Gatchaman 1 and 2

decided I should watch this show all the way through.  I've seen the first 12 episodes about four times as I keep forgetting where I stopped, but this will help if I can keep track.

laying the groundwork for the vastly popular sentai series in a few years is this vastly popular cartoon- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (科学忍者隊ガッチャマン Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman).  and it really is worth all the praise it gets. 

made by Tatsunoko Productions, of "Speed Racer" fame, it's got some really great designs going for it.  sleep spaceships, cool monsters and neat vehicles.

the characters are all well done as well, including our heroes and the villains. Eagle Ken and Condor Joe are the two heroic leads, one the "follow the rules" type and Joe, who butts heads with him constantly.  Jun is the sexy girl, her brother Jinpei and Ryu are the comic relief for the show, but all get their chance to shine.

Berg Katse is one of the best villains ever, and a lot of the Galactor commanders get real personalities.  you don't feel sorry for them, really, but they are people.

anyway, these first two episodes really set the tone of the show.

• "Gatchaman Versus Turtle King" a large turtle robot is stealing uranium.  Ken follows orders despite Joe riding him for not stopping the robbery.  we see many of their cool toys and some neat powers.
• "The Monstrous Aircraft Carrier Appears" Joe gets found out by Galactor while trying to find out their latest scheme.  where does Galactor get all the money for these giant robots and ships?

this is going to be fun, to watch 105 episodes!  the DVD releases are really nice, as well, despite the new dubs.