Retailers with customers nostalgic for the 1970s anime series that appeared on American television as Battle of the Planets or G-Force have plenty to look forward to this summer.  Rhino Home video is releasing the first two volumes of the original series on both DVD (60 min., $19.95) and video ($9.95), while Urban Visions has combined three modern Gatchaman OVA's (Original Video Animation -- the Japanese term for direct to video animation) on one 135-minute DVD ($29.95), which will be in stores this July.

 

The Rhino releases are classics, though the animation is limited by today's standards, while the OVAs that Urban Vision is putting out manage to modernize the characters without compromising the design of the original series.  Younger fans steeped in modern science fiction anime may not find Gatchaman all that attractive in its original form, but for those of us who watched the Battle of the Planets in all its 1970s glory, it's a nostalgia trip worth taking  (see 'There's Gold in Them Thar Old Cartoons').