What does “Gatchaman” mean?
In Japanese, “Gatchaman” has no meaning–it’s onomatopoeia, a “sound word” used to give the feeling of the sound of big, heavy mechs slamming together in battle: “GATCHAAAN!” The show’s creators had little knowledge of English at the time, and didn’t realize that it sounded a lot like “Gotcha, man.” Maybe they would have changed it… Gatchaman is the official name of the leader of the group (Ken), and is only used to describe the group of ninja when all five are together. When they are separate, the other members of the team are referred to as the Kagaku Ninjatai (the “science ninjas”). They aren’t called “Gatchamen.” The pre-production name for the show was “Birdman,” which was changed at the last minute and is still written on the canister holding the film to the pilot episode. • Do the KNT (Kagaku Ninja Tai) live in Japan? No, our heroes appear to live in or near Utoland, a fictional city. Gatchaman is based in an alternate universe with fictional cities and countries, often with n
