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Posted by lborgia88 on 03-12-2009 at 16:52:

quote:

Originally posted by tatsunokofan

quote:

So, somewhere around Snake 828, they decided that Berg Katse would be a mutant. After all, there would be no reason for Katse to change schools annually, otherwise.

In that general time period, yes. Prior to that, Katse had pretty much been a lady in disguise.

I'm glad they developed the idea of Katse being a male/female mutant. I think it's cooler, and it's a much better explanation for Katse's uncanny talents with disguises and his/her ability to change body shape pretty significantly (unless Katse had a damned good tailor, skilled in the use of figure-altering padding)

(from eps 31, 32 & 33)

Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 03-12-2009 at 22:44:

If it weren't for the obvious broad shoulders on Katse in numerous shots, the costumed Katse could still be a woman in disguise. I've mentioned before that the cape would disguise quite a bit, and the smallish breasts could be confined by the double-breasted shirt. Those long gloves would conceal the feminine lines of the arms, and the long boots would make an observer think they weren't seeing female hips ('Those boots make his hips look big.'). The broad belt conceals the female waistline, and the chin portions of the mask can be built up to give the appearance of a jutting jaw. She's on her own with the lips (although there are men with fairly full lips like that).

And now, in honor of the Galactor tendency towards surprises: piratebattle

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Posted by green on 04-12-2009 at 13:22:

Yes, some men do have full lips. And some of them, no doubt, wear the same cherry gloss too Winknudge

I remember seeing the BotP episode where Zoltar is unmasked, but all you get is the flash of long blonde hair. I think the team were trying to tell Tiny what they saw, but he couldn't believe that Zoltar was female. Don't trust my memory - it's rather old. Anyways, I remember yelling at the screen "Of course, he's a girl! What guy would wear that colour lipstick??"

Naturally, that was before the movie 'Priscilla, the Queen of the Desert' was made....

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Posted by Becky Rock on 04-12-2009 at 20:44:

quote:

Originally posted by tatsunokofan
Hi all!

quote:

So originally, Joe wasn't going to 'die'?

No, he wasn't. Joe's name wasn't even mentioned in the outline. As far as the outline was concerned, all of the Ninja Team members survive unscathed.

James

Where did the idea to kill Joe off come from, since the sequels weren't planned yet?

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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 04-12-2009 at 21:24:

I get the impression that the sequels weren't even planned when Joe died. But since we didn't see the body, someone decided that Joe could come back as a cyborg.

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Posted by tatsunokofan on 04-12-2009 at 21:25:

Hi all!

quote:

Where did the idea to kill Joe off come from, since the sequels weren't planned yet?

That was something that Chief Director Hisayuki Toriumi came up with. Many notable story elements that appeared after the series was up and running came from him, including having Red Impulse die to save the world and having Joe's parents be members of Gallactor. From interviews with Toriumi I've seen, it appears that main reason why he decided to have Joe die was to take advantage of the obvious dramatic qualities that such an event would provide to the end of the series.

James

Posted by tatsunokofan on 04-12-2009 at 21:38:

Hi all!

quote:

I get the impression that the sequels weren't even planned when Joe died.

That's correct. Their concern was on wrapping up Gatchaman and starting work on Hurricane Polymer, not on a sequel series that would likely never occur. Don't forget, in 1974, sequels to anime series were very, very rare (I can think of a handful that had happened by that time, but only a handful). It wasn't until the Anime Boom got rolling in 1977 that sequels to popular older anime series came into vogue.

quote:

But since we didn't see the body, someone decided that Joe could come back as a cyborg.

A decision that was made once the sequels were being planned, not one that was made while the first series was being produced. Having Joe's body disappear did create the obvious potential loophole for his survival, and was likely added in as a compromise for exactly that reason.

James

Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 27-04-2010 at 13:15:

In order, in order. And I wonder if Zoltar wanted a pony as a kid...

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