Berg Katse (Solaris)...for better or worse?

Well, we all know the plot that unfolds around Berg Katse, that he was actually twins at birth merged into one being by Leader X. As a result, he has the ability to morph back and forth between genders, seemingly becoming completely male or completely female at will.

Berg was kind of ruined in this 1994 OVA remake in my opinion. Seeing that there wasn't time to develop his character, they felt the need to address this plot point simply by making Berg overly feminine. If that is all they could do, I think this plot point should have been dropped completely. As presented, it comes across as a distraction and adds nothing to the story. The dub makes this ever worse, voicing Berg with a low, effeminately sultry voice. At least the original Japanese voice didn't hit us over the head in such a manner, being only guilty of adding the effeminate mannerisms via the animation.

The original story for Berg was very original and surprising, but here it all gets lost as no details are given. Here, Berg is reduced to being eccentric for the sake of being eccentric. I hate that. I understand that they were limited in what could be done in such a short running time, but I truly think they should have ditched this element of the character, as it didn't quite work here, relying solely on fan knowledge of the past series. This is a remake, so it should work on it's own right.

Agree or disagree??

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Z is my codeword for murder!

I'm with UW here. In the OAV, the Galactors were clearly aliens, and as such Solaris could have been entirely 'normal' for a leader of his race.

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That's true about Galactor being aliens...but then I do not get the impression that they were all alien in origin. Maybe I am wrong about that. But let's remember that fang like teeth can be done with humans too! Some people file their teeth, though that sends shivers up my spine to think about!! I still felt like their armies were composed of human beings.

But as far as Berg goes, I really think the depiction of what seemed to be a transsexual was odd. I mentioned that this OVA was what introduced me to the world of Gatchaman, and having viewed it without knowing what was going on in the original show, I found the character odd. I remembered the insinuation that Zoltar was a woman in BOTP, and I assumed that the writers here were just running with that. Of course, then in my internet research I discovered what it was really all about. All in all, I thought the depiction of Berg was rather useless in the context of this version alone.

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Z is my codeword for murder!

You're right. It is nearly as if they took a hint from Battle of the Planets in that regard, making Galactor an invading force where all members are from another world. I guess in watching Gatchaman so much, I was taking a page from the original and forgetting how the new version depicted things. It has been a while since I viewed the OVA, but I will again when I am done revisiting the original series. I just finished up the V2 plan, so I am half way through it all again!

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Z is my codeword for murder!