Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (科学忍者隊ガッチャマン Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman?) is a five-member superhero team that is composed of the main characters in several anime created by Tatsuo Yoshida and originally produced in Japan by Tatsunoko Productions and later adapted into several English-language versions. It is also known by the abbreviated name Gatchaman.

The original series, produced in 1972, was eponymously named Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman and is most well known to the English-speaking world as the adaptation titled Battle of the Planets (1978). The series received additional English adaptations with G-Force: Guardians of Space (1986) and ADV Films' uncut 2005 release. Tatsunoko also uses the official translation Science Commando Gatchaman, as shown in numerous related products and media. Because the English-language versions are notoriously inconsistent not only with one another but also with the original Japanese series, viewers most familiar with the English versions often experience some confusion upon re-examining the series after a long hiatus.

Created in the wake of the hugely successful Henshin boom started by Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider in 1971, Gatchamanwas conceived as a blending of ninja adventure with science fiction elements.[2] It was also notable as being one of the most successful anime attempts to emulate the American superhero genre with many of its conventions such as colorful costumes.Gatchaman helped establish the convention of the five member hero team that has been emulated in later series, most notably the successful tokusatsu Super Sentai franchise (a genre exemplified by the English series adaptation of the Power Rangersfranchise many years later); in fact, the Sentai series Chōjin Sentai Jetman was in many ways a homage to Gatchaman.[3][4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Ninja_Team_Gatchaman