Hi all, I've tried posting this question on yahoo group's gatchamanclub, but nobody has responded yet, so I'm hoping to get some participation here. Does anybody know what the titles or positions of the Gatchman team members are in crew terms? I'm not knowledgable with navy, airplane or boat terminology, but for example Ken (G1-Eagle) can be referred to as the teams "captain" or "leader". What are the rest of the team members (Joe, Jun, Jinpei, and Ryu) called then? I guess I'm thinking when they are all aboard the Phoenix. Jun (G3-Swan) seems to be a navigator and intelligence finder. Ryu (G5-Horned Owl) obviously pilots the Phoenix. Joe(G2-Condor) and Jinpei(G4-Swallow), I'm still trying to figure out what the heck they do while they're on the Phoenix besides enjoy the ride. They all have some sort of controls in front of them, so they should be doing something even if it's placing an auction on e-bay or ordering pizza one would think. If anybody has definitve or even speculative answers, I'd appreciate getting this discussion going. Hope I'm making any sense. Thanks in advance! the_galactor

G2 is the team's gunner. G4, well, in the OAVs he was the team's hacker. In the original he was the team's cute kiddie mascot and animal collector. But you've opened up another question too... what would the team members sell on Ebay? After all, they're not well paid for what they do...

I've always compared it to Star Trek for their Phoenix crew positions: Ken is the captain, Joe is weapons officer/tactical officer, Jun is communications and some navigation, Ryu is helmsman/pilot and Jinpei is kinda like Wesley in the first seasons of TNG--a pain in the ass that sat in with the adult crew and was just generally annoying. Katse

Cool, thanks for the feedback folks. The Star Trek analogy seems pretty right on too. Yeah, that's true how they're paid pretty lousy. Ken is always broke and running up the tab at Snack J. I guess the ISO figuring that they're young, just pump up their egos with cool gear and they'll be happy with minimum wages. I'd hope they'd at least give the Red Spectre a better benefits package (of course they all get pretty much killed off, right?). I guess the Galactor, although they treat their employees pretty bad too, seem to offer the perceived incentive of coming up in the ranks and possibly becoming a dictator of some small obscure nation. Maybe Ken would sell airplane parts and Joe automobile parts on Ebay for that extra income? Jun can probably take care of herself being a business owner and all as long as the rest of the team isn't putting her in the hole. Jinpei works for Jun, so he's gotta be paid pretty sucky. Ryu, what does he do besides kick it at the docks?

hmmm.... Ryu probably takes odd jobs scraping barnacles off the fishing fleet in his down time. that, and selling buoys to gullible tourists. and there is just something *wrong* in the theory of Joe as a tactical officer. that is sort of like putting Mr Ed at the helm - sure, takes up the correct amount of space but you'd better have enough peanut butter stocked to keep his lips moving! grin.

Good point about Ryu taking odd jobs. They all have to have sort of irregular occupations to just up and leave on short notice to save the world. A bit off topic but one of the things that I love and always cracks me up is how they're supposed to keep secret identities much like other superheroes, yet there they are sporting numbered tees when they're being "regular civilians". I dunno why I just thought of this. Maybe this dialogue about their jobs in relation to their "regular lives". Yeah, Joe is pretty anxious on hitting the missle button for a tactical officer and kinda scary when you think of it. What do you folks think Jinpei ought to be doing on the Phoenix then if not a hacker like the OVA?

Jinpei should be keeping his running commentary to himself! He was always getting in trouble because of what he was saying. There really isn't a job for him on the Phoenix. Seatwarmer is the best I can come up with this late at night. Katse

Not sure about Gatch, but in BOTP, G4 is often watching the screens. He sometimes notices things on them that need attention. I think he's also good with bombs -- filled the bolos with explosive to blast out of something one time -- several of them have that sort of skill. Yeah, the "secret identity" thing is always fun. I think the T-shirts are just convenient for the artists -- makes it easier to reuse scenes. (Like, do we really believe Marj Simpson wears the same green dress every day? And the Tshirts and bell bottoms were supposed to be a modern version of cool and trendy. Fashion predictions are always good for a laugh -- remember that show about a family lost in space with the robot?) They use real names while in uniform, and their helmets don't exactly hide their faces, but I'm still in the Clark Kent camp -- a pair of glasses is enough to keep the secret. It's more fun that way. As far as military rank, there's been a lot of speculation about the BOTP ranks. Seeing as they aren't in the military, and don't usually work with them closely, it's not a big issue. The smart military commanders listen to the team and the idiot ones don't.

i don't recall there being much actually stated in BotP, but in fan fic it is generally accepted that G1 was commander, infact it may have been mentioned on-air, that G-2 is second in command. I have heard somewhere that G-3 was originally slated to be 2IC but for some reason i forget that was dropped in favour of Joe/Jason.G3 is written as being a technology and exposives expert in BotP. I can't find anything much to describe G-4 other than interest in animals, as far as G-5 goes its pretty obvious his position within the team is pilot,as well as the strongest member of the team. Facts are from G-Force animated, the Official BotP guidebook, i really recommend it. A lot of the information is available online but its nice to have something "collectible", having it all in one place, etc. Keep your eyes peeled for a review to be done later....

Your right, Cricket, they are `not` millitary. I have them more like an experimental weapons unit/policeforce. (They are like that in the Comic, so the writer came to the same conclusions) G4 is the hacker, but as there arent many computers availible in the 70s, he gets to sit patiently and wait for them to become more availible. Hes also good at infiltration. Ryu could do my job, that of Football Steward, you work which days you can, you arent held to anything. He could salvage old boat parts off of wreacks and sell them on Ebay like I do.

LOL! I enjoyed that, good observations, specualtions and obsoervations... Too bad Im faaar too gone on my third smirnoff black to add to this... Well other than if thats what the team would be selling on Ebay..what on earth would the Galactors be trying to fob off on Ebay?...Perhaps, colourful Captain suits, only worn once, might come in handy for Mardi Gras time, or damaged mecha parts?...I know a certain G4 that would be interested in buying "turtle king" parts as souveniers.. *chucklegringagcoughhic*

Originally posted by lyon and there is just something *wrong* in the theory of Joe as a tactical officer. that is sort of like putting Mr Ed at the helm - sure, takes up the correct amount of space but you'd better have enough peanut butter stocked to keep his lips moving! grin.

What I find that is funny about this post is that Wilber (who was with Mr Ed) is the person who supplied the voice of 7 Zark 7, in case someone doesn't know. If this is said later in the thread I'm sorry because I haven't read all of it through.

I am not too sure about Gatchamen but in BOTP, if there is a kind of rank system going on, then it could be this - G1 - Leader G2 - Tactical Officer/Piolt (Well he did try to fly the Phoniex in at least 1 episode_ G3 - Communications/Explosives expert G4 - Infiltration Expert/ G5 - Pilot/Space Burger expert (Well he does seem to like his Space Burgers) When I was a kid, I thought that the numbered T-shirts were some kind of rank system.

I thought that about the shirts too. Seems kinda weird to be wearing them though, like they might "forget" or something. Could have had fun by switching them around.

I am azmazed that Galactor/Spectre didn't figure it out and also, if they did switch T-shirts, what happends if they change into bird mode. For example, would the Condor become the Swan and vice versa?

Could you imagine swans t-shirt on hootie?

Sniggers before falling into endless laughter.

Or even Dr Nambu

Then if you go beyond the t-shirt. What about swans outfit all together on Hootie? Now that would be hyserical!

yes that would be a sight hehe.

What would be even funnier, if Swan swaps bodies with either Hootie or Dr Nambu.

There's a fic along these lines. IIRC it's by Ennien Ashbrook and called something like "If the shoe fits". Could be wrong on the author though. It'd be on gatchfanfic.com if it's anywhere.

May have to read that one. Thanks!