Hi all! The Anime News Network website has posted a brief article on the Infinii-T Force panel and premiere of the first episode that was held at Anime Expo on Saturday afternoon. If you would like to see the article in its entirety, I'll include the link. However, before you click on it, I want to give you a spoiler alert warning, as the article describes the events of the first episode. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2017/anime-expo/infini-t-force-world-premiere/.118038 For those who would prefer to see the episode without that foreknowledge, here are the parts of the article that talk about the panel with Kiyotaka Suzuki and Tomokazu Seki, and the author's opinion of what she saw, minus the more spoilery parts of the article: In the 1970s, three brothers founded an anime studio that would become synonymous with shōnen action heroes. Building off the success of the live-action special-effects hero Kamen Rider, Tatsunoko Pro would roll out Yatterman, Hurricane Polymar, Gatchaman, Casshan and Tekkaman. Each iteration continues to revisited time and again, with Yatterman Night and Gatchaman Crowds being the most recent examples. The originals crossed over the pond nearly 40 years ago reworked under titles like Battle of the Planets. If your parents were sci-fi fans, they might have caught a few episodes during its limited U.S. television runs. Sentai Filmworks is making an effort to reintroduce the series to the U.S. thanks to recently released DVD sets of Gatchaman, but otherwise Tatsunoko's superheroes remain relatively obscure in Western fandom. This might best be reflected in the Infini-T Force screening's opening attendance. After the previous Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card Prologue OVA screening wrapped, a packed house filed out of the main events hall. Infini-T Force followed 30 minutes later to a much, much smaller albeit enthusiastic audience. The staff seemed aware of the disparity and Gatchaman voice actor Tomokazu Seki even joked that the stage spotlight was "obscuring" the filled to capacity seating in the back. The staff members characterized Seki as a regular jokester, someone who often sets the recording studio's mood as the leader of the "Science Voice Actor Team." After director Kiyotaka Suzuki, Seki, and the show's producer warmed up the crowd, Infini-T Force's first episode queued up, and boy did it hit the ground running. Episode Spoiler Edits Here The entire premise is pretty dense. The production wanted to both explain how so many superheroes could co-exist in the same place, introduce the heroes to a fresh audience, establish the psyche of its female protagonist, and save room for spectacle. I'd say the first episode succeeded 2/3 of the time. It's strongest in action sequences, a bit heavy-handed with Emi, but outright overwhelming with its cast and enemy introduction. The strongly choreographed battles felt like a breather, if you can believe it. The elephant in the room is going to be the 3DCG animation. Anime productions are a mixed bag regardless of art style, be it BBK/BRNK, Knights of Sidonia, or Berserk. Tatsunoko Pro's works have been traditionally animated affairs until now. The studio took it upon themselves to delve headfirst into 3DCG animation for the 55th anniversary project. The result is two-fold. On the one hand, outside of the action scenes, the show has that "Playstation 2 cutscene" look. On the other, those action scenes are fantastic. Usually three-dimensional affairs have a wobble to them, where character's movements seem to lack weight or impact. This isn't true for Infini-T Force, which truly excels whether Polymar is transforming into a drill or Gatchaman is throwing exploding mini-mines. Infini-T Force isn't going to hold the same kind of nostalgia for Western mainstream audiences as it will for their Japanese counterparts, and truthfully some of the show's winks are going to be missed altogether. The barrier of entry can be a bit daunting and the staff did few favors to ease newbies into Tatsunoko's own Justice League. Those willing to tough it out will find a competent 3DCG production for a studio's first go around and an exciting action show to boot. James

Thanks for separating out the not spoilery stuff.

Yeah, thanks, James! CW: spoilery?!?!

[unrecoverable text]

Originally posted by ElectricWhite CW: spoilery?!?!

C'mon, it's fun to make up new words.

Sounds cool, Jason. I'm pretty disappointed that they completely jettisoned Ken and replaced him with a new version. It would have been nice if they'd aged up the original Ken to make him the "big brother" of the heros instead. :/ I'm still going to check it out, though.

Originally posted by ChrisW It would have been nice if they'd aged up the original Ken to make him the "big brother" of the heros instead..

I agree, that would have been nice. Sounds like you had a good time, Jason. Thanks for all the info! (I love the idea of everyone yelling "Bird-GO!". That's awesome!)

Hi ChrisW,

Originally posted by ChrisW Sounds cool, Jason. I'm pretty disappointed that they completely jettisoned Ken and replaced him with a new version. It would have been nice if they'd aged up the original Ken to make him the "big brother" of the heros instead. :/ I'm still going to check it out, though.

They could very well have something like that planned for Ken. Since this was just the first episode, and a good chunk of it centered on battles, it was hard to tell what direction most of the characters will take. The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Hi Redbird,

Originally posted by Redbird

Originally posted by ChrisW It would have been nice if they'd aged up the original Ken to make him the "big brother" of the heros instead..

I agree, that would have been nice. Sounds like you had a good time, Jason. Thanks for all the info! (I love the idea of everyone yelling "Bird-GO!". That's awesome!)

It was a lot of fun and great to hear the crowd. Mr. Seki had them in his hands and didn't want to let go! Here's a "Bird go!" shot from the Infini-T Force Twitter account. Mr. Haruna (producer, left) Mr. Seki (actor, center), Mr. Suzuki (director, right) The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Originally posted by The Other Jason It was a lot of fun and great to hear the crowd. Mr. Seki had them in his hands and didn't want to let go!

Sounds like he was really excited and into the whole thing. Good to see that he was enjoying himself interacting with fans, etc.

Originally posted by The Other Jason Here's a "Bird go!" shot from the Infini-T Force Twitter account. Mr. Haruna (producer, left) Mr. Seki (actor, center), Mr. Suzuki (director, right)

That's a great group shot! Looks as if there was a nice size crowd though, regardless of what the rep from Tatsunoko said. Edit: Ok I looked at the Twitter page you posted a link to and was pleased to see pictures from Tekkaman Blade. I remember that series from the early 90's (I think that's when it was shown here in the U.S., but it was called "Teknoman"). I have the Japanese DVD set, I really should get around to watching it someday. (Though it has nothing to do with this particular topic, I did just finish watching the Space Battleship Yamato: 2199 series, and very much enjoyed it.)

I'm in the Australian 'market' so I'm wondering what the wait time will be before we get to see it. I feel they could have made him look more like Ken. Even an updated with the talented anime artists out there no excuses to make him look totally different. . I know my kids would love it. A young girl who has trouble socializing but is still a main character and an artist is appealing.

Originally posted by The Other Jason Hi ChrisW,

Originally posted by ChrisW Sounds cool, Jason. I'm pretty disappointed that they completely jettisoned Ken and replaced him with a new version. It would have been nice if they'd aged up the original Ken to make him the "big brother" of the heros instead. :/ I'm still going to check it out, though.

They could very well have something like that planned for Ken. Since this was just the first episode, and a good chunk of it centered on battles, it was hard to tell what direction most of the characters will take. The Other Jason www.battleoftheplanets.info

Crossing fingers!