Initial Impressions: Gatchaman Crowds

Whoa, now that's nostalgic.

Now I was never allowed to watch hero shows as a kid, thanks to an overprotective mother, but once in a while I'd sneak one over my uncles' shoulders as they watched (we're close in age) at my grandmother's house, and that cool, fun feeling is exactly what I get when I watch Gatchaman Crowds. Everything from the quirky, bright colors and characters, to the music actually calling out "Gatchaman" screams out old school sentai shows, and honestly, I love that. Add that to the fact that this is more or less the same team behind Tsuritama, one of my favorite shows of the last year, and you've got me sold. But since this looks like it'll be a pretty straightforward show, I don't think it'll make it on the list, unless it turns out to be more complex than it looks now.

I've seen quite a few people call the heroine, Ichinose Hajime (Uchida Maaya) an annoying protagonist, but I personally find her very cute and fun. She's hugely on the genki side, and definitely bizarre (she has a thing for notebooks), but she reminds me of Tsuritama's Haru, and I love how quirky her presence makes the series. In fact, when coupled with Tachibana Sugane (Ohsaka Ryouta, actually carried over from the lead role in Tsuritama), I get a really familiar and bubbly feeling that just somehow makes me happy when I watch. In fact, the series is so incredibly peppy that it even sports one of those talking animal commander things that were (and possibly still are) super popular in sentai shows once. There are also aliens that must be caught and shipped back where they belong, and there are transformation sequences, complete with psychedelic color schemes and mecha.

In fact, the only thing that kind of bothered me, as usual, is the overuse of CGI. It's not hideous here and works alright with the atmosphere, but I really do think the fights and movements would look more natural (and a hell of a lot more gorgeous), if there were more hand-drawn animation. But other than that I can't really complain; I wasn't expecting what I got, true, but I nevertheless really enjoyed this premiere. It's actually even for the better that I probably won't be blogging it, since I'll be able to enjoy the atmosphere without overthinking it, though if I tried I'm not sure there's much I could say about it anyway. If Tsuritama was your cup of tea, and you enjoy a good, old-fashioned hero show, then Gatchaman Crowds might just work for you.

N.B.: Thanks to Ivan for the caps!

OP "Crowds" by WHITE ASH
Episode 1 Screencaps: "Avant-garde"
ED "INNOCENT NOTE" by Maaya Uchida