The thing with the writing of this series is that it’s sloppy: it simplifies some things for the sake of telling its story, and it makes most of its characters simple-minded for that purpose as well. Overall it makes sense, but it needs some idiocy to make everything fit, not to mention that it hops from one scene to the other really fast.
With these three episodes though, I’m starting to see what this show is trying to do.Old superhero series were characterized by the fact that the main character usually is the one who does all the work. He’s aided by his side characters, who sometimes get to stand in the spotlights, but when you look at the random passers-by: all they do is run away. They’re just cardboard cut-outs in the backgrounds, not doing anything at all and having no other significance than showing that the city that’s getting destroyed is not a ghost town. Gatchaman plays with this really well.
Whenever there’s an accident, people react to it. They cooperate in order to solve their problems and become a bit of a hero. Gatchaman is a decidedly modern series that really touches upon relatively modern themes, and shows like it are really rare. The last show that did it as well was Eden of the East, I believe.
Social media is a really big theme in this series: it’s how we’re all connected, and how we’re all trying to be the center of the world, and all trying to be heroes. We want to feel part of this whole important network that connects millions, and play as the hero. And yet, this series does not forget the “social” part of social media: everyone is cooperating. Everyone with similar purposes is connected so much more easily.
The strange thing is that the most interesting part of the show only has to do with the main characters because of the main female lead. The other members there hardly use social media. I mean the lead female was built up to be the new girl and all, but in a sense, the other Gatchamen are also new here.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
Not having the large span of episodes that the superhero genre usually gets, I can understand the need to sacrifice character development for plot (which also explains the need for eccentric characters that are easy to identify). It’s still frustrating to see Nakamura with something ambitious again, but not enough space to work without making things choppy. at the very least, I’m expecting an escalating (if not completely satisfying) conclusion.
that said, the man knows where to cut for cliffhangers.
Yeaaah… This has “C” written all over it. It’s very stylish, it is very ambitious, the subject matter is interesting and very modern, but somehow it fails at making everything come together.
I think psgels said it best. The writing is… sloppy. Which is… fine(ish?), but it prevents me from taking it too seriously when it goes into more of a philosphical(ish) subject matters. Nakamura should really start working with better writers again.
I don'[t understand this show at all, I just watched the first what, five minutes of episode 1? I thought the show was horrible, it just seemed extremely ridiculous. That main girl is annoying, the tall dude fondling her breasts to “bring out her power notebook” made me facepalm, and the Stupid English they use to activate their powers is just cringeworthy. . .
“AMNESIA REWIND”
WTF. I guess if I were ten years old again watching Saturday morning cartoons this would be awesome.
but I’m not, and this show is just dumb.
Says the person who only watched 5 minutes of episode 1. You are allowed to dislike it, but you lose all merit when you are attacking the show after having seen pretty much nothing.
I’m not saying this is a great show. It is in fact trying my patience. All I’m saying is when someone attacks a show with no knowledge of said show then they make fools of themselves.
I watched the first entire episode and the dudes pretty spot on…i felt the same way at the end of it. Another pointless show with style, but no substance.
Definitely not my cup of tea.
I felt the same after watching the first episode. But try the 3 episode-rule. It gets a lot better.
I thought I might like the show for its lunatic edge.
But the lengthy and mundane “milk adventure” in episode 3 left me a bit stranded.
I might resume viewing later though.
If the mundane-ness is your main problem with it, it gets better in the next couple of eps.