As far as classic anime goes, it doesn't get much more old school than Gatchaman. Having originally aired in 1972 over in Japan, the show saw some scattered releases here in America, but was severely edited content and length wise. Up until now the original Japanese track for the show hadn't been heard here and thanks to A.D.V. we get that, the uncut show, and all 105 episodes.

The whole premise behind Gatchaman is that in the future a sinister group known as Galactor rises up to try and take over the world, you know, that old scheme. It's up to Dr. Nambu and his team of five Science Ninjas to stop their diabolical plot by whatever means necessary. The team consists of Ken the Eagle, Joe the Condor, Jun the Swan, Ryu the Owl and Jinpei the Swallow. While there is some continuity between episodes, you don't have to catch all 105 to know what's going on in the show.

With four volumes under its belt already, Gatchaman is a series that is still running strong and proving to be highly entertaining. While individual volumes have seen release, they come in waves of two, so you can get the installments solo, or in a two pack with an extra disc filled with bonus material. This is not only the best bargain, but also the best way to get more Gatchaman for your hard earned dollar.

Each volume has six episodes squeezed onto them, and the material here features episodes 25 thru 36 across both volumes five and six. The episodes on volume five are: The Magma Giant, Emperor of Hell, The God Phoenix Reborn, Galactor's Witch Racer, The Invisible Devil, Gallack X, the Demon Man and Kamisoral, the Guillotine Iron Beast. Volume six's episodes are: The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu, The Grand Gezora Operation (Parts 1 & 2), The Evil Aurora Operation, Burn, Desert Fires and Little Gatchamans.

On both of these volumes, Gatchaman squares off against all manner of beasts. The team takes on a giant magma monster with the face of Christ, robotic vultures that shoot missiles from their mouths, an invisible amoeba, a humongous agent of Galactor named Gallack X, a mecha-crawfish and a big metallic mantis. The episodes here are strictly single story adventures with very little continuity between them. There was a nice change of pace for the two part story "The Grand Gezora Operation", since that's a rarity with this show.

"The Grand Gezora Operation" features Galactor's new devious plot to lay a trap for the Science Ninja Team. They employ a rocket powered squid and end up capturing Jinpei and Jun. The worst part is that they can't communicate with the rest of Gatchaman to call for help! This is easily Lord Katse's best plan ever concocted, but as is the case with every other conflict, Galactor loses, Gatchaman wins.

Gatchaman may not be for anyone, but if you have an open mind and are curious where many shows got their inspiration from this one will entertain you. It's a classic right up there with Ultraman and Speed Racer so that alone should tell you what kind of quality you can look for. If you're like me then this show came out before you were born and maybe you recall snippets of it from your childhood in the form of Battle of the Planets or G-Force. Reminiscing aside, this show is truly timeless and something you should definitely check out if you are open to history. I can't express enough how nice it is to have a classic of this type coming out on DVD.

Quite honestly, this is about as good as Gatchaman has ever looked considering the age of the show and quality of animations for the time period. It is presented with its original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio and any faults in image quality are attributed to the source material. Seeing as the show was produced in the early 70s you can expect to see a lot of grain, choppy animations, speckle, disproportionate images, lighting issues and occasional shaky image. But I suppose one could argue that just adds to the classic air around the show.

Who knows how this series was stored, but given the fact that it is older than I am I have to say that I'm really impressed with the transfer. Many of the colors are solid throughout, though there are a few moments where the quality drops off significantly and becomes muddy. In the end I have to give a pat on the back to A.D.V. for restoring this classic and doing such a wonderful job of it.

Gatchaman Volumes 5 & 6 includes a new English dubbing and the original Japanese audio tracks. These are presented with a 2.0 mix and depending what you are looking for they each provide different quality. The English features louder and cleaner sound but also some extremely horrible voice acting at times. A lot of the dialogue from the 70s is included here so expect to hear stuff like "groovy" and "can you dig it?".

The original Japanese features a softer sound transfer but is the most faithful to the material. I found myself enjoying the Japanese mix more, though sometimes I bounced back and forth to see what some of the differences were. Again, the overall quality for the original is decent considering the fact that it's over thirty years old.

For both volumes five and six we are presented with clean opening and closing animations, as well as some ADV previews. There are also some commentaries included with Director Charles Campbell and some of the voice talent. "Kamisoral, the Guillotine Iron Beast" featuring Andy McAvin (Dr. Nambu), and "The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu" with George Manley (Narrator) are available and are on par with the previous commentaries. Meaning that they provide a lot of laughs and references to older anime, but little in the way of anything information. Both volumes also feature Gatchaman Karaoke for the "Galactor's Witch Racer" and "The Evil Aurora Operation" episodes.

The extra disc for the third wave also features a good selection of bonus material that makes picking up the double pack well worth it. The disc focuses on the character of Jun, there is a profile with some information about her, character concept sketches, as well as an interview with Kim Prause who covers the English voiceover for her, and fourteen minutes of audition footage for the character. There are profiles for the original Japanese voice cast, a, informative gallery of published images from Gatchamanback in the day, and chapter 2 of the Gatchaman Manga that was published while the show was on the air. Overall that's a lot of bonus content that I hadn't experienced before due to reviewing the individual volume releases. It definitely looks like getting the double pack is the way to go if you want to see more extra features.

By today's anime standards, Gatchaman is a dinosaur but for it's time it was very advanced. Much of what you see in shows today found their inspiration in series like this and despite the fact that it seems cheesy when you go back to watch it, the nostalgic value is extremely high. If you enjoyed Battle of the Planets or G-Force when they came out in the States, you owe it to yourself to see the uncut version of the show.

The volume 5 & 6 double pack features a lot of great action with an actual two part story and some decent character development. I wish there was more continuity with the show, but you take what you can get, since older anime like this tends to be fairly standalone. Fans of classic anime should definitely check out Gatchaman. Recommended

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