new Gatchaman, either in anime or live action? Truth is, we don't know. There hasn't been any word that we know of from Tatsunoko Productions indicating interest in doing a new series.

Who, or what, is SMAP? The name is an acronym for "Sports Music Assemble People", but that's not important. What's important is this group of five (formerly six) hot young teen idols is bigger than Backstreet Boys, N'Sync or any other boy band in the West. They dance, sing, act, and attract hordes of deeply devoted Japanese fans. The band itself has been around for years, though the members change constantly in keeping with the name's young pop image. This isn't the first time the group has dressed as anime characters--years ago, they dressed as the characters of popular show (at the time) St. Seiya, and performed on roller skates. For more information on SMAP in English, try the SMAP page at Japan-zone.net.

Where can I get the video? At the moment, I don't know where the video is available online. In the US, the video is available as one of the freebies on the Rhino "Best of BotP" DVD set. As of June 2005, the animated commercials were made available in two places: the bonus disc for the "Karas" Collector's Edition DVD (stock number DA-647, 8,190 yen). The live action commercials were released on a DVD called "SMAP Short Films" (stock number VIBY-15, 3,990 yen). "Karas" is Region 2 and Japanese language only. "SMAP Short Films" is Region All with English subtitles. Both discs can be purchased through http://www.amazon.co.jp or http://www.cdjapan.co.jp.