The Year of Gatchaman

Gatchaman fans have A LOT to be excited about this year. There's a new series that has just started airing (it's being simulcast on Crunchyroll) called Gatchaman Crowds. It's produced by Tatsunoko Production and is directed by Kenji Nakamura.

The series takes place in the near future in the city of Tachikawa, Japan. In this series, Gatchaman are warriors who fight in special suits that are powered by the manifestation of spiritual powers of living beings called NOTE. A council has recruited individuals that have latent powers to help fight alien criminals. In recent years, the council has appointed the Gatchaman Crew to fight the mysterious entity known as MESS.

 

 

 

If a new series isn't sweet enough, there's a live action Gatchaman film being released in Japan on August 24th. This is awesome news for Geeks of a certain age whose gateway to anime was through Gatchaman (or G-Force/Battle of the Planets as it was known as in the US).

 

 

Synopsis:

 

The five serve as agents of the International Science Organization in Tokyo in the near future. Galactor, a mysterious group whose technology far surpasses that of humans, has declared war on the entire world and has already subjugated half of it. A mysterious crystal-like object called a “stone,” is humanity’s only hope. Those who are able to draw out the power of the “stones” are forced to train to become special agents in a five-person team called “Gatchaman.”