An Earlier Look at GATCHAMAN Trailer

[UPDATE:  Former Imagi creative director Felix Ip has provided some context on the teaser trailer at his blog site.  "This teaser was made in 2006 fall for internal and marketing and which was inspired a lot from NTT Gatchaman CM."] 

Before any Gatchaman fans raise their hopes up on assuming its a brand new trailer from Imagi, the animation studio barely surviving on life support, I should clearly point out that its infact an old trailer that fit the description from someone who saw it at the HK Filmart way back in 2007.  At the time, TMNT director Kevin Munroe and Emmy-winning writer Paul Dini were onboard before dropping out due to some creative differences and since then, there has been changes to the overall production design.  I first questioned myself if this is news worthy enough to post because its outdated but I then figured why not, maybe some people would like to see it for curiosity sake.  Notice the character design from the trailer matches the artwork from a sales flyer, yet its different from the most recent Joe Asakura poster (see picture to the left) and the few shots from the rough cut promo showned at the Anime Expo 2009, favoring a more Alex Ross sort of realistic aesthetics rather than a cartoony style.  For those interested to see whats left of the pre-production material - concept art, storyboards, model sheets, etc -, there are several pictures lurking here and here from an auction site.
 
With the L.A. studio branch liquidated and the massive animation team layoff, it seems Gatchaman is pretty much dead in the water unless Imagi somehow managed to miraculously pull themselves together.  There is a small measure of hope since the official Imagi site remains active which indicate the main headquarters in Hong Kong is still operational but without an animation department, I wouldn't hold my breath.  You'll find the trailer embedded below.