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--- Gatchaman Episode 71 – The Invincible Leader X (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=2965)

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:15:

Gatchaman Episode 71 – The Invincible Leader X

Gatchaman Episode 71 – The Invincible Leader X



After careful assessment, the International Science Organization has concluded that there is a new energy source in the Himalayan mountains, the world’s last unexplored territory. The ISO has assembled an expedition of geologists and sent them to the highest peak, Mount Everest.

Inside a tent on the mountainside, two men sit, drinking tea in the middle of a storm.

“Terrible blizzard out there. Really cold you know.” says one scientist. He has a British accent. I wonder if his name is Sir Edmund Hillary? “Not accustomed to this weather. I wish I could have turned down this mission!”

“Yes, even people from the big cities come out now.” the other scientist says disparagingly.

“I see. A mountain-climbing boom, eh?” asks the first.

“No, they come to see the snowman.” the second explains. Snowman? What snowman? We catch a glimpse of something outside in the storm…



“Snowman? Do people really believe in such poppycock?” the first scientist is astounded.

“It’s more like they want to believe it, really.” says the second. “I’ve spent more than half a year here, and I haven’t seen it once!”

“Isn’t chasing imaginary creatures a bit daft?” asks the first man. Well, no more daft that sitting in the middle of an ISO camp next to a Galactor mecha and expecting to survive the encounter. JMHO.

“Well, I suppose it’s a lot healthier than rotting in some polluted city!” the second scientist chortles. But his amusement doesn’t last long, as the men’s tent is suddenly squashed by the foot of the snowman!

The first scientist pops his head out of his flattened tent.

“What the…?” he exclaims, as he sees the snowman picking up a truck.



Despite his horror, he keeps his head long enough to try to radio for help.

The snowman throws the truck, and we see an explosion…

And we cut to Jinpei’s astonished face.



“A snowman?” he asks.

“You mean you never heard about it, Jinpei?” Ken smiles. “Some people claim to have actually seen it recently.”



Ooh, look, Ken is drinking Smurfberry juice today! Either that, or a blue Icee.

“So do you think the legend’s true?” Jinpei asks.



Notice, this picture is proof that Jinpei isn’t always the one to do the dishes at the Snack J.

“Please, you can’t take stories like that seriously!” Jun remarks.

“But I’ve been hearing news like that a lot, lately.” Joe responds. “Supposedly an expedition team was sent out only yesterday to find it.”

“Maybe hunting a monster is the spirit of adventure!” Ryu suggests. “It’s nice to dream, you know.”



“Uh huh!” Jinpei agrees. “That’s right, Jack! The kind of dream every man has!” He is sounding more excited now, but Jun looks concerned.



“Women would never understand the beauty of it!” Jinpei taunts her.

“Looking for something that doesn’t exists is dumb!” Jun retorts.

“It’s not dumb at all!” Jinpei argues. “Girls are just too realistic, and that makes you boring!” Gee, I can’t recall the last time anyone ever accused all girls of being ‘realistic’.



“What about men who chase silly dreams when they’re old enough to know better?” Jun wants to know. “What do you say to that, little boy, huh?”



“Hey, cut it out, you two!” Ryu interrupts. “And bring me a refill over here, willya?”



“Pipe down, Ryu! You’re ordering water!” Jun sneers.

“Yeah. We’re not the water department, you know!” Jinpei adds.

“Huh? Sorry about that.” Ryu says sheepishly.



“Chill out you guys!” Ken laughs. “Just because you have no customers, you don’t have to take it out on Ryu!”



“Hey, Big Bro, we’re going, right?” Jinpei asks Ken anxiously.

“Going where?” Ken wants to know.

“To solve the mystery of the snowman, of course!” Jinpei says.

“Sorry, we haven’t gotten order from the Doc yet.” Ken says, turning away.



“Besides, we could use a little mellow time.” he adds, before walking out the door.

“What do you say?” Jinpei asks, approaching Joe.



“I say I’m going to get my machine ready for the race tomorrow.” Joe says, walking to the exit.

“Well?” Jinpei turns puppy dog eyes on Ryu.

“No thanks! I don’t want any water!” Ryu says.



“Drink all the water you want!” Jinpei says magnanimously. “Or, better, I’ll spot you coffee!”

“Yeah?” Ryu goes for the bait. “Seriously?”



“You got the spirit of adventure?” Jinpei schmoozes.

“Yeah, course!” Ryu says, running his hand through his hair in a macho way. “Hot studs like me just ooze romance and adventure, don’t you know it?”



“Let’s go to the Himalayas and search for the snowman!” Jinpei moves in for the kill. I love how he’s talking about going to the Himalayas like he’s talking about a trip to a nearby beach!

“Whoa there!” Ryu protests. “Why would I want to go climbing?”

“But if we find the snowman, we’ll be famous!” Jinpei says, ticking off his arguments on his fingers. “We can make tons of money off it!”



“I’ll pass. I don’t do mountains! I get tired for nothing!” Ryu says.

“Be like that!” Jinpei huffs as he walks off.



“Hey! Hey! What about my coffee?” Ryu wants to know.

“You can have it if you pay for it!” is Jinpei’s response.



“Hey, no fair! You just said you’d spot a cup for me!” Ryu reminds him.

“We’re running a business here, you know! Why would I say something like that?” asks a bitter Jinpei.

“Was I just hearing things?” Ryu asks himself.



The J closes for the night, and now we see Jinpei with a backpack twice as big as he is. He’s stumbling to his dune buggy.

“Once I decide something…” he says, getting into his car.



He tries to pull the backpack inside the dune buggy.



Jun is surprised as she hears the car start up in the garage.



Sure enough, Jinpei is driving off.



“That must be Jinpei. Where’s he going this late?” Jun wonders.



Then she gasps in realization.

Next thing you know, a frantic Jun is calling Ken on his bracelet.

But Ken’s too tired to respond.



“Ken, come in!” Jun cries. He is startled awake.

“What do you want, Jun?” he asks angrily. “It’s late, already!”



“Jinpei’s just gone somewhere!” Jun explains. “I think he went to the Himalayas! And the receiver on his bracelet appears to be turned off!”



“The Himalayas? No way! Why would he go so far?” Ken wants to know.



“I can’t think of anywhere else.” Jun says. “Besides, he was obsessed with it.”



“Give me a break! Even if he is headed for the Himalayas, I bet he’ll give up and come back. Now buzz off!” Ken’s response is rather rude. He pulls the sheets over his head to go back to sleep.

Next this we see, Joe is talking on his bracelet.

“What did you say? Jinpei did what?” he asks.



We don’t hear Jun’s reply.

“Leave him alone. We all know he gets tired of things really easily. He’ll be back soon.” Joe assures Jun.



“Snowman, huh?” Joe says to himself, walking into his trailer. “Ridiculous!” He sits down on his bed, then kicks back.

__________________

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:17:

Now we see Dr. Nambu’s villa, and we know that Jun is going above Ken’s head, in her concern for her little brother.



“So, Jinpei went by himself again.” Nambu says.



“Right.” Jun confirms. “We thought he’d give up soon and come home, but it’s been three days already.”



“You are supposed to work as a Team!” the Doctor lectures, as Ken and Jun sit down together on the couch.



Hmm… they both look kind of ‘guilty’ in this shot, don’t they? And what is Ken trying to hide with his crossed legs?

Ahem… sorry… back to the plot as written.

“Cut us a break here, Doc!” Ryu says, sitting down himself. “We never thought he was actually serious about going!”



“I want you all to go to the Himalayas too.” Nambu orders.

“I don’t think we should go all the way over there just to look for Jinpei.” Ken isn’t too thrilled with the idea.



“He may not look it, but he’s a member of the Science Ninja Team.” Joe says. Way to give a back-handed compliment, Joe!



“He’ll come rolling home when he gets fed up.” Joe adds.

“No, this is your assignment.” Nambu corrects him. “The ISO has requested that we investigate.”

“Don’t tell me they want us to capture the Abominable Snowman!” Ken says angrily.



“You guessed it, Ken.” the Doctor says in an amused tone. “You mission is just that.”

“Aw, but I hate mountain climbing!” Ryu whines. And while he sounds like a petulant five year old, I’m right there with him. Mountain-climbing, particularly in the snow, doesn’t excite me either!

“You’re all aware of the ISO’s theory that there may be a new energy source in the Himalayan mountains.” Nambu explains. “It’s been a month since they sent out the first expeditionary team, which was mostly composed of geologists. But they went missing a week ago.”

“This is the location.” Nambu points it out on the map. Does he use some high tech satellite imagery? Nope, he uses a pencil and an overhead machine.



“They’re extremely concerned about the safety of the expedition.” he adds. Frankly, I’m more concerned that the ISO, the freaking International Science Organization, is still using overhead machines instead of Google Earth. That may just be me, though.

“They came to the conclusion that they should seek our cooperation.” Nambu concludes.

“The Himalayas? I wonder how far we can take the God Phoenix.” Ken wonders.



“If we get in there too close, the rumble from the engines might just cause an avalanche.” Joe points out.

“I guess the farthest it can take us is the village at the foot of the mountains.” Ryu says. “Which is great! I’ll guard the ship, and you guys go ahead!” He laughs to himself, clearly pleased for once with his usual role.



“You’ve got a lot of nerve, taking the easy way out!” Jun lectures him.



“But staying behind and guarding the ship has always been my duty!” Ryu reminds her.



“A fat-ass person like you could do with a little mountain-climbing, my friend.” Joe points out.

“What are you doing looking at my ass?” Ryu demands.



I guess Ryu’s not turned on by a little yaoi!

I’m sorry, that line always makes me ! I think CD has used it in her siggie line, as well.

“We’ll try to go as far as we can, Doctor.” Ken promises.



We cut to Jinpei, who is driving across what I’m going to guess is the ‘flatlands’ of Nepal. Many people assume that Utoland must be in mainland Asia, since Jinpei drove all the way there, but he is in his civilian G-4. He could easily have transformed to go across an ocean. It did take him 3 days to travel to this point, after all.

“Almost there!” Jinpei thinks to himself. “Village of the unknown!”



Sure enough, there’s a large settlement ahead. It looks bigger than a village to me (A town, perhaps?) but what do I know?

Jinpei drives into the center of town, hops out of his dune buggy, and yells an enthusiastic ‘Hi!’ to the locals. No one seems to be concerned about a little kid driving through town. I guess in Nepal (or wherever) kids get driver’s licenses much younger.

“Hello, and welcome!” replies an enthusiastic local.

“I’m on my way to the Himalayas. Can I leave my car around here?” Jinpei asks.



“How many days are you going to be gone, young man?” the local asks. “The parking fee will depend on that.”

“What? I’ve got to pay to park?” Jinpei is outraged. I guess in Utoland, all parking is free?



“These days, we’ve been getting lots of tourists in the village, and they all pay to park.” the local explains. “If you don’t like it, you can go back where you came from.” What a great attitude!

“Hey, do you really get that many visitors?” Jinpei wants to know.

“Why yes!” the man laughs. “Tons of people come looking for the snowman!”

“Man, this sucks!” Jinpei thinks to himself, as he drives into the parking lot.



“Over here! To the left! You’re all clear!” the man directs him.

“Yeah, yeah…” grumbles Jinpei.

He is aghast when he sees all of the massive tour buses taking up the parking lot.

“Bunch of tour buses?” he exclaims. “Some adventure this is!”



Next this we know, Jinpei is dragging his massive pack up into the mountains.

“Man, this bites the big one!” he complains to himself. “I never should have come!”

He sure doesn’t seem to be wearing much for such bitterly cold weather.



“I guess it’s too late to go back now.” he says. He looks up at the huge crowds of people lined up the mountain path ahead of him.

“Unexplored like a theme park!” he sighs.

And finally, more than a third of the way through the episode, we get to see our villains.

“Lord Katse!” X shouts. “Tell me you’re going to remedy this situation!”



“Sire, please accept my deepest apologies!” Katse says, bowing. “It was entirely due to my subordinates’ laziness!”



“How are we supposed to do anything with all of these tourists pouring into our area of operation?” X wants to know. “We built this Himalayan base in order to obtain ore to feed our energy needs! Not to attract tourists!”

If you think about it, there are a lot of clues here that Galactor Headquarters is in the Himalayas, but of course it’s just unclear enough that the viewer wouldn’t necessarily suspect it.

Now we see the mountainside covered in tents at night. The tents, in turn, are covered in snow, as another storm is raging outside.

“This has ended up like a tent city with all these explorers here.” Jinpei says sadly to himself. “Guess I’m just part of the pack, huh?”

__________________

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:18:

But red eyes appear in the darkness surrounding the camp. It’s the snowman!

Jinpei is startled as the ground shakes.



“What’s that?” he wonders, sticking his head out of his tent to see.



“It’s the… he’s the…” Jinpei stutters. “Abominable… the snowman!” He rubs his eyes in disbelief.



Meanwhile, the snowman is ripping up tents and people are running in terror. The snowman starts picking them up and tossing them around. Jinpei can hardly believe what he’s seeing!



But to his credit, he does the right thing.

“Come in, this is G4, Jinpei!” he says, calling on his bracelet.

“What’s going on, Jinpei? Where the hell have you been hiding?” Ken wants to know.



“Yell at me later! The snowman really does exist!” Jinpei shouts.



“The snowman? Don’t give me that nonsense!” Ken lectures.



“It’s true! He’s going crazy right now, in front of me!” Jinpei says, as his tent blows away.



He sneezes, then looks up to see the snowman.




Ken is concerned, as he hears Jinpei’s screams of terror over the bracelet.

“Jinpei!” he calls, but there is no response. “What’s wrong? Jinpei!”

“His signal’s gone!” Jun says frantically.

“The Abominable…” Ken says.

“You sure he wasn’t just pretending? You know Jinpei.” is Joe’s reaction.



“It sounded real enough.” Ken decides. “Hey, Jun, that transmission from Jinpei was traced, wasn’t it? Give me its origin.”

“85 degrees north, longitude 30 east.” Jun replies. “Nantadevi.”



“That’s the foot of the Himalayas. Did the snowman come down from the mountains, then?” Ryu asks.



“I’ve heard there’re a lot of tourists there. “ Joe says sarcastically. “So I’m sure the snowman would at least want to give them a greeting.”



“Cut the wise cracks, Joe!” Ken orders. “Something about this feels… evil!”



“Galactor!” Jun whispers, horrified by the very thought of this terrorist organization.



“There’s going to be a change in plans.” Ken announces. “Climb 90 degrees and veer towards Nantadevi!”

“Got it!” says Ryu.

Now we see the ruined tent city. A pair of snowmobiles drives up, and two goons hop off.

“What is going on?” one of them asks.

We see Jinpei’s body out in the snow.



“That is a kid!” the goon continues. He has a sad handlebar mustaches and super thin goatee, and ADV game him a pathetic French accent.

“I thought we wiped out all the humans in the area.” says his partner.



They approach Jinpei, kicking him.

“Hello?” Frenchy Goon says. Jinpei wakes up.

“Ouch! What’s the big idea?” he asks.



The he realizes that he’s talking to two Galactor goons.

“Galactor!” he exclaims.

“How do you know we’re from Galactor?” the second goon asks. It’s pretty clear that he’s not so bright.



But the first goon doesn’t wait for Jinpei’s response. He pulls out a gun…

Commercial break!

I wonder if Solid Gold Ken is enough of an energy source to power a Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Level 3 Hyper Combo against the Abominable Snowman…?

Back to the episode…



“Whoa! Whoa! Everyone knows about Galactor!” Jinpei explains rapidly. “So it’s no surprise I know about you guys!”

“What did you say?” Dumb Goon asks.



“You’re very famous! All us street kids know about Galactor!” Jinpei explains. Of course, he doesn’t mention how a ‘street’ kid wound up in the Himalayas looking for the Abominable Snowman, but that’s beside the point.

“Famous!” the goons grin goofily at each other.

“So we’re famous, eh?” Dumb Goon asks.

“Oh yeah!” Jinpei plays this card for all its worth. “Totally! We’ve dug you guys for ages! You’re Number One!”



“Oh…” says Dumb Goon in a self-satisfied manner. And to prove that he’s a dumb goon, he pulls out a pack of cigarettes.



Jinpei helpfully offers a light.



I think this shot would be a great anti-smoking poster.



“That’s nice of you!” Dumb Goon says. “But what’s a nice kid like you doing with a Zippo?”

Hey, I wonder if it’s the Berg Katse Zippo lighter… ?



“Part of my mountain-climbing gear!” Jinpei explains. “See, I came here to look for the snowman!”

“And so, did you meet him yet?” the goon asks.



“Mmmm hmmm!” Jinpei nods. “I never thought he’d be so humungous! And terrifying!”

“Why don’t you work for Galactor, small pint?” Dumb Goon asks.

“Huh? Who, me?” Jinpei is shocked by the idea.

“We are Patrol Unit 2 for this area, but we’re having a problem because we can’t find someone to cook and do laundry.” Dumb Goon explains.

“So, you’re basically looking for a maid.” Jinpei hangs his head. “Bummer!”



A short while later, the God Phoenix flies over the area, and finds the remains of the Tent City.

“Ken, this is it.” Ryu says.

“All right, let’s put her down.” Ken orders.



I guess they’re no longer worried about setting off an avalanche.

“This place stinks of blood!” Ryu says, covering his nose.



“I seriously doubt a blizzard or an avalanche could have made a mess like this.” Ken notes.



“Perhaps the snowman was here, like Jinpei said.” Joe admits. He looks inside a tent, and gasps.



“Joe, is someone in there?” Ken asks.

“They’re crushed, as if smashed by an iron block!” Joe reports.

“Do you think it was one of Galactor’s iron beasts?” Ken asks.

“Most likely.” Joe replies. “I’ll bet they have a base set up somewhere in these mountains.”



“But how are we going to search such a huge area?” Jun asks.

“I don’t want to!” Ryu whines. “If you want to look around, go right ahead! I’ll guard the ship!” Wow, Ryu’s really slacking his duty in this episode!



“There’s nothing but mountains and snow as far as the eye can see.” Ken says.



But I see something else on Ken’s wrist. Jun sees it on her wrist too.



“A Birdscramble! It’s Jinpei!” she says.

“Good! Maybe he’s on the trail, then.” Ken says.

And Jinpei sure is… if you count doing dishes for a couple of goons being ‘on the trail’. But hey, at least he’s in the base!

Behind him, another goon is putting a tablecloth over a serving cart.



“I’m almost done!” Jinpei says.

“The food is ready!” says the goon. I guess he’s Chef Goon. “Take it to Lord Katse!” he orders.

“Huh? You mean, me?” Jinpei is shocked.



“But don’t do it in those clothes!” Chef Goon says. “We’ve got extra uniforms in the next room.”



“Okay.” Jinpei says, wheeling the cart away.

“Hey, wise guy,” Chef Goon says to Frenchy Goon, as he walks up. “What do you think about that little runt in those funny clothes?”

“I tell you what, we sure found us a good kid!” Frenchy Goon replies. “He’s really hard-working! And this helps me out, big time!”

__________________

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:19:

Next thing we know, Jinpei (in an ill-fitting goon uniform) is delivering lunch to Lord Katse himself.



“What, is that the truth, my Leader?” Katse asks, as Jinpei walks up.



“That’s Katse! Who’s he talking to?” Jinpei wonders.



“It was only momentary, but a Ninja Team-like signal was detected in the mountain.” X says, from a teeny weeny computer screen.



“Stay alert, Katse!” X warns. “An analysis of our failures would clearly reveal that the fault lies in the complacent carelessness of you and your subordinates!”

“For that I apologize, Leader.” Katse says. Jinpei is astounded to hear Katse groveling!



“Whoa, this is a surprise!” Jinpei says to himself. “There’s someone above Katse!”

“Who’s lurking over there?” Katse snarls. “I thought I told everyone to keep away from this chamber!”



The teeny weeny computer screen disappears into the floor just before Jinpei comes around the corner.

“Here’s your meal, Sire!” Jinpei says, in as deep a voice as he can.

“Oh, good!” Katse smiles. “Just leave it and get out. Can’t you see I’m busy, runt?”



“Sire!” Jinpei says, bowing.



The wall panel opens up and a sweeping view of the Himalayas lies beyond.

“Huh?” says Jinpei, raising his mask to see better.



“What are you waiting for?” Katse shouts. Jinpei quickly pulls down his mask and salutes.

Now we see Jinpei fixing the snowmobiles while Frenchy Goon and Dumb Goon goof off.



“Good work! Put some fuel in, while you’re at it!” says Dumb Goon.

“What? I have to do more?” Jinpei can’t believe it. “Aren’t you guys being kind of lazy over there?”



And yet again, we see the perfect propaganda to convince high school kids not to drink or smoke.



“You dumb-dumb! Why would Rufus want to bust his ass in these cold mountains?” Dumb Goon asks. I can’t tell if Rufus is supposed to be Dumb Goon or Frenchy Goon.

“What deadbeats!” Jinpei says. “I almost sympathize with Katse!”



You know, before the end of this episode, I think I’m actually sympathizing with Katse too! When you see these goons, suddenly all of Katse’s excuses about his bumbling subordinates make sense!

“The fuel tank is in the next room!” Frenchy Goon reminds Jinpei.

“Yeah.” Jinpei sighs, walking over. He presses a wall panel to open the door to the next room. And he literally walks into the Snowman!



“Wha… what’s this?” he asks fearfully.

“Surprised, kid?” Frenchy Goon laughs. “That’s the Snowman you came looking for! It’s Galactor’s ‘big secret’!”



“So it’s Galactor that’s been causing the commotion, huh?” Jinpei asks.

“There’s nothing to do, deep in the mountains, so we’ve been joyriding in it and scaring the villagers.” Frenchy Goon explains, in between swings from his bottle.





“Make sure you finish and you…” his words slur as he conks out. Dumb Goon is already asleep.

“Damn it!” Jinpei says, throwing his mask on the floor in disgust. He signals the Team again.



And the God Phoenix takes off, from its hiding place underneath the snow.

Back at Galactor Headquarters, X appears on his screen.



“Katse, you fool!” X says to himself. “The Science Ninja Team is in our midst! It’s time for me to step in.”

Back at the other base, Katse is unaware of this development.

“What? The God Phoenix has been sighted?” he asks. I guess he’s not totally unaware.



“Moron! Order the troops to assemble in the Great Hall!” Katse commands.

“Sire!” the goon bows and leaves.

Katse’s view changes, and suddenly we see Katse talking to the goons. Seems they assembled in the blink of an eye!

“You fools activated the Snowman just to terrorize the villagers!” Katse lectures. “Now the Science Ninja Team has arrived! That alone is a good enough reason to execute you all!”





But some of the goons aren’t paying attention to Lord Katse’s speech.



“I’m really disappointed that I have such useless subordinates!” Katse goes on. “Atone for your failure by protecting this base! Now, open the gates of the Beehive Fortress! Activate the Snowman mecha!”

We see snow falling off the mountainside, revealing a ‘honeycomb’ of missile launchers. I guess this is the Beehive Fortress.



But the God Phoenix continues merrily along its way.



“2,500 meters, 30 degrees to port.” Ken orders Ryu. “Now easy does it, Skipper!” Hey, I thought Mark was ‘Skipper’! Oh, right, wrong universe…



“2,500 meters, 30 degrees to port.” Ryu repeats, as he follows his instructions.



Katse watches the God Phoenix fly by from inside his base.



“There you are!” he says. “Just in time for me to smash your God Phoenix to pieces!”



“Altitude 2,100. Take us starboard, 15 degrees!” Ken calls.



Katse orders the Beehive Fortress to fire, and missiles shoot out at the God Phoenix.



“Phew!” Ryu sighs, once they get through. “They scared the hell out of me!”



“Take us over the same course again.” Ken orders.

“Huh? What’s you say?” Ryu is shocked.



“Wouldn’t it be a lot quicker to blast them with Super Birds, Ken?” Joe wants to know.

“We can conserve our missiles if we make them destroy themselves instead.” Ken points out.



“Destroy themselves?” Jun asks.



“An avalanche.” Ken explains. “Their attack must have loosened up the packed snow quite a bit. Ryu, let’s go!”

“All right.” Ryu agrees. “At least this is a lot easier than climbing a mountain!”

So the God Phoenix comes around for another pass, flying by the Beehive Fortress again.



“All those missiles, and it still can’t hit them?” Katse rants.



And now we learn why the goons are such poor shots. Frenchy Goon and Dumb Goon are lying on the ground, drunk.

“Is he saying something?” Frenchy slurs his words.



“He said, ‘do your job’!” Jinpei replies.

“Whatever.” Frenchy Goon takes another swig. “All he does is yell. He has no idea what it’s like out there.” Yep, this is about the point where I’m actually feeling sorry for Katse.

And meanwhile…

“They have no idea what I have to go through! I’m the one who takes the heat from Leader X!” Katse rants.



And at that moment, Ken is ordering Ryu to make another run past the missiles. And this time, it’s enough. An avalanche comes crashing down the mountain, burying the missile launching tubes.

“Hey, kid, bring me another one!” Dumb Goon calls, waving his bottle of alcohol.



But he’s surprised to find an empty uniform on the floor.



“Where did Runt go?” he asks.

“I’ll bet he got tired of being your little slave, and ran away.” Frenchy Goon says.

__________________

---

Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:20:

Meanwhile, snow is pouring in through the missile launching tubes, burying goons alive.



“Where’s the Snowman mecha?” Katse cries. “Activate it!”

And we see the Snowman mecha come to life. But it crashes through a wall, scaring the pants off of some goons!



The avalanche causes machinery to explode. Cut from BOTP:



Now the whole base is exploding!

And Katse himself is knocked off of his feet as the Snowman mecha bursts through the floor of his office!

“Who’s in there? Who’s controlling the Yeti?” Katse wants to know.



And to make matters worse, the God Phoenix bursts through the wall too!



“Oh, it’s the Science Ninja Team!” Katse turns to run.

But a pair of bolos exists the Snowman’s nostril, wrapping around Katse’s legs.



Katse falls, and Jinpei exits from the Snowman!



“You’re not getting away this time!” Jinpei shouts.

Ken, Joe and Jun emerge from the God Phoenix.



“Heya, squirt!” Ken greets Jinpei.

“Heya, Bro! You guys aren’t needed here.” Jinpei grins. “As you can see, I, Jinpei the Great, already captured Katse and the Snowman! Won’t I be popular?” Yes, Jinpei is still thinking about that episode waaaaay back when, when the little kids told him that G4 was the least popular member of the Science Ninja Team.

Ken apparently doesn’t like the idea of Jinpei being popular, but Jun appears to be very proud of her little brother.



Katse is just terrified as Ken approaches him.



“It’s been a long battle, hasn’t it now, Berg Katse?” Ken asks.

“Damn it, what a day!” is Katse’s response.

“You’re the expert when it comes to escaping!” Ken says, grabbing Katse by his cloak. “Let’s see how you manage this time!” He twists Katse’s cloak around his neck.



Sigh… Ken, don’t you know that if you want to garrote someone, you cross your arms before you pull?

“Ahhh! I can’t breathe! Now come on! You’re choking me!” Katse protests. But Ken doesn’t seem to be impressed.

“Come on, you can go!” Ken taunts him. “I just want to keep your head, you filthy rat!”



“Leader! Leader X!” Katse cries. “Help!”

“What’s that?” Ken growls.



“Leader, who the hell is Leader X, Katse?” Ken demands.

“It’s Lord X!” Katse explains. But Ken isn’t buying it.



“Stop bawling! Ken cries, and he pulls off Katse’s mask…







And Katse is unmasked!





But then a bright light appears…



It blinds the Science Ninja Team!



It’s Leader X!

“Welcome, Science Ninja Team.” X laughs. “I am X, Leader of Galactor.”



“What are you talking about?” Ken grimaces in pain.



No one else seems to be liking this experience either.



“You won’t be taking Katse anywhere.” X declares. “I won’t allow my precious subordinate’s capture!”



The Science Ninja Team falls to the ground in pain, as X laughs maniacally.



There is a flash of light, and the echoing laugh fades away. The Science Ninja Team is lying on the floor of Katse’s office, in front of the God Phoenix. Katse is gone.



And Ryu? Ryu…. missed the whole thing.



A despondent Ken wakes up.



“Did you see it?” Ken asks quietly.



“I sure did, but I still can’t believe it!” Joe says.

“But this isn’t a dream, Joe!” Ken shouts. “Katse and the Snowman mecha have both vanished!”

“Leader X, Ruler of Galactor.” Jun says. “I wonder who he is.”

“You think Katse used magic, Bro?” Jinpei asks. “It had to be a trick! Or a monster!” Remember, this is the kid who believed in the Abominable Snowman.

“I hope it was only a trick, Jinpei.” Ken says. “Because if that this is our real enemy, I’m not sure how we’re supposed to devise a way to defeat it.”



And now, we see Ryu laughing his head off.



“What a big joke!” Ryu says. “He just made you all see the same illusion! It was just Katse’s mass hypnosisisillucoficatations!” Did I spell that right?

Ken’s silent reflection doesn’t seem to agree.



“And then again, I don’t really know for sure, since I was napping the whole time.” Ryu admits.



The sun sets, and the God Phoenix flies home, but it doesn’t feel like the usual happy ending.



Leader X, the one who holds the real power and rules Galactor from behind the scenes… is he human, or is he a devil? Who is this Leader X who stands in the way of the Science Ninja Team? These secrets and more are locked somewhere in the Himalayas…

And with that strong hint as to the location of Galactor Headquarters, the scene fades out…

__________________

---

Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:22:

BOTP Episode 41 – The Alien Bigfoot

Even though Center Neptune, deep beneath the sea, must be ever on the alert for alien invaders from outer space, there are moments when everything is peaceful in the galaxy.

Ah, but Zark spoke too soon. Right now he’s on his way down his elevation tube to get to his control station. He only got to enjoy two seconds of his ten second oil break.



“And now I have an intriguing mystery on me hands!” Zark tells us, just before the Batman quick-change mechanism takes off his Numebr 7 sweater and put on his cape.



“Reports are coming from far-off Tibet about an alien Bigfoot roaming the Himalayas!” Zark says. Hmmm… how do these people know it’s alien? What makes him different from an Earth Bigfoot?

“It’s incredible that that old legend of a great, hairy beast roaming those mountains has survived until our time!” Zark is astounded by human ignorance.



Notice that this must be in the middle of the night, as the ocean is dark behind him.

“Two of our top scientists, Cameron and Ward, have been sent to investigate.” Zark says, after flying to his control panel. Wait… so this is an old legend (despite the ‘alien’ claim) and Zark is scoffing at it… but two scientists have been sent to investigate? I think there’s more than meets the eye…

“They’re old hands at mountain exploration,” Zark informs us, “and if there’s any truth to the rumors, they’ll find that Bigfoot!” He turns on his monitors.

“I’ll try to contact Cameron and Ward.” he says, and I notice that the sea has lightened a bit behind him. Perhaps the sun is rising as we speak.

“They should be close to the area where the alien Bigfoot has been reported.” Zark goes on. “But polar magnetic disturbances are fouling up my intermediate frequency transformers.”

How can you tell, Zark?



“Well, at least I’m finally getting a video scan of the Himalayas.” Zark voices over, as we see snow-covered mountains. “But they cover an awful lot of territory.” Good thing Zark just happens to be looking in the right place! We see a parade of snowmobiles heading up the mountain.

“Now I’ve got the scientific party on my monitor.” Zark says, as we see close-ups of the snowmobile trucks. “They’ve just made camp, and I know Cameron and Ward must be tired.” I’ll bet that’s not going to stop Peeping Zark from looking in on them anyway!

“I’ll contact them in the morning.” Zark decides. Perhaps he’s not as interested in scientists as he is in Princess’ uniform (or lack thereof).

We see Cameron and Ward sitting in their tent in the middle of a snowstorm.

“I’ve heard stories about Bigfoot wandering these mountain passes since I can remember.” one of the men says. Is it Cameron or Ward? Your guess is as good as mine. “They get wilder all the time.”

“Probably just some old yak.” replies the other scientist. Yeah, that’s why they carted their butts and this large expedition up to this frigid place. Riiiight.

“No, I don’t think so.” the first scientist says.

“You think he’s real?” the second asks.

And we cut to a shot of the Bigfoot, with its glowing red eyes, and a blast of ‘warning’ music.

“Isn’t that what we were sent up here to find out?” the first scientist responds.

Insert another scary shot of the red-eyed Bigfoot.

“Seems a bit much, doesn’t it?” scientist #2 says. “A big, hairy monster living up here in the mountains?” Let me guess… he’s the skeptic on the team?

“Yeti, the natives call him.” says scientist #1.

“I’ll believe it when I see him. And I really don’t expect to see him.” scientist #2 says, kicking back. But just then, their tent is crushed by a massive, hairy foot!

Scientist #1 peeks his head out of the tent’s remains, just in time to see the Bigfoot picking up an entire truck and throwing it. He signals for help, and there is an explosion…

Oh no! Did Cameron and Ward make it?

Before we can ponder the fate of the two scientists for long, we cut to Ready Room Disco. Princess and Keyop are playing to the beat, Tiny is eating Spaceburgers, and Mark and Jason are playing ping pong.



So what else is new?

“This is the first time I ever danced a game of ping pong.” Jason comments.



“Hey, Princess, can you pick up the beat?” Mark asks. “I don’t play my best game at that speed.”



Now I have to wonder why he’s asking Princess. Keyop’s the one playing the drums (and therefore controlling the beat) after all. Perhaps Mark just wants to see Princess’ hips swing faster as she plays.

Certainly, from this shot, it doesn’t look like Mark is paying much attention to the game.



He looks like he got a hernia trying to suck in his gut!

“Sorry, we play for music lovers, not muscle men!” Princess says, her electric mandolin doing a poor job of masking her man-shoulders.



“Arrooot! Want faster?” Keyop asks, performing a drum solo at top speed.



And yep, you guessed it…. Mark hits a wild shot…



And knocks a Spaceburger out of Tiny’s hand.



OMG… sorry…. must take laughing break…

And Keyop is still playing his solo!

“Brooot toot! Muscle builder beat!” he exclaims as he finishes.

Zark appears on the screen to interrupt the goings-on.

“Attention, G-Force!” he calls.



“I have a red alert! Our scientists, Cameron and Ward, have just sighted an alien Bigfoot in the Himalayas! They took one look, and got out fast!” Oh, well, that’s all right then. I guess they survived!

“They’re safely on their way home now, but the Bigfoot is continuing to terrorize the entire area.” Zark goes on. “Stand by! You may be called on at any moment to go there. Security Chief Anderson has promised to make a decision quickly!”



And Zark fades out.

“G-Force!”



And we cut to a shot of Keyop loading a massive backpack into his detransmuted Space Buggy.

“I’ll go!” he burbles. “Capture Bigfoot!”

He drives away from Jill’s in the middle of the night. Next thing you know, Mark’s communicator is beeping.

“I read you, Princess.” he says, as he wakes up. He sits up in his bed. Hmmm… seems like he’s used to getting messages from Princess while in bed…

“It’s Keyop! He just took off!” Princess reports. “He said he was going to capture that monster Bigfoot all by himself!”

“Get him on your communicator! Tell him to get back here!” Mark orders her. Well, duh, don’t you think she would have tried that already?

“I tried, Mark, but he doesn’t answer my call!” Princess says. “He’s determined!”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry, he won’t go far.” Mark replies. “Anyway, there’s no such animal as Bigfoot!” And he ducks back under his covers.

“Look, Princess, don’t get all worked up.” Jason says, as he is now apparently the one being appealed to. “You know Keyop when he gets an idea! He’ll be back soon with some hairy story!” And Jason goes into his trailer and lies down on his bed.

“He’ll never go all the way to Tibet alone.” Jason says to himself.

We cut back to Center Neptune, and Zark’s voiceover tells us that Security Chief Anderson has finally made his decision. So much for it being fast! The Team had a chance to go back to their homes and hang out for awhile!

“Along with the reports of Bigfoot, we’re now getting reports of spaceships mysteriously crashing while coming in for Earth landings!” Zark says. “I advised Chief Anderson that the two things may be linked, somehow.” Oh, Zark, you’re soooo smart!

“You’re one short. Where’s Keyop?” Anderson asks as the Team files into his office.

“He took off on his own for the Himalayas.” Princess reports. “To capture Bigfoot.”

“That was rash and impetuous. You work as a Team!” the Chief lectures. Too bad Keyop’s not present to hear it!

“What’s the emergency, Chief?” Tiny asks, sitting down. “Zark tells us it was another red alert.”

“Three spaceships have crashed since yesterday.” Anderson says.

“What?” Tiny is shocked.

“The space landing entry system has been perfected for years!” Mark protests.

“It would only take our friend Zoltar from Planet Spectra five minutes to mess it up.” Jason points out.

“Could be.” Anderson agrees. “One of the space freighters came down in the Himalayas.”

“Any clue yet as to what went wrong?” Mark asks.

“Inertial guidance systems went out just before entry.” Anderson replies.

“That’s got to be good old Zoltar, Chief!” Tiny says.

__________________

---

Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:24:

“All three Alliance ships reported the same thing just before Zark’s receptor went dead.” the Chief informs them. “Some sort of beam was playing havoc with their controls. Two Alpha Centauri freighters went down right here.” He points out the spot using a pencil and an overhead machine.

“The survivors are being questioned now.” Anderson adds. “Zark feels Spectra has a hidden base in the Himalayas, and is engineering those crashes.”

“Bigfoot could be part of Zoltar’s operation.” Mark suggests. That’s not an unreasonable hypothesis, now that this ‘spaceship crash’ thing has been linked to the Himalayas. Everyone knows that Spectra likes to make giant animal robots.

“And that means little Keyop’s walking into a big bundle of trouble!” Jason adds.

“He can’t handle Bigfoot alone!” Mark declares, standing up. “Let’s go!”

And now we see Keyop driving across the flatlands of… Tibet, I suppose. Zark voices over for us.

“It’s been a real effort to locate Keyop.” he says. “But I finally did it. Now I can guide G-Force to him!” Yeah, because G-Force would have no way of knowing which way the Himalayas were without you, Zark. Sigh…

“Town ahead!” Keyop burbles as he drives.

“Tibet!” he calls happily as he drives through the marketplace.

“May I be of some service?” asks a local. He sounds like a cross between Cronus and Zoltar.

“A room?” Keyop asks, after much unnecessary burbling.

“Ah yes! That will be 500 gold yenkels!” the man replies.

“Root toot… gold yenkel?”

“Only room left in town! Bathroom down the hall. Views extra! Can let you have it for 450!” the local replies. Personally, I’m wondering how views can be ‘extra’ when this is the ‘only room left in town’, but I guess that’s just part of this guy’s fast talking pitch.

“No yenkels.” Keyop admits.

“As we say in the Orient, get lost!” the man says, although he waves his arm in a ‘follow me’ motion to Keyop.

“Rent gouger!” Keyop mutters as he gets back into his car.

“Big convention in town! No rooms!” the man says, waving goodbye to Keyop as he drives past. Sure enough, Keyop is shocked to see a large group of tour buses.

We cut to Keyop struggling up the mountain path with his large backpack.

“Need a mule!” he burbles to himself. Then he sees the masses of people ahead of him.

“Yikes!” he says, after a series of unintelligible sounds.

And now, we finally get to our villains.

“You imbecile!” the Luminous One rants. “I warned you about turning Bigfoot loose!”

“I wanted to keep people away until the Disruptor Beam was perfected, oh Luminous One!” Zoltar explains.

“The Inter-Frequency Disruptor is perfected!” the Great Spirit replies. “You fool! All you need is to learn how to use it correctly! A few more re-entry crashes and Earth will be ready to surrender!”

Wow, is that really all it takes to conquer a planet? Re-entry crashes? Let me write that down on my ‘conquer the galaxy’ plan…

And now we see a number of tents set up at night on the mountainside, in a howling snowstorm. Inside one tent, Keyop sits miserably.

“Bah… all these people… want see Bigfoot…” he burbles sadly. And outside, red glowing eyes appear in the darkness.

Keyop falls down in his tent and peeks outside to see what’s going on. He catches sight of the Bigfoot and screams. He ducks back inside, rubs his eyes, and burbles.

“King Kong!” he cries.

Meanwhile, the Bigfoot is ripping up the tents. Keyop activates his communicator.

“Calling G-Force!” he burbles.

“This is Mark. I read you, Keyop!” Mark says from the Phoenix. “Where are you?”

“Down here!” Keyop broops. “Bigfoot!”

“Speak up, Keyop! Are you in trouble?” Mark wants to know.

“Don’t ask!” Keyop burbles, as his tent blows away. He looks up to see Bigfoot, and tries to scream, but only a soft ‘aaaahhhh…’ comes out. Bigfoot’s hand comes toward him…

“Give us the word, Keyop!” Mark is saying. “What’s happening?” But there’s no response.

“Can’t locate him!” Princess reports.

“How about you, Jason? Any luck?” Mark asks.

“I think I’m finally getting a fix on the little guy!” Jason says.

“Thanks!” Princess says, but for some reason her face is horrified.

“Bank north, Tiny!” Mark orders. “Let’s try buzzing those peaks full jet!”

“Big ten!” Tiny replies.

Now it’s morning and we can see all of the destroyed tents on the mountain. A couple of snowmobiles pull up and two goons get off of them.

“Look!” one of them says. They have discovered Keyop, lying face down in the snow.

“A dog?” asks Frenchy goon.

“I think it’s a human!” says Dumb Goon. Hmm… clearly I should give them different monikers for BOTP, as it is Frenchy who just made the dumb remark.

One of the goons kicks Keyop over and he wakes up.

“What happened?” he broots, before seeing the goons.

“Spectra!” he gasps.

“He knows us! What’ll we do with him?” asks Dumb Goon, to the sound of ominous music…

Commercial break!

We come back to Zark, who isn’t pacing, but is standing in the middle of the room next to 1-Rover-1.



“Well, the G-Force Team is on its way to help Keyop and to investigate the Alien Bigfoot mystery!” Zark reminds us, in case we just joined the episode in progress during the commercial break. He flies over to his workstation.

“I’m getting so good at flying!” he comments. “One of these days I’m liable to keep right on going into outer space!” Yeah, Zark, you do that. Seriously. I hope you do.

So of course, Rover now has to show off his flying.



He lands and yaps at Zark.

“Yes, 1-Rover-1,” Zark replies, not even looking at the dog, “When I do go to outer space, you can go along.” Oh goody, now that’s settled.

“I know how you’ve been wanting to visit Canis Major, the Dog Star!” Zark says. Wait, I thought Sirius was the Dog Star? Is that the same as Canis Major? I have to check… Okay, Canis Major is actually a constellation of a dog that contains Sirius. So technically Canis Major isn’t a star at all. Sigh.

Rover yaps a lot.

“Right now, I’d better get the Phoenix on my monitor and see how it’s doing.” Zark says, getting back to business. “Poor Keyop! He needs help badly, I’m afraid!” But how does Zark know this?

We cut to a shot of the Phoenix flying through the mountains, to the sound of exciting trumpet music. It’s flying over the destroyed tent city. I guess that’s exciting.

“Camp is deserted!” Tiny says.

“Set her down.” Mark orders. The Phoenix lands and everyone gets out.

“Somebody turn up the Sun!” Tiny says, covering his face with his wings.

“That’s Keyop’s tent all right.” Jason says. He looks inside, and appears to be horrified.

“Is he in there?” Mark asks.

“No,” Jason says, turning away, “and it looks like he left in an awfully big hurry.”

“Is there any sign of… trouble?” Mark wants to know.

“Well, leaving all his gear behind isn’t a real good sign.” Jason comments.

“Something cleared everybody out of here in a hurry!” Princess notes.

“Bigfoot or Zoltar, I don’t know which one of them is worse!” Tiny says.

“I hate to think of Keyop just running blindly in the snow!” Mark comments. But suddenly, his communicator lights up. Princess sees it too.

“Keyop, we read you! Come in!” Princess calls.

“You sound like you’re underwater!” Mark adds.

And sure enough, Keyop’s communicator is underwater. He’s doing dishes!

“Boy!” calls Chef Goon.

“Yes, Sir!” Keyop says, hastily covering up what he was doing.

“You’ve got to get a move on! Work faster!” Chef Goon lectures.

“Brainy type!” Keyop explains. Pointing at his head with a vacant, bucktoothed expression. This is so incongruous that it has me !

“Well, Brainy, get that tray in to the old high and mighty Zoltar!” Chef Goon orders.

“Yes, Sir!” Keyop says meekly, wheeling the tray away.

“How’s the new boy?” Frenchy Goon asks, coming up. He sounds like Jason doing a bad ‘Godfather’ impersonation.

“You recruiters really must be scraping the bottom of the barrel!” Chef Goon replies.

“I think he’s from some weird, far out galaxy!” Frenchy Goon comments. “He talks funny and acts spooky!”

Now we see Keyop in a goon uniform wheeling the tray down the hallway.

“Yes, oh Mighty Spirit!” comes Zoltar’s voice.

“Root toot! Zoltar!” Keyop says to himself.

“I warned you about turning Bigfoot loose before you were ready!” says the Luminous One in a tinny voice from his teeny weeny screen. “He was to be our last resort! Now G-Force has been alerted, to say nothing of the rest of the world! G-Force is here, and they’ll be ready for any move you make!”

“They will have no chance against our Disruptor Beam!” Zoltar assures the Luminous One.

“Eruptor!” Keyop burbles.

“What’s that?” Zoltar asks. “Who’s out there?”

Keyop snaps to attention.

“Room service!” he burbles.

“What are you waiting for? Bring that food in here immediately!” Zoltar orders as the teeny weeny screen disappears into the floor.

“Noble Sir!” Keyop broops, entering the room.

“That’s better! Next time, knock before you enter!” Zoltar admonishes.

“Check.” Keyop replies. He gasps when a screen opens up to reveal a view of the Himalayas.

“Get out of here!” Zoltar orders. Keyop salutes.

Now we see Keyop fixing the goons’ snowmobiles.

“Okay.” Keyop says, standing up.

“Have another job for you.” says Dumb Goon.

“What now?” Keyop asks, after a long string of burbles and gibberish. We cut to the goons, and it’s pretty clear that they’re smoking and drinking. I know that this must have traumatized me as a child, and surely this is the sole reason why today, I do not either drink or smoke.

__________________

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:24:

“You’re pretty handy with tools, kid!” Dumb Goon notes. “Now we’ve got a big two-legged machine that needs fixing!” So let me get this straight… the Spectran goons want a kid to fix their big robot? Perhaps Dumb Goon was the right name after all!

“Where is it?” Keyop burbles.

“In the storeroom, back there.” Dumb Goon replies.

“Eeh… slave drivers!” Keyop mutters as he walks over. He opens the door and gasps, after literally walking into the Bigfoot.

“Bigfoot!” he exclaims.

“Oh, it’s nothing but a pile of junk, run by Zitronium batteries!” laughs Frenchy Goon.

“Scared me!” Keyop says.

“That’s what it’s supposed to do!” Frenchy Goon replies. “Scare people and keep them from nosing around up here! Now, see if you can fix its motor and get it going again!” Frenchy goon lurches in his seat. Dumb Goon is already sleeping.

“Fix it good!” Keyop says, throwing his mask onto the floor in disgust. He signals on his communicator.

We see the Phoenix rising up from out of the snow on the mountainside.

In an unknown location, the Luminous One appears on his screen. It’s his big audience chamber, not the teeny weeny screen. You’d think he was on Spectra, but…

“I told you we’d have trouble, Zoltar!” the Great Spirit says. “G-Force is headed this way! Assemble your men immediately!”

So apparently he’s not on Spectra, and actually in the Earth base somewhere. Odd…

“Sound the assembly alert!” Zoltar orders one of the goons. He flicks a switch, and is now addressing the goons.

“Mighty Spirit has just informed me that G-Force has discovered our hideout and is on the way here! Our defenses will quickly rout them! Now, back to your posts! Get ready for the assault by G-Force!”

Sue enough, snow falls off the mountainside, revealing a number of missile-launching tubes. But we get a ‘money shot’ of the Phoenix approaching, to the swelling sounds of Hoyt Curtain’s orchestra.

“We’re coming in, dead on target!” Mark announces. “Activate repeller force field, Tiny!”

“Repeller force field, activated!” Tiny says, pulling on some levers.

“They are here!” Zoltar notes, seeing the Phoenix approaching on his screen. “All batteries stand ready and prepare to open fire!”

“Move in close, Tiny!” Mark orders. “Give that mountain a dusting.”

“Open fire!” Zoltar calls, as the Phoenix approaches, and the missiles go… but the Phoenix is unharmed!

“Boy, I’m sure glad to get through that!” Tiny says, once they’re out.

“Well, get ready to go back.” Mark says.

“Through that again?” Tiny is shocked.

“Keyop’s still down there somewhere!” Jason reminds them. Boy, of all of them, he’s certainly the one expressing the most concern for Keyop, this episode.

“I know, but he’s the one who gave us the signal to attack!” Mark reminds Jason.

“He’ll be right in it!” Princess protests.

“He wouldn’t give us the word if he didn’t have a plan.” Mark points out. “One more flyby, Tiny.”

“I just hope Keyop knows what he’s doing!” Tiny grumbles.

And the Hoyt Curtain music swells again as the Phoenix flies by once more. And again they emerge unscathed.

“I’d give anything to know how they do it!” Zoltar rants. “Right through my heaviest batteries!”

“I’ve got an idea.” Mark says. “Lot of snow piled up there…”

We see the missiles loading inside the Spectra base, and one shoots at the Phoenix. The Phoenix avoids it, but it hits the mountainside. The Phoenix flies through the battery again, and more missiles shoot out.

“We did it! Those explosions have started an avalanche!” Mark announces. Sure enough, snow is cascading down the mountainside. It buries the missile batteries, even going inside the base, but we don’t see any goons flailing in the snow.

“We’ve got to get out! Everyone evacuate this area!” Zoltar orders.

But the Bigfoot is coming to life. It stands up and crashes through a wall, scaring the pants off some goons. Then it bursts through the floor of Zoltar’s office!

“What are you doing here?” Zoltar demands.

And the next thing you know, the Phoenix is breaking through the wall of Zoltar’s office!

“And now, G-Force!” Zoltar cries fearfully, turning to run. But Keyop’s bolas come out of the Bigfoot’s nostrils and wrap around Zoltar’s legs, tripping him.

“Doot doot… got him!” Keyop exclaims.

“Good shot, Keyop!” Mark calls, as the dome on the Phoenix lowers to reveal the Commander, Jason and Princess.

“I did it! Got Bigfoot… and Zoltar!” Keyop burbles proudly. “Broot toot… by myself!”

Zoltar is horrified, especially when Mark approaches him.

“You’ve won… let me go!” he whispers.

“No way! This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for!” Mark says, grabbing Zoltar by his cloak. “I’ve never seen you without your mask. Now!”

“No… not that!” Zoltar croaks.

“Let’s see!” Mark shouts, pulling off the mask.

And we see… long blonde hair spilling out! Zoltar is covering his face, and a bright light appears behind him. The G-Force Team is blinded!

The Luminous one appears, and he’s…. giggling?

“You fools!” he berates them. “Do you think you can stand against the mystic power of Spectra’s actual ruler? See how easily I render you helpless? My powers are greater than yours, G-Force! Sooner or later, I shall succeed in conquering your planet!” He continues to giggle, and the Team collapses from the effects of his power.

Sorry, but the Luminous One’s giggling just doesn’t sound very ominous. And if his power were all that great, why wouldn’t he just kill G-Force then and there?

Now we see the Team lying unconscious on the floor of Zoltar’s ruined office… except for Tiny, who is snoozing on the Phoenix. Mark and Princess get up.

“It’s gone.” the Commander says, as Jason stands up.

“Like some weird ghost.” Jason adds.

“Was it a dream, or did I really see Zoltar with long, blonde hair?” Mark asks. Clearly the big reveal here was not the presence and power of the Luminous One, but Zoltar’s hair.

“I saw it too, Mark, but maybe we were both dreaming.” Princess replies.

“Wig, maybe?” Keyop asks, after a lot of burbling.

“Maybe. It just seems too far out for the evil ruler of Spectra to be a woman.” Mark says. “But for a second, I sure thought I saw one…”

Get that, kiddies? In this show with no violence, we’re all going to be sexist and say that anybody with long hair is a woman! The Commander of G-Force said so! Not only that, women can’t be evil enough to be the main villain! Phew! Thanks for setting me straight in my gender role, Mark.

“Zoltar a woman?” Tiny laughs, back on the Phoenix. “All of you need a long vacation, or they’re going to start looking into your heads!” And this is disturbing too. Why couldn’t the Leader of Spectra be female? I’m still trying to grapple with this one…

Mark doesn’t respond.

“Sorry, Commander.” Tiny apologizes. “That just kind of slipped out, you know?”

And you know, as kids, we all bought this. At my school, the word was rife: Zoltar was a woman! I had that ‘secret’ repeated to me even a decade later, when I was in undergrad, and we were talking about the TV shows we used to watch as kids. “Did you know that Zoltar was really a woman?” And all from this one episode…

Of course, it never occurred to any of us that Zoltar and Mala were really the same person. That would have blown our minds!

We see the Phoenix flying off into the sunset, to the sound of mournful flute music.

“The threat of the Disruptor Beam is gone, buried in the rubble of Spectra’s secret base.” Zark voices over. “And the mystery of Bigfoot is solved! But now we’re faced with an even greater mystery… Was that Zoltar with long, blonde hair, who disappeared in the energy blast? I wonder if we’ll ever know?” And the answer is of course both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. In BOTP, this was as close as they ever got to ‘revealing’ Zoltar, but in Gatchaman, we learned so much more…

“Seeing a terrible mechanical monster like that alien Bigfoot almost makes me ashamed to admit I’m a robot too!” Zark says, his metal head sparkling.



And 1-Rover-1 is so ashamed that he’s hiding his head.



“Don’t worry, 1-Rover-1.” Zark assures him. “Robots like you are very friendly and intelligent and loving.”

And at that opportune moment, Susan drops down from the ceiling!



Okay, not Susan, but her communicator binocular-box thing.

“And what about me, Zark?” she asks.

“Oh, yes, Susan, robots like you are certainly very friendly!” Zark answers, clearly flustered. If he were human, he’d be sweating bullets. “And intelligent, and… well, I don’t really know if you’re loving.”

“Try me…” Susan breathes.



“Ooh, my!” Zark exclaims. “I don’t know if… I mean, c-c-could you call back later, Susan? When I’m… alone?” Lucky Rover! He’ll be spared Zark and Susan’s sex talk. If only we were so lucky.

“It’ll be… my pleasure.” Susan says huskily, before her communication thingy disappears back into the ceiling.

“I wonder if being kissed by a girl is anything like being kissed by a dog?” Zark asks himself, as he pulls Rover close.



And the scene fades out. I shudder to think of what will happen next to poor Rover, as this smacks entirely too much of a sexual predator left alone with a child. Ewwwww…..

Fortunately, this episode is over.

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 04:26:

And of course, I can’t forget Sosai Tim’s Gatchafunnies!

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Posted by green on 05-04-2010 at 05:24:

So many things in this episode review had me laughing TJ! You were in right form when you wrote it!

When I first saw this episode I was a wee lass of about 11 with long white blonde hair down to my butt, two sisters - one of which is the only person I am still scared of today - and a mother who taught us that girls can be anything and do anything they want. I believe my response to Mark's belief that a woman couldn't be the evil ruler of Spectra got me grounded for a month...

It was also probably about the time that I switched my allegiance to Jason...

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Exaggeration misleads the credulous and offends the perceptive. ~Eliza Cook

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Posted by Madilayn on 05-04-2010 at 05:29:

Now why did I just KNOW you'd include a screen shot of a seemingly nekkid in bed Eagle??? Hmmmmmmm?????? *goes back and drools*

Why o why do we never see Condor nekkid in bed? Or perhaps it's just Ken who sleeps au natural....

Ehem.. Sorry... Back to the episode....

Re Ken & Jun & their guilty look.... Not really a long stretch of the imagination that they've been taking advantage of Jinpei's absense....

Oh dear. This episode just seems to invite my smutty mind to go to town...

You know, it's really a pity that the BotP ready room animation is so horrendous - the boys really do get a lot of good bum-waving going in their ping pong game....

Oh dear. I think I'll quit now before the smut gets out of control.

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"When I'm old, I don't want them to say of me, "She's so charming." I want them to say, "Be careful, I think she's armed." -G. Stoddart

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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 05-04-2010 at 06:12:

When I saw the line of tourists on the mountain, I had to chuckle. Were the folks at Tatsunoko indulging in a bit of social commentary?

Because it's pretty true. Climbing Everest has become the thing to do, and if there were a reliable Yeti sighting, the Himalayas would be buried under tourists. Hell, there would be so many people there the Earth would shift on its axis.

The majority of Galactor goons have been pretty stupid throughout the show. Lately, they've been downright idiotic. Yeah, gotta feel for Katse. It's hard to conquer the planet when your minions are dumber than dirt.

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

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Posted by gatchamarie on 05-04-2010 at 10:52:

RE: Gatchaman Episode 71 – The Invincible Leader X

Yet another great recap and awesome screencaps, TJ! As always, your comments were hilarious ... especially in the BOTP part! I'm sorry, though, because I tend to scroll that part down fast, especially when I see those horrendous images of the team in the ready room!

This episode seemed to point towards the revealing of Leader X and the location of Galactor Headquarters from the very start! Boy ... the SNT members surely do not know what's in store for them yet!

I also like how the individual homes have been so well depicted, giving us another good view of where and how some of the characters lived. And ... well ... I have to agree with Maddy ... I can't hide that I enjoyed seeing the Eagle in his bed with his bare torso yet another time! I've also noticed the improved artwork which is well illustrated in the screencaps!

You know ... I kind of join you others in pitying Katse! He definitely has a good reason to rant!

And don't you think that these two look cute when communicating with each other, the following screencaps being conveniently placed one after the other?

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

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Posted by Madilayn on 05-04-2010 at 11:11:

Definitely cute, Gatchamarie!!

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"When I'm old, I don't want them to say of me, "She's so charming." I want them to say, "Be careful, I think she's armed." -G. Stoddart

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Posted by Springie on 05-04-2010 at 11:41:

You're speaking my language, Gatchamarie! Those are both very cute shots! I wish Ken hadn't been so rude to Jun when she called...guess he's grumpy when he wakes up! (I think I remember him being that way when Red Impulse and Dr. Nambu woke him up, too!)

TJ, this is definitely on my fav. episodes list...so much character development in this one! And your commentary always leaves me cracking up!!

I think we need to review this one at Comicon if James has it! So funny!

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There is no problem that cannot be solved with time, patience, and a judicious amount of high explosives.

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 14:11:

quote:

Originally posted by green When I first saw this episode I was a wee lass of about 11 with long white blonde hair down to my butt, two sisters - one of which is the only person I am still scared of today - and a mother who taught us that girls can be anything and do anything they want. I believe my response to Mark's belief that a woman couldn't be the evil ruler of Spectra got me grounded for a month...

I had long, blonde hair too, and I had begun to notice that no one in the entire series had blond hair... except the villains! So it started to give me a bit of a complex....

The sad part is that as a kid, the whole disbelief on Mark's part about Zoltar being a woman just bypassed me completely. We always just jumped to that assumption Zoltar had been revealed to be female, and ran with it. Those pink, glossy lips didn't help...

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 14:13:

quote:

Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter The majority of Galactor goons have been pretty stupid throughout the show. Lately, they've been downright idiotic. Yeah, gotta feel for Katse. It's hard to conquer the planet when your minions are dumber than dirt.

Well look at it this way... the ones who were minorly bright have been killed off in the previous 70 episodes, and now they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

And Maddy, there are plenty of pics around of the Condor shirtless in bed. I'm sure there are some in Gatch I, although the episode escapes me at the moment. And I know for a fact that there are plenty in Gatch II, where Joe is on Dr. Rafael's table in his tighty whities more than once...

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Posted by Transmute Jun on 05-04-2010 at 14:21:

Marie, you picked out two wonderful screenshots to put together! And yes, so much the SNT didn't know... the funny thing is, there have been so many Galactor bases all over the world, that when they talk about this one in this episode, we think it's 'just another base' and not the 'energy substation' for Galactor Headquarters! And none of us question why X is directly interfering in this instance and not before... we just assume that it was to save Katse!

quote:

Originally posted by Springie You're speaking my language, Gatchamarie! Those are both very cute shots! I wish Ken hadn't been so rude to Jun when she called...guess he's grumpy when he wakes up! (I think I remember him being that way when Red Impulse and Dr. Nambu woke him up, too!)

I like how in BOTP, Mark seems not to be grumpy at all when Princess calls and wakes him up... like he's used to her calling him at that hour!

quote:

TJ, this is definitely on my fav. episodes list...so much character development in this one!!

Definitely! It's one of my favorites too. Besides the constant stream of humor, it really furthers the plot (but not in a way that would prevent you from understanding following episodes) and develops the characters, and explains a lot about the internal workings of the Galactor organization! What more could you ask for?

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Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 05-04-2010 at 15:26:

quote:

Originally posted by Transmute Jun I had long, blonde hair too, and I had begun to notice that no one in the entire series had blond hair... except the villains! So it started to give me a bit of a complex.... The sad part is that as a kid, the whole disbelief on Mark's part about Zoltar being a woman just bypassed me completely. We always just jumped to that assumption Zoltar had been revealed to be female, and ran with it. Those pink, glossy lips didn't help...

Which makes it ironic when you know the original plan for Katse's identity.

If the producers had continued with that idea, what would the BotP people have done? Ignored it? Played the scene as Mala impersonating her brother (depending on when they got that episode)? Or would we have been treated some more bad animation as they tried to work around it? (At least the Spanish manglers of Gatch II could match the original style fairly well.)

Funny, but now that I know the original plan, I can see the other signs of Katse's intended gender throughout the show. If you look at some of those scenes where he's not looking full-on at the camera or in profile, what you can see of his face does have a feminine cast to it.

Of course, here was another hint that Katse was not what he seemed, and a hint that there might be something important going on in this area of the world. (There was another hint in 'Pursue Katse!', when the team comments on the presence of the mammoth mecha in the middle of nowhere. Was Galactor's main base in the area?)

We're closing in on the exciting conclusion to the original Science Ninja Team Gatchaman! Stay tuned.

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

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Posted by gatchamarie on 05-04-2010 at 15:48:

quote:

Originally posted by Springie I wish Ken hadn't been so rude to Jun when she called...guess he's grumpy when he wakes up! (I think I remember him being that way when Red Impulse and Dr. Nambu woke him up, too!)

I tried to scrap that bit away from my mind for a while! But I do recall Ken always being grumpy when he wakes up, especially when he has to get out of bed early in the morning without having breakfast! I think Jun was used to that attitude of his!

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

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