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Eagle Riders

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Eagle Riders is an combined adaptation of Gatchaman II (1978-1979) and Gatchaman Fighter (1979-1980), the two sequel series to the original Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.

Synopsis

The Earth is under siege from an extraterrestrial group called Vorak lead by the mysterious Cybercom. The Global Security Council looks into the matter and calls upon Dr. Thaddeus Keane, who leads the Eagle Riders, a superhero team consisting of five members who have previously provided the Earth a great deal of help. Dr. Keane assured the council that the Eagle Riders will prevail against the alien threat that's upon them.

Dubbing History[]

Due to Sandy Frank owning the rights to Battle of the Planets, Saban pitched Eagle Riders as a completely unrelated series rather than a sequel. In order to adhere to Saban Entertainment's strict censorship guidelines, which forbid any explicit references to death, the show was heavily edited and re-written, arguably more so than the editing done to Battle of the Planets. The dub featured new music composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.

The dub itself would have a rocky history, having at least 10 to 15 installments done with a different production team before Saban higher-ups ordered it scrapped and redone; early ad copy in 1995 shows some names that were present in that version such as Joe being named "Flash" and Mallanox being "Galaxor", but it is unknown if any copies of this first attempt survived. The story editor and producer Rita M. Acosta would be tasked to head up the second adaptation attempt.

Although the resulting adaptation started off as a relatively straight dub of the first sequel, the Saban creative team quickly began skipping episodes and cherry-picking whichever ones felt "safest" for them to translate, as well as airing others out of order. Much like Sandy Frank and Battle of the Planets dubbing order, this was partly due to Tatsunoko sending the film reels out of order. Character deaths were generally covered up or cut out, entire episodes were dropped while others were spliced together, and Saban's dubbing effort proved very inconsistent as the writers stumbled to get themselves out of many different plot holes they'd created. In a 2006 interview, one of the writers, Marc Handler, stated that Eagle Riders was "not a good rendition", and that the scripts often lacked continuity with each other.[1]

One notable example of the inconsistent changes made to the series is the removal of Mallanox (Gel Sadra)'s origin and transformation, which originally happened in the premiere episode of Gatchaman II. Instead, it is said in the first episode that Mallanox was created by Cybercon (Leader X), then it's changed in a subsequent episode where he's referred to as the son of Lukan (Berg Katse from the first series). Even later in the series it reverts back to the original backstory that Mallanox is in fact an artificially-aged Nancy Aikens (Sammie Pandora), the missing daughter of Francine Aikens (Sylvie Pandora). As a result, Mallanox is initially referred to as male, then as female but still speaking in a masculine voice when in costume. It's important to note that even in the original Japanese version, Gel Sadra was voiced by a male actor and Sammie is referred to as a child with a mutated chromosomal disorder, thus the character's gender is often a source of confusion and even treated ambiguously by Tatsunoko in their different sources (aside from a usage of "he"/"him" on their English summary).

In an attempt to cover up the villains death at the end of Gatchaman II and to try to merge the two series closer together, the footage is edited so that Mallanox is transformed by Cybercon into the villain of Gatchaman Fighter, Happy Boy (Count Egobossler) - so titled due to Mallanox's habit of laughing constantly. The cutting and pasting only increased once the dub reached Fighter, with episodes spliced together and some scenes from later episodes being put into earlier ones with rewritten context.

The final 8 episodes of Gatchaman Fighter were never translated, due to the objectionable content involved. Instead, the 15th episode of Gatchaman Fighter served as the series finale, offering no closure for the storyline. All in all, 65 of a combined total of 100 episodes (52 for Gatchaman II, 48 for Gatchaman Fighter) were adapted. The series only aired for 13 episodes in the United States, while it aired in its entirety in Australia.

Cast[]

Image Character Original Name Seiyū Dub Actor
Hunter Harris Ken Washio Katsuji Mori Richard Cansino
Joe Thax Joe Asakura Isao Sasaki Bryan Cranston
Kelly Jenar Jun Kazuko Sugiyama Heidi Lenhart
Mickey Dugan Jinpei Yoku Shioya Mona Marshall
Ollie Keeawani Ryu Nakanishi Shingo Kanemoto Paul Schrier
Dr. Thaddeus Keane Dr. Nambu Tōru Ōhira Greg O'Neill
Dr. Francine Aikens Dr. Sylvie Pandora Miyuki Ueda Lara Cody
Auto Pimar Yō Inoue Dena Burton
Kazue Komiya
(ep. 1)
Mallanox Gel Sadra Masaru Ikeda R. Martin Klein
Happy Boy Count Egobossler Kōji Nakata Richard Epcar
Cybercon Leader X Nobuo Tanaka Peter Spellos
Leader Z Seizō Katō
Director Anderson Teiji Ōmiya Clifton Wells
Professor Andro Dr. Raphael Kōichi Chiba Michael McConnohie
Krall Marstora Osamu Ichikawa ¿?
Olaf Mechandor Kenichi Ogata ¿?
Vax Kempler Yoshito Miyamura Daniel Woren
Avery Saburō Kamo Hiroo Oikawa ¿?
Vorak Minions Galactor Minoru Inaba
Shigeru Chiba
Yūsaku Yara
Shigezō Sasaoka
Daisuke Gōri
Masashi Hirose
Kenji Obata
Natsuko Fuji 		Bob Papenbrook
Peter Spellos
Doug Stone

Episodic Characters[]

Character Original Name Seiyū Dub Actor Episode
Zarnek Hawk Getz Masatō Ibu Steve Bulen 1-2
Captain Minoru Inaba ¿? 1
First Officer Yūsaku Yara ¿?
Representatives Motomu Kiyokawa Dave Mallow
Richard Epcar
Daniel Woren
Child Kazue Komiya ¿?
Cory Shirō Tōdō Yō Inoue ¿? 5
Karl Osamu Ichikawa ¿? 6
Lisa Mari Okamoto ¿?
Harry Sumiko Shirakawa ¿? 7
Akaha Rokko Seizō Katō ¿? 10
Jeff Osamu Ichikawa ¿? 11
Julia Yō Inoue ¿?
Nurse Keiko Miyazaki ¿?
Dr. Gold Dr. Cushing Takeshi Watabe ¿? 12
Harley Harris Red Impulse Hisayoshi Yoshizawa ¿? 14
Major Benton Major Bolg Kōji Nakata ¿?
Mike Benton Benny Yō Inoue ¿?
Keealani Yuka Mieko Nobusawa ¿? 15
Sachiko Minori Matsushima ¿? 16
Sachiko's Father Tetsutarō Shōzō Hirabayashi ¿?
Eva Douglas Meiko Aoki ¿? 18
Davy Luke Kimiko Nozaki ¿? 19
Ulf Tesshō Genda ¿? 22
Android RF3 Yō Inoue ¿?
John Matsuzō Junkichi Yarita ¿? 26
Benji Seiji Mie Azuma ¿?
Hans Pete Mari Shimizu ¿? 27
Greta Michi Yō Inoue ¿?
Kena Yōko Asagami ¿? 28
Mother Noriko Ōshima ¿?
Grandmother Reiko Suzuki ¿?
Captain Panther Hansa Kazuyuki Sogabe ¿? 29
Gabriella Ran Kumiko Takizawa ¿? 30
Boys Keiko Yamamoto
Masako Matsubara 		¿?
Men Kenji Obata
Yūsaku Yara 		¿?
Kaiser Hiroya Ishimaru ¿? 31
Lena Nancy Kiyoko Shibata ¿?
Rick Reiko Suzuki ¿?
Tanita Chinita Kazuko Yanaga ¿? 34
José Yoshito Yasuhara ¿?
Dr. Richman Kōichi Kitamura Steve Kramer 37
Sam Kaneto Shiozawa ¿? 41
Boys Shigeru Chiba
Minoru Inaba 		¿?
Engine Room Manager Daisuke Gōri ¿? 42
Staff Minoru Inaba
Daisuke Gōri
Masashi Hirose
Shigezō Sasaoka 		¿? 43
Nancy Aikens Sammie Pandora Yō Inoue ¿? 45
Herb Aikens Domenico Pandora Mitsuo Senda ¿?
Old Man Shin Kunisaka ¿?
Boys Kimiko Nozaki
Mayumi Tanaka 		¿? 50
Greg Tony Masako Nozawa ¿? 52
Mayor Dalton Mayor Tamio Ōki ¿?
Dr. Newsom Gordon Mikio Terashima ¿? 54
George Newsom Tommy Yoshiko Ōta ¿?
Marcus Levain Duke Oncain Kiyoshi Kawakubo ¿? 55
Michael Reiko Suzuki ¿?
Zabamba Zabanda Takeshi Watabe ¿? 56
General Botan Commander Gamba Yūji Mikimoto ¿?
Reesa Riska Kazue Komiya ¿?
Raymond Rashit Yūsaku Yara ¿?
Roy Robert Kimiko Nozaki ¿? 57
Doctor Yasuo Muramatsu ¿?
Woman Noriko Ōshima ¿?
Jimmy Mac Masako Nozawa ¿? 58
Dr. Zeid Dr. Stahl Akira Kimura ¿?
Hughie Shōichi Kamo Reiko Suzuki ¿? 59
Uncle Clyde Shigeru Nagata Mitsuo Senda ¿?
Annie Lucy Keiko Yokozawa ¿? 60
Sailor Masashi Hirose ¿?
Official ¿? 61
Staff Michio Abe ¿? 62
Researcher Takeshi Watabe ¿? 63
Children Yoshiko Matsuo
Keiko Enfuku
Chizuru Yamamoto 		¿? 64
Justin Powers Paul Barrett Yū Mizushima ¿? 65

Additional Voices[]

Notes[]

  • Sandy Frank originally approached Tatsunoko Productions about also adapting Gatchaman II for a sequel Battle of the Planets series, though these negotiations went nowhere.
  • Sentai Filmworks has expressed interest in acquiring both Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter and giving them a proper uncut dub as was done by them with the first series, movie and OVA. However, due to complicated legal entanglements, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon.
    • As with all Saban productions, Eagle Riders was sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2001 after Saban sold the company and the Fox Family Channel to them, and the rights to the show were not kept by them.
    • Sentai Filmworks released the Gatchaman II Complete Series DVD set on April 18, 2017. However, it is subtitle-only.
  • Richard Cansino, Mona Marshall, Lara Cody and R. Martin Klein would dub for the 1994 OVA a year later. Mona Marshall would reprise the role of Jinpei, while Cansino took the role of Joe, Cody voiced June, and Klein voiced Berg Katse.
  • Richard Epcar cites this dub as one of his favorite animes.
  • Ardwight Chamberlain, presumably, is credited as "R.D. Smithee"; a pseudonym similar to the Alan Smithee pseudonym that has been used when writers and directors are too ashamed to have their names credited in projects they have worked on. One of Chamberlain's usual pseudonyms is the similar "R.D. Makepeace".
  • Bob Bergen was originally set to play Hunter/Ken in the dub, but left early in the production due to the low pay. Richard Cansino replaced him, but many of Bergen's lines are still in the show, thus making this the final anime series Bob Bergen worked on.

Transmission[]

Date(s) Channel Country
1996-1997 Network Ten Australia Australia
1996-1997 Syndication United States United States

References[]

  1. ↑ 2006 interview with Marc Handler, Anime World Order Show

External Links[]

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