The main characters wear teen clothing with T-shirts numbered to show their rank in the team or caped, birdlike battle uniforms.

[6] The Science Ninja Team is often aided by a squadron of combat pilots led by the enigmatic Red Impulse, who is later revealed as Ken's father.

The Gatchaman team employs a unique and effective martial art developed by Dr. Nambu, drawing on their ability to perform feats similar to their avian namesakes, such as high-speed running, flight, high jumping, and silent attacks.

This fighting system, known as Science Ninja Technique (科学忍法, Kagaku Ninpō), is mentioned in the Japanese lyrics of the Gatchaman theme.

After the original God Phoenix is destroyed by an octopus mecha, an improved version carries a pair of Super Bird Missiles in twin drop-down pods on the bottom center section.

The plane can also temporarily transform into a massive bird of flame (like the legendary phoenix) to escape danger or attack, although the process endangers the team because of extreme pressure in the passenger cabin and it consumes a great deal of fuel.

Created in the wake of the Henshin (transformation) boom begun by Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider in 1971, Gatchaman was conceived as a blending of ninja adventure with science fiction.

In Taiwan, beginning in 1977 it was known as Ke Xue Xiao Fei Xia (「科學小飛俠」/“科学小飞侠” kēxué xiǎofēixiá, Scientific Flying Fantasy Warriors).

Many of these versions later spawned foreign-language releases of their own: Sandy Frank and Jameson Brewer syndicated the series on American television in 1978, in heavily edited form, as Battle of the Planets (BOTP).

[16] When Sentai Filmworks acquired the rights to Gatchaman in 2014, Battle of the Planets became available to stream on The Anime Network and temporarily on Hulu.

With Battle of the Planets ending its syndicated run and broadcast standards becoming laxer, a second English translation from Turner Program Services and Fred Ladd, by license of Sandy Frank, was produced.

Although this version was less heavily edited and had a relatively faithful translation, the voice acting, background music and the Americanized character names were criticized.

[citation needed] A single episode from G-Force was included as a bonus on Rhino's individual Battle of the Planets DVDs released through 2001 and 2003.

Battle of the Planets: The New Exploits of G-Force was set to be a 52-episode series encompassing content from the first 85 episodes of Gatchaman, the 20 previously unlocalized ones [clarification needed], and new CG animation produced by JulesWorld (including 7-Zark-7).

[15][20] The series would have been recorded at Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada and would have featured a new score and script to help modernize the show and create a tone in-between the two prior adaptations.

The English dub contained creative changes: profanity, 1970s slang and thick, occasionally stereotypical accents were added.

Sentai Filmworks, a company founded by the creators of ADV, later signed a contract with Tatsunoko, acquiring the North American home video rights to the Gatchaman franchise in 2013.

Gatchaman II sees Sosai X turn a young shipwreck survivor into his newest commander Gel Sadra and resumes his plot to destroy the Earth.

Another release in South Korea is Eagle 5 Brothers (독수리 5 형제, Dokksuri Hyeongje) which does not contain unusual changes in audio.

Select episodes from this series and Gatchaman II were combined and translated into English as Eagle Riders in 1996 by Saban Entertainment.

A 1994 original video animation remake series produced in association with Artmic that featured updated character designs and altered backgrounds.

However, no such series was made at that time, and the franchise would not receive any new animated material for thirteen years until Gatchaman Crowds.

The story is set in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, where some of its residents have been chosen to join a team to confront a mysterious entity known as MESS.

Super deformed animal versions of the Gatchaman team appeared alongside similar renditions of Tatsunoko's Casshan and Golden Lightan in Tachimals Theater (たちゅまる劇場, Tachumaru Gekijō).

[42] On March 26, 2016, Tatsunoko announced a collaboration with Digital Frontier to create the Infini-T Force 3D CGI anime project.

[47][48][49] Kevin Munroe (TMNT) was scheduled to write and direct,[50] with Lynne Southerland (co-director of Mulan 2) as producer,[51] and an initial treatment was begun.

The trailer also introduced the film's theme: "A world in chaos, an alien evil, a lone warrior is found; Earth's last hope, five shall rise, Gatchaman.

Although the company said that it was on course for the release of Astro Boy, according to the audit firm "It is uncertain whether the group will have the necessary financial resources to complete [the films] Gatchaman, Tusker, and Cat Tale.

The U.S. closure was finalized in late January, with about 30 staffers laid off and a few key personnel continuing as consultants as Imagi sought $30 million from investors for its animation projects.

[67] It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019 that Joe and Anthony Russo are producing a live-action Battle of the Planets film through their production company, AGBO Studios with the possibility of directing.