Kagaku Kyuujo-tai TechnoVoyager

Thunderbirds 2086 takes place roughly twenty years after the original series (generally accepted as taking place around 2065, though other dates are seen on screen) and chronicles the adventures of the Thunderbirds, a rescue team working for the International Rescue Organisation. Unlike the original International Rescue, which was small-scale and family-oriented, the IRO is a vast organisation comprising numerous branches and overseen by the Federation, the 2086 equivalent of the United Nations. No direct historical connections are identified between the two series, but it can be assumed that the original International Rescue evolved into its 2086 incarnation over those thirty years. The Tracy family are not mentioned in the animated series. In the animated series, the actual team is known as the Thunderbirds, whilst in the original series the name merely referred to their vehicles. The animated series is otherwise very similar to the original, with most episodes revolving around a natural or man-made disaster which the Thunderbirds team must investigate and help resolve. Unlike the original series, Thunderbirds 2086 also has an on-going story arc revolving around a breakaway independence group known as the Shadow Axis, led by the mysterious Star Crusher. There is a heavy intimation in the series that Star Crusher is not human and may be some kind of alien entity. (Source: Wikipedia)

THUNDERBIRDS 2086, an anime adaptation of the 1960s show, was my first ever introduction to anime, or Japanese animation. I could have done better considering all the wonderful shows the genre has to offer, but this show makes for a great starting point and years later I still have a soft spot for it. The premise is pretty much the same as the original show: an elite rescue force commandeers a fleet of special vehicles to disaster areas. Any updates made are fairly typical: as back in the 1970s-80s space operas were the rage, the show not only features perils from space (a critical spacestation reactor, a mutated plant, an explorer ship returning after nine decades), but also alien encounters (notably the recurring antagonist Star Crusher, an unseen but near-omnipresent being who can control peoples' minds). Fortunately the Thunderbird vehicles are suitably upgraded and made into awesome mecha: a shuttle that merges with two other ships to create a juggernaut carrier, a submarine, a space station, and a collection of other awesome mech, that the series puts to use in various episodes. A word of warning though: despite the various adventures the cast experience, they aren't too well characterized - a young hero, his love interest, a veteran, a Texas cowboy and a token black cadet and their commander and that's about it. These aren't the cast from the original show, so that could put TB fans off (and ironically at the time of its first airing in Japan anime viewers were put off because it wasn't Japanese enough – no giant robots or alien invaders). Still, the episode stories are fairly good and more interesting (more dramatic and tense, as befits anime) to my mind than what the original show had. The series is generally rather obscure, but boasts some spectacular space visuals, fairly good dubbing by anime veteran Peter Fernandez (SPEED RACER, STAR BLAZERS) and a stirring musical score from Kentaro Haneda (one of Japan's finest composers and piano players). It makes for a great compelling watch.