Budget is not needed in action, Gavan proves it
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by Troler
Free Software fundamentally misses the point. It fails on a practical, ideological, economic, and political level. Let’s examine precisely how (in a slightly different order for the purposes of presentation).
In the past few days I've been watching a lot of actions movies. From Michael Bay's epic Pearl Harbor, Ambulance to J. J. Abrams' Super 8, Edgar Wright. Although I quite relished the experience of over-the-top chase scenes and explosions, there was something lacking. The pictures were right, polished and well thought out. That's good and all, but there was just so much polish. Nothing beats an extremely low budget action. A lot of things can be said are better, but... I don't know of any country who mastered it like the Japanese. That's due to events of World War 2. Without money and the economy in shambles, the industrious Japanese created a mega-genre of tokustatsu, which includes Godzilla under its belt. Born under practicality, fostered by appreciation of the art as a whole and not only for its technical capabilities, tokustatsu brings joy to me no other genre can. c:0
In part it's due to it being sincere from the lack of panache, while also being filled to the brim with frankly insane imagery and plots while staying 100% serious. Same can be said about Michael Bay movies. c:1 ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/2026-02-06_19-09-46-beter.gif "It has action, it has explosions, it has special effects. ALL IN 1982!")
It has action, it has explosions, it has special effects. ALL IN 1982! ↩ Reply
One of those special shows is Uchuu Keiji Gavan (Space Sheriff Gavan). Created out of necessity to fill a time-slot, the Toei executives not expecting the show to get anywhere, set the rating demands quite high. The director Yoshiaki Kobayashi provided for albeit safe, but still quite competent 44 episode spanning series. Although it is predominantly episoding, there is a serial plot at the beginning and the end about the protagonist's human-bird Retsu Ichijoji Kenji Oba pursuit to find his father Voicer Sonny Chiba. Yes, the same Sonny Chiba in Kill Bill: Volume 1 by Quentin Tarantino and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift by Justin Lin. The plot leads the masked space sheriff to suspect an intergalactic criminal organization Makuu with the Ma part standing for 魔 (evil). The episodes follow the Retsu, as he solves mysteries, goes into action and saves the world from evil, all the while going by the secret identity of Gavan. Even though Gavan's father Voicer is from planet Bird and is an alien, by coincidence he looks exactly like a human. There exist non-anthromorphic aliens. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/JMQE7L2NWEWJLYSU.jpg "100% Bird and caged.")
100% Bird and caged. ↩ Reply
Yet Gavan is not alone, since he's fighting together with his girlfriend(?) Mimi (Wakiko Kano) against the Makuu. She by happenstance can create of an illusion of being a bird, namely a parakeet. Having a bird in an acting role is difficult, in place there is a parakeet doll, that is moved by string. A bird-transforming alien from planet Bird. There are more characters, for instance the UFO-searching dork photographer Kojiro Oyama (Jun Tatara). He's quite nice, except for that one episode where he was taking pictures of girls on the beach, giving off a real Summer of 42 vibe. c:2 ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/7BFSG5C39AOEWI7H.gif "Am I the only person getting hot in this room?")
Am I the only person getting hot in this room? ↩ Reply
There is a lot I would like to say about the series, but inferiority complex really is kicking in when I think about the half an hour long review by Toku And Animation News Network. To my luck the video is under a paywall, there is no need to feel like this review is a substitute for a more in depth analysis. At the same time, I am sorry for those who wish to experience the video but are unwilling to deal with the devil. A Faustian deal is a Faustian deal no matter how one calls it. I do agree with with the video's author, the 70s style of music does feel anachronistic for such futuristic series from the 80s. Michiaki Watanabe is not a terrible composer, he did compose music for Spider-man, well, the Toho one, and Mazinger Z. (You can watch my narration of the first volume of the book here). The man had been composing music from the 50s until the 20s, that's 70 years of continuous work. With such a history, there are quite a lot of earthworm tracks in the series. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/L6QXYHUMMX1B2JBH.jpg "Birds to cats are prey, well, it seems like that stays true even for aliens.")
Birds to cats are prey, well, it seems like that stays true even for aliens. ↩ Reply
The episodic line up bears the struggle of having a very obvious plot progression story. There is some problem, usually brought by dorky Kojiro, Gavan becomes a make-shift detective, fights some bad guys, with battles against the main monster-of-the-week, then is transported to a different dimension, has an epic fight with the monster-of-the-week and always defeats it using his finishing move – Gavan Dynamic. With the monster always exploding. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/2026-02-06_20-27-53.gif "Gavan Dynamic")
Gavan Dynamic ↩ Reply
Don't get it wrong, I cried like newborn from the last 2 episodes. And yes, the series finale is made up of 40 minutes. Luckily there were 42 episodes or 840 minutes, or 14 hours to get accustomed to the characters. In a way, series do have the advantage over movies by having time to learn intricacies of the characters. The Lithuanian animated series BFF director Urtė Oettinger argued for the necessity of a showrunner (if I recall correctly) to keep the character behavior consistent. It does make them feel more in line, but as a result there'll be less variation and less surprise. Such a way, consistency is created and I would lie if I said the series wasn't a comfort watch for me. Knowing every day that there was an episode of Gavan to look up to, brought a consistent rhythm to my life. The absurd moment, action, explosion and car chase scene filled episodes were a relinquishment. ↩ Reply
In a way, if the readers are familiar and fond of Michael Bay films, tokusatsu is just the treat for them. For all its action flare and queer costumes, there is a deep-rooted passion in it all. Some series are worse than others. Uchuu Keiji Gavan is a contender for the more entertaining ones. I haven't spoken much about the episodes, since this is more so an overview of the entire show, but there is a quite a lot of compassion and care put into the plots, with fluctuation here and there. For instance, the episode where Gosuke Fuji's (Jun Tatara) grandson Wakaba lost last few years worth of memory and still believed his parents were alive. There was one scene, where he sung a children's song. That drove me to tears, it's not just the finale. ↩ Reply
Gavan is one strange series from 1982. For now, I am going to be waiting for the spiritual sequel Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/MXH5YYFAZUK68X6B.png "Not going to comment about the trailer, I better spill my beans once I see the show.")
Not going to comment about the trailer, I better spill my beans once I see the show. ↩ Reply
Fin. ↩ Reply
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Blender Dumbass
c:0 February 06, 2026 I don't know of any country who mastered it like the Japanese.
⤴ ViewAsian cinema is full of good examples of low budget action that rules. Most of Indian cinema is low budget. Hell, RRR ( the highest budget Indian film at the time ) had the same budget as Bay's Ambulance. Or if you are willing to look at martial arts films, there are a lot of very good, often low budget films to see.
... replies ( 1 )
Troler
c:3 February 06, 2026@blenderdumbass That's true, I need to watch more of Asian action films.
Blender Dumbass
c:1 February 06, 2026 frankly insane imagery and plots while staying 100% serious. Same can be said about Michael Bay movies.
⤴ Viewlol
Troler
c:3 February 06, 2026... c:0
Blender Dumbass c:0 February 06, 2026 I don't know of any country who mastered it like the Japanese.
⤴ ViewAsian cinema is full of good examples of low budget action that rules. Most of Indian cinema is low budget. Hell, RRR ( the highest budget Indian film at the time ) had the same budget as Bay's Ambulance. Or if you are willing to look at martial arts films, there are a lot of very good, often low budget films to see.
@blenderdumbass That's true, I need to watch more of Asian action films.
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