|
|
|
lborgia88
Gatchamaniac
I am a Condor.
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 27-06-2007
Posts: 5991
|
|
|
Gatchaman Episode 20: "A Critical Moment for the Science Ninja Team"
|
|
(Thank you, Saturn, for the screencaps! I am not surprised, really, that this crazy episode refused to play for you without the subtitles!)
A Critical Moment for the Science Ninja Team
It’s a peaceful night in the city, and below ground, the subway trains are running smoothly…
Of course this isn’t going to last long. Now, a subway conductor spots something on the tracks, further ahead in the tunnel.
“Aughh!†he cries, and pulls the brakes’ lever. But the train isn’t stopping fast enough, and what he saw on the tracks turns out to be a giant, clawed, mechanical paw that grabs the entire train, crushing it and hurling it off its tracks, right into the path of a train coming from the opposite direction. A massive explosion erupts in the tunnel as the two trains smash together, and wreckage goes flying.
Now, using its two paws, and rocket-style engines, this subway-tossing mecha quickly digs its way to the surface, in the midst of the city. People look on, crying out in terror, as the pavement of a city street begins to bulge and buckle and two giant, clawed mechanical paws emerge from the ground and each proceed to crush a multi-story building. Quickly, the entire mecha pulls itself out of the ground.
Yup, it’s a mole. Despite the fact that its clawed paws suggest “badger†to me, it has got a mole’s long pointy nose and whiskers. The mole mecha begins to turn its head, looking around, and we cut to its interior and to the “Captain of the Week.â€
Yup, he’s a mole too! No other Captain yet has had a uniform that harmonizes so well with their mecha’s theme. Clearly, this is a Captain with fashion sense, and perhaps he was even inspired by Katse’s ant costume in episode 10. In fact, he’s contacting Berg Katse at this very moment. Now we learn that destroying the city is not this mecha’s main plan; the plan is to lure out the Science Ninja Team. But, until they show up, Katse wants the mole mecha to cause as much destruction as it can. In ADV’s dub, the voice actor is using a very gravelly voice, and an accent I can’t really place. Oh, and he keeps saying “Science Team Ninja†instead of “Science Ninja Team†too.
No problem for Captain Mole –immediately the mole mecha begins smashing up city buildings, electrical towers, and even a Concorde jet that unwisely flies low overhead. Next, the mole mecha reveals that it can also shoot laser beams from its eyes, and proceeds to incinerate cars, creating explosions left and right.
We see a quick series of stills of the rampaging mole mecha, and as the “camera†pulls back we realize that they are images that Dr. Nambu is seeing on a screen. Quickly, he contacts Ken, who is flying his plane in civilian mode, and he passes on the bad news
He’s sure it’s Galactor, and he instructs Ken to “Assemble the Team and launch the God Phoenix!†Ken transmutes and flies on in his G-1 jet as we cut back to the mole mecha, which appears to be wreaking utter devastation throughout the city. However, the God Phoenix swoops by in the sky. For once, Ken is not the last one on board. Joe is driving his G-2 car along a mostly destroyed street, and he contacts Ken on the bridge to say he’s sorry he’s late (I wonder what he was doing that made him late) and that he’s ready to link up.
The God Phoenix is descending behind Joe, and lowering the clamps from its nose to pick up his car, but just then Joe sees a puppy nuzzling its dead mother…
He stops his car, and looks again. The puppy is whimpering, and pawing its unresponsive mother. It’s a sight that brings a glistening tear to Joe’s eye.
The mole mecha is still firing its laser beams all about, and Joe’s driving his car again and is just about to be picked up by the God Phoenix, when he suddenly spins around and zooms back in the direction he came from. Ken immediately demands “Joe, are you out of your mind? What are you doing?†but Joe declares he’s going to “Go and save that dog, don’t worry about me!†Jun tries to no avail to tell Joe to come back, and that it’s too dangerous, but Ken is now surprisingly supportive of Joe’s plan.
So, as the mole mecha keeps walking around blasting targets on the ground with its laser beams, Joe is speeding back to the puppy.
As the mole mecha draws nearer, we see the puppy barking at it defensively. Now, for reasons unexplained, Joe stops his car a long distance from the puppy, leaves its relative safety, and begins to run (so fast that his gun’s holster turns white).
And run.
And run, while the puppy continues to bark.
Unfortunately, Captain Mole spots Joe, and recognizes him. “Keeel him!†he yells.
So now the mole mecha keeps trying to blast Joe with laser beams, as he finally reaches the puppy, picks it up, and begins the long run back to his car.
Now, a missile flies past the mole mecha’s face, distracting it from its attack on Joe, as the God Phoenix swoops behind its head. (Did everyone get that? Neither Joe, nor Joe’s car is on board the God Phoenix, but sure looks like it just fired a missile regardless.)
Captain Mole orders his crew to “Swat down the God Phoenix!†The God Phoenix comes around again, and flies around the mole mecha’s head, managing to evade the laser beams and its paws. So, now the doors of a missile bay in the mole mecha’s neck open up, and it fires a missile at the God Phoenix. Fortunately for the God Phoenix, the missile misses, although any occupants of the building that the missile hits instead are less fortunate.
Meanwhile, Joe is still running with the puppy, and the mole mecha turns its attention back to him, firing more laser beams. The laser beams miss Joe, so the mecha starts firing missiles at him instead.
Somehow, Joe knows a missile is coming at him, and he hurls himself forward onto the ground as the missile strikes right behind him, spraying him with shrapnel.
A piece strikes his helmet, causing Joe to cry “Aughh, my head,†thrash and roll in pain while clutching his head, and then go still as the whimpering puppy approaches him.
On board the God Phoenix, Ryu sees that Joe’s down. Ken immediately orders the God Phoenix to turn around and go to Joe. Soon, they all see him.
Joe’s still not moving, and now he’s got a puppy standing on his back, licking his cape. Touching, to be sure, but not exactly medically-approved first aid. Still, it’s only a puppy.
On the bridge of the God Phoenix, Ken orders Ryu to land, but before he can, the mole mecha bursts from the ground beneath them, and scores a hit on the God Phoenix with its laser beams. The God Phoenix survives that, and manages to avoid most of the ensuing laser beams that the mole mecha fires at them –most, but not all. At this rate, there’s no way they’re going to be able to land and rescue Joe.
“Feel the power of the mole tank,†gloats Captain Mole, “Even the Science Team Ninja cannot stop us! Swat down the God Phoenix!â€
Yes, things aren’t looking so good for the SNT (or STN) right now, but a goon draws the Captain’s attention to something.
“The mole tank cannot operate in the sunlight,†growls an angry Captain Mole, shaking his fist in frustration. “They are lucky, for now…â€
With that, the mole mecha burrows back underground and is gone. Yes, we will see dozens and dozens of mechas in this series that can operate just fine in the sun, but just by incredible luck, this one cannot. I guess we know now why it’s a mole and not, say, a squirrel.
Now, as all is utterly silent, the “camera†pans from Joe’s empty car, to the God Phoenix now landed on the ground and then to Ken, Jun, Ryu, and Jinpei. Somehow, the rubble-strewn street where Joe went down has become a grassy field, and they are performing the “Science Ninja Team technique –Emergency Medical Response!†It consists solely of standing there staring and doing nothing.
Now, the sad version of “dare da, dare da, dare da†plays, accompanied by the barking of the puppy, as everyone continues to stare and do nothing. Ken’s eyes are fighting back tears, and Jinpei is decidedly less than optimistic.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 11-06-2009 at 15:47.
|
|
11-06-2009 15:07
|
|
lborgia88
Gatchamaniac
I am a Condor.
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 27-06-2007
Posts: 5991
|
|
Come on people! I’m no expert but I’m pretty certain that someone here should at least be checking to see if he’s got a pulse! Maybe that’s what the puppy is trying to do, with its tongue.
Jinpei, the animal lover who rescued a baby whale just two episodes ago, suddenly decides that the puppy is to blame for all this, and that he should whack it with a stick. Ryu concurs, but fortunately for the puppy, Ken is staying in character.
As the puppy continues to lick Joe’s back, everyone continues to stand around, stare and do nothing while Ken explains that “Galactor killed Joe’s parents, just like they did this puppy’s. This puppy must have reminded Joe of his past.â€
Jun now throws herself on Joe’s legs, sobbing “Please wake up!â€
Touching, to be sure, but not exactly medically-approved first aid, but hey, Joe actually stirs! And it dawns on Ken that perhaps they could be doing something other than staring at Joe as he lies on the ground with shrapnel in his head.
So, they all pick Joe up –no stretcher, no neck board, nothing- and prepare to carry him away.
Ken tells the once-again-unconscious Joe to “hang in there,†as Jinpei remembers that he is, in fact, an animal lover and asks Ken about the puppy.
Ken wants to “leave the puppy,†but Joe then revives just enough to quietly gasp “Save him, please.†Ken suddenly relents and steps away from Joe (I’m sure Ryu can carry Joe’s upper half without any help), saying “Poor little fellow, today he’s become an orphan too,†and fights back tears again as he and the puppy gaze into each other’s eyes while sad music plays again. Meanwhile, everyone else is presumably just standing there awkwardly holding their teammate with head trauma, waiting.
Now we (finally!) cut to a hospital, where Joe is in a proper hospital bed, but otherwise doesn’t appear to have received much medical attention.
Ken and the others are there, still in birdstyle, and imploring Dr. Nambu to find a way to save Joe. Dr. Nambu draws their attention to a rather primitive looking x-ray, and explains the problem.
“It is impossible to remove it with any kind of operation,†he concludes gravely. Ken doesn’t want to believe that nothing can be done, but Dr. Nambu does go on that the only thing that they could try would be to “try using the centrifuge from the Space Research Facility to dislodge the fragment from his brain.â€
Is there anyone who can believe that that might actually be a viable idea? I actually know a few neurosurgeons. Someday I’m going to describe this episode to one of them, and ask them what they think.
To his credit, Dr. Nambu does point out that being in a centrifuge can be dangerous, ie. “Joe’s body could be torn to pieces,†but they all realize that the alternative –doing nothing- is certain death for Joe.
Ken rationalizes the risk to Joe by saying that “If Joe dies, we won’t ever be able to use the full strength of the God Phoenix again.†I’d like to think that’s not Ken’s biggest reason for wanting to save Joe, his friend! Ken is ready to “take a gamble on the centrifuge,†and Dr. Nambu agrees to try it.
Commercial break!
So now, we’re at the Space Research Facility, where we see the centrifuge, and the narrator explains that it’s used to train astronauts to withstand the gravitational forces they encounter when leaving the Earth’s atmosphere. Two men, who apparently know about using stretchers to move injured people, bring Joe in and put him in the centrifuge.
It looks pretty grim. They’ve got him strapped down with something that looks like it belongs in an old-fashioned insane asylum, blindfolded, and only a little bandage on his head wound. Is that going to keep blood and cerebrospinal fluid from coming out when they started centrifuging him? At least for Joe’s sake, he appears to be unconscious.
Dr. Nambu and a facility tech start the centrifuge spinning, as Ken and the others watch nervously from the side of the room.
Dr. Nambu tells the tech to increase the speed sixfold, and then tenfold –the tech objects to the “tenfold,†but a sweating Dr. Nambu tells him to do it anyway, so he does. Ken and Jun watch, even more anxiously.
Finally, Dr. Nambu slows and then stops the centrifuge. Everyone rushes close to him, asking “Well, Doctor?†There is a long, tense silence, before Dr. Nambu turns to them and sadly conveys bad news.
The Team is silent and gloomy.
But immediately a man comes rushing in and tells Dr. Nambu that the mole mecha is at it again. Dr. Nambu tells the Team to “move out!†but no one wants to go and leave a dying Joe behind –particularly Jinpei.
Jun and Ryu agree with Jinpei, but after a moment of inner struggle, Ken moves for the door to leave. The others can’t believe it, but Ken says “If we missed an opportunity to save someone, Joe would never, ever forgive us.†Dr. Nambu reminds them that they are the Science Ninja Team, and that they “Must protect the innocent.†As all this sinks in, Ken begins to run out of the room and the others follow him –though some are not at all happy to be doing so.
Dr. Nambu thinks to himself that he’ll “Save Joe, no matter what it takes.†Apparently, wandering off while leaving Joe alone, still lying unconscious in the centrifuge, is part of what it takes. We see Joe move slightly, but then we cut abruptly to the mole mecha.
The mole mecha is being attacked by a fleet of UN fighter jets, but of course they are all completely useless and are quickly destroyed.
Heck, the mole mecha (who is ransacking an oil refinery –no Galactor mecha can resist an oil refinery) picks up one of those huge circular fuel storage tanks and hurls it at a fleet of incoming jets –massive explosion!
But now it’s the God Phoenix’s turn. As it approaches, Captain Mole sees them on screen and laughs “This time you die!â€
On the bridge of the God Phoenix, everyone is tense and gloomy. Ryu is convinced they don’t stand a chance. Ken angrily insists that they will prevail, but Jinpei points out that “Without Joe’s G-2, we can’t become the firebird,†(then why didn’t you guys bring his car along then?) and he adds “Without him we can’t even fire any bird missiles, Bro!â€
Yes, I can see where the writers are trying to go with this, and that they need this as a plot point, but I swear the God Phoenix fired a missile at the mole mecha earlier, when Joe’s car was on the ground. And, in episode 8, the God Phoenix fired a bird missile at the giant sea anemone mecha even though Jinpei’s vehicle wasn’t on board. And we’ve seen Ken, and even that girl Naomi, fire bird missiles –it doesn’t have to be Joe’s finger on the button. There is definitely a lack of consistency where this whole “bird missile†thing is concerned!
Ken is frustrated, but we now cut to Joe, who is still in the centrifuge, alone and unmonitored. He’s clearly in bad shape, and in a lot of pain, but he manages to unstrap himself and get out of the centrifuge and stagger down some corridors. Just as he gets outside, with his car in sight, he collapses on the ground. But he is clearly certain that the others are out in the God Phoenix, and he is determined to join them! So, he drags himself along the ground to his car, while sweating and gasping.
Meanwhile, the God Phoenix is squaring off against the mole mecha, and isn’t faring so well –they get hit with the laser beams again, and then with several missiles. Ken demands “full speed ahead,†but Ryu replies “no dice!†so it seems they’re sustaining damage, but he does manage to pull them up before they crash into the ground. Just then, Jun sees something.
It’s Joe’s car! How can this be?
Well, Dr. Nambu appears on screen to explain.
Ken realizes that it must indeed be Joe driving the G-2, and orders Ryu to pick him up. We now cut to Joe, who is barely managing to drive (and, as when he was crawling, has developed unusually prominent front teeth).
|
|
|
11-06-2009 15:20
|
|
lborgia88
Gatchamaniac
I am a Condor.
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 27-06-2007
Posts: 5991
|
|
The God Phoenix picks up the G-2, but now the mole mecha, who has graciously left them alone during all this, comes after them again. As they are hit yet again with laser beams, the door to the bridge opens and Joe, still in his civvies, staggers in and almost instantly collapses into Ken and Jun’s arms.
Jun is scared that he’s about to die, but Joe gasps “Don’t worry about me. Destroy the mole tank with the firebird.†Ken tells Joe that there’s no way his body can handle the force of the firebird now, but Joe doesn’t care.
“I don’t want my death to be wasted,†he says.
Now, tears well up in both Ken’s and Jun’s eyes, and even drip onto Joe.
Joe is now wracked with pain, clutching his head and crying “aughh!â€
Ken uses his favourite line for times like this. I must assume that he desperately means that Joe just can’t die now (despite what Dr. Nambu said), because I don’t think Ken is about to commit suicide.
Ryu tells Ken now that the mole mecha has disappeared, so Ken tells him to fly the God Phoenix at a lower altitude. Sure enough, it reappears –emerging from the ground suddenly to grab the God Phoenix with one paw. “It’s going to crush us,†says Ryu, numb with horror.
The mole mecha appears to be shaking it, more than “crushing†it, but nevertheless, this is bad for the Team. Captain Mole is certain that he has the victory.
Ryu declares that their only chance now is to fire bird missiles, but Jinpei says they can’t fire them when they’re this close. Meanwhile, no one notices that Joe (who I guess both Ken and Jun left lying unattended on the floor) is beginning to crawl.
Ken is afraid that Joe won’t be able to withstand the explosive force if they fire a bird missile at such close range. It’s good that he’s thinking of Joe, though he sure isn’t watching Joe. Joe has made it all the way to the bird missile button, and no one notices him until he’s just about to fire a missile –and he fires it!
I think the missile that Joe fires goes right into the missile bay that’s on the mole mecha’s neck, but I’m not sure. At any rate, the resulting explosion causes the mole mecha to let go of the God Phoenix, thrash for a moment, and then completely explode into flames, obliterated.
However, the God Phoenix is caught in the force of the explosion, and begins to spin extremely fast.
Ken is able to restabilize the God Phoenix, but then anxiously rushes towards Joe. Jun is already at Joe’s side.
As Ken runs, he stumbles over something on the floor and picks it up. Realizing what it is, he cries “This is the fragment! Joe, it’s come out!â€
Somehow, there is no blood or bits of brain or bone on the fragment at all, or it’s just not being shown (and Ken is not at all squeamish about such things –though I would be!)
As Jinpei rejoices, “It must have come out in the shock wave!†Ken rushes to Joe’s side.
“Joe, we did it, we were able to defeat the mole tank thanks to you.â€
And after all this, what does Joe say?
He says “What about the puppy, Ken?â€
I could see why Joe, after what he’s suffered on its behalf, wants to be damned sure that the puppy is alive and well! However, I don’t think anyone else on the Team has given a thought to the puppy at all.
With impeccable timing, Dr. Nambu appears on screen –with the puppy (get a good look, because this puppy will never be seen again).
“The puppy is fine. Now that the fragment is out, I can tend to the rest of Joe’s wounds. The Science Ninja Team can only show its true power when all five of you are together. Don’t forget that!†(Hmm, what and where are “the rest of Joe’s wounds.†Don’t you leave any fragments in his brain, Dr. Nambu!)
With that, everyone is relieved, and the God Phoenix flies off into what I would ordinarily call a sunset, but in this case, it’s a sunrise.
Thus ends the infamous puppy episode, notorious for inconsistent and/or contrived plot elements, wacky medical care and over-the-top angst. But, it does serve to show just how strongly Joe is determined to fight Galactor to the death if necessary, and that he will not stay in a hospital (or Space Research Facility) if could be out battling the enemy instead, even with neurological problems…
The End.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by lborgia88 on 11-06-2009 at 15:33.
|
|
|
11-06-2009 15:30
|
|
lborgia88
Gatchamaniac
I am a Condor.
0 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 27-06-2007
Posts: 5991
|
|
As silly as much of it is, I would always include this episode in any condensed list of must-see eps. I think there's a lot here about what makes Joe tick, and it builds on ep 18, the whale episode, to show that for all his eagerness to shoot/blow things up, his tendency to disregard authority or his often brusque manner, there is also so much compassion, and an utter loyalty to his Team. Sure, he is driven by a desire for revenge, but that's not all of what he's about. I think that Joe could so easily be written as a one-dimensional "bad boy" caricature, and I love the fact that Tatsunoko instead gave him layers and complexity -indeed to all their Gatch characters.
|
|
|
12-06-2009 03:12
|
|
|
Members browsing this thread: none
|
|
|
|
|
|
no evil.
Yeah, what she said!
