Gatchaman Crowds First Impressions--GATCHA

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

 
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.

 
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.

 
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.


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.