MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
INFO
Gatchaman Crowds Insight is the second season of Gatchaman Crowds, an incredibly fabulous reboot of the classic Tatsunoko series Gatchaman. Taking place in the fictional hi-tech city of Tachikawa, "Gatchaman"—warriors who fight in special reinforced suits powered by "NOTE," the manifestation of special spiritual powers in living beings. A council has scouted a group of individuals with latent powers to protect Earth from alien criminals, headed by the mysterious and powerful J.J. Insight is a continuation off the events of the first series, with the Gatchaman facing a new enemy called "Vape" and gaining more Gatchaman comrades.
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CHARACTERS AND CAST
Hajime Ichinose - VA: Maaya Uchida (Ranko in Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls, Rikka in Chuu2)
The main character of the story-ssu, Hajime-ssu is an 12th grader attending a high school in Tachikawa City-ssu. A powerful and energetic girl with an artistic spirit, she is a little bit strange in a good way-ssu. She has a passion for stationery goods, and gets extremely excited when it comes to different models of pens and scissors-ssu. She is put under the responsibility of Sugane-ssu, but usually goes against him and acts on her own-ssu. However, she greatly affects the world and her team members when she does something that results in something that has never been seen in Gatchaman activities in the past-ssu.
Tsubasa Misudachi - VA: Kaori Ishihara (Aladdin in Magi, Rosalie in Cross Ange)
Tsubasa is a 16-year-old second year high school student from Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture. She is also a new Gatchaman, and as a Gatchaman she is Hajime's new partner. She has an impulsive personality. When she's angry she slips into her home city's dialect.
Gelsadra - VA: Kana Hanazawa (Zessica in Aquarion EVOL, Akane in Psycho Pass)
An alien who makes an emergency landing in a space ship in front of Tsubasa's house, and so becomes attached to Tsubasa. Gelsadora is a pacifist, and so is under the protection of the Gatchaman. A character named originally appeared in the 1978 anime, Gatchaman II.
Rizumu Suzuki - VA: Yuichiro Umehara (Rene in Seraph of the End, Ryuu-san in Million Doll)
Suzuki is a 19-year-old medical student at a famous university. A realist, he regards Crowds and Rui as dangerous, and starts a mysterious organization, VAPE.
Rui Ninomiya - VA: Ayuma Murase (Hinata in Haikyuu, Joker in Kaitou Joker)
A young programmer living on the top floor in the high-class mansion-apartment building Glorious Tower Toyosu in Tokyo's Koto ward. His trump card is his superb intellect; he is trilingual, being able to speak English, Japanese, and Chinese. After educating himself using educational websites and learning how to write code from hackers around the world, he developed the social networking services "GALAX" and "President X." Rui believes that the current Japan is extremely boring, and does many things in order to speed up and update the world.
Sugane Tachibama - VA: Ryota Osaka (Haruto in Valvrave, Tanakaze in Knights of Sidonia)
Sugune is a samurai boy with an old-fashioned personality and speech who has spent five years on the G Team. Due to his personality, he holds justice and his duties very strongly, and is at first baffled by Hajime, who makes him believe in things he had once not thought possible. When he first met her, he did not even think of her as a woman, but as they continued to work together, he began to understand and admire her.
O.D. - VA: Daisuke Hosomi (Genkishi in Hitman Reborn, Souichirou in C: The Money of Soul)
The mood-making person of the Tachikawa "CAGE" with the catchphrase of "You're overdoing it-!!." They calls their Gatchaman a sad Gatchaman that can't transform, this is because it is said their Gatchaman is so powerful it can destroy the world. With their guardian-like existence to the team, people who might not open up their hearts to others would open it up to them. They owns a cat named Altair (Al for short).
Utsutsu Miya - VA: Kotori Koiwai (Renge in Non Non Biyori, Kigurumi in Joshiraku)
A first-year student attending the Tachikawa Private Academy for the Gifted. She works as a volunteer taking care of the flowers at the Tachikawa City International Greenery Garden. She does not have a very positive image of herself, and fears getting closer to others. The only one she can speak to normally is O.D. Just about the only thing she says to the other members is "I will be gloomy...," (鬱々します, Utsuutsu shimasu) which is a pun on her name.
Joe Hibiki - VA: Daisuke Namikawa (Rock in Black Lagoon, Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter)
Joe is a Tokyo University graduate who felt despair and nothingness toward the human race, and also felt the limits of the world after 10 years of being on the G Team. However, after meeting Hajime, he gained back his passion for living, and became serious about his work. He is usually running the "Living Safety Department" in the town hall, where he is transformed into a clean, well-kempt, handsome man. However, in the evening, he lets down his hair, puts away his glasses, and smokes, changing his personality entirely. He calls Hajime "little lady," and himself "old man." Although he keeps his distance from Hajime, he actually is very interested in her.
J.J. - VA: Katsuji Mori (Mittermeyer in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Garma in Mobile Suit Gundam)
A member of the board of trustees, and the guardian of Earth. He is a man who has looked after of lives born in the galaxy for many years. He gave the Gatchaman to Earthlings who had the correct characteristics, and informs them of his prediction of an existence that will be impossible to repel with the powers of science.
Paiman - VA: Aya Hirano (Amane in Death Note, Lucy in Fairy Tail)
An alien and the leader of the team, he looks like a panda but hates being called one. Quick to anger but ultimately understanding and caring for the team.
Berg-Katze - VA: Mamoru Miyano (Light in Death Note, Rin in Free!)
An androgynous, mysterious individual who is named after a main villain from the original series. Berg has the power to assume anyone's identity by kissing them, which is used to frame people for various crimes. Berg also displays powers of levitation and teleportation. Both Paiman and O.D seem to know about Berg, who also possesses a NOTE, golden in color with a unique symbol. According to them, Berg Katse is a malicious being whose purpose is to destroy all life in the universe by turning the individuals of the planets it attacks against each other, leading them to mutually annihilate themselves. After being "defeated" by Hajime in the first season, Katze now lives in her NOTE (I think) and continues to troll, because it's what Katze does best in life.
STAFF
Director: Kenji Nakamura
Series Composition: Toshiya Ono
Original Character Design: Kinako
Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Yûichi Takahashi
G Suit Design: Koji Nakakita, Kenji Andou
Animation Production: Tatsunoko Production
IMPRESSIONS
Gatchaman Crowds Insight - Episode 1
Really, really, really loved this. They really did a great job introducing the new characters without forgetting about any of the old characters either. The emphasis on society, character motivations/personalities, and the "what makes people tick" angle is what I really enjoyed about Crowds, and it's all front and center in this opening episode. Tsubasa is a great new character, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her dynamic with Hajime pan out. It's a really smart decision to make Tsubasa a "genki" character as well, because on the surface she initially seems a lot like Hajime, but as things progress it becomes clear that they're pretty different. Both have a positive outlook on life, but while Hajime is completely driven by her personality alone, Tsubasa is more of a normal person who has family, hopes, dreams, and reactions to things as they happen. She gets angry and disappointed, surprised and shocked, etc.
Hajime would just shrug it all off because her mentality is such that she can only see the best in everything, even to her own detriment, and yet that is also her shield. It was also what allowed her to truly understand and relate to the threat in the first Crowds season because the villain was essentially insane. It looks like the villain(s) in Insight are intended to be more human and to explore the darker side of society, and if so, it might take someone more socially adjusted to help tackle this problem. Tsubasa seems like a great candidate in that respect.
Also, with the introduction of the new alien character and her ability to turn emotions visible, it seems that the series is going for a deeper level of connectivity. In Crowds, the GALAX and CROWDS systems were meant to elevate social media as a phenomenon into something that truly connects people beyond just information - allowing crowd sourcing to make the world a better place in an actual practical way. In Insight, perhaps what we will see is that connection apply to emotions as well. If we can assess the emotional state of other people visibly, and see how our actions and emotions can affect and change that state in others, wouldn't it lead to an even deeper understanding of each other and bring society even closer together?
I'm glad they're playing up the celebrity of the heroes too. I really dislike sequels which try to push a reset button and ignore major shifts in the worldview setting, and Insight is doing anything but that. Great stuff.
