I can't help but wonder what Ken would think of this little penguin version of Gatchaman, but I admit he is cute!

Thank you for sharing Cain. Looking forward to seeing it.

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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

James had this information to share on the subject:

(Originally posted on the BOTP Mailing List)

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Hi all!

Well, it looks like Tachumaru is back, and has more to come!

Those of you with good memories will remember that, back in March, Tatsunoko lauched a site featuring several of their characters rendered in cute animal form. Ken as the penguin Gatchapen is one example.

Anyway, the site had one short video on it, and that was pretty much all that was done with it -- until now. Tatsunoko's website was updated to announce that they are doing a promotion with McDonald's Happy Meals (Or, as they're known in Japan, Happy Set). This promotion has the Tachumaru characters interacting with
the latest "Smile Pump" Happy Meal toys, which are a series of pump-action cartoon-esque appliances (Things like a fan, a toaster, an alarm clock, a washing machine, etc.). The website for this promotion can be found here:

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/happyset/smilepump/tachumaru.html

The site has three short videos, one of which features Gatchapen attempting once again to realize his dream of flight, thanks to the help of the Smile Pump electric fan, "Senpuki-kun." The other two have Piyotan (Gold Lightan crossed with a chicken) and the alarm clock "Mezamashi-kun," and Nyashan (Casshan crossed with a cat) and his robot dog Blender (Casshan's robot dog Friender rendered in a cutified form) with the popcorn popper "Popcorn-kun." Three new
videos are suppsoed to be added on August 27th.

This site also links the Tachumaru site at:

http://www.tatsunoko.co.jp/tachumaru/index.html

Going to the site, we discover (Thanks to a small banner on the front page of the site) that Tachumaru will be coming to TV sets across Japan in a new series premiering this October! Yes, we get to look forward to more adventures of this group of Tatsunoko animals!

Okay, fine, it's not a new Gatchaman TV series, which I suspect we'd all prefer, but it still could be a fun show.

Anyway, the Tachumaru site has the requisite introduction to all of the characters, the short, silent movie that was one the site originally, and a pair of downloadable wallpapers (One for your computer and one for your cell phone). So, you might want to check it out.

On a side note, I noticed that, during the months since Tachumaru was announced, several of the characters have gone through name changes. Originally, Piyotan was going to be named Hiyotan, Nyashan was going to be Nyanyan, and Blender was going to be Friender. Gatchapen is the only one whose name didn't change.

Anyway, enjoy the sites and the videos!

James

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Thank you, Cain, for bringing this to our attention, and thank you, James for filling in some of the background for us!

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James had this to say on the BOTP Mailing List.

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Hi all!

Just to let you know, the second set of Tachumaru and Smile Pump videos are now up on the Japanese McDonalds site. Like the first set, these three each feature one of the Tachumaru characters interacting with one of the Smile Pump Happy Meal toys. This time we get to see Gatchapen with Toaster-kun, Nyasshan with the rice cooker Suihanki-kun, and Piyotan with Sentakuki-kun, a washing machine.

Like the earlier batch, they're short, but cute. All six videos can be found here:

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/happyset/smilepump/tachumaru.html

Have fun!

James

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Thank you, James, for providing this information!

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!