lborgia88
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Gatchaman Episode 24: "The Neon Giant that Smiles in the Dark"
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[Thank you, Shamrokchick, for the first half of the screencaps, and Saturn, for the second half!]
Gatchaman episode 24: The Neon Giant that Smiles in the Dark
BOTP episode “The Musical Mummyâ€
The episode opens with a gleaming tall building in the middle of a large city, at night.
In any other show, it would be filled with lawyers and investment bankers; but here, its occupants are ISO scientists, “hard at work so that the people of the world can sleep soundly.†It’s not clear what they’re doing or how it’s supposed to promote global serenity, but they are scientists (with lab coats!) and not, say, history majors, so I guess it could be important…
One somewhat less dedicated scientist, however, is leaving. He says goodnight to the doorman/security guard and steps into a car. Soon, the car is moving down a city street, and the scientist is sitting in the back seat, reading.
He asks his driver to turn on the radio. Yes, this scientist has a driver –clearly, working hard to help the people of the world sleep soundly comes with some perks. The driver tries to do so, but is puzzled to find that the radio can’t find any station. The scientist concludes that it must be broken, but suddenly he asks “What’s that strange sound?†as weird flute music begins playing.
The driver replies that he doesn’t know what it is or where it’s coming from, but then goes “Aughh!†as bright light suddenly flood the car.
The car screeches to a halt before a giant glowing foot –and we quickly see that the foot belongs to a bizarre giant robot-mecha.
For no apparent reason, the giant smashes the side of a building, and stamps one foot. But then, using laser beams from its eyes, it incinerates the car containing the scientist and the driver.
Next, we are somewhere else –a street with houses.
A different man, who doesn’t merit a driver, is pulling into his driveway. Leaving the headlights on and engine running, he gets out of his car to go and open his garage door, as apparently scientists are too busy helping the people of the world sleep soundly to invent garage door openers you can activate from inside your car. Now, the eerie flute music is playing again, as light floods the man’s yard and the glowing giant steps over tall trees and smashes the house with one foot. As the man cries out in fear and runs into his garage, the giant shoots its laser beams at the garage and it explodes into flames.
Now, we cut to the God Phoenix flying in daylight through a blue sky. On the bridge, everyone is present but for some reason Joe is in the chair usually occupied by Ken (not that this show is too consistent about who sits where) and Ken is standing directly behind Ryu, looking over him. Doesn’t anyone want to sit beside Jun today?
Ken, sounding pleased, announces that they’ve just been summoned to the ISO Headquarters in Amerisama. Jinpei is so exited at this news that he leaps to his feet, and declares they’ll show them “just how cool the Science Ninja Team really is!â€
He then preens, certain that they’ll impress everyone with their “dashing birdstyles.†Ken shoots Jinpei down by informing him that they’ll be visiting Amerisama in civilian mode. As Jinpei expresses dismay, Ken reminds him that ninjas are supposed to be stealthy. “Man, it’s tough being a ninja,†sighs Jinpei.
Now we see a city of many tall and tightly packed skyscrapers –I’m guessing it’s meant to look rather like New York. The God Phoenix just cruises on in, flying low over the buildings (Um, how is that ‘stealing close to your prey, by staying in the shadows,†Ken?)
Now, Joe informs Ken that they’re almost there, and now Ken remembers the whole stealth thing and instructs Joe to look for a bay they can hide the God Phoenix in.
Next, the whole team is in their civvies and riding either in a cab or in a car with a driver (and as we’ve seen, the ISO does employ drivers). Jun and Jinpei are in the front seat, and Jinpei’s all excited to see a large amusement park.
Jun’s not so excited, but as the car goes by the amusement park’s entrance, we see giant feet…
But these feet belong to a giant statue of a Native American (or Amerisaman?) Indian, though as we see the entire statue, the music sounds dramatically to make sure we all get the hint.
Jinpei is quite awed at the statue’s size, though Joe, in the back seat with Ryu and Ken, looks less impressed.
Ken comments that it must be a new amusement park, as he doesn’t remember seeing it “the last time we were out this way.†Jinpei is all keen to pay it a visit, but gets shushed by Jun, who reminds him “We’re not here to play.†Poor kid, everyone’s ruining his fun today. “I know –you won’t let me forget,†groans Jinpei as the three guys in the back seat all laugh.
Hey look, Joe is laughing! This is a great pic of the three of them all looking happy together.
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25-06-2009 17:44
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lborgia88
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“Look, there’s headquarters,†says Ken, and sure enough, they are now approaching the same tall ISO building shown at the episode’s beginning. They all step out of the car and head inside, but Jinpei immediately encounters yet another person out to thwart him today. The security guard declares “No children allowed!â€
Jinpei protests, to no avail, but now Dr. Nambu is in the lobby, flanked by a few other men in suits, and he does the “It’s okay, he’s with me†thing. Clearly Dr. Nambu is a VIP around here, as the security guard apologizes and even salutes! And Jinpei, the little brat, smugly says “Hmph, he showed you!†to the guard. Dr. Nambu shushes him with a “That’s enough,†but Jinpei still struts past the guard, smirking.
Okay, kid, I was feeling a bit sorry for you, but you just lost my sympathy.
The security guard just stands there, stunned, as Ken, Joe, Jun and Ryu all file past him –no strutting but a slight hint of smugness here.
They all end up sitting on a couch in a spacious office.
Dr. Nambu actually tells them that he wants them to “have some great food and take in the sights†during their visit, and Jinpei is enthused, but then the Doctor immediately continues “But unfortunately, we don’t have time for that.†Thwarted again, Jinpei…
Now, in a somewhat disturbingly blase manner, Dr. Nambu says, “As you know, our scientists have been killed one after another lately.†He hands Ken a bunch of papers, answers Jinpei’s question –Yes, they were all killed near the ISO headquarters- and declares there can only be one suspect.
“Galactor!†says Ken.
Now Dr. Nambu shows some human emotion, sweeping one arm out theatrically to declaim “The evil hand of Galactor has even reached Amerisama!†before banging his fist on his desk and continuing “Your mission is to find these Galactor murderers!â€
You know, you’d think that on a city street, or in a neighborhood of houses, that some witness would have seen and reported a glowing giant tall enough to step over trees!
Ken stands and confidently declares “We’ll do it!†Dr. Nambu adds the gruesome detail that the scientists were all burned to death by an electric current, and goes on that “These scientists are working for world peace –please do your best to protect them!†With that, the rest of the team all jump to their feet smartly and shout “Sir!â€
As the narrator informs us that the Team has split up to guard each scientist “with their very lives,†we see Ken driving a red convertible along a city street, escorting a scientist’s car.
The scientist’s car goes through a security gate, but Ken stops his car before reaching the gate, and jumps over the wall. Inside a building, the scientist that Ken is protecting is showing some blueprints to another man, whose orange and white jumpsuit probably indicates he’s some kind of scientific worker.
Both men are quite startled when three masked and caped men swoop down from outside and smash through the room’s large window.
“Who are you?†demands the ISO worker guy, clutching the blueprints protectively.
“We are Galactor’s Ninjas, the Blackbirds! Now hand over those plans!†is the answer he receives. All three Blackbirds leap at the ISO worker, and snatch the plans, knocking down the other scientist even as he tries to pull out his handgun to shoot them, and all the Blackbirds take off. But now Ken comes into the room just in time to see the scientist fire his gun once as the Blackbirds smash through the windows yet again on their way out of the building. Ken runs after them, but first pauses to transmute into his “dashing†birdstyle. Not to be outdone, Ken too smashes through the window, and gives chase. Now they’re outside, and Ken’s looking for the Blackbirds in what appears to be a factory complex of some kind. Suddenly a Blackbird driving the fastest forklift I’ve ever seen tries to run Ken down, but he leaps and flips out of its way, managing to come down over the forklift, kick the Blackbird driver in the head and send him and the forklift crashing into a steel girder. Three more Blackbirds swoop in to attack Ken, but he evades them by turning back handsprings. He finds himself backed up to a stack of barrels, squared off against about half a dozen Blackbirds.
A bit oddly, they introduce themselves as Galactor’s Blackbirds and demand that he identify himself. If they were expecting “Hi, I’m Ken Washio from Utoland,†they’re disappointed as Ken declares he’s “a hardworking agent of justice, I’m the Science Ninja Team’s Gatchaman!â€
It seems they’ve heard of him, even if they couldn’t recognize him. Their method of attack is… unusual. All the Blackbirds run a circle around Ken, extremely quickly –I guess this forms a barrier- while another of their number (who must have somehow known exactly where Ken would end up standing and previously hidden himself in the ground just at that location) reaches up through the ground beneath Ken’s feet and tries to grab his legs. However, Ken pushes over a couple barrels onto his arms, and then demonstrates how silly the run-around-fast-in-a-circle-barrier is by leaping high up into the air.
So, the Blackbirds stop running in a circle and leap after him. Ken is able to knock them away, and then avoid a pile of steel beams they try to drop on him, by leaping and grabbing onto a large hook on a rope. The hook is now being raised in the air, and waiting at the top are more Blackbirds. They, however, don’t wait for Ken to reach the top but rather they all leap down at him, grabbing on to Ken as they all fall towards the ground. In fact, they’re not falling towards the ground, but rather towards a very large spinning fan. Ken is clearly not too keen to go through those fanblades! Even though he’s upside down, falling, and has Blackbirds hanging onto him, Ken is able to throw his birdrang and sever a rope such that one end of it drops towards him, shake off the Blackbirds, and grab the rope’s end, even as the Blackbirds continue to fall. With those Blackbirds eliminated, Ken proceeds to chase after the one that’s still left. That Blackbird makes it to a purple sports car and zooms down the street beside the factory complex as Ken jumps in his red convertible to make chase.
Ken manages to avoid a collision with a large truck, but the Blackbird releases a cloud of thick, dark smoke from his car, blinding Ken. When the smoke clears, the Blackbird is long gone. Ken jumps out of his car and starts running, but stops when he realizes that he’s approaching the entrance to the very amusement park that Jinpei had noticed earlier, and the large Native American Indian statue is still there.
Now, it’s night and we’re inside the amusement park.
It’s crowded with lots of children, and a bunch of them are gathered in front of a stage where clowns are dancing and a sort of “Evil Pied Piper of Hamelin†is playing a flute.
Jinpei is in the audience, enjoying the show, and a large lollypop, when a hand pinches his ear. It’s a very stern looking Ken, demanding to know if Jinpei’s “skipping out on his job.†Jinpei laughs nervously, asking Ken “What are you doing here?†Ken explains that he was attacked by Galactor Ninjas, and that he chased one to the amusement park but then lost him. Jinpei is certain that the amusement park is just an amusement park, with nothing but kids having fun, but he’s glad to have Ken’s company and tries to get him interested in the flute player and the dancing clowns. Jinpei’s attempt to seduce Ken away from duty with the lure of the amusement park fails utterly. Ken wants the both of them to get back to work. As Jinpei reluctantly follows Ken, we see the flute player up close, and a spark of light reflects off his eye.
This post has been edited 3 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 26-06-2009 at 01:03.
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25-06-2009 17:53
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lborgia88
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Now, Jun is driving her motorcycle along a mountain road, trailing a car that presumably contains a scientist. It’s still night, but now Jinpei is back to work –he’s riding as a passenger on the back of her bike.
Now here, in the dub, Jinpei says “I feel really bad, should I apologize to Big Bro?†(Presumably he’s feeling guilty for goofing off at the amusement park) and Jun replies “Don’t worry about that; just make sure you hold on.â€
Jinpei does have both arms wrapped around Jun’s waist. It’s interesting that in the subbed version, they say this:
“I kind of feel like I should apologize to big brother, since I’m the one going with you, Sis.â€
“Stop saying such silly things and hang on.â€
Hee! So Jinpei feels guilty for preventing Ken from having the chance to be her passenger and wrap his arms around Jun?
Now Jun and Jinpei hear the eerie flute music that heralds the arrival of the neon giant. In fact, as they round a bend in the road, it’s standing right there. The scientist’s driver is alarmed and hits the brakes, stopping right in front of the giant’s foot. Also stopped, a little further back, both Jun and Jinpei note that the giant is similar (at least in size) to the statue of the Native American Indian at the amusement park. The giant raises its foot, clearly about to stomp on the car, but the driver –no fool- backs the car up rapidly and escapes the stomp. Jun and Jinpei zoom up to the giant, and Jinpei yells to the car “Get out of here you guys, we’ll handle this! Hurry!â€
I would think that the scientist and driver don’t know that Jun and Jinpei are Science Ninjas (because they’re in their civvies, and that would rather blow their covers) but they seem quite happy to leave the situation to a teenage girl and a kid, and they drive away fast. The giant now turns its attention to the motorcycle, but Jun notices its eyes flashing and gets her motorcycle moving again in time to avoid the laser beam blast from the giant’s eyes (well, it’s supposed to be electricity, but it looks like laser beams). The giant fires at them again, but misses.
Now Jun takes her motorcycle through a guardrail running along the side of the mountain road, and is heading down a steep slope, but the giant’s laser beams hit her bike this time. She and Jinpei fall off and go tumbling and her motorcycle is engulfed in flames (Yup, I think you’re going to have to request a new G-machine from Dr. Nambu, Jun) while she and Jinpei lie unconscious.
Commercial break!
Jun and Jinpei are still out cold, but it’s daylight now. I guess the giant either assumed they were dead, couldn’t find them (unlikely) or couldn’t be bothered finishing them off, as they weren’t scientists.
Jun is sleeping with her head on Jinpei’s stomach, but she wakes up first and sits up (so Jinpei won’t have to also feel guilty for denying Ken the chance to be her pillow…) She shakes Jinpei awake, and then contacts Ken on her bracelet to tell him to meet her at the amusement park immediately.
Back at the amusement park, the Native American Indian statue is in its usual place, but the Team are all gathered together at its feet.
Ken and Ryu are skeptical that it could actually be the same neon giant that Jun and Jinpei claim to have seen, and suggest they were hallucinating, but Joe believes them. Ken, however, is already suspicious of the amusement park, as it’s where he lost track of that Blackbird, so he decides they should all investigate the place thoroughly. Except, he decides that this can only be accomplished effectively at night.
So, now it’s night. The Team is inside the amusement park.
Jinpei spots the stage where the “Evil Pied Piper†is doing his flute show, and eagerly heads that way, ignoring Jun’s call for him to come back.
Ken is surprised that Jinpei is so interested in flute music, and then Jun remembers that she had heard flute music the previous night, just before the giant appeared. Joe and Ken think there could be something to this, and Ken instructs everyone to change to birdstyle, and says that he himself will investigate the flute player.
Jun locates and hustles Jinpei away, as Ken stands and watches the flute show end, and a curtain fall over the stage.
Next, it must be after closing time now, as the park is dark and empty –except, that is, for the flute player, who’s walking along, and for Ken, who’s in birdstyle now and trailing him.
It turns out that there’s a massive castle in the middle of this amusement park –and the music sounds dramatically when it’s shown- and that’s where the Evil Pied Piper is headed.
Meanwhile, Jun and Jinpei are also in birdstyle, and together. Jinpei, who really can’t seem to keep his mind on his job in this episode, goes over to a ride that consists of an octopus that has little passenger cars on the ends of its tentacles, and he hops into one of the cars. As Jun chastises him for “goofing off,†the ride suddenly turns on, and the tentacle holding Jinpei’s car rises up in the air. Jinpei is able to get out of the car, and jumps to the Octopus’s large head as the tentacle hurls the car at Jun.
Fortunately, she leaps out of the way in time, so now all the tentacles start waving and attempt to smash her. Jinpei, meanwhile, looks on in alarm, from the top of the Octopus’s head. He finds an entrance into the head, and spots two blackbirds, who are clearly the ones controlling the tentacles. So, he whips his bolas at one of them and then jumps down, kicking the other Blackbird and landing on top of him. Jinpei pauses to congratulate himself on his Ninja skills.
Jinpei then heads back outside, where Jun thanks him and points out that they seem to have found a Galactor base. Jinpei wonders how Ken is faring…
So, now we see Ken, and he’s snuck inside the castle. Suddenly, a door descends behind him, blocking his way out, and lights come on as a weird voice laughs and says “I’ve been expecting you, Gatchaman!†It’s the Evil Pied Piper, sitting on a throne and flanked by Blackbirds. I guess you weren’t so sneaky, Ken!
This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 26-06-2009 at 01:15.
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25-06-2009 17:59
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lborgia88
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The Pied Piper does concede that Ken was smart enough to have found Galactor’s base, but when he rips off his disguise and reveals that he is, in fact, Berg Katse, Ken looks genuinely surprised.
Now, Ken just stands there and watches as Katse starts playing “a swan song for those about to be killed by the neon giant†on his flute, and as he does so, a screen on the back of the throne activates, showing the Native American Indian statue. As Katse continues to play, the statue transforms into the neon giant, and starts walking.
Ken accuses Katse of using the neon giant to kill all those scientists.
Katse confirms this, and then falls prey to a classic “Evil Overlord†mistake; he assumes that he has Ken in his power now, and proceeds to explain his evil plan –the giant is going to kill Dr. Nambu at the ISO headquarters this very night. Ken is outraged, but he’s just standing there watching Katse play more flute music, and the Blackbirds are leaving him alone. So then he contacts Joe and Ryu on his bracelet and tells them all about the planned attack on Dr. Nambu.
Joe and Ryu, who are together in some other area of the amusement park, then hightail it to ISO headquarters.
The head Blackbird, perhaps trying to downplay the mistake they just made in letting Ken just stand there and contact his teammates, tells Ken that he’s wasting his time because they’ll never succeed in preventing the giant from killing Dr. Nambu, and then he and the rest of the Blackbirds (finally!) attack Ken.
So, we get a second big fight scene in this episode, as Ken and the Blackbirds go at it again. Ken avoids most of them, and takes out a couple of them with karate chops to the head, thinking to himself, “Dr. Nambu, please be safe…â€
Dr. Nambu is sitting at a desk at the ISO headquarters, reading something and working hard to help the people of the world sleep soundly. Suddenly, his office floods with bright light and as he turns around he is startled to see the neon giant’s face outside his office window.
Meanwhile, Joe and Ryu are in the red convertible car (Joe is driving) and speeding on their way to the ISO headquarters.
Seeing the giant up ahead, Joe concludes there’s not a moment to waste and says they're going to ram the giant with the car.
The giant has now smashed Dr. Nambu’s window, and Dr. Nambu is seemingly paralyzed in terror because he doesn’t try to run out of his office.
Just as the neon giant begins powering up its eyes to blast Dr. Nambu, the red convertible smashes into its foot, as Joe and Ryu leap clear at the last second. This distracts the giant, and Dr. Nambu is momentarily spared.
Now, Joe produces a rifle (or his own gun is able to suddenly become very large) and for some odd reason, he needs Ryu to hold him up in the air in order to fire it at the giant. The giant’s over a hundred feet tall –what advantage does Joe gain by being about four feet higher in the air than he would be otherwise? Well, it gives Ryu something to do, and the rather intimate position of his hand on Joe’s thigh might inspire yaoi fans…
Well, the gun is no use at all against the giant, and it fires an eye beam at Joe and Ryu, but they’re able to leap out of the way in time to avoid it. At least they’re keeping it from killing Dr. Nambu. As the giant raises a foot to try to stomp Joe and Ryu, we cut back to Ken.
He’s still fighting the Blackbirds in the castle. He punches out several more of them, and then hurls his birdrang at some others who are firing machine guns at him. They go down, but just as Ken is catching his birdrang, one Blackbird manages to kick Ken and knock him down.
No worries, though! Just as that Blackbird, and another one, move in to attack Ken again, a yoyo and a set of bolas fly through the air and dispatch those two Blackbirds.
A very relieved Ken (who has some beads of sweat on his face) turns and sees Jun and Jinpei standing on the sill of a large window.
With that, Ken now hurls his birdrang at Katse, who’s been playing his flute this whole time. The flute is knocked out of Katse’s hands and it rolls towards Ken. As Katse moves to retrieve his flute, the screen on the back of the throne that was showing the giant’s activities goes dark. Ken immediately realizes the connection between the flute playing and the giant, and he lunges at Katse. They grapple some, and somehow Ken is only able to just hang on to Katse, as Katse does nothing but try futilely to shake Ken off. However, Ken calls out to Jinpei to pick up the flute and play it. Jinpei’s reaction is to say that he doesn’t know how to play a flute.
Ken says “It doesn’t matter, just do it!†as Katse struggles to get out of Ken’s grip and Jun stands there and does nothing to help Ken deal with Katse. Ken, still just holding on to Katse’s arms, tells Jinpei that it doesn’t matter what he plays, as anything will make the giant move. Jun also realizes that this flute is what was making the eerie flute music that she and Jinpei had heard when the giant attacked them.
Katse is most perturbed at the idea of Jinpei playing his flute, and makes a desperate effort to get out of Ken’s grip, making Ken that much more convinced that the flute is critical here.
[This creates a screencap where Ken’s hand is in a very interesting position! Proof enough of what exactly, Ken?]
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 26-06-2009 at 01:20.
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25-06-2009 18:08
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lborgia88
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Ken ends up swinging out his leg to knee Katse in the stomach (which doesn’t seem to hurt Katse much) and knocks the throne with his foot. This causes the seat of the throne to flip up and reveal a control panel.
Ken pauses, still hanging on to Katse, and realizes that this is the mechanism that’s transmitting the flute music to the giant. He orders Jinpei to hurry up and play, and finally, Jinpei does.
Jun continues to stand and do nothing to help Ken, even though I’m sure she could hit Katse in the head with her yoyo, or destroy the throne mechanism, if she wanted to. Come on, writers, give Jun something to do here, or make a plausible case for why she’s doing nothing! (Though, she did at least get to save Ken’s ass earlier, along with Jinpei, so that’s something.)
Jinpei’s flute playing is horrible, and the giant begins to thrash as if it’s in pain.
Joe and Ryu aren’t sure what’s happening, but are aware that this is good for them and bad for the giant. In the castle, Katse is just standing still as Ken continues to just hang on to him and otherwise do nothing to dispatch their worst enemy and (so far as they know) Galactor’s leader. Jun continues to just stand there and watch Jinpei play.
The giant continues to thrash, and finally it sort of electrically overloads. Back at the castle, the throne explodes, and now Katse is able to shake off Ken’s grip, and Ken goes flying backwards and lands smack on top of Jinpei –poor Jinpei! It really is tough being a Ninja.
The giant now explodes too.
Dr. Nambu is crouched behind his desk, and Joe and Ryu are lying on the ground and covering themselves with their wings, so they’re all okay.
Back at the castle, Katse is standing beside the flaming remains of the throne. Pausing to declare that Galactor will never stop its efforts and will someday control the world, he turns and runs away. Ken is ready to chase after him, but the entire castle begins to shake and tremor, and Jun persuades Ken that it’s more important to get out of the castle –now! We see them running outside as the central tower of the castle shoots into air and the stonework falls away to reveal that it’s an escape rocket for Katse.
Ken, Jun and Jinpei realize that Katse’s getting away, but there’s not much they can do about it now. And then the entire castle explodes into flames and rains rubble and debris, so it was good that they left when they did. Ken quickly contacts Joe, and is happy to hear that Dr. Nambu is fine.
In the final scene, they’re all on board the God Phoenix and flying home to Utoland. Jinpei has kept Katse’s flute as a souvenir, and he wants to know what’s in the package that Jun’s holding. Jun explains that it’s make-up, and preens as she goes on to say “I am a young woman, after all. Better start wearing some.†In classic little brother mode, Jinpei claims that it won’t help her appearance any, so she bonks him on the head (though just in fun).
He retaliates by playing his new flute some more (horribly) and Jun winces and tries to cover her ears.
Ken, Joe and Ryu are once again amused by Jun and Jinpei’s bickering.
Hey look, Joe is laughing! Twice in one episode, no less.
The God Phoenix flies on…
The End.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 26-06-2009 at 01:23.
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25-06-2009 18:14
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gatchamarie
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Thanks LB, Shamrokchick and Saturn for a very good job! I read this episode fresh from the oven, I think while you were sending it LB and I enjoyed it a lot!
The following is what I wish to point out:
First, I agree with you that it is a bit funny how no one noticed a glowing giant in the streets in the first place. Second, is it weird how the pied piper had a cone shaped hat which couldn't certainly disguise Katse's two pointed mask? Third, it was a good choice that Joe drove the car in aid of Nambu! Fourth, I find it lame how in many episodes, this one included, when they have the possibility of tackling and defeating the head of the Galactors and have him at hand they always give him the chance to escape in a very easy way. In my opinion, there's space for some more drama.
All in all, I liked the hints of tease when Jinpei was supposedly taking Ken's place near Jun and I also enjoyed seeing Joe and the others laugh serenely. And, please Jinpei, be careful from the pandemic flu playing Katse's flute .. yak! 
__________________
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25-06-2009 18:49
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lborgia88
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| quote: | Originally posted by Ebonyswanne
And Joe laughing!!! See he can lighten up a bit from being grouchy revenge seeking...driven single minded mad Condor. |
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Yes, he is in a good mood throughout this episode, and even works well with Ryu (who he's often less than kind to) when they go off to protect Dr. Nambu. I like this episode a lot, despite its plot holes, for its balance of humor and drama, for the fact that everyone on the team gets to contribute equally, and just for the change from the more typical "battle an obvious mecha that's trashing an entire city, using the God Phoenix" storyline.
The Blackbirds were also an interesting addition. I agree with TJ, that they were shown to be more effective than the typical goon, and allowed for more interesting fight scenes as they could also leap in the air, soar, and fight with methods other than just shooting at the team with guns -and they did even manage to knock Ken down. But, I think that she's right -they would have seemed more elite and mysterious, and less goon-like if there had been fewer of them.
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26-06-2009 01:35
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UnpublishedWriter
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Musical Mummy
Battle of the Planets, Episode Eighteen
Gatchaman Episode #24, The Neon Giant That Smiles in the Dark
DVD and Veoh episode #21
Review/Summary: Establishing shot, and Zark VO: “This is Center Neptune, the watchful eye of the universe, where even the slightest disturbance in the most remote part of our galaxy is monitored.†[By a hypochondriac, fussy, AI.]
Zark is having a 10-second oil break. “At the moment, everything is calm in outer space, so I can take a 10-second break. But it probably won’t last long.â€
Susan calls. [Brace yourselves.] Zark’s antennae sproing upright [for the first time]. He’s been wanting to talk to her. He asks if she gets an oil break. After she affirms, he suggests they meet each other during one. She likes the idea. He asks her location. She says she’s on top of a very high skyscraper someplace. Where is he? He says deep down in the ocean. Guess their break isn’t time enough for a meeting. [Skyscrapers on Pluto? Well, to be honest, she hasn’t said she’s on Pluto, yet.] She says they’ll work something out.
Meanwhile, there’s an alert from the Galactic Early Warning System. [Okay, that’s it. Time to sic the IT and AI techs on her, and investigate Quanto Tobor. Flirting during an alert? That’s not allowed in any military on the planet Earth.]
Zark politely thanks her and asks her to put it on his monitor.
Sandy Frank space footage. According to Zark, an alien object has entered the Solar System and is passing Saturn. Now it’s heading for Earth. [Stop talking, Zark, and start alerting. NOW.]
It’s heading for the general area of the Intergalactic Research Laboratory. Which is Gatchaman night footage of an 8-sided skyscraper that we will see in later episodes. He must warn Security at once. [How about, oh, say, five minutes ago, Zark?]
Brief shot of the building interior, with people working at old-fashioned computers, then a man leaving the building and bidding the guard good night. He gets into his car.
This fellow rates a chauffeur. He’s in the back seat, reading. He asks the driver to turn on the news. All they hear is strange music. The driver is mystified (and in the dialogue, we learn his passenger is Dr. Rainey). Rainey says the music sounds familiar, and is coming from ‘that direction’ (not the radio). Driver says that, in this neighborhood, it could be almost anything.
A huge, glowing foot and lower leg appear, and he brakes suddenly. We see a glowing white mecha-head, then the driver and Rainey as light flickers.
Cut to a house in the suburbs. A car drives up, an older man gets out to raise the garage door, and the music starts. Light bleaches the night, and it looks as if the giant foot is about to step on the man. Except they edited to avoid upsetting anyone.
Phoenix in daylight. Mark says that Anderson sounded unhappy. This must be a real emergency. Keyop strikes a pose and says (with noises), “Not to worry: Keyop’s here.†Jason says that’s what worries him, and Mark reminds him that the last time he tried to take over, it was a real mess. [I don’t remember that episode.] Thus deflated, Keyop sits down.
They arrive in the city. Jason says Defense Center has cleared them to land.
Wherever they landed, G-Force needs a cab. They’re in civvies, and Keyop’s looking out at the city. For a team called in for an emergency, they don’t look very worried. Keyop’s excited. He spots the Ferris Wheel and giant statue of an amusement park and wants to go.
The cab passes the statue, which is of a stereotypical Native American chief, and there is a significant pan up its height.
For some reason, although Mark is shown, we hear Ronnie Schell asking what has Anderson so uptight this time. [I know I noticed when the episode first aired.]
The team reaches the 8-sided building and meet with Anderson. He tells them that three of their top scientists have disappeared in the past few hours. [Gatch animation does not support the seriousness of this: Keyop’s acting like a boy on his first trip to the big city.] Keyop asks if they went fishing. Anderson says it’s not a joking matter, deflating the boy’s excitement. G-Force’s assignment is to make certain that nothing happens to the remaining scientists.
The team splits up. Mark (in his civilian garb) is guarding Dr. Walter Lambert, inventor of the electro-dynamic force field. G1 is driving a sporty red convertible. Zark says that his sensors indicate that the mysterious object from outer space has something to do with all this. [Gee, ya think?]
Lambert drives through an electric gate. Mark parks outside the wall, and climbs over. [Why? Why not accompany him inside? Or does Lambert not know he’s under guard?]
Inside the facility, a man hands Lambert plans. New secret installations. Center Neptune wants force fields set up around them.
Three dark-clad, winged beings break through a window. Someone’s attempt to copy G-Force? Lambert calls for the guards, and the intruders attack.
Strange editing. Mark runs to help, and suddenly the intruders are jumping through another window. What happened?
Mark stops and transmutes.
He follows the trio to a nearby construction site. One tries to nail him with a forklift, which he dodges. Five or six corner him near 55-gallon drums. The leader says Mark would have been wiser not to follow them, to which Mark replies they would have been wiser not to leave Spectra.
An exciting (and edited) fight follows. Although there are a number of intruders, we only see one jump into a purple car and drive away. Mark hops into his little red sports convertible to follow.
This Spectran is good. He takes a sharp corner, and Mark barely avoids hitting a large truck that fills the intersection. Then he punches the smoke screen on his car, blinding Mark long enough to get away.
Mark makes a guess at where the man went, and ends up at the entrance to the amusement park.
Now, the park at night. The camera focuses on a minstrel-like flutist accompanied by some odd-looking clowns. Keyop’s watching, licking a lollipop. Mark grabs him by the ear and demands to know what he’s doing. He’s supposed to be working. Keyop says, “Crazy music.†Mark tells him to find Princess and get back to work. Keyop wants a few more minutes, but Mark isn’t having any of that. [Remember the flutist, folks.]
Apparently later, Princess (with Keyop riding pillion) follows a red car along a mountain road. They hear strange music. The car follows the road, to meet an all-too-familiar giant leg.
The driver stops the car. As Princess and Keyop race to help, the giant lifts its foot to stomp, but the driver backs up and it misses.
Princess and Keyop are in civvies, and still try to stop the thing. They don’t have any luck stopping it, but they do distract it from the scientist. It chases them, and drives them off the road (and through the cheapest, most flimsy guardrail ever seen). Fortunately, they aren’t hurt (although the accident does something to the space-time continuum: it’s suddenly daylight). Princess reports to Mark that they’ve just found a giant mummy. [It doesn’t look that much like a mummy. More like an oversized Las Vegas performer.]
Commercial break.
Zark again. Now they know what came from space. They just don’t know for certain whose behind it, but it has all the hallmarks of one of Zoltar’s machines.
He floats over to his console. He’ll turn his ‘electronic comparator’ on it and try to find its hiding place. So far, it looks like the amusement park is where it’s concealed, but Zark can’t believe it. [An amusement park is perfect: costumed performers provide cover for oddly-dressed Spectrans, vehicles arrive at all hours to deliver supplies and materiel, nobody will pay undue attention to odd-looking machinery and other devices, and the crowds make it impossible for Federation Security to rush in, guns blazing.]
The park at early evening. Mark is certain that the giant is not the statue at the entrance. [Why not? It’s the right size, and they’ve seen a few instances of disguised mecha before this.] Tiny wonders if Princess and Keyop imagined the whole thing. [Spectra uses giant mecha. Come on, folks, this is taking stupid to new levels.]
Mark apparently reconsiders. Two giants in as many days is a bit of a coincidence. (Yes, he asks where a 100-foot giant could hide, and the team responds, “Anywhere it wants to.†Groan.) They’re going to check out the park.
Significant close-up of the statue.
Later at night. The team’s searching the park. Keyop runs over to the flutist. Princess tries to call him back, but Mark says to let him go. They know where he is if they need him. She says the music bothers her, and that Keyop can’t seem to stay away. Mark and Jason agree. [Not a lot of consistency here.] Mark agrees that the musician is spooky. They should split up and look around. He’ll take the flute player.
__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features
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08-02-2010 04:28
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UnpublishedWriter
Gatchamaniac
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Princess takes Keyop off.
The flutist finishes playing, to audience applause. The curtain falls.
Much later, Mark (in Birdstyle) is hiding as the flutist walks past. He follows the performer to a fake castle on a hill.
Meanwhile, Keyop and Princess are at a ride in the shape of an octopus. You know this won’t go well. Keyop, still acting like a child, hops into one of the cars. The ‘ride’ activates, lifting the arm holding the car. Keyop jumps out as it throws the car, which Princess dodges. He lands on the control dome, and sees dark-clad Spectrans at the controls. The same men who attacked Lambert earlier. As they use the mecha to attack Princess, Keyop takes out his bolos. They wrap around the throat of one, and bad editing makes it seem that this is all it takes to stop Spectra. When he emerges, Princess tells him Mark could be in danger.
At the ‘castle’, Mark has followed the flutist to a sort of throne room. A door slides down behind him, cutting him off. The lights turn on, and the throne turns around, with the flutist seated in it. Several of the black-winged agents flank it.
Zoltar’s voice says, “We have a music lover: the Commander of G-Force.†The flutist stands. He’s been expecting him, ever since the scientists began disappearing.
And we have the first flamboyant reveal as Zoltar tears off the flutist costume. Allow him to introduce a large friend G-Force has been searching for. He starts playing.
A viewscreen on the throne’s back shows the Native American statue. The guise disappears, revealing the glowing giant.
Why doesn’t Mark attack? He just stands there as the giant starts walking.
The giant is about to finish its mission. Once Earth’s best scientists are gone, Spectra shall rule. Anderson is its latest target. [So, Chief Anderson is a scientist. Why? Zark does everything.]
And Mark – still does not attack. He calls Jason and Tiny, and tells them that Anderson is next.
The leader of the black-clad Spectrans has let Mark talk to Zoltar. Now he and his men attack. There’s a fight, but I think it was edited because nobody seems to get hurt, yet Mark escapes them.
At the 8-sided building (which must be more than a set of laboratories), Anderson is working late. Light streams through the windows, and he turns to see the giant.
Jason and Tiny (driving either Mark’s car from earlier, or one just like it) arrive on the scene. They state the obvious: that they’ve found the giant, and must distract it.
Above, the giant smashes through the window to reach Anderson.
Tiny crashes into its foot, getting its attention. [And why does it change targets? They can’t really damage the darn thing. Not with just a car and their weapons.]
Back to Mark facing off against Spectrans. Then a yo-yo and bolos enter the scene, and take out the last two attackers.
Now Mark throws his sonic boomerang and knocks the flute from Zoltar’s hands. He tells Zoltar he’s through.
Keyop asks what happens now. Suddenly, Zoltar’s in Mark’s grasp as the commander tells Keyop to play the flute. They struggle as Keyop gets stage fright.
At Mark’s urging, Princess scolds Keyop that he’s never had trouble using his mouth before. Zoltar offers anything, if Keyop doesn’t play. Mark says Zoltar has nothing left to give.
Suddenly, there’s a control panel in the throne. Mark tells Keyop to start playing. Zoltar promises to make him rich. Princess demands the flute.
That’s what it takes. Keyop starts to play. He’s no flutist, and his playing wreaks havoc with the giant’s programming.
Tiny and Jason, unaware of Keyop’s playing, think they had something to do with the giant’s problems.
The controls overload and explode, sending Mark hurtling into Keyop, and so does the giant. [To the delight of construction contractors and dismay of insurance companies.]
At the ‘castle,’ Zoltar still manages to gloat. G-Force thinks they’ve won. He’ll be back, and next time they’ll play a different tune. Then he ducks out.
Mark starts to chase after Zoltar, but the ‘castle’ begins shaking.
They flee, as the central tower launches. It’s a disguised rocket, and it sheds its disguise as it flies.
The ‘castle’ explodes. Mark calls Jason and Tiny, who confirm that Anderson is safe.
Phoenix in flight. Inside, everyone’s at their positions, and Princess has some packages wrapped with bows. Keyop asks if she’s going to open her presents. She says she’s going to wait until they get home. Just because he’d like to know who they’re from. Keyop says he’ll find out, and starts playing ‘Yankee Doodle.’ Badly. To Princess’s dismay and the others’ amusement.
Zark. As required. They defeated Zoltar and sent him packing. It takes all of their combined skill to deal with his threat.
Crappy headshot Mark calls, requesting landing clearance. Zark grants it. Mark tells him the scientists he helped save have a present for him. It gurgles when he shakes it. It might be a big can of imported oil.
“It’s moments like these,†Zark says, “that make me realize how lucky I am to be a member of – G-Force.†[Bleargh.]
Fic Alert: Who did give Princess those gifts? How did Spectra take over that amusement park and land a mecha without anybody noticing? What happened to the missing scientists? There was no comforting Zark to tell us they were rescued.
Science question: How would music be used to control a weapon? Some sort of coding in the notes?
Bizarreness alert: That giant is easily turned from its target. But if it’s remote-controlled, it should only respond to unusual events if the operator does so.
__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features
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08-02-2010 04:33
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