Gatchaman

 Gatchaman, G-Force, Science Ninja Team. When I was watching this show as a kid it was called Battle of the Planets here in North America. I wasn't much of a an anime fan but this show was interesting to me. I loved the characters enough to suffer through the animation that I wasn't crazy about. Gatchaman was one of the most successful animated shows in Japanese history. There was even a live action movie made. There have been a few rekindling's of the story in recent years as well. 

Being a fan too, I always wanted to recreate them as well. I made a few pieces on Deviant Art of Jun the Swan, or Princess, or #3 to pay homage. Of course, as you most know, a pet peeve of Super teams I always had was the gender distribution. Traditional teams are usually 4 to 6 members with there being 1 token female member. G-Force was the same. I remember them as Mark (Eagle), Jason (Condor), Princess (Swan), Kyop (Sparrow) and Tiny (Owl) in the North American version. The original Japanese names were Ken (Eagle), Joe (Condor), Jun (Swan), Jinpei (Sparrow) and Ryu (Owl). 

By any names, they were young 14-22 year old, mostly orphans except for Ryu. They worked for the International Science Organization, trained by Dr. Nambu in martial arts. Each wears a high tech bird suit and has their own special weapon and fighting vehicle. Their main vehicle is the God Phoenix, a space ship piloted by Ryu with special weapons of its own. It can also turn into a fiery Phoenix to evade trouble but only for short bursts. 

Their main enemy was Galactor, an alien group trying to take earth's natural resources. Their leader is androgynous shape shifter Bert Katse (Zoltar on BotP).  

In my own story...it is a few years later. The battle against Galactor has taken a toll. Jinpei, the youngest who has some medical issues has fallen sick. His condition is terminal and his adopted sister Jun is beside herself with grief. She won't leave his bedside in the hospital. Meanwhile, the team finally has its best chance to catch Bert Katse. The mission is a lock but Jun stays back with her brother. The other three still go. With the team short handed, it doesn't go as well as planned. Ken is killed in the battle. Bert Katse is captured. Joe intends to kill Katse but Ryu stops him. 

After that Joe quits the team in disgust. He struggles with his anger issues and turns to drugs. Jinpei passes away from his illness and Jun is left grieving for him and Ken. She blames herself for not being there for him. Ryu, discontent with everything leaves the team to work for his parent's company. With the leader of Galactor in custody, the ISO has little need for the team and their equiptment goes into moth balls. 

Dr. Nambu still sees a need for a Gatchaman team and reaches out to the survivors only to find out that Joe died from an overdose and Ryu is happily married and has children. The only one who came back was Jun. Dr. Nambu challenged Jun to recruit a new team. Jun, sick of the masculine toxicity on the team decided to look for four more girls. 

Jun was already the electronics, communications, computer specialist and the motorcycle specialist. She would become the team's new leader as well. She still needed a car driver, a gyrocopter pilot and 2 jet pilots, one for the Phoenix and one for the short range fighter. Jun used her instincts and looked for outsiders, orphans and misfits who had skills. She searched the world for a year and found 4 prospects. She liked all the girls and knew they would blend together despite their very different backgrounds and personalities. 

Jun would stay the Swan, donning her pink costume again. Jun is an American of Japanese decent. She dies her hair green. She is proficient in computers, electronics, and communications. She rides the motorcycle and has a bladed yo-yo for a personal weapon. 

Jun the Swan

Jun's first recruit was Molly Adele in the UK. Molly was kicked out of her home at 13 for being lesbian and was raised in a foster home. She joined the RAF after finishing top of class a year ahead. Molly was too good to pass up and became a fighter pilot. Although she was the best young pilot in the RAF, she had issues with the old boys' system. After she died her hair blue, she got tossed out. Jun was there to pick her up. Molly really liked Jun and found the ISO a dream job. Molly showed great leadership potential too and was made second in command. Molly is an expert martial artist and took the white Eagle costume of Ken's. She was made the short range fighter pilot and, being English was proficient in darts, thus taking up the feather dart for a personal weapon. 

Molly the Eagle

Jun found another pilot in Canada, Disha Batra. Disha is of Indian decent. Disha was flying the large C-5 cargo planes. Disha was also the victim of a lot of discrimination and had been also set aside by her family for not being traditional. Disha liked the idea of an all female team and was excited to be selected to fly the famous Phoenix. She saw the ISO as a great opportunity. Disha is an expert pistol shot and probably the strongest member of the team. Disha took the Owl costume that had been the previous Phoenix pilot's. 

Disha the Owl

The next recruit was Gabriella Cortez from Columbia. Gabby had been kidnapped by rebels when she was young but was rescued by the special narcotics unit. She devoted her life to service after her parents were killed by drug lords and worked the jungles as a reconnaissance helicopter pilot. Gabby was excited to be chosen to join the new Gatchaman team as the gyrocopter reconnaissance pilot. Gabby had learned several martial arts growing up and prefers the nun-chucks as her personal weapon. She also carries grenades for when a big bang is needed. Gabby liked the Condor costume but also the Sparrow, so she merged the two, still using the Condor helmet, she is the team Condor.                     

Gabby the Condor

The fifth team member was harder to find. Looking for a weapons expert and car driver proved tougher than Jun thought. Then she heard about a wanted thief in Europe. The suspect was a woman, believed to be a Russian national. She was evasive and either outshot or out drove the police on many occasions. Jun admired her style. Whoever she was, she was good with a torch, tools, guns and cars. Jun followed her pattern and eventually met up with her in Budapest. Her name was Valentina Kurlenko. She was a fugitive from Russia, doing what she could to escape the oppression she faced there. She was trafficked as a teen sex slave before escaping the mob. She had taken revenge on many of them over the past seven years. She used robbery as a means to an end. When Jun met up with Valentina, Valentina congratulated her and asked if she was arresting her. Jun said, "No, I want to offer you a job." Valentina has a few weapons, her favourite is a razor wire whip. Not satisfied with being the Sparrow, Valentina insisted she be the Swan. The Black Swan. 

Valentina the Black Swan

The team's training was completed just in time. After six years in high security prison, Bert Katse escaped custody. The androgynous shape shifter planned his/her escape for years and Galactor agents spirited their leader away. The team would be soon put to the test again against the old nemesis. 

Bert Katse

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