Hi all! A couple bits of new Gatchaman-related news has come out of Japan, and I figured you might be interested in knowing about them, even though most of us won't be able to do anything regarding them. First, all three Gatchaman TV series are going to be released on DVD once again, though in a somewhat different format this time. This time, the discs will be released individually, with three episodes per disc, through a subscription service. These discs will be sent to subscribers on a weekly basis for the 68 weeks that it will take to release all 205 Gatchaman, Gatchaman II, and Gatchaman Fighter episodes. The first disc will cost a mere 790 yen (Roughly $7.00), but the remaining 67 discs will cost 1,790 yen apiece (Roughly $16.00 each), with the first disc shipping on February 5, 2008. As should be no surprise, the subscription offer is limited to residents of Japan. Instead of coming in the standard type of DVD case, the discs will be released packed inside of a booklet. The booklet will include guides to the episodes on the disc, an art gallery, production notes, and other material of interest. Subscribers have the option of purchasing a special binder to hold the booklets. To help entice subscribers, they'll receive various special bonus goodies, like a Gatchaman mouse pad, and different figures of the Ninja Team characters, all released at various points of their subscription run. The discs are being released by the DeAgostini company, which did a test-release of the first three volumes in Niigata to see if there was enough interest in warrant a full release. Obviously, the interest was there! If you wish to see the website for this offer, it can be found here: http://www.de-club.net/gtd/ The second item is actually a follow up on something I had mentioned the last time I posted about these things; the Gatchaman cell phone RPG game from Kotobukiya Solutions. Starting on December 12th (That's today for most of us), Japanese cell phone users can go to a handful of store chains and, for a mere 525 yen fee, load the game onto their cell phones. You can see a little of what the game looks like at the official website located here: http://www.kemco.jp/applipage/07_game/gatchaman_i_a.shtml Sadly, neither of these are likely to become available to those of us outside of Japan, but at least this brings you up-to-date on the latest Gatchaman news! James

The game looks so neat! What I wouldn't give for a good Gatch RPG in the states...Thanks for sharing, James!

Thanks for the information, James! We appreciate it when you share this stuff with us! I looked through that game website... I love this...

Originally posted by tatsunokofan As should be no surprise, the subscription offer is limited to residents of Japan. James

Crap! Let's hope they'll be avaible for the rest of the world later! Thanks for info, James!

Thanks James - I'm miffed we North Americans can't get access to this fun stuff, but am thrilled that Gatchaman is being kept so alive ... Thanks for keeping us updated. You da BOMB! SJ

Wow! That's great news. The more the Japanese like it, the more likely we'll see something over here. Yeah, given the current license owner, that's still not very likely, but it's better than before.

Thanks for the info James... maybe someday we shall be overrun with Gatch items here in the USA.

Originally posted by gatchgirl Thanks for the info James... maybe someday we shall be overrun with Gatch items here in the USA.

And maybe that someday will be next Christmas!!! *Then Cloud starts to think* Although that is before the film comes out so that probably will not work.

Hi all!

Crap! Let's hope they'll be avaible for the rest of the world later!

Well, if you do want to get any of the three Gatchaman TV series on DVD, assuming you have a DVD player that can play Region 2 discs and don't mind that they'd be in Japanese without any subtitles, you can trying purchasing the box sets from places like Amazon Japan, CD Japan, or even Fujisan.com. It would be a lot faster than waiting for a subscription set, and would end up costing roughly the same amount. I can provide links, if you want them. James