Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman
Earth is under attack by Galactor, a terrorist organization waging destruction on the world using high-tech mecha and bio-weapons. Professor Nambu of the International Science Organisation creates a counterforce to combat this evil; the bird-themed Science Ninja team. Together leader Ken (Eagle), hot-headed Jô (Condor), explosives expert Jun (Swan), scout Jinpei (Swallow), and pilot Ryu (Owl) do what they can to beat back Galactor’s forces with their supreme fighting skills, agility and advanced machinery including their supersonic aircraft God Phoenix.
Language: English dub / Japanese
Country of Origin: Japan
Alternate Titles: Battle of the Planets (USA), G-Force: Guardians of Space (USA)
| Katsuji Mori | ... Ôwashi no Ken / Ken Washio |
| Isao Sasaki | ... Kondoru no Jô / Jô Asakura |
| Kazuko Sugiyama | ... Shiratori no Jun |
| Yoku Shioya | ... Tsubakuro no Jinpei / Junpei |
| Shingo Kanemoto | ... Mimizuku no Ryû / Ryû Nakanishi |
| Tôru Ôhira | ... Kôzaburô Nambu |
| Mikio Terashima | ... Berugu Kattse |
| Nobuo Tanaka | ... Sôsai Ekksu |
| Hideo Kinoshita | ... Narêtâ |
| Alan Young | ... 7-Zark-7, Keyop (Battle of the Planets) |
| Keye Luke | ... Zoltar, The Great Spirit, Colonel Cronus (BotP) |
| Ronnie Schell | ... Jason (BotP) |
| Janet Waldo | ... Princess, Susan (BotP) |
| Casey Kasem | ... Mark (BotP) |
| Alan Dinehart | ... Tiny Harper, Chief Anderson (BotP) |
| William Woodson | ... Narrator, other voices (BotP) |
| Bill Capizzi | ... Galactor (G-Force) |
| Cam Clarke | ... Dirk Daring, Red Impulse (G-Force) |
| Sam Fontana | ... Ace Goodhart (G-Force) |
| Barbara Goodson | ... Agatha June, Pee-Wee (G-Force) |
| Jan Rabson | ... Hooty, Professor Brighthead (G-Force) |
Different versions of this specific anime have existed…
The Original Japanese anime - naturally.
Battle of the Planets - 1978
When this series was first brought over to the West in 1978, as Battle of the Planets, it was cut and re-edited to remove its scenes of violence, as well as heavily implied and onscreen deaths: this was to accommodate TV guidelines of the time. New footage was created featuring an android named 7-Zark-7 to weave the story along. The characters names were also changed from their originals, as well as the enemies from Galactor to the somewhat nonsensical “alien galaxies from beyond space” as the narrator puts it, or the planet Spectra and its leader Zoltar, in the adaptation’s continually.
G-Force: Guardians of Space - 1987
The series received a second dub in 1987, titled G-Force: Guardians of Space: it was less censored and followed the plot of the original anime more closely. Despite sticking closer to the original source material, this version was not well received and was cancelled after 13 episodes of its first run. Later, G-Force became the first anime to appear on Cartoon Network, which showed all of the 85 episodes that had been dubbed. This version was directed by Alan Dinehart, who also provided his voice.
Gatchaman - 2005
Finally anime distributor A.D. Vision did a third re-dubbing of the series in 2005, with all 105 episodes intact as they originally ran. The re-dub was released on DVD in multiple volumes and, of course with an optional Japanese language soundtrack.
The crew credits list those who worked on the original Gatchaman.
