I personally think that they are all still alive somehow.Afterall,that pendant that made the mysterious light could have something to do with it.It's like how the phoenix dies only to rise again. What are all your opinions on this matter?

Nahh... Gatchaman can't die lol.. I still refuse to think of Joe as a cyborg also

Kagaku Nimpo Hinotori FTW!!!!

Their ship made the Firebird at the end, but the Gatchaspartan was not capable of the Firebird. That suggests to me that there was something else going on (related to the pendant). Clearly the Team are capable of surviving the Firebird, so they are capable of surviving that end scene.

I just have to believe that somehow, in some "mystical" way, they survived and could yet come back...

I feel they did survive but the idea of them dying to the rest of the world gave them a way to once more become anonymous in the world. The pendant is the Key to the last scene... Its like Dr Nambu had a modification done to the ship but he didn't have time to tell them about it or action it before he died. The only hole in it....how did they all get back on board when they were unconcious on the floor of the statlite in the final scene?

Mystical pendants with strange light given to you by your guardian/mentor don't just pop up for no reason. And - my heart can't fathom the possibility. I really like Ebony's theories.

I wonder if they left the ending as it is because of budget constraints or it was a designers choice sorta thing?

Tatsumoko liked to leave endings wide open. I'm wondering if they had thoughts of doing something else later and just wanted to keep it open a bit just in case.

Sorta like the debate on wether Ramza survived at the end of Final Fantasy Tactics.

I do like Ebony's theories with regards to the flaw maybe someone who know their identities helped them in some way?

Originally posted by Xephon0930 What are all your opinions on this matter?

#Amy waves hands# My turn, my turn! I don't share the opinion they got safe to Earth (I'm not saying they're dead either). Because: 1) Tj said Gatchaspartan can't form the Firebird. That means the ship wasn't designed to hold to extremely high temperatures (and in cosmic space) and we all seen the flames from the last ep. That Firebird looked stronger than any from the first Gatch. Or as Ebony suggested, the ship might have had the Firebird option, but Nambu and Kamo never told the team about it. Since the Fencer was so effective against mechas, they thought it wouldn't be necessary! (Or Tatsunoko thought fans wanted something new) 2)We haven't seen the ship landing. Even if it might have managed to entry the atmosphere, it was so wrecked from Sosai's lasers I highly doubt it made down in one pice. Or it would be so hot inside they would have burned alive! 3)Third theory is that they weren't inside the Spartan. Z's body exploded, there was no other safe place to go, and the Birdsuits don't provide unlimited amounts of oxygen. Now with the dicontinuity scene. Maybe the pendant had teleportation power. Yup, if Z could do it, why couldn't Nambu too? Maybe the pendant teleported them to the mountain base before Z blew up and what we all saw in the final scene was a dramatic swan song of the Gatchaspartan? (no pun intended) Maybe their husks are still floating through the space. Or maybe they're having a mug of hot chocolate at the newly redecorated Snack J. We can only wonder. After all, Tatsunoko did leave the final open.

I personally don't think they are dead because they still live on in the hearts of us fans.

Originally posted by Xephon0930 I personally don't think they are dead because they still live on in the hearts of us fans.

That might be my favorite thought on this topic yet.

Originally posted by Xephon0930 I personally don't think they are dead because they still live on in the hearts of us fans.

Yup, a good idea! And then Ego is alive too! Yessss!

Wait a sec, Ken had terminal canker, riiight? So even if they would have managed to return safely on Earth, the ISO doctors still had no cure for him. And didn't that physician from ep 37 said he'll die if he uses the Fencer one more time? (And he still used it several times since)

Hi all!

Wait a sec, Ken had terminal canker, riiight?

No, Ken was not dying from cancer. He was dying from cellular disruption caused by using the Hyper Shoot.

And didn't that physician from ep 37 said he'll die if he uses the Fencer one more time? (And he still used it several times since)

Using the Gatchaman Fencer wasn't going to kill Ken, it was using the Hyper Shoot that would have killed him. They bought Ken some additional time with the Neo Bio Reactor that was introduced in episode #37. Had he continued to use the Hyper Shoot without the treatments he began receiving, he would have disintegrated. Unfortunately, Nambu had realized that the Neo Bio Reactor was no longer effective in helping Ken early in episode #41, and by episode #46, it was determined that Ken would die if he used the Hyper Shoot one more time. Though Ken tried to use the Hyper Shoot a couple of times in episode #'s 46~48, the rest of the Science Ninja Team refused to assist Ken in what would essentially have been committing suicide. James

cellular disruption!?! Is that real or made up?

Originally posted by Xephon0930 cellular disruption!?! Is that real or made up?

Hmmm, isn't that kind of what they do in Star Trek when they teleport? Disrupt the cells, tear them apart and then put them back together again when they get to where they are going.

Hi all!

cellular disruption!?! Is that real or made up?

It's as real as the Hyper Shoot that caused it.

Hmmm, isn't that kind of what they do in Star Trek when they teleport? Disrupt the cells, tear them apart and then put them back together again when they get to where they are going.

I think that's supposed to be more of a matter-to-energy/energy-to-matter conversion, not a tearing apart of said matter. It's fairly similar to what they use for their food synthesizers, when you think about it. James

Originally posted by Xephon0930 I personally don't think they are dead because they still live on in the hearts of us fans.

Thats a romantic thought...

Originally posted by clouddancer

Originally posted by Xephon0930 cellular disruption!?! Is that real or made up?

Hmmm, isn't that kind of what they do in Star Trek when they teleport? Disrupt the cells, tear them apart and then put them back together again when they get to where they are going.

You know I always wondered what would happen if it malfunctioned...they showed it in the last Star Trek movie..ewweeee

Reaaaaly? And what happened with the passengers? Were they mixer into each others or was the a lot of mess to clean?

Originally posted by Ebonyswanne

Originally posted by clouddancer

Originally posted by Xephon0930 cellular disruption!?! Is that real or made up?

Hmmm, isn't that kind of what they do in Star Trek when they teleport? Disrupt the cells, tear them apart and then put them back together again when they get to where they are going.

You know I always wondered what would happen if it malfunctioned...they showed it in the last Star Trek movie..ewweeee

i think they showed possibilities though out the series as well. My thought has always been, at least for Mark and his teleportation/transportation in my AU, is that because they are splitting matter into energy that if not reconnected "whole" they "disappear" (remain as energy). Their particles just disperse through out the area they were being sent to. *I hope that makes sense, I have not tried to explain THAT particular thought before*

Dead or not, we must also remember, and using Star Trek as a point of reference, death is not always a permanent state in Science Fiction, Fantasy, or even Anime. Not having actually seen any G II or G Fighter episodes, I can't give an educated answer on this other than the vague ending is a common device used to leave the viewer/reader guessing (or perhaps because the author does not want to directly kill off characters).

The ending shows Mark dying with the rest of the team either dead or unconscious around him. This triggers Nambu's amulet. The amulet initiates a process where first the vehicles reactivate and merge, then Mark revives and then I believe the entire team merges with the vehicles. Together they become a living phoenix, constantly guarding Earth from perils from outer space. This phoenix, unlike previous scenes where the phoenix is shown, is alive, it's wings move, and it appears to move under its own direction, which is why I think it is alive.

I just watched the ending again, something I hadn't done it a while... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLzo_wJ_5ms I'm still inclined to think it's deliberately ambiguous, such that you can sort of believe whatever you want. You can believe they're dead. Or you can believe they still exist but only as some sort of mystical "Phoenix spirit-energy." I like your idea of them becoming a

living phoenix, constantly guarding Earth from perils from outer space.

Or you can believe they're alive in that Phoenix and could come back to Earth, walking and breathing. (Hey, it's sci-fi, and stranger things have happened... )