LB called this the 'Starbuck Factor'. Sometimes, when a show is remade, the producers feel that there is a need for women to be more represented. So let's pretend... Gatchaman is being remade for the 21st century. At least one of the characters must be changed form male to female (and no, Katse doesn't count ). Whom would you change? Recently I was introduced to the Jetman series, which was an 'homage' to Gatchaman, to the point of naming all but one of the Bird characters after their Gatchaman counterparts. In that series, the Swallow was a female, as was the Chief (the Dr. Nambu role). IMHO, it worked well in that series, and I could see it working in a Gatchaman revision as well. IIRC, there was also some discussion of making Red Impulse female (i.e. Ken's mother, not his father) in the OAVs. That certainly would have been interesting! Any other thoughts?

A female Nambu would work. Perhaps Green could suggest a female variant on Kozaburo (given that his name is Ko-Sabu-ro, 'Diligent Third Son' in the ideograms, I suppose 'Diligent Third Daughter' would work). How about a female Condor, with all the revenge and smolder in place? That could be -- interesting.

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter How about a female Condor, with all the revenge and smolder in place? That could be -- interesting.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I, for one would do the same thing that I did with the new battlestar galactica and boycot it completely. That being said, I think for any of the team characters, fans of those characters would feel much the same. Recasting the support characters as different gender and making them stronger roles I could see. Now, one thing that might work would be to completely switch genders for everyone. Some would view as a parody, but that doesn't mean it would have to be silly. Plus you won't have fans sitting there thinking, "why'd they change this character but not that one?"

I agree with Amethyst! I cannot see anyone of the main characters having a change in gender! ... more female, kick-ass, supporting characters, yes! Not that I'm contrary to more female presence ... not at all! LOL ... I'm one who fights hard for my rights of being a woman, but or I'm so used to the characters as they are, or I cannot see the same male characters we're used to, with their individual background, as being changed into females! It just wouldn't remain Gatchaman for me!!

[i]IIRC, there was also some discussion of making Red Impulse female (i.e. Ken's mother, not his father) in the OAVs. That certainly would have been interesting! Any other thoughts?

Hi all, Hopefully I'm not repeating any information that has been posted before, but you very nearly got an all-female Red Impulse team back in 1998. Tatsunoko had planned out a new Gatchaman series where all the characters and their origins were twisted around. For the Red Impulse team they had the following description: "Red Impulse - A five-member female team whose ages range from 10 - 18 years old. Like the Ninja Team, the Red Impulse team was created, trained and outfitted by Nambu and the ISO with the same types of technology. However, since the Ninja Team's defection from the ISO, the Red Impulse team has orders to track down and punish the Ninja Team. But there is one final fact unknown to Jun, and even to Nambu; the leader of the Red Impulse team is none other than Jun's long-lost younger sister!"

Wow ... that surely seems a very interesting and intricate plot! And, did I understand right?! ... the Ninja Team was supposed to have defected from the ISO?!!

I could see the Swallow changing gender, but not the other characters of the team itself. I'm ambivalent to Dr. Nambu/Chief Anderson. If done right, it would be fine. But the Eagle or the Condor? No, don't anyone dare change them.

It would be interesting to see what sort of circumstances they would defect as a team would defect as a whole. I can't see them joining Galactor; however, could they see the ISO and Galactor as two sides of the same coin and fight them both?

Yes, the Ninja Team took off on their own in this version. A bit more of the translated notes I prepared... "In an effort to ensure the Ninja Team would complete their missions no matter the cost, the ISO made plans to brainwash the team. They wanted to make them into ruthless killing machines. When word of the plan reached Nambu, he decided that he and the Ninja Team would desert the ISO to fight Galactor themselves." The idea was they were going to finish most of their training using all the ISO facilities, then leave to start their own base before the brainwashing program began. Then the female Red Impulse team would be sent to try to bring them back. It could have been interesting.

I was half-kidding about a female Condor. It would have been interesting, though. And that idea that the SNT goes independent is rather intriguing. (I liked the female Starbuck. Once it was obvious the new BSG wasn't a retread of the original, I had no problem with her.) Female Nambu, and maybe more of a look at the support crew for the team. Plenty of range for female scientists and engineers. (Could not resist that smilie.) Perhaps a few female Captains of the Week? And more Devilstars. Lots more Devilstars.

UW, I didn't mean to come across so strong. When I read TJ's post I was going to mention "anyone but the Condor would be fine with me"; but then I read your's and gut reaction took place. But yeah, I agree with you, that Galactor needs more females. Of course so does the ISO, they had one female scientist in three shows. Back to Galactor, do you think that Katse could have been afraid that a woman might have discovered his/her secret and kept the women to Devilstars and only a few of them, dealt with in person, only in his female form. We saw that with the only female CoW that the first show had.

You mean Maia? Poor thing barely qualified as a Captain of the Week. Now, Katse worrying that women might notice his/her dual nature would make for an interesting plot element. But would they? I don't see Katse interacting a lot with the various minions anyway. Maybe you could write some fics with that as an element. Your own AU of Gatchaman. I know you're a serious Condor fan. If I'd known you would have such a strong reaction, I'd have made the tongue in cheek clearer.

This is really interesting. The SNT as independant agents is a fascinating concept. Would love to see someone run with that one. Also, I'm going against the tread here of feeling like our individual favorite characters shouldn't be messed with. I could very easily imagine the Swallow as a female. While it would take some getting used to, I could deal with it. Would love to see someone run with these ideas in the BotP universe. I know those characters so much better and would love to see what an author would do with them as independants.

I'm thinking a completely redone series here. I'd be interested in seeing a re-imagining, even if my favorite character(s) changed gender. It doesn't take away from the original show. That being said, I think I'd have the most difficult time with the Condor change gender. Jason, I had never heard of that 1998 proposal! That sounds really interesting, and I love the idea of the ninjas 'defecting' but really being the good guys. And the show focuses around Red Impulse being the 'bad guys' and tracking them down... kind of like Yatterman, where the villains are the heroes! Except there would be an important difference: the idea that the 'villains' had the potential to be redeemed, if they could be made to see that what the ISO was doing was wrong. Yes, that could have been wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing your information with us!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Sometimes, when a show is remade, the producers feel that there is a need for women to be more represented.

IMHO, it looks like that producers have to create something new, but absolutely don`t know what to do, so they choose the easiest way and change anybody`s gender to attract attention. So, it isn`t a need for women to be more represented, it`s just a deficiency of interesting ideas.

Originally posted by Transmute JunWhom would you change?

Anyone of nameless characters, nobody cares about them and their gender

Some reboots work very well. So they change the sex and/or race of a couple of characters. If it works, it works. Other reboots don't work. Times change. The spy shows of the 1960s and 1970s would need considerable retooling to work. (The 1990s Mission: Impossible remake had the IMF chasing assorted bad guys, because 'meddling in the politics of foreign countries for their own good' had been discredited by real life.) Even such fondly remembered shows as 'Dragnet' and 'Adam-12' seem charmingly innocent after all the revelations about police misconduct (around the country) and a certain infamous video of LAPD officers ruining it for everyone. That said, a 'Gatchaman' reboot could work. Put it a few years into the future, a little more thought into spackling the plot holes, and the GodPhoenix could hit the air again. There may not be quite so much 'mecha-battle of the week' as in the old show, but as long as it remained an ensemble show and kept the heart of the team as a family, it could be a success. Hmm: Director Anderson could be a woman.

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriterHmm: Director Anderson could be a woman.

I'd have to watch again, but didn't the OAV's do that?

I don't remember. Maybe I'm still traumatized by what they did to Nambu's fashion sense (what he had of it in the original show).

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter I don't remember. Maybe I'm still traumatized by what they did to Nambu's fashion sense (what he had of it in the original show).

Understandable! Of course what they did to Ken, Jinpei, and Ryu wasn't much better. Makes what they did to Joe and Jun look tame.

Maybe they could give Dr Nambu a female assistant scientist as a regular on the series... Id put my hand up for the job

Originally posted by PalyNerd Maybe they could give Dr Nambu a female assistant scientist as a regular on the series... Id put my hand up for the job

You think like Tatsunoko, Palynerd! They actually pretty much did just that, in the second half of Gatchaman II, with the character of Dr. Sylvie Pandora. I remember being very surprised, way back when, when I first heard that the new BSG series was going to have a female Starbuck, thinking "What are they doing?" But, as much as I'd liked watching the original BSG as a kid, I didn't have a really strong connection to it and hadn't seen it since the late 70s, so I pretty much regarded the new BSG as just a completely different show that just happened to have some similar premises, and names -and that worked great for me. When the Lord of the Rings movies were being filmed, I remember that rumors got out that they were planning to have the character of Arwen (one of the very few female characters) replace Glorfindel in the scene where he gives his horse to an ailing Frodo so that he can get to Rivendell quickly, and fans were mostly willing to tolerate that, but then it got out later that they were also planning to have her present at the Battle of Helms Deep in "The Two Towers," sword-fighting and everything. Fan outrage then against "Xena-Arwen" and this attempt to drastically change the story in order to manufacture a more prominent female character was such that the idea was dropped and the already-filmed footage of her there was never used! So, when I heard that Imagi was planning to make a Gatchaman movie, a part of my mind thought "Oh dear, someone who controls the purse-strings but who knows little about the series itself is probably going to look at the script and say there aren't enough female characters..." (I mean, look what happened to the God Phoenix in Gatch F, after the toymaker Popy got their way regarding its design -sometimes the creators of a show have to cave to outside agendas). I actually had a strong feeling, then, that Dr. Nambu might well get turned into a woman (if a gender switch was going to occur, he seemed the most likely candidate). Of course, as it turned out, Imagi kept him male but changed his race. Thanks to TJ, I did get a chance to watch some episodes of the homage-to-Gatchaman show, Jetman, at the Con in July and I laughed when I saw that its "Dr. Nambu" equivalent was a woman, and that its "Swallow" was too (actually, I laughed about a lot of things -the series is hysterically funny!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Djin_Sentai_Jetman I don't think I could ever handle Ken or Joe being turned into female characters (or I'd sure need a LOT of persuading to watch a reimagined Gatchaman that did that) but I admit I could see it making some interesting changes if, say, Dr. Nambu, Jinpei or Ryu got gender-swapped -or Red Impulse (Thank you, Jason, for that interesting bit of info!)- or at least I'd be curious enough to watch without immediately descending into outrage. A female Swallow would probably get along differently with Jun, or even have an innocent crush on Joe. A female Owl piloting the God Phoenix, or a female Dr. Nambu could shift the dynamic in interesting ways too, in the hands of good writers.

Originally posted by The Other Jason

[i]IIRC, there was also some discussion of making Red Impulse female (i.e. Ken's mother, not his father) in the OAVs. That certainly would have been interesting! Any other thoughts?

Hi all, Hopefully I'm not repeating any information that has been posted before, but you very nearly got an all-female Red Impulse team back in 1998. Tatsunoko had planned out a new Gatchaman series where all the characters and their origins were twisted around. For the Red Impulse team they had the following description: "Red Impulse - A five-member female team whose ages range from 10 - 18 years old. Like the Ninja Team, the Red Impulse team was created, trained and outfitted by Nambu and the ISO with the same types of technology. However, since the Ninja Team's defection from the ISO, the Red Impulse team has orders to track down and punish the Ninja Team. But there is one final fact unknown to Jun, and even to Nambu; the leader of the Red Impulse team is none other than Jun's long-lost younger sister!"

If it has been posted here, I didn't remember it! Wow! That sounds VERY interesting! I would have loved to have seen that play out! Anyone interested in using that idea for a fanfic? I'd be happy to draw some pictures...

Okies, I'm hoping everyone is sitting down for this, because *shock* *gasp* I could easily see a female Condor with almost all of the traits of the original. Yes, why not? We're talking about a remake here, not changing the original series. If we seriously held onto everything remaining the same then we would never had a female Captain in Star Trek - or an African-American one either - and that franchise has a far bigger and more vocal fan base than Gatchaman. Neither of them were Kirk and yet both series survived and stood out on their own. Each Captain had their own personalities yet upheld the ideal of a Star Fleet Captain in behaviour and honour. So as long as we are not talking 'Kendi' and 'Josephine' then I personally think it would be interesting to see female versions of our favourite birdies that share the traits that made the originals the Eagle and the Condor. Oh, and just for a side note - I know a Jun. Known Jun longer than I've known about Gatchaman. He's a lovely guy with one hell of a voice. Does a version of 'Hungry like the Wolf' that you just wouldn't believe wasn't Simon Le Bon singing. Yep - Japan had their own cover band of Duran Duran!

The difference with Star Trek was the examples you gave were closer to sequels than remakes. If you look at the latest Star Trek movie, that received a lot of criticism because it canon shafted everything that came before it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that because it is Star Trek, in about three years another film will come out that will fix that. Now, if we are talking redrafting the entire team with new characters, not just changing a few; that definitely has potential to be interesting. Both Lori MacDonald and Madilayn have written stories based connecting Gatchaman and BotP as sequel teams with generations in between and they've worked very well.

I thought the new Star Trek movie worked well. Yeah, it messed around with canon, but it also provided an interesting, canon-consistent reason why those changes had occurred. To me, that enhances the story, because things might not turn out *exactly* as you anticipate... and that's what keeps it fresh.

Agree TJ I did not want to see remakes of the classic Star Trek films and now there is a completely new avenue of possibility with the story. After all it affects not only the original series, it affects the next generation, voyager, ds9, and other spin offs. Can't wait for the next installment!

Alara Rogers wrote 'Target: Gatchaman'* with a female Eagle (Mari) and did a bloody good job. That said, where the team's involved, I'd prefer an entirely new female character to a gender switch. Seeing a 'female' Eagle, Condor or Owl would be painful, for me. But the good doctor (Nambu or whoever) doing a gender switch... that would really depend. And as for the Captains of the Week... not going there. * http://www.gatchfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=601

I didn't mean to completely dis the new Star Trek movie. Some really good things came out of. Even though the story did canon-shaft what came before it was engaging and leaves room for me. I'd like to see them fix it as that is what Star Trek does (they make a mess and then fix it, even if it goes against Star Fleet Regulations). Bruce Greenwood did a brilliant job of bringing Christopher Pike to life and it does make me wonder how the series might have looked if Roddenberry got is first pilot approved. The other actors did a very good role of stepping into very large shoes to fill. The only thing I was truly disappointed in, and perhaps it could be explained by the shifted timeline was what happened to Pike's original executive officer the female known only as Number One?

This is a very interesting topic. Like many of you I would say it would be hard to have a women replace the Condor - all the angst and the loner attitude that he carries would be very hard for a Woman to carry out, I think. I know it could be done, but women tend to want to connect more when they are hurt rather than withdraw. I could see many of the other characters having a gender change though. Yes even my favourite, the Eagle. I would not like/prefer that to happen but I could see it. Like many of you I could easily see Nambu's character becoming female, but I would also like to see a team with a more equal male/female quotient 3 male 2 female or 3 female and 2 male.

Originally posted by clouddancer Like many of you I would say it would be hard to have a women replace the Condor - all the angst and the loner attitude that he carries would be very hard for a Woman to carry out, I think. I know it could be done, but women tend to want to connect more when they are hurt rather than withdraw.

Perhaps that's why I can see a female Condor. When I'm at my most upset I want to be alone - I don't want an audience, not even a sympathetic one, to bother me or ask what's wrong or get in my face with suggestions and support. Let me sort it out and when I'm ready you might find out what's going on. But you might not either, depending on what it was that set me off in the first place. The same goes when I'm not feeling well - leave me alone until I've either gotten better or died, I don't care which, just don't be there with chicken soup and tissues. It's not that I don't appreciate the thought, it's that I just don't want company when I'm at my worst - I do withdraw and disconnect from those around me until I'm feeling more myself, more able to think about other people.

I know what you mean, Green, and I can completely understand! I do just the same ... it's just in one's character! When someone asks me if I'm alright, I immediately answer "I'm okay!" or "Everything is just fine!", even if in the worse cases. I do this just to shove people off, not out of disrespect, but because I don't like so much attention being put upon me, and because I would need quiet and time for myself in order to regain my composure! When I do try to open up, I end up acting somewhat awkward as it's against my nature to say that something is wrong with me! But wait ... I'm not a Condor ... I mostly compare myself to the Eagle! Well, he's much like that type also, just perhaps a bit more open than the Condor, but not by much!! Perhaps I have some of both of their characteristics in me ... yay!!!

I think many of us experience a desire to 'be alone' when things are at their worst. That's not male or female... that's just human.

You cannot have said it better, TJ!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Recently I was introduced to the Jetman series, which was an 'homage' to Gatchaman, to the point of naming all but one of the Bird characters after their Gatchaman counterparts. In that series, the Swallow was a female, as was the Chief (the Dr. Nambu role).

Someone made an homage video to Jetman, on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NAL34zfP70 Had me laughing all over again -I think I even saw the traffic light jigen in there!

That's awesome, LB! Great find!!!! Actually... it looks like more of an extended version of the credits to me, but still great to see!

I'll be honest: live-action sentai, IMO, demonstrates why it always looks better animated. No special-effects failures. (Said by someone with a soft spot for Ultraman and Japanese kaiju movies.)

Yeah, I can sure appreciate even more how good Ken, Joe and the others look during their fights scenes after watching Jetman, but then this does get me laughing, which is good too though not the reaction I would want from Gatchaman! I think live action looks beautiful, though, when it's done more in this style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRyU2mK4Rls

Okay ...random thought, I know their have been cross overs were AOV, Gatchaman, Eagle Riders and G Force have met up and assisted each other... Has there been one done about a parallel universe ie a "MIRROR PARALLEL UNIVERSE", eg were everthing is in reverse There male would be female, bad would be good, earth would be the bad guys , spectra would be the good guys Condor would be female, Jun would be male.... Question ...how much off their original personality would you still keep...would jun be the one out for justice and Joe the nurture of the group..?? No ..one second though they would still have the basic personality traits...just enhanced...after all technically they would now be the bad guys out to take over spectra It would have to be G-Force (7-zark-7 with 1-rover-1 being a spectra spy and Susan being Tokyo Rose/ Hanoi Hannah upsetting the troops and passing on encoded messages) Thoughts anyone??? Would it work???!!

LW, that's some project! I'm just going to leave it in your capable hands. *TJ backs away quietly* Honestly, I think it sounds awesome, but my mind boggles at the amount of planning involved. Now I have more respect for the TOS writers who came up with the concept of the Mirror Universe.

I found a warped story on Gatchfanfic in which Ken ended up in an alternate universe. Degenerate SNT and Nambu, with Katse and Galactor rebelling against them. I can't remember the title.

That's an ambitious idea, LW, with a lot to keep track of! I once started (but didn't succeed in finishing) an outline for a fic, based on the idea of the Star Trek parallel universe (with some elements of "Prisoner of Zenda" and Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" thrown in) but I didn't attempt to reverse all the personalities (or any genders).

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter I'll be honest: live-action sentai, IMO, demonstrates why it always looks better animated. No special-effects failures.

Yeah, I can sure appreciate even more how good Ken, Joe and the others look during their fights scenes after watching Jetman, but then this does get me laughing, which is good too though not the reaction I would want from Gatchaman! I think live action looks beautiful, though, when it's done more in this style.

Can't agree more with you both! Even though, nowadays, special effects are a whole, new story, being of a very high standard. We might be surprised to someday see a live-action Gatchaman movie which would meet all our highest expectations (some wishful thinking!)! In that case, my only hope would be that the actors impersonating The Eagle and The Condor would, at least, do them justice!!

LW ... yours is a brilliant, and complex idea! I would love to read it some day!

We could have a butch mommy red impulse...now that would be interesting!

Thanks Unpublished Writer Your right, I also remember a similar story, were Ken went to a parallel universe and The SNT were bad and Katse was trying to stop them. Looks like its been done, okay.... story on the back- burner and see were it goes from there....

Well, I don't think your version would have them doing each other in ways the Kama Sutra never described. But you could write one in which the conflict with Galactor caused a shift in emphasis at the ISO. Instead of using their resources to benefit humanity in general, they concentrate on defeating Galactor, to the dismay of Doctor Nambu.

I remember that other fic also, but I thought it was Red Impulse who crossed over to the other dimension and was appalled at what Ken had become. If I remember right, Ken, Joe and Jun were part of a threesome also As for Jetman - pre-Power Rangers, too. I often thought Power Rangers was a rip-off of BotP (since I didn't know about Gatchaman then).

Ken brought the Red Impulse of that universe home with him. That RI was working with Katse against the nastiness that was a (very badly dressed) Nambu and SNT.