Joe jumps and moves away, but Katse shines the light on him again. The light causes Joe pain.



The goons quickly take advantage of this.

“Come on, stand up.” Bearded Goon laughs nastily. “There’s a good boy. Nice and slow…”



Then Bearded Goon proceeds to beat up Joe by smacking him with his rifle several times.





A few other goons get in on the act, standing in a circle around Joe. The whole thing reminds me of a group of schoolyard bullies.

“You don’t seem so tough now!” Bearded Goon taunts.



Joe ends up falling on Katse, clutching at his cape.



“Ah, where did all your spunk go?” Katse asks in a sickly sweet voice. “Ready to tell me their identities now?”



“Man, you just don’t get it, do you, Katse?” Joe asks. “There’s no way in hell I’ll ever talk to someone like you!”



And then he spits in Katse’s face.

None of the goons can believe the disrespect Joe has just shown!



“Oh boy.” Katse sighs. “If I had just one man with your guts, this war would have been won for us ages ago.”

“Hold him!” Katse snaps, and then he punches Joe. Many times.





He kicks Joe in the stomach and grinds his boot in.

“And they say I’m a heel.” Katse laughs.

Another goon kicks Joe’s butt, and he goes tumbling to the floor.



“Looks like you finally settled down for us!” Katse mocks. “The great Science Ninja Team goon, under my shoe!”

And yes, Joe is literally under his shoe.



“No matter how much you carry on, it’s now only a matter of time!” Katse taunts. “I’m going to use your capture to stop the Gatchaman Team dead in their tracks!”



“Start plans for the Black Hole Operation! Move out to Karakorum Cross immediately!” Katse orders his troops.

Joe is dragged by two goons (one of them, Bearded Goon) to a cell.



“So, we’ve finally taken one of the Science Ninja Team prisoner, huh, Sarge?” the other goon asks.

“Let’s throw the bum in the brig.” Bearded Goon replies. But Joe takes action, breaking loose and grabbing the goon’s pistol. Suddenly the tables have turned.



“Make another noise and it’ll be your last, got it?” Joe threatens. But his voice is ragged, and it’s clear he’s on the edge. “Don’t move a muscle!” He groans, and clutches at his face, but the goons, with their backs turned, don’t see.

Joe runs down the corridor. Realizing that he’s getting away, the two goons turn and start shooting.



Joe finds a door and throws his shoulder against it to open it. He’s surprised to see sky beyond, instead of ground.



He falls out the door.



“He jumped out!” the goon can’t believe it. “I guess he didn’t realize we’re up this high in the sky, huh, Sarge? Good luck, though.”

“Guess not.” Bearded Goon/Sarge agrees. “My promotion to Commanding Officer just went out the door with him. Bet he dies of shock before he even hits the ground.”

And certainly Joe is in shock as he tumbles through the air.



But fortunately he has the presence of mind to transform.



And he’s able to land safely on a road below.



But he hears the squeal of brakes: a car is coming up behind him!



Fortunately the driver is able to avoid Joe. He screeches to a stop.

“Hey watch where you’re going, you freaking idiot!” the man lectures. “What the hell kind of freak are you!?”



Joe’s answer is to clutch his head and collapse in pain.

“Hey now, whoa, buddy, are you all right?” the driver is suddenly concerned. “What’s wrong?”

Now we cut to a hospital bed… and Joe is in it.



“Yep, that’s why I’m calling you.” a voice says in the background. “The bruises are no big deal, but he’s sustained serious injuries before.” the voice pauses, and we can tell that the person is speaking on the telephone. Joe listens as he awakens.



“No, no there’s no doubt about it. He said something about G2…. that’s right. It’s an old wound, but there are many bullet fragments still in there.”



“It may have been different had it been anywhere else, but a brain injury like this…” the voice continues, “well, I can’t say anything more without examination, but given what I know, I’d say he’s got another… week? Ten days at most. I’m sorry, Doctor. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

Joe can’t believe what he’s hearing!



His mind spins with the knowledge that he is dying.

And now we see that the person on the other end of the phone was Nambu.



The first voice, which apparently belongs to a doctor, moves around to the bed where Joe was lying.

“He’s gone!” the doctor gasps. Sure enough, the window is open, and the bed is empty.

Joe pounds the pavement to the strains of Demon 5 music, in a scene vaguely reminiscent of the opening sequence in Saturday Night Fever. Of course, this preceded that movie by 3-4 years, so I guess it’s John Travolta who got his inspiration from this!



Joe is distraught, not knowing what to do.



He ends up at a construction site, staring out as the sun sets over the city. A piece of equipment topples and knocks some metal beams over. Joe is startled by the noise.



He remembers Katse telling him that ‘it’s now only a matter of time’, and ordering his troops to move out to ‘Karakorum Cross’.

“Karakorum… that borders the Himalayas!” Joe thinks. “There’s something there…”



And indeed there is. We can see a massive drill, and many goons working on it.

“We have to make these giant drills, but what the heck is the plan this time?” one goon with a bad Dutch accent asks his partner. “You got any ideas, Reggie?”



“Hey, I sure don’t!” Reggie answers. “I just heard rumors that the Leader designed this mecha himself, and he’s passing detailed instructions along to Lord Katse!”


And speaking of Katse, he comes by on an elevated observation platform, and the goons get back to work.

“From what I’ve seen, the project seems to be progressing rather well, Chief.” Katse says to Sarge. I don’t get it. Is this guy a Chief or a Sarge? Well, the subs seem to consistently go with Chief, so I guess I will too.



“Sire, we’re right on schedule, putting the finishing touches on it, and I believe at this rate we’ll be finished ahead of schedule, Sire.” Chief replies.

“Really?” Katse grins. “Well then, let’s take care of that Gatchaman first thing.”

Now we see Katse walking into some kind of control room. He picks up a high tech… CB mic.





Commercial break!

Solid Gold Ken doesn’t look too happy that we’re halfway through the episode and Gatchaman himself has yet to make an appearance.

When we return, we see a volcano erupting, raining lava and rocks down on the Earth. Buildings crumbles, train tracks fall apart, and there is general mass destruction.

And now we see the Science Ninja Team (including Joe) at a briefing.

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Several someones in green pants, actually.



Joe is surrounded!

“Very impressive Ninja Team Numb Nut Number 2!” Chief says. “I’m surprised you found our Headquarters! Hell, I’m surprised you survived!”

“Headquarters!” Joe thinks to himself. “I see! Their main base!”



“It’s kind of too bad, after coming all this way, and finding our headquarters, you have to die, right here in front of it. But oh well, I guess you’ll just have to give up.”



“Fine by me. That was my whole plan.” Joe bluffs, but he grabs his head as another burst of pain runs through it.



“Heh, heh, heh… a little weaker, aren’t you?” Chief mocks. “Why don’t we just take you down nice and slow?”

“Ken, it’s me! Can you hear me?” Joe calls into his bracelet.



But Chief is a pretty good shot, and his gun blasts off Joe’s bracelet.



Look! I never knew there was a size adjuster on the bracelet, like on a watch…

Joe can’t believe what’s just happened.



The bracelet falls on the ground and smashes.



And Joe suddenly de-transforms!



The goons all gasp.

“Now I see what those things are for!” Chief says. “Never would have guessed so I’ll have to treat you with a little surprise too! How about a few machine gun sprays there, boy?”

But Joe begins to laugh.



“If I’m going down, you’re coming with me!” Joe shouts.



And then he charges at the goons.

Fight scene!

Joe whips his cablegun out of his pocket.



He charges at the goons.



He pulls a handful of feather shuriken from his pocket and throws them.



He lands in the midst of the shurikened goons.



And they all collapse.



Only Chief is left.

Joe briefly clutches at his head, and Chief makes to shoot. But Joe recovers quickly.



He pulls the shuriken from his mouth and throws them.





But Chief gets off a shot. Joe is hit!



“Gotcha, boy!” Chief laughs, a shuriken sticking out of his forearm.



“Old Condor Joe’s aim’s off a little today.” Chief gloats. He pulls out the shuriken, but hasn’t noticed where the second one landed…



“Nothing stopping me from getting that promotion now…” Chief laughs, but then he keels over.



Joe thinks of his teammates and Dr. Nambu…



“Man, I’m tired…” he thinks. But a rock drops. He turns to see what made the sound.



It’s another bunch of goons with guns.



“Meanwhile, the Pamelow Observatory moveable radio telescope, touted as being the world’s largest, has for several days been receiving strange transmissions from space.” the narrator tells us. “Working around the clock, scientists pinpoint a curious phenomenon on Planet Selectol, two million light years away in the Andromeda Galaxy.”

“The planet Selectol has just disappeared!” a scientists declares, while others around him gasp.

And at Galactor Headquarters…

“The mecha is finally complete. Excellent!” X says. “Good work.”



“Those fools are playing around with our decoy, Catfishera!” Katse smirks. “I believe this might be the perfect opportunity to put our plan into effect!”



“The world is finally within my grasp!” Katse thinks to himself. “I’ll reshape it as I please!”

But X suddenly starts laughing.

“Huh? What is it, my Leader?”

“Just thinking of those miserable humans as they shiver and tremble and pale with fear.” X admits. “Go now, Katse! Initiate the Black Hole Operation!”



“Yes, Sire!” Katse bows.



As the giant drill below the Earth’s surface goes into action, its sound ominously fades into the deep. What is this final plan that Galactor has put into play? Neither Dr. Nambu, still awaiting word from the Science Ninja Team, nor the four aboard the God Phoenix, now entangled in a battle on the ocean floor with the giant Catfishera, nor even Joe, who has fallen to Galactor’s bullets, knows the meaning behind Leader X’s mysterious laugh. Meanwhile, the ominous rumblings within the Earth grow ever louder…



This episode was not used in BOTP.

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Yes... that's the one part of this thing that I never could reconcile. Why didn't Joe tell the others about Karakorum? Even thought he hadn't confirmed it before he left, he had a suspicion that it was a major Galactor base at the very least.

I agree, this is a heart-wrenchcing episode for the viewers, having watched through the entire series and now seeing this happen to Joe... especially knowing that he's going to die no matter what. (and still holding hope in our hearts that Dr. Nambu cam come up with a miracle cure... back to the centrifuge!)

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Presuming you're referencing the end of Gatchaman Fighter, it's debatable as to what happened. In contrast, what's happening to Joe in these last few episodes seems much more final and permanent... and yet, we know he 'survived'!

So there's definitely hope after the end of Gatchaman Fighter!

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You're right about that, LB! The art in these scenes is wonderful, particularly Joe falling from the mecha and transforming, and Joe fighting 'til the death' at the end.

I think you're right LB, about Joe wanting to go out in a 'blaze of glory'... but it's not like him... usually he doesn't care about the spotlight and just wants to get things done.

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quote:

Originally posted by Transmute Jun So there's definitely hope after the end of Gatchaman Fighter!

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

The goons wanted to have some fun with him. I'm sure most of the bullets missed him, and those that hit were in various parts of his body. (Unlike other anime series, they weren't into explicit blood and gore -- I had to look close to realize Masaki had been shot between the eyes.) Depending on where he'd been shot, he might have lasted a while.

But then, the Japanese do like the dramatic moments, even if they don't entirely fit into the plot. I suppose they had to stretch it out a bit to reach the end of the series.

(And when someone had the bright idea to make Gatchaman II, the lack of a body made it easy to bring him back as a cyborg.)

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

I can understand not wanting the others to watch him die, and I can understand wanting to have the last few days of his life mean something. I just don't understand why he felt this precluded him from telling the others about Karokorum when he had a chance.

Although... I guess if we take this further... maybe he didn't tell them because he would then have to explain how he obtained this knowledge... maybe he didn't tell his teammates about his capture at all? Hum.....

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I've always assumed he didn't tell anyone that he'd been captured. The briefing would have been his opportunity to do so and he didn't say anything about it

But, what I find interesting is that Joe was halfway to the door, running along with Ken and the others, when Dr. Nambu suddenly called him back and told Joe "You're in no condition" and that he wanted him to remain behind for more medical tests. Then, of course, Joe took off in the yellow race car instead. Up until the moment when Dr. Nambu forbid him to accompany the others, I wonder what Joe's plan was:

Was he planning even then to immediately take off on his own to Karakoram?

Was he going to accompany the Team in the God Phoenix to investigate the earthquakes and, once that was dealt with, then tell Ken what he'd learned about the possible significance of "Karakoram" (which would also entail explaining his capture by and escape from Galactor) and persuade them all to go to Karakoram at once? Until Dr. Nambu"s "you're in no condition!" speech in front of the others, Joe might have believed he could bluff Ken and the others into thinking he was okay (or reasonably okay), just as he'd been doing all along, even though he was dying.

Was he going to accompany the Team in the God Phoenix to investigate the earthquakes and, once that was dealt with, take off on his own to Karakoram without telling the others anything?


I can well believe that Joe, once he found out he only had 10 days left to live, wanted to spare the others the anguish of watching him die and would think that going away by himself was the right thing to do. But I also do think that he wanted to be a "Science Ninja" to the very end as well. Fear of being taken off the Team seems to be a main reason Joe went to such lengths to try to conceal or brush off his health problems to the others.

A lot of food for thought in this episode where Joe's motivations are concerned. Wanting to spare the others the pain of seeing him die, wanting his death to mean something, wanting to remain Condor Joe the Science Ninja Team to the end, wanting a last chance to avenge his parents...