And I am kind of writing this in a state of bliss and amusement because Jacque Koh-sama says that I provided the framework for her beautiful story "Oppertunities" through the Production Diary entry for Episode 26, or the Ryu quits but comes back episode, but when I wrote that the fanfic people must have had a field day with that line by the Purple Doberman on Speed about how they had already tried every kind of torture with Gatchaman, what I had in mind was something like a tickle fest or being forced to watch Zark scenes a la BotP endlessly, and not that exquisite story she wrote about sexual abuse and Ken's recovery from it. I find it so very interesting that the fanfic writers can take a story created 25 years ago to sell toys to eight-year-olds and come up with deep, sensitive works, or write hysterical pieces that make having to clean sprayed Dr. Pepper off the keyboard with a Q-tip (copyright Yesta-sama) worthwhile (though after a while you learn to have hard copies only near food and beverages, or not to eat and drink while reading these at all.), and I have a confession to make...I think I am in this for the fanfic. (^.~)

Anyway, this episode begins with the Narrator from H*ll, and would someone shoot the Narrator from Hell already? And he tells us that all was quiet at the World Bank, which holds the future of the world's economy and is under maximum security, and that Galactor got into the big vault in the World Bank, and the little robots, which were called Microsoft--um, sorry, Micros, they stole the gold bullions which had been gathered from all over the world, and 1) since when does the World Bank gather gold from all over the world, last I heard the biggest holder of gold in the world was the U.S. Treasury, 2) where is the so-called security in this so-called world bank, I mean, the door of the vault is GONE and not so much as an alarm goes off 3) why does Micros look like a doguu (a doguu is an earthenware figure from neolithic era/ bronze age Japan which is thought to have religious significance, and I think if you look at this picture you will see the remarkable resemblance between Micros-chan) 4) why did the opening shot show the building that said "International Bank", when the Narrator from H*ll told me it was the "Sekai Ginko", which would translate into the "World Bank", 5) WHERE ON EARTH DO THEY COME UP WITH THESE NAMES???

And Ken's wriscom goes off and he says this is Gatchaman, and it is Dr. Nambu, of course, and he tells Ken that someone has stolen the gold in the World Bank and to launch the Godphoenix, and Ken is like whatever and he runs out of his little shack and boards his cessna and goes to Birdstyle, and...

O.K. I have to say this. I have heard many people say that the words and mouth movements just don't match in the English incarnations, but when Ken just said Bird Go, his mouth was in an "o", but you can easily hear that the sound made when he says "Bird Go" is an "a".

Cut to the Godphoenix, and what never ceases to amaze me is the amount of dead space in the control room/ cockpit of the Godphoenix, like if I were going to build a military aircraft that needed speed I would make it as small and aerodynamic as possible, and not large enough to do a darn GYMNASTICS ROUTINE in the control room. And Dr. Nambu is on the monitor again, and it looks like he hasn't taken his Metamucil or Ducolax again, and he tells the Team that someone has broken into the vaults of the World Bank and stolen all the gold, probably because they want to confuse the world economy and cut off World bank funding for the ISO projects for world peace, and that only Galactor could do such a thing, and I am thinking isn't the Future wonderful, since there is only one Evil Terrorist Organization that would do Bad Things? Makes things really easy.

Ken asks Dr. N if there are any clues, and I would like to slap Ken if he asks Dr. Nambu for clues again (actually I would like to slap Ken period for his arrogance and self-centeredness, and I've said it once and I am going to say it again...WHAT DOES JUN SEE IN THIS GUY???), and Dr. N says only one, sounds similar to a submarine were detected by a patrol boat en route to the Bareri Sea, and um...maybe it was a U.S. Naval vessel??? MAYBE it was a NON-Evil-Terrorist-Organization submarine? MAYBE? But apparently Ken doesn't think that way because he jumps to the conclusion that the Galactor Headquarters or Base is someplace in the Bareri sea, and Dr. Nambu doesn't think the way I do either because he agrees with Ken and tells the Team that their assignment is to check out every single island in the Baeri Sea and see if there's a base or headquarters even, and bring back the stolen gold, and wishes them luck, and I am thinking that they are going to need that luck, because I am not sure what the maximum cargo load for the Godphoenix is, but from that initial shot of all the gold bars, that was a lot of gold, and probably weighs EVEN MORE THAN THE DARN SHIP ITSELF, like they'd be lucky if they could take off with such a heavy load, but Ken obviously has a single digit I.Q., because he just says roger.

And Jun, in that annoying flirty voice of hers, like what is it with all these squealy voiced female anime characters, points out another problem, which is that there are at least 50 islands in the area. Joe says it is no big deal and that they'll just take them one at a time, but I tend to agree with Jun, if there are 50 islands, the gold could easily be transferred to a different location while they are searching another island, like make five kids search 50 islands? Come on, Dr. Nambu. Ryu starts fantasizing about the tropical island thing and napping with a chick under a palm tree (and I use the word chick because Ryu used this totally outdated word to refer to a pretty girl which no one in this day and age would be caught dead using), and Ken scolds him that they are not going there to have fun, and full speed ahead, like would Ken lighten up already, and Ryu says whatever.

Cut to Tropical Island with Lush Rain Forest. Ken, Jun and Jinpei are doing an exaggerated tip-toe through the forest. Jinpei says there's nothing here and that they should go to the next island, but Ken tells him that they should wait and see what happens for just a bit more. And sure enough, we hear the Menacing Music, and Jun screams, and there are a bunch of Green Person and he demands what the three of them are doing on the island, and Jun says that it is no big deal and they just came for fun, and the Green Person is like you are lying, which is a surprising display of intelligence for a Green Person, and then we see the three of them putting up a little bit of a fight, and we see that Ken isn't wearing socks, and the Green Person points a Green Person Standard Issue Automatic Weapon on them, and tells them to do as they are told, and Ken shrugs and says he can't beat a Machine Gun, and it was so totally annoying that he said "Mashiin-gan" instead of "kikanjyuu", like what is the point of using all these non-Japanese words, do they think it is cool to speak non-Japanese and un-cool to speak Japanese? And the Green Person says take them to the Commander.

Cut to Joe and Ryu in the Godphoenix, and the two of them are watching on a monitor as Ken, Jun and Jinpei are led through a hallway by Green People, and what I want to know is, when did the ISO/ Team install television cameras in a Secret Galactor Facility that three of them just wandered into three minutes ago? Joe tells Dr. N that everything is going as planned, and Dr. N says that while the three create a diversion, Joe and Ryu are going to reclaim the gold and get out. Joe protests that if the island is a Galactor Base, they should attack right then and there, but Dr. N brings out his standard phrase about how the mission of the SNT is not to attack but to locate the Galactor Headquarters, and Joe doesn't want them to get away from right under their noses, but Dr. N tells him not in this lifetime are you going to get your way, and Joe states how he feels about the situation with that colorful vocabulary that makes him famous, and while he does this the sound effects blast out this sound like someone fell on their backside on top of a piano. Ryu, who was asleep, and who I am beginning to suspect suffers from sleep apnea syndrome or something, wakes up and is like what is going on, and Joe says shut up, and would someone get this guy a psych eval already? (and shout out to Dan Rush-sama for reminding me of those things!)

So the Galactor Commander, who you can tell is a Galactor Commander because he is wearing a silly suit, like something out of a Marvel Comics nightmare, is interrogating the three of them, asking how they got there and that it's weird that no one noticed them coming, which is again a surprising display of intelligence, and Ken says he doesn't want to tell, and Jun is like take a wild guess and Jinpei is like Ojisan, we swam, and the Commander is insulted that Jinpei called him ojisan, and I would be insulted too to be grouped with those fat, smelly, middle aged Japanese men who spit on the sidewalk, and pick their noses, and pee in public, and are probably one of the most annoying people on the face of the planet, and he is like how dare Jinpei call the Base Commander Ojisan, and Ken is thinking to himself, "base?" Marvel Comics Nightmare Ojisan tells his Green Person to turn on the surveillance monitors to check for others, and his Green Person says that there is something strange on the sea floor, and Ken and Jun and Jinpei are freaking, like do you three so-called ninjas think MAYBE, JUST MAYBE you might be better off keeping your emotions to yourselves for the sake of, oh, I don't know, the SAFTEY OF YOUR TEAMMATES? And the Green Person says he's never seen it before, maybe it is a sub, and you'd think they'd brief the Green People very well about the Aircraft That Destroyed Their Colleagues, and Marvel Comics Nightmare Ojisan says whatever, just blow it up, and Green Person obliges by firing his missile. Ken freaks some more. Joe, who is in a beachside cave, sees a rock open up and out comes a missile launcher, so he starts hollering at Ryu through his wristcom, and says ARE YOU ASLEEP YOU IDIOT, the answer to which is yes, and Jun and Jinpei freak some more and Ryu finally wakes up and manages to get out of the missile's path just in the nick of time, and if I were Dr. Nambu I would get this kid an appointment with either a neurologist or an otolaryngologist to evaluate his sleep problems like RIGHT NOW.

Marvel Comics Nightmare Ojisan says anyone who comes near the island dies, including the three kids in numbered jerseys in front of them, and calls out to his little robots, and out comes the doguus, MCNO is all googly about the little guys who are made by the great Giant Blue Chicken himself, and can emit killer rays, and I am having visions of GBC seeing a picture of a doguu in an elementary school Japanese history textbook and designing the little guys after it. MCNO tells the little guys to take the three of them to the gas chamber and execute them.

Cut to the GBC audience chamber. The Purple Doberman on Speed (copyright Lori McDonald-sama) proudly reports that the Mini-robot Operation has been successful. GBC tells PDOS to transport the stolen gold to the Secret Galactor Headquarters, and if the MCNO fails or if the SNT catches on to what is happening, MCNO dies. PDOS says fine.

Cut to MCNO's base. Jinpei remarks to Ken that they are getting closer to the gas chamber, and Ken is like whatever, and they stop, and the little doguu taps on Jinpei's backside to hurry them, which is kind of cute, and Jinpei says don't hurry us so much, and he looks at Ken, and Ken looks at Jun and Jinpei and tells them let's go, and Jun and Jinpei say they're ready, LIKE WE GET THE POINT ALREADY, and they all go to (surprise, surprise) Birdstyle, and let me just remind everyone that it was only the PREVIOUS EPISODE that Dr. Nambu had made a big deal to Security Chief Anderson about how he was the only one who knew the true identities of the SNT, and here they are going from those infamous numbered jerseys in full view of the little doguu, like maybe little doguu has MONITORS? Do you think that MAYBE since they have television cameras installed in trees and caves and the sea floor that they just MIGHT have cameras installed in the BASE, too? Do you think MAYBE that PDOS might be watching those monitors? Do you think that MAYBE someone might make the connection between the two guys and the girl in DORKEY numbered jerseys with big honking bracelets, and the Eagle, Swan and Swallow? But apparently that doesn't bother these three at all, because they start with their Birdrangs and yo-yo's and bolos and break apart robots. Then the MCNO appears with his Green People, and he is like what in the non-geographic location is going on, who in the non-geographic location are you, and Ken says Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Jun says G-3, and Jinpei says G-4, and MCNO says shoot to kill, and we get a big fight sequence this time, and the three run, and an alarm goes off, so this Secret Galactor Base has better security than the World Bank, and MCNO freaks, and we get a shot of Joe darting through the hallway in the background. Then we get a full shot of Joe and he takes down a Green Person, and he sees a large door, which is the door of the vault, and he puts a drill attachment to the cable gun and begins drilling, and I am wondering if the cable gun has rechargeable batteries.

Cut to fight sequence with Jun and Jinpei and Ken.

Joe successfully gets into the vault, and we hear glittery sounds, like since when can you hear gold giltter, and we see the gold that has been stolen from the so-called maximum security World Bank vault, and we see the Godphoenix surfacing in front of the vault and Joe driving his G-2 thing out from the nose of the GP, and the Narrator from H*ll tells us that the plan that Dr. N had thought of was that Joe and Ryu would snatch the gold while Ken, Jun and Jinpei created a diversion, like we already knew that, and we get more of Ken, Jun and Jinpei creating a diversion, and I am wondering again about that heavy load and whether the GP will be able to fly, but as we know, they will have benefit of McGuyver's First Law. And we get machine gun fire at Jun's feet and she screams and falls, and Ken comes between her and the bullets and asks if she is all right...

And I won't go into sexist portrayal a la Tastunoko just right now.

Jun says she is all right. MCNO says fire, and Ken's wristcom goes off while he has a Green Person in a neckhold, and he says this is Gatchaman, over, (while still having the Green Person in a neckhold, which is really really really really annoying), and it is Joe, who says he's done his part, and Ken says then they're leaving too, and tells Jun and Jinpei Joe and Ryu are done, and Jun is like Go Joe and Ryu, and MCNO hollers for Microsoft--um, Micros, and they have a Micros army coming at them from both sides, and Ken whispers to the other two that they are going to use the Whirlwind Fighter, and the other two are like whatever, and they get into formation and Jinpei hollers Ninja Power Whirlwind Fighter and they blow everything away and then while everyone is confused they dart away, and Ken hurls the Birdrang and takes out a dozen Green People before leaving.

PDOS is on the monitor, and chews MCNO for letting the SNT get away. MCNO begs forgiveness. PDOS tells him to transport the gold to Headquarters, and that he will tolerate no more failures. MCNO cowers.

Cut to control room of GP, and the team is laughing, and Ken wishes he could see the looks on their faces when they find out the gold they have is fake, and Jun says it was easier than she thought, and Jinpei says that it was easy because they're smarter than the Green People, and I am thinking that doesn't take much, and Ryu says Ken, I see a sub, and Ken is like "a sub?" and I am like are you hard of hearing, and Jinpei is like they're looking for us, (which they're not, they're just trying to take the gold, and if you would just let them be and follow them you so-called ninjas, they'd take you to their Secret Headquarters, and we could end this whole television series in a couple more episodes) and Joe wants to fire the Bird Missiles (say it with me everyone "AGAIN") and he reaches for the Bird Missile button, which is a red circle with a flat cover today, and Ken stops him with they can't fire the missiles without Dr. N's orders, and Joe says whatever and fires them anyway, and Ken hollers Joe and freaks, and the missile misses the sub. MCNO freaks, and tells Micros full speed to the surface, so apparently this sub flies too, and the little robot presses a button, which is kind of cute, and MCNO freaks some more, and we see the cases that are supposed to contain the gold and the bars holding them in place shake and rattle, and then the bars holding the cases in place break and the gold falls to the floor and it breaks in two, and we see that it is not solid gold, and MCNO freaks, and PDOS says you've failed, you let the SNT find your base, you let them take the gold, and that Galactor doesn7t tolerate failures, and MCNO begs and grovels for forgiveness, and PDOS says tough and tells the little robot to activate its self-destruction switch, and the little robot opens up a little door in its chest and presses a red button, and MCNO grovels some more but it's too late.

So you can kind of tell that this TV series has the usual one season contract with the toy company.

Cut to the control room of the GP, and the Team is gasping at the explosion of the sub, and then there is the explosion of the island, and Ken is like we're done, let's go home, and they fly off into the sunset, to the annoying voices of the Tatsunoko Cradle Choir, singing the last part of the Shupa-shupa theme.

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Points of interest? Let's see. First time Ryu's sleep disorder thing is shown. This problem gets him into trouble later in episode 26, so it is kind of interesting in terms of continuity. And another first is the Whirlwind Fighter three-person variation. Also, MCNO was killed, and I believe it is the first time PDOS, under orders of GBC, actually executes one of his own, unlike in prior episodes where they just kind of succumbed to the SNT. It establishes Galactor as a place that doesn't tolerate failures (actually it is more like a place that PRETENDS not to tolerate failures, but we won't get into that.)

And didn't you think the little doguu robots were kind of cute? (^.~)