Hello everyone! Since Comic-Con is out of my reach this year (due to the high gas prices! ) I've decided to go for one day to the Anime Expo. I'll try for Friday--if that doesn't work, I'll try for Saturday. I'll go by the IMAGI booth and see if there is any Gatchaman movie info. Wish me luck!--I've got to drive to downtown L.A. (The horror!---oh the horror!)

I hope you're able to get there in one piece! I hope there's someone at the Imagi booth who can tell you something about the Gatchaman movie, even though they'll be promoting Astroboy.

Let us know what you find! From the sound of things, I'm afraid they'll be strictly focused on Astro Boy, but it would be nice if they had something on Gatchaman. If you get a chance, could you remind them that there will be a contingent of Gatchaman fans at the Comic Con, and that it would generate a lot of good will among the fan community if they made sure to have something Gatchaman-related at that con. Preferably something more than blank stares from the people manning the booth when we ask them about the movie, which is what I'm afraid is all we might get. Have fun at the convention, and we'll be looking forward to hearing how things went! James

Have fun, Condorfan! Hope you're able to get some good info!

We'll be waiting for some news from you!

Good luck Condorfan! I hope you are able to return with some good news for us.

I hope you have a great time, Condorfan! Let us know what you find out!!!!

Many hopes for great news from the Condorfan....

TJ will be there with her Yo-yo, and big stick...so if they refuse to give the Swan J information... :

Thanks to all for your well wishes! (I could use some of the Condor's shuriken to get some info out of IMAGI.....he he) I just found out that the Astroboy movie will be screened at the Expo. I will try to see that if possible to get a look at the style and storytelling. Wouldn't it be cool if they had a Gatchaman trailer? (I hope I hope I hope!)

Hi all! I would suspect that this is a preview of the Astro Boy movie, not the movie itself. The film is still in production, and won't be released until next year, but Imagi is at the convention to get some advance publicity for it. Yes, it would be very, very nice if they had something on Gatchaman as well, but expect Astro Boy to be their main focus. Again, if they don't have much on Gatchaman at Anime Expo, please remind them that there will be a contingent of Gatchaman fans swarming their booth at Comic Con, and that we'd appreciate it if they had something on that film at the con. And if they do have Gatchaman material at Anime Expo, please remind them to make certain they bring it with them to San Diego as well! Hey, I figure every reminder of this helps! James

Okay Gatchamaniacs--I'm back and have some news some good, some bad so be prepared. Astroboy is the movie Imagi is heavily promoting. It will be out in Fall of 2009. I asked one of the Imagi reps about Gatchaman and she said it would likely be released in 2010 or 2011. With the change of director, they are having to go back to redo character designs. A script is written and storyboards have been done but there were none at the booth. However, they did show a brief animation test of some Gatchaman footage which will be shown at Comic Con. The only faces I got to see were Jun and Joe (I assumed it was Joe since he was driving a Ferrari type car). There were brief flashes of the birdstyles but they resembled the outfits from the OVA Gatchaman. I also saw the Phoenix, in regular and Firebird mode, it reminded me of the ship in the X-Men movie but from what I saw it had the different compartments for each of the team's vehicles. One scene showed Joe and some guy making a drop off at some shipping docks. The other guy puts down the suitcase of money from some punk buying a heavy duty gun (most likely a Galactor gun). As the deal is going down, Joe chugs back his beer (or soda), throws it out the window and throws the car in reverse grabbing the suitcase on the way. He turns the car around and peels away from the gun deal. The guy who was with Joe shouts something at him and the guy with the gun fires a missle at Joe's fleeing vehicle. Joe can't outrun it so he turns the car sideways allowing the missle to pass through his open drivers window and out the open passenger window on the other side (Very cool!) where it blows up some bad guys. There was a brief glimpse of Jun with the yo-yo down on its string. From what was shown Joe and Jun look nothing like the Tatsunoko drawings. HOWEVER, the Imagi rep said these were computer tests and the characters may not look like this when the movie comes out. The footage was dated May 19, 2008. There was also some brief fighting scenes but I couldn't make out if it was Ken or Joe doing the fighting. There is one shot of the team in civvies walking away. I recognized Ryu with 05 on his shirt but the shot was only from the back. He looked very muscular--reminded me of a football quarterback. Both Ken and Joe looked muscular from what I could see. Again, it was brief and the characters were walking away from the camera. There were some shots of Utoland which was kind of like what was seen in the Speed Racer movie but as you went down to street level, it seemed more dark and dank. Didn't see any Galactor soldiers, Berg Katse or a mecha (although there was a shot with two planes heading toward a spriral shaped mountain (?) That's what I can remember. I'm thinking of going again tomorrow. I try to watch it some more. I can't tape it because they won't allow it--I may try to get some pictures though. P.S. I attended part of an ADV panel and spoke to one of the founders (I forgot his name-darn!). He said that ADV had been having financial difficulties but have got a new sponsor which they hope to announce in the near future. I complimented him on the Gatchaman DVD's and he thanked me. I asked if it was possible that ADV would do a dub of Gatch 2 and Gatch F. He said that a live action Gatchaman movie was being made and that studio didn't want an English dub around until the movie was finished. (Why I don't know). If I can remember anything else, I'll post it.

Thank you Condorfan for the great information. If you go back I am sure we would love to know if you learn anything new or see anything else. Otherwise i guess we will have to wait until we her from the Con in San Diego.

Wow, Condorfan, thanks so much for the scoop!!!! Now, please just remind them to bring this to COmiCon and we will be super happy! Yay!!!! Thank you so much!!!

They'll make more money if they don't dub them before the movie comes out... (Gatch 2 and fighter.)

Originally posted by Condorfan Okay Gatchamaniacs--I'm back and have some news some good, some bad so be prepared. Astroboy is the movie Imagi is heavily promoting. It will be out in Fall of 2009. I asked one of the Imagi reps about Gatchaman and she said it would likely be released in 2010 or 2011. With the change of director, they are having to go back to redo character designs. A script is written and storyboards have been done but there were none at the booth. However, they did show a brief animation test of some Gatchaman footage which will be shown at Comic Con. The only faces I got to see were Jun and Joe (I assumed it was Joe since he was driving a Ferrari type car). There were brief flashes of the birdstyles but they resembled the outfits from the OVA Gatchaman. I also saw the Phoenix, in regular and Firebird mode, it reminded me of the ship in the X-Men movie but from what I saw it had the different compartments for each of the team's vehicles. One scene showed Joe and some guy making a drop off at some shipping docks. The other guy puts down the suitcase of money from some punk buying a heavy duty gun (most likely a Galactor gun). As the deal is going down, Joe chugs back his beer (or soda), throws it out the window and throws the car in reverse grabbing the suitcase on the way. He turns the car around and peels away from the gun deal. The guy who was with Joe shouts something at him and the guy with the gun fires a missle at Joe's fleeing vehicle. Joe can't outrun it so he turns the car sideways allowing the missle to pass through his open drivers window and out the open passenger window on the other side (Very cool!) where it blows up some bad guys. There was a brief glimpse of Jun with the yo-yo down on its string. From what was shown Joe and Jun look nothing like the Tatsunoko drawings. HOWEVER, the Imagi rep said these were computer tests and the characters may not look like this when the movie comes out. The footage was dated May 19, 2008. There was also some brief fighting scenes but I couldn't make out if it was Ken or Joe doing the fighting. There is one shot of the team in civvies walking away. I recognized Ryu with 05 on his shirt but the shot was only from the back. He looked very muscular--reminded me of a football quarterback. Both Ken and Joe looked muscular from what I could see. Again, it was brief and the characters were walking away from the camera. There were some shots of Utoland which was kind of like what was seen in the Speed Racer movie but as you went down to street level, it seemed more dark and dank. Didn't see any Galactor soldiers, Berg Katse or a mecha (although there was a shot with two planes heading toward a spriral shaped mountain (?) That's what I can remember. I'm thinking of going again tomorrow. I try to watch it some more. I can't tape it because they won't allow it--I may try to get some pictures though. P.S. I attended part of an ADV panel and spoke to one of the founders (I forgot his name-darn!). He said that ADV had been having financial difficulties but have got a new sponsor which they hope to announce in the near future. I complimented him on the Gatchaman DVD's and he thanked me. I asked if it was possible that ADV would do a dub of Gatch 2 and Gatch F. He said that a live action Gatchaman movie was being made and that studio didn't want an English dub around until the movie was finished. (Why I don't know). If I can remember anything else, I'll post it.

What's the bad news? That it might not be out until 2011? That Joe litters? It sounds like much of the characters' and the film's look is still being developed, but this is very interesting what you've found out for us! I wish ADV well -I am grateful to them for making it possible for me to discover Gatchaman.

Wow! That's some great info, Condorfan! Thanks so much! I do hate to hear a possible 2011...UGH...it was originally scheduled for this year...but, I don't mind waiting as long as they do it justice...

Originally posted by lborgia88

Originally posted by Condorfan Okay Gatchamaniacs--I'm back and have some news some good, some bad so be prepared. Astroboy is the movie Imagi is heavily promoting. It will be out in Fall of 2009. I asked one of the Imagi reps about Gatchaman and she said it would likely be released in 2010 or 2011. With the change of director, they are having to go back to redo character designs. A script is written and storyboards have been done but there were none at the booth. However, they did show a brief animation test of some Gatchaman footage which will be shown at Comic Con. The only faces I got to see were Jun and Joe (I assumed it was Joe since he was driving a Ferrari type car). There were brief flashes of the birdstyles but they resembled the outfits from the OVA Gatchaman. I also saw the Phoenix, in regular and Firebird mode, it reminded me of the ship in the X-Men movie but from what I saw it had the different compartments for each of the team's vehicles. One scene showed Joe and some guy making a drop off at some shipping docks. The other guy puts down the suitcase of money from some punk buying a heavy duty gun (most likely a Galactor gun). As the deal is going down, Joe chugs back his beer (or soda), throws it out the window and throws the car in reverse grabbing the suitcase on the way. He turns the car around and peels away from the gun deal. The guy who was with Joe shouts something at him and the guy with the gun fires a missle at Joe's fleeing vehicle. Joe can't outrun it so he turns the car sideways allowing the missle to pass through his open drivers window and out the open passenger window on the other side (Very cool!) where it blows up some bad guys. There was a brief glimpse of Jun with the yo-yo down on its string. From what was shown Joe and Jun look nothing like the Tatsunoko drawings. HOWEVER, the Imagi rep said these were computer tests and the characters may not look like this when the movie comes out. The footage was dated May 19, 2008. There was also some brief fighting scenes but I couldn't make out if it was Ken or Joe doing the fighting. There is one shot of the team in civvies walking away. I recognized Ryu with 05 on his shirt but the shot was only from the back. He looked very muscular--reminded me of a football quarterback. Both Ken and Joe looked muscular from what I could see. Again, it was brief and the characters were walking away from the camera. There were some shots of Utoland which was kind of like what was seen in the Speed Racer movie but as you went down to street level, it seemed more dark and dank. Didn't see any Galactor soldiers, Berg Katse or a mecha (although there was a shot with two planes heading toward a spriral shaped mountain (?) That's what I can remember. I'm thinking of going again tomorrow. I try to watch it some more. I can't tape it because they won't allow it--I may try to get some pictures though. P.S. I attended part of an ADV panel and spoke to one of the founders (I forgot his name-darn!). He said that ADV had been having financial difficulties but have got a new sponsor which they hope to announce in the near future. I complimented him on the Gatchaman DVD's and he thanked me. I asked if it was possible that ADV would do a dub of Gatch 2 and Gatch F. He said that a live action Gatchaman movie was being made and that studio didn't want an English dub around until the movie was finished. (Why I don't know). If I can remember anything else, I'll post it.

What's the bad news? That it might not be out until 2011? That Joe litters? It sounds like much of the characters' and the film's look is still being developed, but this is very interesting what you've found out for us! I wish ADV well -I am grateful to them for making it possible for me to discover Gatchaman.

lborgia, let me clarify. For me it was bad news that the movie may not be out next year as I was really hoping it would be. I don't like the idea of waiting until 2011 but I agree that with Springie that it is better to wait and do the film justice. P.S. Imagi rep said this footage will be shown at Comic-Con but doesn't think there will be any major announcements about Gatchaman as they are promoting Astroboy.

Originally posted by Condorfan lborgia, let me clarify. For me it was bad news that the movie may not be out next year as I was really hoping it would be. I don't like the idea of waiting until 2011 but I agree that with Springie that it is better to wait and do the film justice.

I figured that was what you meant. I remember when I first heard about this film (back in late 2006, I think), they were talking about a 2008 release. It keeps getting pushed back! Sigh. You guys are right though, that that's better than a badly done rush job. (I still think Joe shouldn't be throwing cans out his car window though ) Thanks for letting us know about what you saw at the Expo!

Originally posted by lborgia88 What's the bad news? That Joe litters?

You crack me up, LB!!!!

Originally posted by Condorfan P.S. Imagi rep said this footage will be shown at Comic-Con but doesn't think there will be any major announcements about Gatchaman as they are promoting Astroboy.

Whoo hoo! Thank you, Condorfan! We really appreciate the scoops you have given us!

Originally posted by lborgia88 (I still think Joe shouldn't be throwing cans out his car window though )

What if the can was a Molotov cocktail?

Originally posted by Transmute Jun

Originally posted by lborgia88 (I still think Joe shouldn't be throwing cans out his car window though )

What if the can was a Molotov cocktail?

But he was drinking from it! Then again, we are talking about the guy who puts his shuriken in his mouth, so anything is possible.