What Does “Insight” Mean in “Gatchaman Crowds Insight?”

こんばんは！本日は皆様に新情報をお届けします。 ①キービジュアル解禁！ 全員集合のキービジュアルが解禁となりました！　#GATCHAMANCrowds #クラウズ pic.twitter.com/ptVdjkAOgA

— ガッチャマン クラウズ (@GATCHAMANCrowds) May 8, 2015

Gatchaman Crowds was one of the most bold and creative re-imaginings of an anime series in a long time. Taking a classic 70s anime, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and bringing it into the current age in terms of themes, aesthetics, and more, Gatchaman Crowds asked what it means to be a hero in an increasingly digital world of crowd-sourcing, instant communication, and more, Now, Gatchaman Crowds is getting a sequel starting this July: Gatchaman Crowds Insight. While the show has no real details so far aside from some promo images, I do want to talk about one thing we know about, which is the title of the show. In particular, what I find interesting about this title is that it’s actually a further reference to the dynamic landscape of internet communication.

Thanks to my current position helping out Waku Waku +NYC, I’ve learned the meaning of insight in an internet marketing capacity. Essentially, it refers to taking a closer look at the demographics of your user base in terms of location, interests, habits, and more, so that you can grow your user and customer base, and increase the success of your company or business overall.

By referencing this idea of “insight,” the Gatchaman Crowds sequel is perhaps going to address the fact that people are often viewed on the internet as masses of information to be targeted, examined, and marketed towards. This potentially provides an interesting contrast to the notion that heroics can indeed be a crowd-sourced activity in spite of all of the potential dangers, as expressed in the first anime. When taking the fact that “insight” has this implication of businesses which tend to want their secrets kept secret, and “crowds” in the context of this anime is all about an almost open-source, sharing-oriented philosophy to life, the main conflict of Gatchaman Crowds Insight may lie in this tension.

The original Gatchaman Crowds is available for free to watch on Crunchyroll. It is highly, highly recommended.

-Carl

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Waku Waku +NYC is an upcoming Japanese popular culture convention located in Brooklyn, NY that will combine anime, fashion, food, and more. Why not take a look?