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--- Where is Utoland? (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=3308)
Posted by Transmute Jun on 17-08-2010 at 13:59:
Where is Utoland?
There are clues given in the series, but not enough....
It's not in Ameris, because in an early episode the Team comment about how they've never been there before. It's also implied that they drove to Ameris from Utoland.
It doesn't seem to snow in Utoland.
There's an Utoland border crossing (as seen in the Dave the Hippie episode). Is it a city-state?
Thoughts?
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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 17-08-2010 at 22:34:
Didn't I bring up this question many posts ago?
Can't keep a good question down. 
When did they imply driving from Ameris to Utoland?
I figured Utoland wasn't too far from Hontwarl, since Ken was able to fly his little prop-job there from Utoland City (and back). He plainly didn't expect to be gone long when he swore Jinpei to secrecy.
Since Ameris is the Gatch version of the US, that leaves Europe for Utoland. (The mecha-ball demolishes cities in a country called Amerisima in the subtitles. I always wondered if that was supposed to be Canada.)
I figured Utoland City for northern Europe. It's on the ocean, since the whale mecha attacks the port facilities (not to mention 'Trash Island' in another episode).
It could be that Utoland is a tiny country, on the pattern of Lichtenstein (and you really can rent Lichtenstein) or Luxembourg. Utoland City could be the only major metropolis there, and the country itself might make its living in information services and similar technologies. An ISO branch would be a major deal.
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Posted by Hinotori on 18-08-2010 at 00:40:
But is Ameris the US, or was it just implied by the name, and Ameris was really based in Japan and/or the far east?
I always thought it was based in Japan/Far East, mostly from the idea of having Crescent Coral in the depths of the ocean, but seeing Nambu's mansion on the top of a mountain. Plus all the sea-side scenes shown, Ryu's family in the fishing village, and, going back to the mountains, the location of the orphanage. It just seemed all these different locations could be gotten to quicker in a country the size and geography of Japan rather than the size of the US. Especially, as UW pointed out, with a single-engine prop plane, not to mention a motorcycle, and a stock race car (hey, even though it's the G2, it still can't cross the ocean or go over mountains without a road!)
Plus, bringing Cross Karakorum into it, it seemed more feasible, again considering distance and time traveled, if the Himalayas were closer to where the islands of Japan are. Galactor's HQ just close enough to the ISO's HQ to be a threat, but just far enough away to be inconspicuous.
When it comes to technology, both the US and Japan are contenders, as both countries are tech-forward, though Japan does seem to be ahead in advances than the US.
Good question, TJ. And I definitely see how Utoland could be situated in Europe, UW. Looks like we have another Gatch mystery to talk about! 
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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 18-08-2010 at 00:56:
Ameris has Blue Stone National Park, and that imitation Mount Rushmore with the Presidents and Jesus on it. Which suggests the US is the inspiration. Amegapolis looks like a garbled version of Manhattan (and 'polis' is the sort of suffix you'd find in the US, although maybe the creators didn't know that).
Mount Jupiter is the name in the original Japanese (ok, 'Jupiter-yama'). I listened carefully to that one episode. I don't know of any mountains with that name (which means nothing).
'Shirayuki' literally translates to 'White Snow', so that's not necessarily a help. After all, it could be a Japanese orphanage given the name because of the snow-cap on nearby mountains, or located in another country, and 'Shirayuki' is a translation of the name.
Nambu's mansion is on a peninsula (James showed us the map), and seems to be the west coast of that country.
Hontwarl seems populated by people with Scots and Irish surnames: Hume, Kelly, Howard. But it looks a bit like Switzerland. Except in The Phantom Red Impulse, when it suddenly gains a tropical forest and colorful tropical birds.
The Nakanishis apparently don't live in Japan. Seiji can take a train to visit his big brother. If Utoland City is in Europe, the Nakanishis might be immigrants to the area they live in.
TJ, I think I recall that in It's Not Easy Being Green, you located Utoland City in the northwestern part of Ameris.
(Shoot, where are Luman and Monalince located?)
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Posted by Transmute Jun on 18-08-2010 at 01:43:
In my fics, I've located Utoland and Ameris wherever it's convenient at the time... 
There are definitely similarities between locations in Ameris and in the United States, but also dissimilarities. For example, in episode 4 of Gatchaman II, it's shown that New Jork is situated at the edge of a massive desert. That's definitely not New York!
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Posted by amethyst on 18-08-2010 at 01:57:
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TJ, I think the animators did the same thing -- the locations fit the story rather than vice versa. I also agree with Utoland being a city-state. During any given episode it may come across as a country or as a city depending upon the needs of the episode. I think this also holds true for the other mentioned locations.
The downside to this is unless James is able to produce for us a global map with the locations of the countries from the animators, we will never know for certain.
The upside is of course, we can do like the animators and make the location fit the story in our fanfics.
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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 18-08-2010 at 02:01:
And in the Neon Giant ep, they end up in mountains.
They could have been winging it. And with all the new countries and cities popping up in the sequel series, it can be confusing.
Since almost none of the original production crew were involved in the sequels, the new folks probably didn't know some of the city names. And unless there was a world map drawn by one of the production crew, no way to know what RL cities and countries inspired which Gatch cities and countries.
(Oh, and Japan is mentioned by name in the third episode, so Ameris isn't Japan.)
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Posted by RIgirl on 18-08-2010 at 02:24:
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Unless, of course, a massive drought struck and that's all that's left of New Yersey!
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Posted by Transmute Jun on 18-08-2010 at 02:31:
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I... can't... breathe... laughing.....
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Posted by green on 18-08-2010 at 04:34:
RI - you crack me up, girl, you really do!
"Shirayuki" means Snow White as in the fairy tale, not a description of the colour of snow...
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Posted by condorcandi on 18-08-2010 at 04:49:
RIgirl, that's evil!
And this question generally pops up from time to time. But it's always fun to discuss!
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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 18-08-2010 at 06:07:
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I know 'shira' means white, and 'yuki' means snow.
An orphanage named after a European fairy tale character?
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Posted by gatchamarie on 18-08-2010 at 06:44:
RIgirl ... thanks for this morning's first, hearty laugh!
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Posted by green on 18-08-2010 at 07:03:
Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty - they've all made their way to Japan. In fact the shelves at work were overflowing with translated versions of all the books I grew up with... Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are... You name it and it's been translated.
To say white snow is 'shiroi yuki' not 'Shirayuki' - that is most definitely Snow White.
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Exaggeration misleads the credulous and offends the perceptive. ~Eliza Cook
Posted by Transmute Jun on 18-08-2010 at 14:26:
Maybe Jinpei is the illegitimate offspring of one of the Seven Dwarfs?
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Posted by gatchamarie on 18-08-2010 at 14:28:
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Posted by clouddancer on 18-08-2010 at 14:48:
Groan, that is bad, TJ!!!!
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Posted by lborgia88 on 18-08-2010 at 16:33:
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I'm inclined to think that the Gatch writers did this too. There seems to be both a lack of info and conflicting info regarding Utoland's location, which makes me wonder if the series planners and writers intended to be deliberately vague about Utoland's whereabouts or just all had different ideas and never got around to figuring out one answer.
Posted by Transmute Jun on 18-08-2010 at 18:29:
I suspect you[re right, LB, about locating them wherever it was convenient. It seems odd, though, since the rest of the series was so well planned out...
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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 18-08-2010 at 21:25:
It's one way to avoid pissing people off.
Then, too, this was for young children. Maybe they figured this was a detail they could overlook.
A lot of things happen for plot reasons. Giving fic writers so much to work with.
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