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Gatchaman Crowds Episodes 1-6
In a large, Japanese city in a near-future setting, there exists a team of heroes known as the Gatchaman Crew.
Gatchaman are a kind of henshin hero (think Power Rangers or Sailor Moon) that have special powers based on their own personalities, and originate from their NOTEs- literal notebooks that represent their souls and can be used to communicate with fellow G-Crew members.
The G-Crew are selected and guided by a mysterious council of aliens, represented by a cryptic man named JJ and to a lesser extent, a tiny panda-like alien named Paiman, who serves as the squadron leader. Their mission is to protect the earth from malicious aliens, such as the MESS, an ever shifting cube made of cubes that absorbs humans and other things within it.
Complicating the G-Crew's mission are some guidelines they're required to follow, such as keeping their existence a secret from most humans, something they can accomplish with a power known as the "Amnesia Effect" which prevents non-Gatchaman from seeing or hearing them. (Though they can be felt if they bump into anyone during a fight.)
The story starts out with the recruitment of a new Gatchaman, an eternally cheerful and artistic teenaged girl named Hajime Ichinose. Hajime is quick to befriend the other Gatchaman but is also just as quick to question their rules and follows her own impulses, something that frustrates fellow Gatchaman Sugane Tachibana, a more straight-laced teenage boy who takes his position as a Gatchaman very seriously.
However, lest you think this is just a monster of the week kind of show, lemme tell you, the plot does... not really go in that direction!
Because while Hajime's story with the Gatchaman is going on, there is a simultaneous plot going on involving a social media network known as GALAX, invented by an anonymous young genius named Rui Ninomiya. Beyond various applications such as dressing up your avatar or chatting with others, the main function that makes people fascinated with GALAX is its capacity to make people band together- by sending out a request for help onto the network, GALAX will contact the nearest people who can provide it, whether it's contacting a nurse about a nearby car accident, or a lawyer who'd be willing to provide you with some legal consultation.
Rui- a.k.a. LOAD GALAX- has the ultimate goal of "updating" the world via GALAX, but finds themselves in an uncomfortable position, as continuing pressure is put upon them to augment GALAX using their own supernatural powers. This pressure is partly internal, as Rui feels intensely responsible for any lives that GALAX fails to save, and partly external, as LOAD GALAX has a secret elite team known as The Hundred who work within GALAX and don't always agree with how they run things.
Not to mention that Rui is being pestered by an alien known as Berg Katze, who also mocks Rui's inability to ensure everyone's safety, and who has his own malicious intentions, while speaking cryptically about how the world's going to end in a big, red fire...
The two plots are slowly intersecting, and though I'm only halfway through the show it seems to be less of the sentai vs. aliens show it appears to be at the start, and more of a comment on how society organizes itself, especially in the context of the modern era and the internet.
It's a little... complicated to sum up, partly because this show is kind of weird. But I am enjoying it!
Gatchaman are a kind of henshin hero (think Power Rangers or Sailor Moon) that have special powers based on their own personalities, and originate from their NOTEs- literal notebooks that represent their souls and can be used to communicate with fellow G-Crew members.
The G-Crew are selected and guided by a mysterious council of aliens, represented by a cryptic man named JJ and to a lesser extent, a tiny panda-like alien named Paiman, who serves as the squadron leader. Their mission is to protect the earth from malicious aliens, such as the MESS, an ever shifting cube made of cubes that absorbs humans and other things within it.
Complicating the G-Crew's mission are some guidelines they're required to follow, such as keeping their existence a secret from most humans, something they can accomplish with a power known as the "Amnesia Effect" which prevents non-Gatchaman from seeing or hearing them. (Though they can be felt if they bump into anyone during a fight.)
The story starts out with the recruitment of a new Gatchaman, an eternally cheerful and artistic teenaged girl named Hajime Ichinose. Hajime is quick to befriend the other Gatchaman but is also just as quick to question their rules and follows her own impulses, something that frustrates fellow Gatchaman Sugane Tachibana, a more straight-laced teenage boy who takes his position as a Gatchaman very seriously.
However, lest you think this is just a monster of the week kind of show, lemme tell you, the plot does... not really go in that direction!
Because while Hajime's story with the Gatchaman is going on, there is a simultaneous plot going on involving a social media network known as GALAX, invented by an anonymous young genius named Rui Ninomiya. Beyond various applications such as dressing up your avatar or chatting with others, the main function that makes people fascinated with GALAX is its capacity to make people band together- by sending out a request for help onto the network, GALAX will contact the nearest people who can provide it, whether it's contacting a nurse about a nearby car accident, or a lawyer who'd be willing to provide you with some legal consultation.
Rui- a.k.a. LOAD GALAX- has the ultimate goal of "updating" the world via GALAX, but finds themselves in an uncomfortable position, as continuing pressure is put upon them to augment GALAX using their own supernatural powers. This pressure is partly internal, as Rui feels intensely responsible for any lives that GALAX fails to save, and partly external, as LOAD GALAX has a secret elite team known as The Hundred who work within GALAX and don't always agree with how they run things.
Not to mention that Rui is being pestered by an alien known as Berg Katze, who also mocks Rui's inability to ensure everyone's safety, and who has his own malicious intentions, while speaking cryptically about how the world's going to end in a big, red fire...
The two plots are slowly intersecting, and though I'm only halfway through the show it seems to be less of the sentai vs. aliens show it appears to be at the start, and more of a comment on how society organizes itself, especially in the context of the modern era and the internet.
It's a little... complicated to sum up, partly because this show is kind of weird. But I am enjoying it!