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Red Impulse is a team of ace pilots working for the ISO and that act as a support group for the Science Ninja Team.

Background[]

The Red Impulse team consist of three men who show up when more reinforcement is needed in battle, although in early series planning they were also meant to be a force that would finish up whatever missions against Galactor that the Ninja Team had started. Since this could take away attention from the main characters, such a purpose was downplayed.

The team's planes are first witnessed in the fifth episode of the series, with the mystery of Red Impulse and its leader gradually unfolding from there.

Members[]

In episode 40, the Red Impulse leader makes mention of having lost many of his friends and subordinates to war over the years, making indication that there may have been a larger troop before that was reduced down to only three.

A much larger Red Impulse team is seen in the continuity of the Gatchaman OVA series, although they are mostly not distinguished from one another. By the plot of the third OVA, nearly the entire team is wiped out off-screen due to Galactor forces, leaving their leader as the last one standing and to eventually sacrifice himself against Katse.

Abilities and Equipment[]

Red Impulse composes of fighter jet pilots that possess abilities that rival (if not surpass) many nations' air force divisions. Their main equipment includes red fighter jets that possess high-performance abilities and a twin engine that gives the jet high speed and great maneuverability. The jet's main weapon is a set of missiles as well as a vulcan gun that has a high firing rate.

Alterations in English Adaptations[]

Battle of the Planets[]

The Red Impulse team are known as the Rigan Red Rangers, hailing from Planet Riga. Their leader goes by the codename of Colonel Cronus, while the other two men go unnamed; Masaki was even mistakenly adapted as Cronus himself in the episode where we originally learned both his and Onishi's names.

The anachronical way of adapting episodes as well as the different orders they aired in made for a great confusion about the continuity over Cronus as well. In one case, a scene of Red Impulse talking about his wife and child was adapted to have him be referring to a current wife and infant son rather than leaving in the implication of having left a young Ken behind.

Battle of the Planets (Top Cow)[]

This comic, in merging Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets elements, opts to refer to the Red Rangers by the original name of Red Impulse and have them be stationed on Earth. Cronus keeps his codename from the English reversioning, while his subordinates are named Masaki and Onishi.

In one instance, Cronus' given name is mentioned to be Ken, though we do not learn his surname. The one-shot of Mark: Heaven shows the full Red Impulse group to be much larger, as in the OVA mini-series.

G-Force: Guardians of Space[]

The Red Impulse name is kept and the plot elements are followed much more closely, although we never learn the real name of their leader.

Eagle Riders[]

The leader of Red Impulse is known simply as a Harley Harris, father of Hunter. Harley's team is mentioned to have been a senior fighting troop that defended the Earth from the Vorak prior to the Eagle Riders, and that Harley was overprotective and worried about his son getting involved.

Due to the episode of Gatchaman II that this dub sourced only showing the reunion of Red Impulse and Ken as well as his sacrifice, we do not know the details of Harley's team members or their names and fate.

Trivia[]

  • In developing the team, Jinzo Toriumi and Satoshi Suyama were inspired by the Blue Impulse, the acrobatic patrol of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
  • The Red Impulse leader was the only character of the team decided in the planning stage, with those like Masaki and Onishi being created after the fact when it became necessary to highlight the rest of the team in episodes. Due to this, Masaki's character design was not settled early on and he had a much different face, paler skin, and no facial hair. The names of these other two men were also only decided by episode 76, when it was time to spotlight them for a moment in the plot. As Hisayuki Toriumi had no plans to continue using them in the series, they did not re-appear until towards the end and were used as a way to show more death and sacrifice in Galactor's ultimate attempt to ruin the Earth. Their role was still important in that way, as it was the two of them who were able to reveal the location of the Galactor headquarters to the Science Ninja Team.

Apocryphal Remake Plans[]

New Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, aka "New Gatchaman" (1998)[]

  • Rather than a trio of men, the pitch for this remake series had Red Impulse as a group of five young women, ranging from ages 10 to 18. They were to be a team that was also trained at the ISO by Dr. Nambu and given similar technology in their suits and mecha to that of the Science Ninja Team. Unfortunately, the Red Impulse team would then be subject to brainwashing by the higher-ups of the ISO to make them more effective assassins. After the Science Ninja Team had defected due to learning of the ISO's intent to perform that conditioning on them, the Red Impulse team would be sent to track them down and attempt to take them back to the ISO. This would create a dynamic of the Red Impulse quintet being an enemy and rival force to the Science Ninja Team, who would now be independent vigilantes while Red Impulse would be affiliated with the government. Unbeknownst to both teams, Jun and the leader of Red Impulse would also be sisters unaware of the other's identity, though Jun would be desperately searching for her sister as part of the plot.
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