Gatchaman Crowds Review

I'm not happy...this was such a huge disappointment to me, and I will explain why after I let those of you who haven't seen it read what the story is about.

Gatchaman Crowds, a 2013 television anime series produced by Tatsunoko Production. It is the fifth Japanese-produced animation project based on the original 1972 anime series, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and is directed by Kenji Nakamura. The series aired on NTV between July 12, 2013 and September 27, 2013 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. A second season of the series titled Gatchaman Crowds Second has been announced. The first season has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks and is showing on The Anime Network.

The series takes place in the early summer of 2015 and is set in the city of Tachikawa, Japan. A "second metropolis" of Tokyo, Tachikawa is protected by the Gatchaman, warriors who fight in special reinforced suits powered by the manifestation of their spiritual powers called NOTE. Following the introduction of their newest member, the energetic and cheerful Hajime Ichinose, the Gatchaman must deal with their greatest threat, an enigmatic alien creature bent on destroying Earth just like it did with several other planets in the past.

Now, onto the review and since it is my first review ever to be read by someone who isn't me I should start by saying how it will be organized! I will start off with what I liked about the anime/manga, next I will go over what I didn't like, a short recommendation of the anime/manga, and finally a rating on a scale of 1-10 (1 being worst, and 10 being spectacular).

Right from the start I already was in love with the animation, and the vibrant colors that were on screen. The animation includes the use of CGI most notably used when the characters transform into their Gatchaman forms, and while I am not the biggest fan of mixing the regular 2D look of anime with the 3D look of CGI, it works really well for this anime. Another reason the animation is so appealing to the eye is that it is very reminiscent of the anime Tiger & Bunny in terms of the transformations which is one of my favorite anime that is most definitely in my top 20. Overall, the animation is what drew me towards this anime, but it is also partially due to the story line, and battle scenes throughout the show that move very fluidly. The story is both a pro and a con for this anime the pro being that it has a strong potential to really go somewhere unique and make it stand out among other action anime on the anime scene as well as possibilities to produce great movies after or during the series run.

The bad side to the story line in my personal opinion is that it moves to slow, and the beginning of the series really has no clear direction as to the purpose of the characters powers and abilities before the third or fourth episode, and I would have liked to have learned about the background of the characters even a little bit within the first episode to give me more of a sense of who the character is and their personality. By not really elaborating on some of the characters past it kind of becomes a guessing/ waiting game on finding out the true essence of the character and what makes them stand out from the others in the group, so they are all just sort of mysterious overall. Now, the biggest problem that I just couldn't get past with this anime was the main heroine of the story, Hajime Ichinose, who is basically like the energizer bunny of a psychiatric hospital in that she has a stupid obsession for notebooks (which is completely random), and Ichinose is the most annoying having to always feel the need to tell others in the Gatchaman group her name when they call her something else (i.e. Newbie). Her energy levels ruin the show for me in that she is not synonymis with the other characters and that takes away the seriousness of many fights and situations.

A bit of a short character background for you on main heroine Hajime Ichinose.

The main protagonist, a 16-year old high school girl living in Tachikawa City, who is a new member of the G-Crew. She is powerful and energetic, has artistic spirit and is a bit strange but in a good way as she is an avid collector of stationery and usually gets overly excited when she finds an item that piques her interest. She is put under the responsibility of Sugane, but usually disobeys his orders and acts on her own. Her actions, despite seeming irresponsible at first, usually bring positive and unexpected results never before seen in Gatchaman activity. Her Gatchaman form has the appearance of girl with pink pigtails and fights with large scissors and other stationery-based tools. Her NOTE color is white.

All in all, this is an anime I recommend to those who can stand a main character who really has too much energy for her on good, and for those who were fans of the anime Tiger & Bunny and its animation. While the story line in my opinion could be much more than it is, this is still a series to check out and in some cases enjoy (if you can get past the annoying characters). You can watch all 12 episodes of Gatchaman Crowds HERE!

My Rating for this series is a.... 7 out of 10, because of the annoying main character and the slow progression of the story.

Thanks for checking out my first full review I hope you enjoyed, and will return for more in the future! If you would like for me to review a specific title please visit the comments page of the blog and let me know!