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Gatchaman Crowds
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:CreationDate: 2015-12-11 12:38:47
:Id: anime/review/gatchaman-crowds
:tags: - anime
- review
:rating: 4
:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/gatchaman-crowds
The name Gatchaman has been around for quite a while: it was 1972
when, for the first time, the five bird-inspired heroes of the Science
Ninja Team appeared on Japan's televisions to fight the evil Galactor
and their leader, Berg Katze. The set-up was quite standard: an
international organisation backing them, a lone scientist leading them
and providing their machines and weapons, the common 5-people
formation (leader boy, good-looking boy, fat boy, little kid, girl),
evil antagonist with faceless minions. It was a very successful
series, running for 105 weekly episodes, followed by a movie and a
two more series of 52 and 48 episodes. (By the way, if you only know
the Gatchaman via one of the American rewrites, either "Battle of the
Planets" or "G-Force", you haven't seen Gatchaman).
I was, therefore, not really surprised when I saw it was getting the
reboot / remake treatment: we've had Yattaman, Casshern, Yamato,
Harlock, Cyborg 009; it was obviously just a matter of time.
What did surprise me, however, is that Crowds has essentially no
relation to the original Gatchaman: there's some bird imagery, they
transform by saying "Bird, Go!", the main antagonist is called Berg
Katze… and that's it. It's a new story, and it's the best thing that
could happen to the Gatchaman.
Let's face it: the team-of-five felt forced and dated in the '90s, and
there's only so many times you can see the God Phoenix rammed into
some giant mecha before you can't stand it anymore. And even if I
still like the old Gatchaman (in small doses), I *loved* Crowds.
The story is told from the point of view of ICHINOSE Hajime, teen girl
who seems stubborn, distracted, and generally useless. The other
members of the team wonder multiple times why she was chosen as a
Gatchaman. Turns out, she's extremely attentive to what goes on around
her, she's way smarter that what everyone could guess, she's incurably
optimistic and always searching for better explanations of others' bad
behaviours than "they're jerks" or "they're evil". And that's how she
saves the world, twice. First lesson: appearances can be deceiving.
The entity that chooses the Gatchaman is J.J., an alien with the
appearance of an old man who speaks in prophetic riddles and throws
around little paper birds.
Hajime's first contact with the team is via TACHIBANA Sugane, earnest
boy with a sword who has a very black&white view of morality and duty.
When they get to the team's headquarters, we meet the other
members. HIBIKI Jou, cynic young man with an office job. Utsu-tsu,
alien looking like an under-dressed little girl, painfully shy, with
the ability to cure by consuming her own (or others') life
force. Paiman, tiny panda-like alien, nominally their leader, who can
barely handle the pressure of command. And O.D., half-alien half-human
flamboyant genderqueer whose home world has been destroyed, the soul
of the group, always projecting good humour, the only one who seems to
see beyond Hajime's appearance.
The first enemy they fight is the MESS, weird things that capture
people and objects. Hajime (SPOILERS!) talks to them instead of trying
to kill them, thus saving the day. Second lesson: the enemy is not
necessarily evil, they may just be ignorant and misguided.
In this world there's no Galactor, but there's Galax, a social network
(think always-on chat room with Mii-like avatars in isometric
perspective). The most interesting feature of Galax is X, an AI who,
among other things, nudges people into helping each other, from hugs
to full-scale search & rescue operations. Behind Galax and X is
NINOMIYA Rui, who may have a boy's body but is only comfortable when
presenting as a very girly girl. Rui's goal is to create a better
world through Galax, showing everybody the value of co-operation and
peace.
I kept trying to figure out why this completely benevolent social
network had a name that was irrefutably a call-back to the evil
organisation of the old Gatchaman: I'm not going to spoil the whole
story by telling you, but rest assured that there's a reason, and it
shows that the writers know exactly what they're doing.
And finally we have Berg Katze, a fabulous superpowered genderqueer
alien with a taste for destruction. Katze's style and
single-mindedness are a thing of beauty, and although we don't see
much of their motives, their eventual defeat is everything I could
have wanted (watch the post-closing-theme scene of the last episode!).
Remember how I said the team-of-five was a thing of the past? Well,
welcome to the future: 2 women, 3 men, 3 queer / non-binary
people. And the men are the least interesting of the bunch. And the
queers are not evil (*maybe* Katze is, but I'm sure Hajime can change
that). Can we have a cheer for diversity, even if just on some
aspects?
The other very encouraging change from the classical formulas: a small
team of heroes is not enough to protect a planet. You need everyone to
take responsibility to help and protect their fellow people. The Galax
system is an interesting approach: create mini-games in which you get
points for making the world a better place; connect people in need
with the ones who can provide; facilitate civil discussion. It's a
technocratic ideal, sure, and I'm not sure I could trust a super-human
AI without a lot more evidence than just "runs a social network pretty
well", but in this story, it works.
So: everyone's identity, presentation, and way of living is valid and
worthy of respect; nobody is really evil, even when their actions hurt
others; everybody is needed to build a better world; superpowers help
but are not enough. What's not to love?
Oh, and if all that weren't enough, there's a second season: I *so*
want to see the wacky adventures of Hajime and Katze!
