Gatchaman Episode 1 - Gatchaman Versus Turtle King

Gatchaman Versus Turtle King



A strange machine shaped like a Turtle with a pointed nose attacks a uranium storage facility during a rainstorm. The military is unable to stop it from taking the valuable resource. The ISO discusses the problem.

"The uranium we wanted to use for World Peace has been stolen by the monster robot!" says Director Anderson.

No one knows who is responsible... except Dr. Nambu. He explains about Galactor, and that he has created the Science Ninja Team to fight Galactor.



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Ken is flying in his Cessna when he is contacted by Dr. Nambu and told to assemble his team and launch the God Phoenix.



Ken transforms into Birdstyle, and the five members of the Science Ninja Team are introduced as they join up with the God Phoenix, flown by Ryu.

For some reason, Ryu seems to be flying the God Phoenix from the elevation bubble on the front of the ship. He then lowers on the platform to the Bridge.





Dr Nambu orders the team to find the Turtle Robot and use it to locate Galactor Headquarters.



Joe is disappointed because he wants to (Surprise!) blow it up with Bird Missiles.



The Science Ninja Team looks for the Turtle mecha. Jun is sitting next to Joe...



And then, surprise! Two seconds later she's sitting next to Ken. This Swan gets around!



The Science Ninja Team spots a suspicious whirlpool in the ocean so... they dive into it! They follow it into an underground cave, from which they see smoke emitting.

Meanwhile the Turtle King is attacking another military facility. The God Phoenix arrives on the scene, and Joe decides to fire Bird Missiles. Ken literally holds him back, and Joe accuses Ken of being scared. But there's a commercial break and it doesn't come to anything.

ÿ

Jun and Jinpei spot the Turtle King on their monitors.





No one knows what to do, and Joe wants to fire Bird Missiles again.



Ken stops him and proposes that two of Team infiltrate the Turtle mecha. Ken tells Jinpei that going after stolen uranium is too dangerous for him, and so he (Ken) is going instead.



Joe wants to go too, but Jun tells him that he can't, because she is the explosives expert. It looks like Joe doesn't get to do anything fun today. His scowl tells the story.



Of course, Jinpei takes this opportunity to point out that Jun just wants to be alone with Ken. Jun isn't too happy about this.



Ken and Jun jump out of the God Phoenix and onto the Turtle mecha, and we see the first of Jun's infamous panchira.

ÿ

Shortly after this, Ken and Jun board the mecha and we get to see the first goon pasting.



Ken and Jun split up and explore the inside of the mecha. Meanwhile, the God Phoenix flies by the head of the Turtle King as a distraction.

The badly-costumed mecha captain says, "Look at those impudent brats! Now watch me while I finish them off for good this time!"



This is strange, as he has never met the Science Ninja Team (later they have to introduce themselves to him) so how does he know they're young (brats) and what does he mean by this time?

In any case, he uses his 'Red Laser' on them. Fortunately, Jun has just exploded the mechanism and it doesn't work. Not knowing what's wrong, the Captain orders his goons to go fix the laser.

Ken opens up a hangar door on the bottom of the mecha. The God Phoenix fits nicely inside and the other three ninjas disembark. Ken reports that the missing uranium isn't aboard the mecha. However, Jun completed their objective of disabling the mecha, so Ken suggests that they all get out of there.Unfortunately, the Captain has seen them, and he laughs evilly as he has them surrounded by goons.

"Well this sucks!" exclaims Ken. (Don't you love ADV's dialogue?)

Joe gleefully suggest that they have to disobey their orders not to fight Galactor, and Ken agrees. He doesn't seem too disappointed that Joe is right.

The Captain calls the Turtle King the 'monster robot pride of Galactor' and asks for everyone's name before he kills them. The Team nicely oblige with their names as they get into Tornado Fighter formation. The Tornado Fighter literally blows man of the Galactors away, and then a fight ensues to take care of the rest. Joe has an especially good time.





Afterward, the only Galactor left is the Captain, who reports to Katse that he failed.



Katse asks X's advice about what to do, and X tells Katse to blow up the Turtle King with the Science Ninja Team still aboard.



The Captain escapes in the Turtle King's head, and the Science Ninja Team run for the God Phoenix to get out.





The headless Turtle King falls out of the sky, sending the God Phoenix (which is still inside) tumbling.



Everyone falls down. This is only the first of many demonstrations as to why they need seat belts.



But Ryu manages to fly them out of there... almost. The G-3 pod is caught in the closing hangar door.



Ken states that they have to use the Science Ninja Technique: Firebird, because they have no other choice. Everyone else is shocked and slightly scared by this suggestion (for the only time I can think of in the entire series) but reluctantly they all agree.



Since this is the first time they're doing this, Ken decides to sit next to Jun again.



When they go to the red line, there is a massive explosion. Tatsunko really pulled out all of the stops for the special effects on this one, as you can see.



The pieces of the Turtle King fall into the ocean, and the Galactor Captain thinks the Science Ninja Team is dead. He is shocked to see the Firebird flying through the sky.





*****

BOTP Episode 1  Attack of the Space Terrapin

The episode begins with Zark, introducing himself and telling us that he is in Center Neptune, somewhere off the West Coast of the United States.



Vita Lumis is a precious ore. It is supposed to be protected by G-Force (whom Zark also introduces). Zark tells us how he doesnt need sleep, then his antennae pop when he gets an alert. The Cosmic Space Patrol has informed Zark that there is a UFO from the hostile Planet Spectra. It's there to steal the Vita Lumis!



Zark doesnt understand why Spectra wants to steal the Vita Lumis, as Earth gives it away for free. This implies that Spectra isn't really very smart.

Zark contacts Mark, and Zark is the one who transmutes Mark to 'full jet'. Guess Mark's not powerful enough to transmute on his own.

Zark introduces everyone to the rest of the team. He pays special attention to Princess... but he doesnt know why. (Gag!) Zark makes a point of introducing Jason as hotheaded and emotional. Zark wishes Jason were more like him. Ugh...

Zark tells us that the members of G-Force have miniaturized cerebonic implants that allow them to have mysterious secret powers. They are all orphans, trained since birth for this dangerous task.

This is the third time Earth has been invaded by Spectra. Jason wants to shoot the UFO with lasers, but Zark points out that Jason hasn't been able to do this in the past. You can hear the 'nyah nyah' coming out of Zark's tone, and Jason's scowl proves it.

As the team discovers the whirlpool in the ocean, Mark surmises that the UFO might be attacking the Federation's underwater base. Does he mean Center Neptune?

But they all realize that the UFO has surface, so the Phoenix does too. Everyone is shocked to see the UFO in the shape of an animal, and Keyop asks if it's alive. Mark wants to follow it in case there are more. He wants to find its base.

Zark has lost track of the monster and wonders if he should wear glasses. Yes, really. Fortunately Zark finds the monster, and Princess is overly gushy with her thanks. Guess Zark doesn't need those glasses after all!

Mark realizes that the UFO is its own base. Jason agrees to try Marks 'kooky idea' of boarding the monster. But of course, Princess pops up and says it's 'her turn'. Keyop teases her about 'Marky-warky'.

There's no fight as Mark and Princess board the monster.

The Captain of the monster wants to shoot his 'Disintegrator Ray', and realizes immediately when it doesn't work that someone has sabotaged it. Mark opens the landing bay purposely to let the Phoenix in. This worries Zark, because now the team is in 'terrible danger'. He's going to have electrode failure. If only we could be so lucky.

The Spectran Captain calls the monster the 'most powerful spaceship from the Crab Nebula'.

The Team uses the 'Rotor Force, with Jet Spiral on Level 2'. Sure looks like the Whirlwind Pyramid to me!

There's a much shorter fight, and Jason doesn't seem to participate. When Mark uses his boomerang, Zark informs us that it's sonic, and causes 'concussions' among the enemy. He reassures us that they'll be up again shortly. Too bad Jason didnt have 'sonic shuriken', or he might have seen more fight action in this series!

The Luminous One states that the Space Terrapin must be destroyed because it has outlived its usefulness.

The rest of the episode is pretty much the same as the Gatchaman version, with Zark narrating for us, telling us that the Fiery Phoenix requires full use of the Team's cerebonic powers, and is extremely dangerous. The G-3 Bay is described as a 'fuel pod'.

Zark 'almost has total digital readout failure', but G-Force makes it out of the Space Terrapin explosion alive. Apparently Mark activated the Subatomic Generator perfectly to transmute the Phoenix. Guess he might be capable of transmuting himself after all, huh, Zark?

Oh, and it seems that somehow during the explosion, the team recovered the missing Vita Lumis too.

Zark tells us that the team will take twenty-four hours to 'return to normal' after using the Fiery Phoenix, and then they'll be back on the job.

Too bad this takes so long, because Zark has another emergency already...

*****

Sorry, I don't have access to the G-Force episode. If someone would like to summarize the differences in that episode, please jump in!

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Its a great starter ep, some anime series simply dont grab you, they introduce the characters but dont get you to say `Id like to learn more.`

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"If you think I am a Condor, you may keep that opinion;
Though I am no Condor, my Skylines rusty enough."

You forgot Ken's missing boots as he leaps back into the Phoenix -- or was it the first drop?



SJ

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Sighhh

Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.

That is a new one for me SJ, but then I am not really watching for the bloopers - there are so many other things to keep my eye on.

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

LB, I always thought that Ken was so serious, and trying so hard to be dutiful, but it was more difficult for him than he wanted to admit. He was slightly ticked at Jun for exposing this weakness of his.

But if you want to make it a double entendre, then go right ahead...

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I agree with LB's assessment that this episode does a good job with introducing everyone and pointing out their purpose--finding Galactor's headquarters. (It's at Cross Karkorum!)

Seriously, this series does grab you when you first see it and leaves you hungry for more. I also liked how they showed that the team does have a camaraderie going but they don't always (i.e. Joe and Ken). They do manage to pack a lot of action in the first episode.

I haven't seen the BOTP version in a long time. I'll see if I can track it down on YouTube and watch it. But the Gatchaman series will always be superior to me because there is no ZARK in it!

P.S. Is it just me or what is the deal with Ken saying to Jun "If we die, we die together" when they sneak aboard the Turtle King? It just seemed to me to come out of the blue.

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Old age is a high price to pay for maturity.

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Sighhh

Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.

Yeah I think episode 1 and 6 of G-Force: GOS is on youtube... haven't watched in a while.

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"They say the Titanic sank because it hit an iceberg, but that must have been Galactor's fault too."

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