Rikir: "Fiona Belli with Hewie and Casshern with Friender =3"

Travis: "8 Bit Wonder"

Choppasmith: "Fan letter with photo"

Dear Ryota Niitsuma, Capcom, and Tatsunoko Staff,

I wanted to personally thank you for not only making Tatsunoko vs Capcom, but actually going through all those legal issues to get it released here. I'm not saying this just because it's a very fun, enjoyable game. But because it was an amazing experience to learn about characters I never would have known about before.

When TvC was first announced for Japan. I was like many other Capcom fans, "Yeah! the Versus series is BACK!" I thought, "But, who are these Tatsunoko people?" I noticed a small number of gamers who DID happen to recognize the characters. I heard unique cheers in the crowd such as "Hell yeah! Casshern!" and "Whoa! Gold Lightan!" There WERE people excited to see these characters.

I knew I was obviously missing out, and if Capcom would make a crossover with these guys, there HAD to be a good reason. Thankfully in this era of the internet and Youtube, finding media of related shows, at least to get a taste of what these characters were all about, was pretty simple. I was intrigued and I wanted more!

I tried to find every little bit of Tatsunoko media I could get here in the US. Starting with Karas. I heard of theGatchaman DVDs being discounted, and dropped about $100 dollars for the whole set of 105 episodes on a whim. I even tracked down Tatsunoko Anime that was only released on VHS (and not DVD). Even after I had watched Tatsunoko anime to get a feel and understanding for all the characters in the game. I tracked down incredibly old and obscure VHS Fansubs of Yatterman. I had even found raw Japanese footage of shows like Ippatsuman, Gold Lightan and others. I didn't understand much of the Japanese language, but the whole feel of the show still reached me. I still lament the lack of English versions for a lot of these series. Hey Tatsunoko, can you look into that? I think they would've gone over big if they were released here at the time.

And since the original Japanese version of TvC had character themes, you could be sure I learned those opening songs inside and out. I tracked down transcribed lyrics and found ways to get them translated. A quick shout-out to Lumekuninganna from Lyrics Translate for graciously answering my request to translate these songs into English. I was amazed at just how catchy those old themes from the 70s and 80s were. A shame you had to remove them for the US version.

In the long run, I really absorbed and embraced Tatsunoko. My knowledge of the studio and their characters expanded exponentially. I went from a guy who was totally clueless and in the dark, to a guy who felt like he grew up with them. The VS series and other crossover games don't have to be all about characters you know like the back of your hand. I can actually, with full confidence, name a bunch of Tatsunoko characters I'd love to see in a sequel (Yattodetaman or Itadakiman, Komugi, Muteking, and Gawl please!)

So, in conclusion, thank you guys for introducing us to a world of characters that some of us may not have known before. And it was still fun to get to know these characters through this game.

Sincerely,

Arlen Pavka

Fan of Tatsunoko and Capcom For Life

And here's my photo of my Tatsunoko swag:

Rafael: "Joe VS Ryu, Karas VS Zero"