Gotcha, Man: Japanese Gatchaman / Battle of The Planets Live Action Trailer Released

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It is a busy morning here at the Crisis on Infinite Midlives Home Office – new equipment for our coverage of the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con and Boston Comic Con has been purchased and now must be studied, fucked with, fucked up, cursed at, fixed, synchronized, desynchronized, stopped from being thrown at a wall, attached to the correct online accounts and finally understood – plus there are personal deadlines and commitments to meet before Friday night’s serious drinking can begin.

However, I do have one quick thing here, albeit something mostly for Japanophiles and, frankly, old American farts like me who remember sitting in front of a 19-inch tube TV at 4 p.m. after school, with a bowl of Cap’n Crunch (or, if you were unlucky like me, with a 1970’s proto-granola bar so hard you could tack down carpet with it), to watch edited, imported anime on local UHF stations. Of course, we didn’t know it was anime at the time; all we knew was that, by 1978, we were hooked on cartoons and on Star Wars and on superhero comics, and that there was one cartoon that mixed them all up and fed it to us in a quick, daily, 30-minute dose of awesome: Battle of The Planets.

It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I learned and understood that Battle of The Planets was just the gaijin title of Japan’s Gatchaman, Gatchaman, of course, being the Japanese word for “gaijin.” And while in America, the show generally lives on only as late-70s nostalgia, it is apparently still a viable property in Japan, as Toho Studios has just released a trailer for a live action version to be released over there.

The thing is in Japanese and not subtitled, but if you grew up on Battle of The Planets, you’ll see a lot you recognize. So get yourself a bowl of something sugary, then remember that you’re an adult now and put the cereal away and grab a beer, and settle in for incomprehensible goodness, right after the jump.

Yeah, it’s all there: The Fiery Phoenix, the whole crew freefalling in a circle… all it’s missing is Keyop! Well, I think it’s missing Keyop. At least I didn’t see a tiny freak with obvious thalidomide damage. Maybe it’s a reboot.

And I’ll tell you this: that band, Bump of Chicken, who does the theme music? They’re going places! America clearly isn’t one of those places, but still.

Yeah, Bump of Chicken just doesn’t bring that awesome, brass-heavy sound from the cartoon of my youth. But don’t take my word for it; here, check it out. Gaze upon the glory of Seven Zark Seven! And tremble!