Gatchaman Episode 17 - The Grand Insect Operation

Gatchaman Episode 17 - The Grand Insect Operation



X tells Katse that Galactor will one day conquer all of Planet Earth. They will do this by preying on man's innate evil. Even human children find joy in destructive behavior.

Galactor has secretly recorded footage for their own 'scientific' purposes. X shows Katse a scene of three nasty boys trashing a police car and running from the cops. Hmmm, this seems less like 'scientific research’ and more like 'reality TV' to me. I think this is how X and Katse get their kicks on Friday night.

X points out to Katse that such behavior comes with no reason or objective.

We cut to the three boys, who seem to be resting at a construction site.

"I hate sitting around! I'm bored! I want to break stuff!" says one shining example of humanity's future.

The boy throws a rock at a small beetle on the ground. He misses, but the bug catches his interest. He's suddenly excited because 'you don't see these every day'. Perhaps I just don't know much about the 'streets', but why would a kid who gets his kicks smashing police cars suddenly find a beetle to be interesting?

Regardless, the other two boys find beetles as well, and all three are excited by the insects.



"I wonder if they bounce! Let's go see!" cries one boy, as the three run off with their prizes.

Shortly after they go, a despondent-looking Jinpei appears. He's carrying a butterfly net and a stylish pink and yellow shoulder bag.



Jinpei sits down on the pipes so recently occupied by the other boys.



"You sure can't find any bugs in the city anymore!" Jinpei complains. "I've been walking around since this morning and I haven't even caught an ant!"

But suddenly Jinpei jumps up, surprised! A beetle has crawled underneath him!



Jinpei is excited by his new beetle.



But once he gets home, Jun has other ideas.



She slaps the insect out of his hands. (I'm with you, Jun!)



"No, Jinpei, that's disgusting!" she tells him.

"But can't I keep it? I spent the whole day looking for it!" Jinpei whines.

Well Jinpei, if you spent the whole day looking for a contagious virus spread by Galactor, would you want to keep it?

Jun threatens to kick Jinpei and his beetle out if he doesn't get rid of it.



"You just don't understand how valuable this beetle is!" Jinpei says plaintively.



Jun cuts off this line of conversation, telling him to go throw it outside now.



Jinpei runs outside, but decides to secretly keep the beetle anyway.

Notice the 'Jun' sign outside.



Jinpei wants to only pretend to throw the beetle away.



That night, Jinpei loves his beetle so much that he sleeps with it in a cage underneath his pillow. Jun's not going to see that. Yeah, riiiight.



But the beetle's eyes begin glowing strangely.



The same thing is happening in the homes of the other boys who picked up beetles. Seems they put theirs in cages too! It must be a fun fad to collect beetle pets in Utoland.

The beetles grow to a massive size, large enough to swallow the boys and literally bust out of their homes. Why, they're mecha! I would never have guessed!



Jinpei's beetle grows so large it knocks him off of the bed. He wakes up...



...only to discover the massive beetle standing in front of him!





The beetle's glowing eyes hypnotize Jinpei.



He falls asleep and gets pulled up into the beetle via a ramp.



The beetle then busts out of Jinpei's room and flies away.

Jun is woken up by the noise.



She wonders what the loud noise was, as she yawns.



She guesses that Jinpei must have fallen out of bed again. I guess the Swallow isn't a graceful sleeper!



So she yawns and goes back to sleep.





Meanwhile, the four beetle mecha are flying over Utoland.



Inside one of them, Jinpei is connected through a white helmet, and his eyes are glowing blue.



The beetle is monitoring his brainwaves. The four beetles smash up a refinery, and some power transmission towers. Then one flies to the harbor and destroys a shipyard. Another destroys a highway overpass. I’m not really sure why the beetles need the boys inside of them to do this, but I’ll go with it for now.

Katse is speaking with his latest mecha Captain. He tells the Captain that so far everything is going according to plan.

This guy has a strange squid face with black horns, and one unicorn horn in the middle of his forehead.



Squid-Unicorn Captain compliments Katse on his brilliant idea to use children.



But X reminds Katse that it is too early to celebrate. They have ambitious plans. It is especially important that Gatchaman remain unaware of their mission.

Katse agrees. He has done something to keep the Science Ninja Team 'at bay', even if they discover Galactor's plans.



Meanwhile, it's daytime and Jun arrives in Jinpei's room with a food tray.



She asks Jinpei how long he's going to sleep. It's already past noon! Hey, she's a pretty nice 'Onechan' letting him sleep that late! And bringing him food to boot?

But as she pulls off the covers, she discovers that he's gone!



And only then does she discover the destroyed skylight area.



Isn't it weird that Jinpei's bed is in the middle of the room?

Jun wonders what could have happened to Jinpei.



She finds his bracelet on the floor. Now she's really worried.



I actually checked the screencaps, and Jinpei doesn't have his bracelet on at all. I guess he took his bracelet off before he went to bed!

"Oh, Jinpei." Jun sighs.



Meanwhile, Jinpei's beetle is destroying another refinery. It looks just like the first one, except now it's daylight.

Ken happens to be flying by in his Cessna.

"That's the Nuclear Power Plant!" he exclaims. Oops! Guess I didn't recognize it...



Ken wonders where the giant beetles came from.



He takes a pass by one of the beetles.



Ken sees the beetles trying to get away.



He contacts Nambu on his bracelet.



Ken asks for permission to launch the God Phoenix. But Nambus says he can't. Jun has just contacted him to say that Jinpei has disappeared. Ken is shocked by this news.



Nambu tells Ken that Jinpei must have been kidnapped.



Jun can't believe it.



Ken wants to know who could have done such a thing. Of course, Nambu presumes it was Galactor.

"Them again? Bastards!" Ken shouts.

Neither Ken nor Nambu know what Galactor could want with Jinpei, but Nambu has had reports of three other missing boys. Ken immediately leaps to the conclusion that their disappearance must be connected to the beetle monsters. I'm not quite certain how he justifies this.

But Jun validates the theory by telling Nambu that Jinpei had a beetle with him the previous night.



Nambu orders the Team to go after the beetle monsters, working separately.

Cut to stock footage of Ken transforming in his Cessna. A newly transformed Ken sets out after one of the Beetles.



The G-1 moves over one of the beetles and scans it with a red light.



Ken's scan reveals a boy inside... but it's not Jinpei! The Eagle is shocked to discover this.



Ken contacts Nambut and tells him that the children are being held captive inside of the beetles.



Nambu and Ken agree that there's no way they can attack the beetles with the boys onboard.



But it turns out that Red Impulse is set to attack. Nambu contacts Red Impulse and tells him to stop his attack.

Red Impulse isn't too pleased about this.



"I can't believe we're going to let them get away like that!" Red Impulse rants.

Ken thinks that now it's time for the Science Ninja Team to save the day. Ken contacts Joe and tells him to take care of the beetle 'port side'.



The G-2 follows the Condor's assigned beetle.



The G-3 follows the Swan's assigned beetle, and the G-5 gets its own beetle to follow.



The four beetles (and G-machines) converge upon what looks like an old Roman-style coliseum.





Ryu asks if this could be Galactor's secret base.

Ken thinks that it is, and that they've camouflaged it to look like ancient ruins.

__________________

BOTP Episode 75 - The Alien Beetles


There are no signs of alien intruders anywhere in the galaxy, Zark tells us smugly. Everything is peaceful and quiet at Center Neptune.

So why, then, is Zark pacing?



Well, it's too quiet. Zark thinks this is the calm before the storm. Zark really dislikes inaction and the members of G-Force 'can't stand it'.

Somehow, despite what Zark thinks, I suspect that the members of G-Force are enjoying a break.

Zark admits that he sent Keyop out on a ‘wild goose chase’ to occupy his time. Boy, this is one nasty robot!

Zark told Keyop that a 'Mariposa Rubberosa', a rare type of butterfly, had been spotted in the heart of the city.

Of course, Keyop just rushed out to catch it for his rare specimen collection.

Zark flies across to his monitors.



Since he's sent Keyop off for no good reason, he now wants to snoop and see what the other members of G-Force are doing in the Ready Room.

Well, horse-faced-Princess is playing her guitar.



Short-pants Tiny is munching Spaceburgers.



And Jason and Mark are playing limp-wristed ping pong.



"Hey Princess, as soon as I finish these last four Spaceburgers, how about doing a little rock with me?" Tiny asks.

"A little rock?" Jason snorts. "With four more Spaceburgers, you'll be a ton of rocks!"



Zark interrupts the proceedings, but everyone just ignores him.



"Team? Tiny? Princess? Anybody?" Zark whines.

I'm enjoying this...

Since no one is answering, Zark decides to look up Keyop on his monitor.

Three boys are hanging out at a construction site. They're bored, but they find some weird bugs, and suddenly they're happy with their new pets.

Keyop comes along, complaining about Zark and how there are no butterflies. But he does find a bug underneath him as he tries to sit.

Keyop thinks it's cute, and decides to take it home.

Princess apparently doesn't see the bug, as the next shot is of Keyop with it under his pillow.

The bug grows, as do those in the other boys' homes.

Just as in Gatch, the boys (including Keyop) are abducted by the beetles.

Princess wakes up because a noise 'roared by outside'. I guess she and Keyop aren't living in the same place. Hmmm... does Keyop have any adult supervision at all? He is a child, after all!

The beetles destroy the refinery, and other parts of the city, but Zark cuts in to let us know that everyone has been evacuated to shelters.

Zoltar talks to Captain Squid-Unicorn, and tells him he's pleased with Squid-Unicorn's beetles. Squid-Unicorn replies that the boys are undergoing ‘electro-generation’, as Zoltar ordered.

The Luminous One tells Zoltar that their dying planet 'thirsts for energy', so he has given Zoltar a way to 'use those expendable humans as a power source'. The Great Spirit thinks that 'no one will miss those children of the streets'.

Princess knocks on Keyop's door.

"Come on, Lazy Bones! Wake up! I brought you breakfast from my place!" she says, pulling off Keyop's bedcovers. I guess they're really trying to show that Princess and Keyop don't live together. Weird. She’s more than old enough to be a competent ‘babysitter’, so surely he’d be just fine living with her? Who knows what goes on in the minds of 1970s US TV censors...

Princess is worried to find Keyop gone, especially when she sees the smashed window and finds his communicator.

Mark sees the ongoing destruction, and wonders what kind of bugs they are. He goes in for a closer look.

Mark calls Zark, and says that he thinks he can blow the bugs right out of the sky. In his civilian Cessna? Clearly G-Force have more powerful vehicles than the Science Ninja Team.

But Zark nixes the idea, because apparently Keyop is aboard that bug. His Multiplex Sensors told him so.

Funny, I thought he would use 'Multiplex Sensors' to find a movie theatre.

But I digress. Zark tells us that Keyop is in grave danger if that beetle is Spectran, because he doesn't have his communicator!

Princess has informed Zark that Keyop found a miniature version of that bug and kept it as a pet. Strange how she knew this when the scene of her telling Keyop to get rid of it was cut!

Mark wonders if there really is a connection between the two, and Zark confirms he knows there is.

At Zark's suggestion, Mark decides to use the 'Sub-Infra-X-Ray Beam' to look inside, Wow, that's a mouthful!

Mark transmutes with his plane, and shines his red light onto the plane.

Hmm... Jason, Princess and Tiny seem to be transmuting too, even though they're not there. The dangers of stock footage...

Mark uses his beam and looks down into the beetle to see a boy who is clearly not Keyop.

"Zark was right, as usual." Mark says.

I think Zark is scrambling Mark's cerebonics.

Mark contacts Zark and says that Keyop is in the beetle.

"I'm sorry I'm always so right." Zark apologizes. I'm feeling nauseated.

Mark says that Keyop is hooked up to some kind of machine, to which Zark replies, "You'll have to work fast, Commander!"

Mark sends out a homing signal for Jason, Princess, and Tiny to follow.

They follow the beetles to an old Roman coliseum.

"Where are we?" Tiny wants to know.

"All I know is, it's where they're holding Keyop, and that's enough for me!" Mark declares.

Back from a commercial break, we see Zark. He tells us that since Keyop disappeared, he's had a hard time keeping his Random Access Memory Tubes on business.



Zark doesn't have favorites, of course, but Keyop is the youngest...

And he doesn't mention that it's his fault Keyop found the darn bug to begin with.

Anderson contacts Zark to tell him to monitor section J-14 carefully. That's where the bugs have landed.

Poor Keyop! Zark would change places with him if he could! Yeah, riiiight.

Inside a Spectran base, the boys inside the beetles are released. Keyop mouths off, but not as much as Jinpei, due to his burbling.

Captain Squid-Unicorn shows up and tells the boys to 'do as they're told, or they'll be punished'.

Keyop refuses, even though the other boys tell him not to make it worse.

"You would not like the dark side of my nature." threatens Captain Squid-Unicorn. He must be channeling Darth Vader.

"Big surprise!" Keyop burbles, swinging his arm around... until he realizes that he doesn't have his communicator. Imagine his shock!

The boys are dropped into the clear egg cell.

Captain Squid-Unicorn reports to Zoltar that the boys are no longer of any use. Zoltar says that he will give instructions on how to 'recharge the boys' energy potential'. Of course, it won't be pleasant for them, but Zoltar assures us that they will survive.

Onboard the Phoenix, Anderson is telling Mark that it's Zoltar's 'most fiendish idea yet'. By draining the boys of every last ounce of their energy, he can power 'those destructive bugs'. He'll be able to wreak havoc on the entire galaxy!

Tiny picks up on the 'every last ounce' part. Mark wants to know if this means that Keyop is... well, he can't even say it.

Anderson assures Mark and Tiny that for the moment, Keyop is all right (How does he know this?) but there's no time to waste.

Wow, Sandy Frank is sure going to some lengths to make sure we know that Keyop is going to be okay!

Mark and Princess sneak into the coliseum, then run into a waiting elevator. Why was there an empty elevator just standing there, waiting for them? Because they cut out the scenes of the goons in it getting toasted! That's why!

When the elevator opens, Princess and Mark are surprised to see goons and the beetles. Princess leaps up onto the beetles and whispers to Mark that Keyop has been 'taken away'. I guess she's whispering because Mark didn't take out the goons.

"Yeah, we'd better split up!" Mark whispers back.

Funny, they're whispering, but they're just standing out in plain sight! These goons must be blind too!

Meanwhile, the clear egg cell is being taken to the lab. Zoltar orders the ‘Energy Transformation’ to begin.

But before anything can happen, Captain Squid-Unicorn gets hit in the head with a yo-yo!

Yep, there are no shots of the boys being electrocuted (despite all of this lead up about how it won't kill them) and no shots of Captain Squid-Unicorn attacking Keyop with a drill.

Mark's boomerang comes sailing around for no reason at all, and he catches it while standing on the overhead light. Guess he was just showing off.

"Brave, aren't you, picking on kids? You've got G-Force the deal with!" Mark announces.

Princess smashes the glass window and leaps through to rescue Keyop, who is mysteriously restrained to a large table.

Princess gives Keyop his communicator and he immediately transmutes, without being interrupted by the rampaging drill.

The other boys seem to be just standing around, and Keyop hustles them out of the room. Princess calls on Mark to follow them. Mark calls Jason and asks him to 'take a little ride'. Why, I'm not sure.

But Jason is up for a ride. He's a race car driver, after all!

He drives around outside, dodging goons, but not running over any of them. He is distracting Captain Squid-Unicorn and his men anyhow.

The boys, Mark, Princess, and Keyop run outside to the Phoenix, where Tiny has dropped down a ladder for them.

And they all climb up and get away.

Yup, clean as a whistle, despite Captain Squid-Unicorn seeing them and shouting not to let them get away. No driving over the Spectrans for Jason!

The beetles fly out to meet the Phoenix. Tiny doesn't know what they should do, because they don't have enough missiles aboard. Strangely, Mark doesn't seem to be around to ask, even though he clearly just 'got away' onto the Phoenix.

Three red jets show up and shoot the beetles. It's Colonel Cronus and his Red Rangers.

Down in the base, Zoltar is saying that he didn't anticipate Colonel Cronus being on the scene. He tells Captain Squid-Unicorn that he knows what he has to do. He has to demolish the base, and afterward he can never return to Specta. Boy, I guess Zoltar wants him to get out before demolishing the base! What a nice guy!

"Oh, unhappy day, that it should end like this!" says Captain Squid-Unicorn. I think he's a frustrated Shakespearian actor. Maybe he can now go pursue his dream, since he's going to get away, yet never return to Spectra.

Captain Squid-Unicorn presses the self-destruct button.

Jason tries to get out of there, and flies away from the sinking base. He lands on a rocky cliffside, but can't get enough traction to make it to safety.

Mark tells Tiny to use the 'Grapple'. Tiny extends the grappling arms and picks up the Spacemobile just in time.

Tiny calls Zark and tells him that they're on their way home.

"I guess they won't be bugging us anymore." Tiny laughs.

"Your puns are worse than those bugs!" Mark groans.

"I'll settle for the puns!" Jason smiles.

The boys are watching everything, and hope they can join G-Force when they grow up. One boy asks Keyop what he wants to be when he grows up.

Keyop's answer? Tall. Yep, he wants to be tall.

"That's a shame." Princess teases. "I was hoping you'd say ‘smart’!"

Everyone has a laugh at Keyop's expense.

Zark cuts in to tell us that G-Force has done a wonderful job, and that the children of Earth can play anywhere, openly, without fear. Now maybe he can relax for a second or two without fear. Heck, maybe I can watch BOTP for a second without fear that Zark will show up!

But no such luck. Zark is taking a ten second oil break.



But Susan calls and Zark gets another antennae erection.

Susan tells Zark that she's spotted another dangerous bug approaching their galaxy. It's the very dangerous 'Magna Fantastica'. Zark is horrified, until he realizes that there is no such bug.



Susan admits that she was just putting Zark on, like he did to Keyop.

1-Rover-1 laughs at Zark, and Zark finally admits that he shouldn't have tricked Keyop.



After all, he and Rover are much better suited to serving G-Force! And Rover salutes as the episode fades out.

__________________

This is one of my favorite eps, too! I love any episode that shows the team in their "down-time"...even if it is only a few moments. They make Jun so "Sleeping Beauty-esque" in this ep...it is so hard to believe that she dismisses the sound of a mecha crashing through the attic, though! She is a Science Ninja after all!!

TJ, as usual, these reviews are terrific! I just adore your captain names...so perfectly descriptive!! LOL



Fan Page #17

__________________

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

I agree, crickets are kept in cages, but not beetles or cockroaches!!!! Of course, this is where James will step in and tell me I'm wrong.

I thought it was strange too that Jun wouldn't notice the bug breaking through the roof! But I guess she's a heavy sleeper...

__________________

The only thing is if she woke up enough to think, "Jinpei must have fallen out of bed again." then she was awake enough to go and check on him ...... some loving sister she is.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Great work as usual on the recaps and the fan page ladies - I don't know what I enjoy more, the recap or the running commentary about the recap.

BotP really did lay it on thick reassuring us that the boys were *okay* they were *okay* there was danger but right now they are *okay* . . . geez. Kids aren't that dense - I will never understand the crazy ideas of tv censorship. Like the A-Team never, ever killing anyone once with all of that blowing up and gunfire that always happened.

I sort of loved Joe mowing down everyone in his car. Probably one of his best days at work.

__________________
There are few problems that a swift kick to the head by a highly trained ninja can't solve.

LOL
Welcome back Summer. I hope you have been well.
We are still the friendly group you remember and look forward to any comments you have to make. As well as any stories you care to share - when you are ready.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Yes all the recaps these girls have been doing have been fantastic. And it was really nice for Cep to set up a section where we can keep them all "stored" so we can locate them when (if) we need them while writing.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

I'm glad you've popped your head in again, Summer! And I also have to point out that I'm thrilled that you're posting again! Your latest chapter for Closure is *hot*!!!!!

I hope you stick around a bit longer this time. And if you have anything to add to the episode recaps, please do!

__________________

Still, it gave the others a chance to rescue Jinpei, and we saw a bit of where Jun and Jinpei live.

__________________