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Posted by tatsunokofan on 09-08-2016 at 02:09:

How Did You Initially Find Battle of the Planets?

Hi all!

So, how did you first watch, hear about, or otherwise encounter Battle of the Planets (Or Gatchaman, or G-Force, or Eagle Riders, or whatever was the first incarnation of this series you came across)? Let's hear your personal "origin story!"

James

Posted by Springie on 09-08-2016 at 02:41:

Mine isn't too exciting...I was just flipping through the channels and looking for something to watch one afternoon. I was a cartoon addict- loved "Tom and Jerry", "Bugs Bunny", "Scooby Doo", etc.
So when BOTP was on, I was captivated by the style and serious nature of the cartoon at first. Then, I almost got turned off because I thought it was a "boys' cartoon"...but then I saw Princess. So I thought, "At least this one has a girl in it...I'll watch a bit longer..."
and then...I got hooked!!! I loved the freaky mech designs, too...some of them were a bit scary, but they intrigued me. Wink

I believe the first episode I saw was the "Ghostly Grasshopper".

Hmmm.might be interesting to find pictures of ourselves when we were first watching BOTP- I believe I was around 7 years old.

Here's me at about the time I started watching BOTP:

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Posted by ChrisW on 10-08-2016 at 04:53:

Wow I don't remember. I was probably flipping channels and intrigued and then quickly hooked. I know I had a crush on Mark and would rush home from the bus to catch the show every day. I was so sure there was a full story arc (not that I knew the term) and that there must have been an "End" episode! That's one reason I'd rush home as the episodes continued to loop. I was sure I kept missing it! Little did I know ... Smile

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Posted by KT1972 on 10-08-2016 at 09:08:

wow, great topic, James, thank you! Big Grin

I remember quite clearly my first time. We were living in a different town to the one we finally settled in and I'd been collected from school (I would have been around 6 or 7 at the time), The walk home passed a small playground, and i wanted to stop and play since it was a hot afternoon. My mum left me and went home, and after about half an hour thunder started to rumble... I raced home, but still ended up getting drenched.

Back home, I was stripped of my wet clothing, wrapped in a blanket, and sat in front of the tv to dry off and warm up. In the UK at the time, we only had 3 channels, and BBC1 was the only one showing anything remotely cartoony, so that was put on. Battle of the planets was the second program on.

I can't remember which episode it was, but at some time during the show, I must have squeeled or shouted because it brought my mum out from the kitchen to see what was going on. I just said "it's G-force" and went back to watching.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Here is a pic of me at that time with my younger cousin,

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Posted by msannomalley on 10-08-2016 at 13:05:

BoTP was on as part of the after school block of cartoons that aired on one of the local TV stations. I was around 8 or 9 years old (third grade) when it began. I think what caught my attention was that this superhero team had not only a girl in it, but a kid and a larger guy. I had a crush on Jason. Then there was these giant flowers that swallowed Princess and all these fantastically weird giant monsters. I remember thinking then that he was just way cooler, even though everyone else on the show said otherwise.

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Posted by adrianag on 10-08-2016 at 13:35:

Hola James,

Well, this is such an interesting topic that I will gladly share my memories with all of you!

During 1979-1980, there were two Tv stations in Mexico showing cartoons from around 2pm all the way to 7pm (after that we had only the adult programs).

Channel 5 was mainly showing American cartoons, like those from Hanna-Barbera and some Japanese animes. On the other hand, Channel 13 was focusing in Japanese anime (I guess this have to do with tv rights).

Among my favorite cartoons were Candy Candy, Princess Knight, Triton of the sea and of course, Battle of the planets. Unlike Spain, the series was not as successful as the others (Candy was and is still the most famous one). For that reason, all the episodes were played only once and later, disappeared from the regular programming.

I still remember most of the episodes and somewhere in my mind, those voices from Jason and Mark.....I liked Mark then. I even remember drawing him just after the show. Now my favorite is Jason, of course! Wink

I was 9 years old then and together with my brother we watched it everyday at 3pm. Nothing in the world would stop me from watching it and surprising, it became my favorite show number one (more than Candy!). We even saved our desserts and sweets to wait for the show and enjoyed them while watching the adventures of our favorite characters.

Later, together with our cousins, we will played the roles of the heroes. For some reason, I was Mark....maybe I just wanted to be the leader! ^_^

It's amazing to think that now, many many years later, I own some of the original cels and Japanese products from the series. If someone would had told me so then, I would had never believe it! Back then my only treasure were a couple of magazines produced in Spain and they were so expensive to get. So truly, they were a treasure for me and somewhere at home in Mexico they are still lingering among my staff there.

I really hope to be able to have a Candy Candy museum one day, and my idea is to include Gatchaman as well. That's the reason I'm collecting all those treasures!!!

Thanks for the memory....glad to share this with all of you!

Hugs
Adriana

Condor

Animejoy

Posted by Daniella T on 10-08-2016 at 18:46:

Here's my story: I was almost 12 years old, Star Wars had come out a couple of years earlier and I had loved it, and in October 1980 we got BoTP in Greece. I was immediately hooked, and so were my friends in school. So we set up our own G-Force team (I went to an all-girls school
during primary school, so we could choose among all G-Force members-- I was Jason).

I only discovered Gatchaman, and fanfic, and the fandom, in 2003, when I was working in Sarajevo and, one day, found the old yahoo group. And found so many, many friends sharing the same passion!

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Posted by Becky Rock on 10-08-2016 at 22:40:

You all make me feel old.

I was 14 when I found Battle in 1978. Like so many others I was trying to find something to watch Sunday morning and came across it. I loved it. I even used to record the episodes on cassette tapes and write them out (I still don't know what happened to those tapes or my written copies).

I found out about Gatchaman when I was reading a book about anime in 1988, but didn't really look into it until 2000. I was horrified that G-2 died at the end and ever so happy Battle hadn't translated those episodes.

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 15-08-2016 at 18:37:

Yep, a similar story here. I was flipping channels as a kid watching TV after school and came across it. I enjoyed it enough that I remembered the time and channel and came back to watch every day!

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Posted by Mad Katharine on 15-08-2016 at 23:45:

A friend of mine stuck her head in my classroom to announce that a new "Star Wars Cartoon" was starting the next day. Intrigued, I tuned in.

Edit: I guess she'd seen the ads for it--I had not. My mornings and after-school activities involved horse wrangling and other assorted chores. Naturally I figured out a way to squeeze BotP into the schedule. Thankfully my parents, who were scifi buffs themselves, were willing to indulge me. Big Grin

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Disturbed in NorCal

Posted by ElectricWhite on 16-08-2016 at 17:39:

There was no random channel surfing here. The networks were showing soap operas in the afternoon (which Dad couldn't stand), and Mom wouldn't let me watch the GED programming on the PBS stations (yes, you read right, stations -- I had access to 2 of 'em!) -- I guess Mom was afraid I'd get to be smarter than my brother (way too late for that!). That left the one independent station in the region, which was into counter-programming. So, I got my fill of anime (Speed Racer, Ultraman, BotP), "classic" cartoons (Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, Fritz Lang), and The Three Stooges.

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Posted by RIgirl on 16-08-2016 at 22:12:

I remember it well -- I was 10 years old, 1978, summer was nearly over and Channel 5 was advertising a new cartoon for the afternoon line up in September. A little show called "Battle of the Planets" and my initial reaction was that they had totally copied "Speed Racer" and that it couldn't possibly be any better.

I sat down to watch the first episode (at 4 pm) and by the time we got to the first commercial break, I was totally and completely hooked. The rest, as they say, is history.

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