Gatchaman Episode 55 – The Daring Mini-Submarine

Gatchaman Episode 55 – The Daring Mini-Submarine



Fish swim peacefully in the water, amongst streams of bubbles and cheerful flute music. Not to mention the many modern structures on the bottom of the ocean. The narrator tells us that the ISO has been very successful at protecting the natural resources of all of the Earth’s oceans. Hmmm… even the ones ravaged by the natural disasters of the V2 Plan?

And I am right to be doubtful. For now we see pollution on the water’s surface, and dead fish rising to the top.



Somehow, this beautiful scene has instantly been turned into one of death! Now we are faced with visions of dead coral and fish skeletons covered in filth on the bottom of the sea. Dead fish wash ashore, and the birds that eat them die as well.

Amazingly: kept for BOTP:



And cut from BOTP:



Interestingly, the flesh seems to be literally dissolving on these birds and fish.

The ocean waters are now brown, and it is clear that everything is dying. And after this scene of gruesomeness, we cut to…. triumphant brass instruments heralding the Fish Parade at the Crescent Base!

Upon hearing the news of the pollution, the ISO immediately begins searching for a cause, and a possible solution.



Dr. Nambu is chosen to lead the investigation. To signify his leadership, he holds up a beaker on a stand. It is his scientific flag.



Okay, I don’t know why he’s holding up the beaker and stand, but it sure looks weird!

“This is liquid cellulose PCB.” Nambu briefs the Science Ninja Team. “However, it contains a new pollutant.”

“You mean, a man-made toxin, Doctor?” Ken asks.



“Yes. It was intentionally created to ruin the oceans.” Nambu replies.

“Galactor must be behind this!” Jun declares. Boy, she’s learned something these past 54 episodes, hasn’t she?



But apparently Jun has brought up something Nambu hasn’t considered, because he says ‘Hmmm….’ thoughtfully and strokes his chin.

Everyone stares at the pollutant.



“Is there any effective way that this new pollutant could be cleaned up, Doctor?” Jun asks.

“It’d take years to decontaminate.” Nambu answers. “I know that Galactor will stop at nothing to conquer the Earth, but this attempt is more horrible than I’d ever expected!”

Even as Nambu says this, a familiar laugh comes from a communications screen on the wall. Jun is so surprised that her nose disappears!



It’s Katse, disguised as Santa Claus!



“Dr. Nambu, Gatchaman…” Katse-Claus greets them. “Is this thing on? Let me see if I can make our intentions clear to you!”

Ken tightens his fist in a very Condor-esque manner.



“As scientists, you must realize that 70.8% of the Earth’s surface is water!” Katse says, as everyone stares in disbelief. I guess they didn’t know this scientific fact.



“So far, we’ve only released radioactive cellulose into about, ooh… 0.01%.” Katse goes on. “Just watch, Bird People! If you don’t meet our demands within the next 24 hours, we’ll begin polluting another large body of water, only this time, we’re going to make it 0.1%!”

“I’ll never let you get away with that, you monster!” Ken shouts.



Now I’m confused. Can Katse actually hear him? And if so, does that mean that Katse can see Ken and his civilian identity has been revealed? Oh, the humanity!

But perhaps Katse can’t hear, because he goes on speaking as if Ken never said anything.

“Listen up! Here’s the deal. Doc Nambu, Gatchaman, and the Ninja Kids will all surrender to Galactor!”

I was wondering if this means that Katse has figured out that the Science Ninja Team are ‘kids’, but according to the subs, he just wants the ‘Ninja Team’. I’m guessing this is just Edwin Neal having some fun with the dialogue. He’s certainly doing a good job in this scene! I’m !

Clearly the Team isn’t too thrilled with the idea of surrendering.



“I’d like to snap off his ears!” Ryu mutters, but his lips don’t move. Turns out in the subs he doesn’t say anything at all. I guess ADV wanted Ryu to have some input into this discussion.

“Ooh, why the long faces?” Katse asks, making me wonder if he can see them again. Or is he just a good guesser?

“Just think, you’ll be giving your lives to save everyone on Earth, and we’re giving you all the chance!” Katse tells them. “You know, you really should all be grateful!”

“Damn you, Katse, you coward!” Joe snarls.



“Now don’t forget, you only have 24 hours.” Katse says. “Give us a ring on Frequency 007AR21 any old time and I promise I’ll pick up. Adieu, Science Ninja Team! Call me!”



And I am still at the voice acting here! I am actually expecting Katse to put out his pinky and thumb and do the ‘call me’ hand motion!

Ken’s clenching his other fist now.

Everyone is standing in stunned silence.



“I’m afraid we have no choice if our lives will save the Earth.” Nambu says, a bead of sweat falling down his face.

“No, Dr. Nambu, we just can’t!” Jun exclaims. “If we surrender to Galactor, then they’ll finally be able to conquer the Earth!”



Jun makes a good point here. If they surrender, they’ll save oceans from being contaminated (presuming Galactor doesn’t go back on its dubious word) but the world will be lost anyway under Galactor’s rule.

“You know, she’s right!” Ken agrees with me. “You’ve got to give us the orders to move out, Doctor! Please, Sir!”



Everyone waits anxiously for Nambu’s decision.







“This is going to be very difficult, Ken.” Nambu says.

“Maybe so, but I won’t let Katse get away with this!” Ken vows. “Now let’s go launch the God Phoenix!”



“Big ten, Ken!” says everyone else in unison



And yes, that’s an ADV tribute to BOTP. The subtitle says ‘Roger!’.

Insert stock footage of the God Phoenix leaving the Crescent Base, to the sound of victorious trumpets.

So where are they going in the God Phoenix? Well, they’re now surveying the oceans. Which one? Well, let’s pick any old ocean. The Earth is only 70.8% covered in water, you know.



“Jun, go ahead and tune in to Frequency 007AR21, and make the call to Berg Katse.” Ken orders. Whenever anyone says ‘007’ in this episode, I’m thinking of James Bond. But this isn’t the James Bond episode. That’s coming up later…



“Ken, do you mean…?” Joe is horrified.



“The Science Ninja Team is going to surrender to Galactor.” Ken says calmly. Now that’s a great soundbite!

“Ken!” shouts Jun in distress, but Gatchaman remains firm in his decision.



“I get it!” Joe smiles, snapping his fingers. “You plan on surrendering, and then taking Katse by surprise, right?”



“I get the picture!” Ryu grins. “So then we’re only going to pretend to surrender to Katse!”



Ken neither confirms nor denies their suspicions, but simply tells Jun to ‘hurry up and make that call’.

“You got it, Ken!” she says, waving at him.



So the Science Ninja Team calls, and Katse-Claus appears on a communications monitor. Jinpei is appropriately horrified.



Ken holds up a CB mic and speaks into it. Gotta love this high tech stuff!



“This is Gatchaman to Berg Katse. Gatchaman to Berg Katse. The Science Ninja Team has chosen to surrender immediately as you’ve ordered.”

“Bravo, Gatchaman!” Katse is practically purring. More kudos to Edwin Neal here.

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The door opens, and cleaning fluid sprays out into the control room.



Everyone coughs and chokes, as Ken emerges in the doorway!



“It’s Gatchaman!” shouts a goon, raising his gun.



So Ken kicks him.



He punches another goon.



He chops a third, and slices one with his boomerang. Ken has taken over the control room!

Meanwhile, somewhere else on the tanker Katse is acting smug.



“Those idiots!” he smirks. “If they’re not going to surrender, then we’ll just attack them!” He’s looking at the God Phoenix on his monitor. Of course, if he’s observing the God Phoenix, shouldn’t he have seen the mini-sub lowered into the water? Ah well, maybe he was taking a bathroom break at the time.

“Battlestations!” Katse shouts. “Execute the God Phoenix with our Disintegration Plan now!”

Suddenly the ‘exciting encounter’ music is playing, and the tankers move into a new formation. It’s so thrilling that Ken has joined everyone back on the God Phoenix!



Yep, they inserted the stock footage from earlier in the episode, even though Ken’s not there now. Oops…

“Hey! Why are those three tankers lining up?” Jinpei asks. “What do you think they could be up to?”



No one answers.



Notice how Jun and Joe are at the front of the God Phoenix.

The three tankers join up to transform into a mecha.





I have to say, this is one super cool transformation! I especially like the devil head logo smokestack. Nice touch.

“Man, what is that?” Jinpei asks, apparently unconcerned about the big gun the mecha is aiming at them.

“Why don’t we get a little closer and check it out?” Ryu suggests casually. He’s not too surprised, probably because he was suspicious of the tankers all along.



“That’s it… come on down…” Katse laughs eagerly. “A little closer. Come on, come on!”



“Just a little more…” Katse urges.



Apparently, this weapon (whatever it is) has a very short range.

“They’re in shooting range! Blast them!” Katse orders.



Yellow laser beams come out of the ship’s guns and hit the God Phoenix.



The yellow lasers seem to be some kind of tractor beams, pulling in the God Phoenix.

On the Bridge, everyone is playing musical chairs again. Now Jinpei’s up front while Joe and Jun are in back. But none of them seem to be too happy about this attack.

“They’ve got us, and they’re pulling us down!” Joe exclaims.



“It’s some kind of magnetic force!” Ryu says.

“Fire to the retros! Come on!” Joe shouts. I guess he had to come up front to do that.



The God Phoenix fires its engines, fighting back with the tractor beam.

“Where the hell is Ken?” Joe wonders.



Stress fractures appear on the God Phoenix.

“The Magneto Beams are of equal power.” Katse says, in his own command center. Of course, no one on the mecha is listening, but it’s a nice way to let the viewers know what’s going on. “They grasp their common target with perfect balance! Any object will eventually reach its limit and tear apart! Of course, the God Phoenix is no exception.” Katse cackles with his assumed victory.

Onboard the God Phoenix, no one looks very confident.









“It’s almost there!” Katse says gleefully. “Maximum power!” And the goons do his bidding. I guess they’re listening now.

“I’ll finally annihilate the Science Ninja Team!” Katse says. “Once and for all!”



“Don’t be so sure, Berg Katse!” comes Ken’s voice. The Galactor Leader turns around in surprise.



“No, Gatchaman!” Katse cries.



“You’re the one who’s going to be destroyed!” Ken threatens. “Don’t underestimate the Science Ninja Team! Prepare to die, monster!”



“Don’t be so sure, Eagle Boy!” Katse counters. “Look! The God Phoenix will soon meet the same fate as Red Impulse!”

But them’s fighting words for Ken.



He approaches Berg Katse.



A goon starts shooting, but that doesn’t bother the White Shadow.



The fire from the falling gun takes out the other two goons in the room. Ken leaps over to the control panel and turns off the weapon. Katse is horrified!



The God Phoenix shoots away, and Joe falls to the floor.



Even Ryu flies up and out of his seat!



When will these people learn to put on their seatbelts?

Katse steps on a button in the floor, and a ramp is created. Katse sits and slides down the ramp.



Whoo hoo! Is this a prototype ride for the Galactor-Land Amusement Park? I can see it now, right next to the Mamothoon Ferris Wheel, the Child-Kidnapping House of Mirrors, and the Creepy Flute-Player Show.

“He’s getting away!” Ken shouts, although I’m not sure whom he thinks is going to hear him. The Eagle flies down the ramp.



Musical Chairs again… now Jun is in Ken’s seat. Everyone on the God Phoenix seems to be having a hard time recovering from their narrow escape.



And suddenly Jun is on the floor, even though the previous shot clearly showed her in her seat.



“Ryu… cut the retro rockets…” Joe groans.



And Ryu manages to do it.



And the God Phoenix is saved again!

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BOTP Episode 12 – Mammoth Shark Menace

I’d like to give Ebonyswanne a special thanks here, because if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have had access to this episode to write the review and take screenshots.


Everything looks peaceful around Center Neptune, deep beneath the sea, but something doesn’t feel right. At least, not to Zark.

Perhaps that’s because Zark is in his elevation tube. He’s not feeling anything except the air rushing around him.



“I’ve had an inkling in my reactors all morning that Zoltar is brewing up new trouble for us on the Planet Spectra.” Zark says as he rises. “But I can’t pin it down!” He arrives in his oil-changing room.

“I’ve even activated my inter-dimensional probes, but so far, nothing!” Zark complains as he walks across the room. “I’ll take a ten second oil break and try to relax, but it won’t be easy!” Oh, I’m sure you’ll manage, Zark.

Zark reaches for his can of oil.



And then next thing you know, he’s oiling himself. That brings up a disturbing mental image, doesn’t it?

“Ah! There’s nothing like an ice cold can, after grueling hours in the control room.” Zark sighs happily. See? I told you he’d relax. He’s even got his hands underneath his head.



And after oiling himself, the perfect followup is a call from Susan. Zark answers with his usual ‘Center Neptune Control’.

“7-Zark-7!” breathes Susan huskily.

“Oh, yes, Susan!” Zark’s antennae pop. “Uh, may I help you?”

“No.” Susan replies. “May I help you?”

“Oh, you certainly…” Zark giggles, “I mean, you should only… oh, I hope so…” This last is said in a deep, husky tone, quite unlike Zark’s usual voice, and it’s making me feel all squicky. Ewwwww……

“An emergency report is coming in from Oceanographic Research.” Susan finally gets around to the main plot of the episode. “Code classification, ‘Condition Critical’.”

“Thank you, Susan, I’ll get right on it!” Zark says, returning to his usual ‘business-like’ manner. Susan signs out and then Zark’s thoughts go all X-rated again.

“That voice… so warm and appealing… she could drive a robot to a complete circuit meltdown!” Zark sighs.

“Now, what was I supposed to... oh yes!” Zark finally remembers that there’s something going on. “We have a Condition Critical!”

We cut to a scene of fish swimming in the clean ocean waters.

“Everything appears peaceful on my video scanners.” Zark comments in voiceover. “I wonder why Oceanographic Research issued an alert? I’d better have a look on my surface monitors.” He looks at waves crashing onto rocks.

“No problem on the coast that I can detect.” he notes. But then brown pollution spreads across the water, and dead fish rise to the top.

“Ah, that looks like our problem!” Zark exclaims. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it! That’s really serious. It’s not just regular old pollution…” And then the fish dissolve into skeletons. Yep, we actually see this. I’m psychologically damaged now.

“Oh, poor little fish!” Zark tsks. “I’m sure this is all Zoltar’s evil doing!” That’s right, because it’s impossible that humans would ever pollute their own planet.

“Attention G-Force, red alert!” Zark says, as we see images of dead fish washed up onto rocks and beaches. “We have a condition critical! A poisonous pollution is destroying all the fish in the ocean! The birds are eating the fish, and dying too! G-Force, your mission is to collect a sample of the pollutant and report to Chief Anderson.”

We see the birds falling over, but unlike the poor fish, the flesh doesn’t completely melt from their bones.

We see a laboratory at Center Neptune, and Zark tells us that scientists are ‘now analyzing the deadly pollutant, with Chief Anderson supervising’.

Chief Anderson holds up a beaker on a stand.

“This chemical is definitely from an alien planet.” he tells the G-Force Team. “And that, no doubt, means Spectra.” I guess they haven’t had any encounters with other hostile planets yet.

“Have you analyzed it?” Mark asks.

“No, it defies chemical analysis.” Anderson replies. Is that how they determined it was alien?

“Maybe there’s a simple answer.” Princess suggests.

“Hmmm,” says Anderson, stroking his chin, “well, Princess, at this point I’m open to any new theories or ideas.”

“Maybe a crack opened in the ocean floor, releasing a deadly gas.” Princess suggests. That might be it, except that would not make it ‘from an alien planet’, now would it?

“It’s possible.” the Chief says. “But we’ve never found such a toxic substance before. “If the oceans are poisoned, then all life on this planet is in jeopardy.”

“Can it be that G-Force is not able to cope with this new disaster I bring you?” Zoltar laughs as Mark clenches his fist in a Condor-like manner. He’s appeared on a wall monitor.

“Zoltar.” Mark says, but his voice sounds much calmer than his expression would indicate.

“I have reason to laugh.” Zoltar goes on. “Forget your cerebonic powers! Now I have the power! You resisted us too long! Now the entire biological chain of life on your pale little planet will be poisoned into submission!”

“No way. It’ll never happen, Zoltar.” Mark says calmly, while his face grimaces angrily.

“Remember the first law of nature: all life was started in the sea.” Zoltar says. “Now all life will be ended by the sea!”

A bead of sweat falls down Chief Anderson’s face as he watches Zoltar laugh on the screen before disappearing.

“Zoltar is right.” Anderson says. “Unless we find the source of his pollutant, Earth could be doomed.”

“We’ll find it, ‘cause we’re G-Force.” Mark says grimly, doing his salute.

“G-Force!” the rest of the Team shouts and salutes.

And now we’re watching the Phoenix launch to the sounds of BOTP music. Soon they are flying over the ocean.

“Keep your eyes peeled.” Mark orders. “It’s a big ocean, and you know how tricky Zoltar is.”

“We’ve gotta find him!” Jason replies.

“If we don’t check that pollution, there won’t be a fish left.” Mark says, his face very stern.

“Decoy Zoltar on the monitor,” Jason says suddenly, snapping his fingers with his brilliant idea, “and then get Zark to spot his location!”

“Sounds good, Mark!” Tiny agrees. “Zoltar can’t resist teasing us on the tube.”

“Princess, pretend to contact Base.” Mark orders.

“Gotcha!” Princess replies.

And sure enough, Zoltar-Claus appears on their communications screen.

“Yuck!” says Keyop.

“G-Force calling 7-Zark-7.” Mark says into his CB mic. “Calling 7-Zark-7. Come in, Zark! We need a directional fix.”

“Nice try, G-Force, but you’ve had it!” Zoltar laughs.

“He’s got us jammed.” Jason explains. “Keep trying, Mark!” Jason seems extremely disappointed by this development.

“It’s no use, Jason. All channels are zonked. I can’t make contact with Center Neptune.” Mark says. Is Zoltar hearing this?

“Well anyway, we don’t have to listen to the purple creep anymore.” Jason points out the bright side of their failed plan. So Zoltar’s image goes away.

“Rudder full left, Tiny. Open forward thrusters.” Mark says, leaning over and looking grim. “Something ahead!”

The something turns out to be three tanker ships.

“Just some tankers on their way south.” Jason says. Keyop plays with his bolas.

“Despite all your powers, you are helpless to stop the biological destruction of your oceans!” Zoltar taunts them, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere on the communications monitor. “Soon all life in the sea will succumb. But I, Zoltar, will rule Earth for Spectra!”

“Take the Phoenix down.” Mark orders Tiny, as Zoltar fades out. “I want to look at the sea bottom.”

“Big ten!” Tiny agrees. He dives and the Phoenix settles quietly on the ocean floor.

“Nice and peaceful here, Mark.” Tiny observes. “It reminds me… I forgot to feed my rare goldfish.”

“Sonar reading?” Mark asks, apparently unconcerned with the fate of Tiny’s rare goldfish.

“Sonar is scanning.” Princess reports. “Wait! I think I’ve got something.” Sure enough, we see a rocket sub in the water approaching the Phoenix.

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Zoltar’s escape pod readies for launch.

“G-Force has won again. Abandon ship!” Zoltar orders, before taking off.

The Gravity Ray Gun suddenly starts firing at the robot tanker, and the ship quickly falls apart. We see goon masks floating in the water, but there’s no information about what happened to the men who had been wearing them.

“I hope Mark made it.” Tiny says, observing everything from the Phoenix.

“He always makes it.” says Jason confidently.

“It’s Mark! He’s okay!” shouts Princess happily, as her communicator lights up.

“Hey, Team, I could use a pickup!” Mark says. “I’m in the middle of all of this brown yuck!”

“Can’t see him from here.” Tiny says. “We’ll have to go down and do a little surfing.” So the Phoenix flies down to the water’s surface and looks for Mark.

The Commander is rapidly swimming away from the ‘brown yuck’.

“Quick, Tiny, pick him up” Princess shouts, as she spots Mark on the main viewscreen.

“Ready the rescue platform!” Jason orders.

The rescue platform lowers, and Mark clambers onto it just as the brown sludge is reaching him.

“Phew!” he thinks.

“Well, that was a close call.” Zark voices over, as Mark is raised up into the Phoenix. “But Zoltar helped defeat his own evil scheme this time. I’d like to see the look on his face when he realizes that by blowing up his own ship, he also released the liquid to deactivate the pollutant. That’s what all those cylinders are for. And the anti-toxin is already making the water safe for undersea life once again.” And to prove this, we see fish swimming amongst the cleaning bubbles.

On the Phoenix, they spot Zoltar’s escape pod on the main viewscreen.

“That must be Zoltar up ahead.” Mark says. “We’ve still got a crack at him.”

“Can’t do it, Mark.” Jason says. “The Phoenix took a real pounding.”

So what does Mark do? He smiles at Jason and the two men put their hands on each other’s shoulders. Yes, it’s a BOTP yaoi moment!

“At least we stopped him from ruining our oceans.” Mark says, as the others look on in disbelief.

“One day we’ll catch Old Kinky.” Princess says, standing up and pointing at Zoltar’s ship. I don’t even want to know where she came up with that nickname for Zoltar.

Back to Zark.

“G-Force is safely on its way home again and… no, 1-Rover-1, but G-Force isn’t bringing Zoltar back with them. He got away again.”



Rover yaps.

“Yes, I know how you’ve been looking forward to biting him.” Zark says. “Maybe you’ll get a chance one day.”

“Rover can bite too.” Zark tells us. “Right through a steel bar.”

Rover yaps again.

“All right, you run down below, and meet G-Force when they return.” Zark says to Rover.

“He loves to meet the Team when they come back from a successful mission.” Zark informs us.



“I’d love to meet them in person someday myself.” Zark sighs. “But until that happy day, I’ll stick right here and do my best for… G-Force!”

And with a salute, the episode ends.

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Glad you enjoyed it, Marie! Now you know why you should never watch Gatchaman with me... you won't hear anything the characters are saying! I'll be too busy making snide comments and laughing.

And yes, of course the plot can seem overly-convenient... but then it's just a challenge to the fic-writers to explain it all.

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I think Mark is just so 'purehearted' that we don't think of him as a possible candidate for yaoi.

I like the idea of someone letting in the flies just to torture Zark....

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Fabulous work on this ep, TJ! I always look forward to your comments! And as for the yaoi moment at the end...blech! I feel the same way, gatchamarie- although I know there are others who are loving that moment as much as I love the Ken/Jun moments! I'd rather think of Ken/ Joe as brothers!

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

I had forgotten about the Ken/Joe & Mark/Jason moment in this episode. I always thought the last thing Jason would want to do was voluntarily touch Mark like that, but there's the evidence.

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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...

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