Unused and retooled story ideas of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman

With the production of anime, there can be pitches for episodes that never make it to the final product. Some of these ideas are discarded even before they make it into any scripted form, but there may also be scenario-stage draft scripts that are made but ultimately wind up unused; this may be due to being rejected by the director or producers, or put on hold and simply never find a fitting place in the finalized production line.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman has evidence of a few specific ideas that did not air, although due to the scattered state of Tatsunoko's production materials and a lack of precise documentation from the period, it is difficult to confirm whether certain early concepts made it to actual scenario scripts or never left the story planning charts.

In the production line of Gatchaman itself, there appear to be at least 112 scenario scripts that were penned (113 if counting a duplicated script number), 105 of which were approved and progressed to screenplay stage and that made it into being actual episodes. There are also theories that 8 scenario numbers may have been accidentally skipped, accounting for the discrepancy, due to the tight production of the series (as well factoring in the case of a duplicated number). In either situation, the order of the scenarios and the production numbers on the known accompanying screenplays can show that they were penned in a much different order than the episodes that aired, and in some cases had to have been extensively reworked to reflect a new idea.

This article will cover known unproduced stories for the series, as well as scenario scripts that did get approved to be developed for the series but were heavily rewritten (especially in comparison to other scenario vs. screenplay differences).

Science Ninja Team Shadow story plans

Most notably, a series composition chart with plans for the first 17 episodes of the work (then known by the title Science Ninja Team Shadow at the time of writing), was republished in a doujinshi and circulated by fans.

This chart had been drafted up by Satoshi Suyama, outlining the story structure and where different character spotlight episodes would fall. There would be some titles that can be seen to have been reflected in the program, or ideas that changed but still made it in, but there remain other story ideas that have no discernible counterparts.

There may have also existed similar charts for other early iterations of the show, such as Science Ninja Team Birdman (which some scenarios still have isolated references to), though if any copies survive, they may be held internally within Tatsunoko or with any surviving employees at Tori Pro.

"The Scary Space Station"

(恐怖の宇宙ステーション)

This episode appeared as the 5th title on the chart, though it had no writer assigned and it is unknown if it ever reached the scenario stage or was reworked as another plot entirely (although one title on the chart with no writer shown, "The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu", does show evidence of an early scenario script having been produced when Gatchaman was greenlit).

In the plot notes, it is said that it revolves around Ken and Jun going on a "death run" in this space station mecha of Galactor's, risking their very lives in the battle.

"The Arctic Ice Melting Operation"

(北極氷塊溶解作戦)

This episode appeared as the 7th on the chart, though it had no writer assigned and it is unknown if it ever reached the scenario stage. It would involve Ken and the captain of Red Impulse having a conflict, while their mission is to blow up an undersea aircraft carrier of Galactor's.

It is possible that the basic idea of Ken and Red Impulse's interaction could have been recycled for what would become The Mysterious Red Impulse, written as the 6th production scenario but produced as the 11th episode.

"The Modified Mammoth Human"

(改造マンモス人間)

This episode appeared as the 8th on the chart, though it had no writer assigned and it is unknown if it ever reached the scenario stage.

In the little described of its plot, it was said to center around Joe's past and feature a "Mammoth Human" as the episode's mecha, as well as a head female villain (potentially an early outing of Katse's Lady Captain form).

A mammoth-related mecha would eventually see usage in the episodes Pursue Katse! and The Secret of the Birdstyles.

"A Secret Base on a Lonely Island"

(孤島の秘密基地)

A plot slated as the 9th on the chart, with Jinzo Toriumi assigned to write its scenario. Red Impulse would be in danger, necessitating the Science Ninja Team to assist him against Galactor war ships. It is unknown if this scenario went through with being written by Toriumi, or which episode it might have become if it had.

The notes indicate that these mecha would be designed after the Japanese war ships that appeared in Tatsunoko's Animentary: Decision.

"The Southern Alps Monster Manufacturing Base"

(南アルプス怪獣製造基地)

This was slated as the 10th episode on the chart, and described as a plot taking place in the mountains and centered around the love for animals. It had no writer assigned to it at the time, and it is unknown if it made it into the scenario period.

"The Monaco Gambling Hall Jewel Heist Operation"

(モナコ賭博場宝石強奪作戦)

This was slated as the 12th episode on the chart, and would revolve around Jun and Jinpei teaming up to stop Galactor while a Grand Prix race would be going on. However, it had no writer listed for it, and it is unknown if this idea made it to being an actual scenario script.

It is possible that Speed Race from Hell (originally penned as "The Secret Micro Film") may be a remnant of this plan, as the Science Ninja Team take part in a race in the Monaco-esque country of LuMan.

"A Super Typhoon Strikes the Northern Hemisphere"

(超大型台風北半球を襲う)

This episode was slated as the 13th one on the chart, revolving around a humanity story between Ken and the people of an isolated island. It did not have a writer listed, and it is unknown if it ever reached as far as the scenario stage.

"The Underground Tank Parade"

(地底タンク大パレード)

This was the 14th episode on the chart, and would revolve around Jinpei and Joe teaming up against Galactor's fleet of underground tank mecha. It did not have any writer listed, and it is unknown if this one ever reached scenario stage.

A possible remnant of Joe and Jinpei acting on their own can be seen in Galactor's Giant Airshow.

"Cyborg, a Modified Human"

( 改造人間ものサイボーグ)

This episode, slated as 15th in the chart, was mentioned as having been penned (or intended to be) by Akiyoshi Sakai. The plot would revolve around the tragic romance between Ryu and a girl, quite possibly the very cyborg mentioned in the title; the enemy mecha of the episode was to be the cyborg/modified human.

If Sakai did ever actually complete this scenario script, it was put aside and ultimately scrapped; an episode with a cyborg woman did wind up making it into the series, but only in the form of Toshio Nagata's Galactor's Witch Racer (originally penned as "Galactor's Traitor"). Another cyborg-themed plot, involving that of cybernetic horses, appeared as Who is Leader X? ("Cyborg Horse") and was co-written by the duo of Takeo Matsuura and Hirohisa Soda.

If "Cyborg, a Modified Human" did progress as far as an actual scenario, its production number would also be unknown, though it may correspond to one of the early "missing numbers" in the scenario lineup (11, 21) or may have had another assigned that had overlap with another script (as in the case of two production #23 scenarios that existed, and that correspond to the existing episodes of 8 and 22).

"The Undersea Volcano Explosion Operation"

(海底火山爆破作戦)

The 17th Shadow episode on the chart is shown to be very vague, having no assigned writer and the only slated detail being that it was to center around an infiltration plot in the ocean.

This idea may have been developed as the scenario of Jigokillers, the People-Eating Flowers (Part 2), due to the emphasis on the Science Ninja Team having to infiltrate a Galactor base in the ocean to rescue Jun and the defeat of the Jigokillers coming from them being powered by the undersea volcano. The script was entirely reworked, though, eradicating the undersea infiltration and volcano plot points.

Gatchaman scenarios that were extensively retooled

While many scenarios that did get approved and used for the series underwent revisions in some way or another, there are a few particular scenarios that stand out the most as having become entirely different through the process to just being a step above those that were entirely scrapped and abandoned.

Evidence to show scenarios written particularly early on will notably have Ken referred to with the early name "Ken Hayabusa" in the cast of characters, which can be seen with the first example. Other orphaned traces of earlier project iterations may also be seen, such as the codename "Birdman" in place of Gatchaman or the God Phoenix referred to as "The God Bird".

"The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu"

(南部博士暗殺計画)

This scenario, written as the 7th (although put as episode 16 on the Shadow chart), did manage to make it into the series' actual script production line in a heavily altered format. Other than its title and the concept of a female Galactor squad being used in an attempt to assassinate Dr. Nambu, the early plot bears no resemblance to the eventual episode that aired.

As originally conceived, Dr. Nambu's villa would have been introduced in this episode but also destroyed by the "Beautiful Lady" assassins due to them having implanted a bomb in his pet cat Elizabeth. Nambu would evade earlier assassination attempts in the plot by having special lookalike decoy agents in his place, and the security guards at his villa would also die due to Galactor.

While the Devil Star ships would have been introduced, the name was not yet applied to the assassins. Unlike the final product, there is no significant plot angle with Joe or his past, though these elements may have been introduced after it was decided in an earlier produced plot that Joe's parents had been killed by Galactor (negating whatever plans to discuss his past would have been in "The Modified Mammoth Human", had that story even made it to the scenario script period).

As seen at the top of the scenario page, Hideo Nishimaki was originally slated to direct the episode. As it wound up pushed back in the production line and further rewritten, Hisayuki Toriumi became the director instead and likely influenced the changes with Joe and the focus with Devil Star #2.

"Galactor's Ninja Spider"

(ギャラクターの忍者グモ)

This scenario was the 36th known to have been developed for the actual Gatchaman series, but was greatly rewritten when it was approved to be a screenplay; it instead became the first half of the Gezora two-parter (which had originally been limited to its own scenario, developed as production #50).

"Reveal the True Identity of Leader X!"

(総裁Ｘの正体を暴け)

This scenario was developed well into the run of Gatchaman, having been listed as the 110th in production line. It would have fallen after the story "The True Identity of Berg Katse" (production#109), which became A Reversal! Checkmate X.

The plot would have revolved around the original plans for X's reveal, in which he was a computer developed by Berg Katse (who had been unmasked in the previous story). Due to the change in plans for the last portion of the series, this scenario was heavily reworked for the production script stage and became episode 99, The Wounded G-2.

The last two scenarios and scripts produced after this would now adhere to director Hisayuki Toriumi's new ideas for the series' ending, discarding the outline in which Katse and the team were to fight eight other Galactor Captains to get to X.