I was wondering how this show was broadcast back when it was brand new? Do they have seasons like what we have in America? The reason I ask is because Gatchaman's 105 episodes lasted for two years, but there is a distinct story arc centering around Red Impulse than ends in episode 53 with his death, and that feels like the completion of season 1, with season 2 continuing the saga and culminating with the defeat of Galactor and the loss of Joe. Was there a waiting period after the death of Red Impulse before a new season got underway, or did this series broadcast straight through? The next two series were just 1 year, or half the number of episodes that Gatchaman was, so it just left me to wonder. I know it all must work very differently over in Japan, but I simply don't know when all is said and done. I figured someone here just might have an answer!!

My understanding is that the series was broadcast straight through for 2 years, with 1 new episode a week. IIRC, there was one instance where an older episode was re-broadcast, but outside of that, new weekly episodes for 105 weeks! Yes, the Red Impulse episodes feel like the end of a 'season', probably because they were the one year anniversary of the show.

As far as I know, the first series was knowingly created in two blocks of weekly episodes, that each lasted ~one year, and that eps 51-53 were specifically intended to be a "season finale," as were eps 102-105. I also recall James once explaining that when Gatchaman II first began, the initial plan was for a run of 26 episodes (or, I guess, 6 months). About halfway along, Tatsunoko was asked to continue the series for another 6 months/26 episodes. Some story lines apparently got altered a bit as they made changes to extend Gatchaman II -one change, I recall, being the addition of Dr. Pandora. I'm guessing that in Japan in the 70s, TV shows ran in one year or half year "seasons." I don't know how much time might have elapsed between episode 53 and 54 being aired. There might be a thread around here somewhere that has that info...

Originally posted by Transmute Jun My understanding is that the series was broadcast straight through for 2 years, with 1 new episode a week. IIRC, there was one instance where an older episode was re-broadcast, but outside of that, new weekly episodes for 105 weeks! Yes, the Red Impulse episodes feel like the end of a 'season', probably because they were the one year anniversary of the show.

You're right. I just did some searches of the "This Day in Gatchaman History" posts at the BOTP mailing list. Ep. 52 aired Sept. 23, 1973 Ep. 53 aired Sept. 30, 1973 Ep. 54 aired Oct. 7, 1973 Ep. 55 aired Oct. 14, 1973 I too wish TV shows aired like this here and now, without all the repeats and whole summers of repeats!

Thank you both for the responses. I had wondered how the airing went. For all I knew, the show had aired two nights a week. It is interesting to know thats it ran straight through for two years. Can you imagine two years worth of new episodes like that for a show you like? That's neat.

Another thing we learned from James -the first series aired on Sunday evenings, at 6pm in Japan. In episode 26, Katse even declares that their mecha attack "on Earth's major cities" will be unleashed at 6pm, "While their citizens are leisurely watching television."

That's a really interesting factoid. Thanks for sharing!