Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions--GATCHA

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 1

And Gatchaman Crowds comes out swinging in competition for the title of best show of the season!

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 2 Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 3

As I've said before, I know nothing about the original series, so I can't compare the two. A quick look at the Wikipedia page did get a little flicker of recognition out of me, although I have no idea where I've seen it before, considering that it aired before I was born. In any case, what sold me on the show in the first place was the fact that Kenji Nakamura and the scriptwriter for Tsuritama were working on this show, so I was expecting something visually striking with engaging characters that are a little different from the norm. And that's exactly what I got.

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 4 Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 5

Most of the episode focused on our main character, Hajime, who I already adore despite generally disliking the "genki girl" archetype. The way she was presented worked really well for me--I also love stationary, although I can never use any of it because I feel like I would ruin its cuteness--and well as the fact that nothing seems to faze her. Her reaction to spontaneously joining the Gatchaman is probably close to what all of our reactions would be: ogling all the cool stuff and getting excited about the prospect of fighting aliens and having a secret base. I also like that out of the slightly off-the-wall characters that we were introduced to, Hajime is the one that stands out simply because of her personality.

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 6 Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 7

We don't get to see much in terms of actual fighting and the threat that they're facing aside from a brief explanation, but it's only the first episode, so I imagine that'll be covered in more detail son enough. I really like their tiny notepads that act as communication between them all as well as their transformation item. In the promotional art, I thought that they were smart phones, so I was pleasantly surprised that they went with a low-tech approach. That said, I still think that the "crowds" part of the title might refer to something involving social media, if the first scene is an indicator of anything.

Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions Screenshot 8

Overall, I'm really excited for this. Tsuritama had a similar approach, preferring to peel back the layers of its story as it went, and that's exactly the way I like it. This show has a lot of potential to become something really special, and I'm happy to be along for the ride.

Images from Crunchyroll.com.

3 comments:

  1. Pedro Marcelo González BoveSeptember 23, 2013 at 10:28 PM

    Have you watched the latest episodes of the series? *-* i like them, and i love the speeches the characters give about the world and people, i also heard that the new series have nothing to do with the old series (i also think i saw there was going to be a live action of the old series XD )

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  2. Yep, I've been watching it all season! It's one of my favorites from the lineup!


    The live-action version is probably the movie that just came out, but from what I heard on Twitter, it was...bad.

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  3. Pedro Marcelo González BoveSeptember 24, 2013 at 10:22 AM

    Same here, it's my favorite anime this season *-* xD i think Bird, go! will become my favorite line ever XDDD and is that so? Damn, i don't remember much about the old season, but i get the feeling i watched it when i was little, i'll read some reviews before watching the movies so i see whether to venture in or not xD

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