Gatchaman Episode 21 - Who is Leader X? by TransmuteJun
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This is a Gatchamania Episode review. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

This episode review is image intensive.

Gatchaman Episode 21 - Who is Leader X?

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A large, manmade island was created to help with one country's shortage of land. There are many exciting attractions on the island for citizens to enjoy. And there's quite the variety! From just this one shot, we can see a airplane ride, a carousel, a roller coaster, a stadium in the background, what looks like a play tunnel for children made out of a clown mouth (although suspicious me wonders if it might be a future Galactor mecha) and tea in the park!

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The stadium is the most extravagant entertainment, and we are told that it is the 'largest in the world'. Once every four years, it is home to the Horse Olympics. Uh... sorry, a 'world-renowned Grand Prix Equestrian Competition'. Boy, that's a mouthful!

Today is the third such competition, and as we pan to the stands, a small boy is rudely forcing his way to the front.

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"Coming through!" shouts Jinpei.

"Excuse me, Sir." says Ryu politely as he pushes to the front.

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Jinpei thinks this is great. He's never been to a horse race before. Ryu points out that this race is very important, because the horse that wins this race is the world champion.

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And of course, Ryu, being a shining example of behavior for Jinpei, is gambling on the outcome of the race. He is betting on... what else? Lucky number 5.

"Hey, look, there's a number 4, just like me!" Jinpei shouts excitedly. Ryu starts insisting that 'he's number 5 and he's going to win?. Like the horse has nothing to do with it! The two argue for a moment, until Ryu suggests they bet on it. 'The loser buys us Ramen Noodles!" he declares, and Jinpei agrees.

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Okay, I'm pretty sure the original Japanese didn't say 'Ramen Noodles', but I'm finding it rather amusing.

Before the race, the horses are rated for their form. Number 4 receives the highest score, with a 9. Jinpei taunts Ryu with this revelation.

Their conversation is interrupted by an old man with an exceptionally long white goatee.

"What's with old Onion-Beard?" Jinpei wants to know.

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Jinpei asks the old man which horse he thinks is going to win, and the old man replies that he knows his horse, number 8, will win. Of course, at this moment, number 8 is passing by, to the boos of the crowd. It doesn't look so bad to me, but it does seem to have a slightly slumped posture as compared to the other horses.

"You think that thing's going to win?" Jinpei asks doubtfully.

"Man, that's one ugly horse!" Ryu comments.

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Onion-Beard's horse earns a score of 3 on his form, and Jinpei and Ryu burst into laughter.

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"You won't be laughing so hard when number 8 wins the race!" the old man insists.

"Say, I think that old dude is off his rocker!" Jinpei whispers, using an oh-so-subtle ninja maneuver.

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Clearly Onion-Beard isn't going to notice this breach of propriety.

Meanwhile, two mysterious men in black trench coats watch the race from afar. Whoever could they be? Well, they're wearing suspicious green gloves, and one of them appears to be sniffing a devil logo.

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Oh, it's a communicator!

"That's right, Sir, we've located the Doctor." the man says into the devil head. He's wearing a cowboy-ish hat, and I guess ADV took this as a cue, because he's speaking in a John Wayne kind of voice, with a little less drawl.

The horses are lined up at the start gate.

"You can feel the tension!" declares the announcer in a contrived 'hush'.

Uh, I can?t feel it really, but I'll go with it.

And they're off! All the horses! Except... number 8. He's still standing at the starting line.

Jinpei and Ryu begin laughing again, but Onion-Beard smiles smugly, then begins twisting a button on his jacket.

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And with a bunch of bionic-style noises, the horse awakens and begins to run.

Hmmm? could those sound effects be a clue? 4.gif

Horses 4 and 5 are hot on the tail of the lead horse: number 2. I guess number 2s like to win all of the races. wink.gif

But number 8 easily outpaces them all, much to Ryu and Jinpei's surprise. Onion-Beard smiles smugly and twists his button some more, and the men in trenchcoats observe all from afar.

Obstacles appear in the course. They get taller as time goes on, making it more difficult to jump over. Horses 2, 4 and 5 make it over the first obstacle, but the others are stymied. Until.... number 8 leaps over, accompanied by more bionic noises. I swear, this is Steve Austin in disguise!

Somehow, number 2 is out of the race, as the leader is announced to now be number 4, followed by numbers 5 and 8.

Of course, Jinpei and Ryu are rooting loudly for their numbers.

And Onion-Beard smiles smugly and plays with the button on his jacket. Yep, if that sounds familiar, it's because they're even using the same footage.

The race goes into whacky territory now. One-ton robots fall down onto the horses' backs, to test their stamina.

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Now I'm not a big animal-lover or anything, but even I know that this likely goes into the bounds of animal cruelty, if they really weigh one ton. Heck, my first car weighed about a ton!

Horse number 4 falls over, much to Jinpei's disappointment. Number 5 falls over as well, and Ryu can't bear to watch.

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And so, with number 2 having disappeared somewhere in the background, number 8 is the only horse to cross the finish line, and he therefore wins the race.

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The horse is now apparently fed up with its robot jockey, and it tosses the one ton piece of metal off of its back and into a nearby fence.

Jinpei and Ryu look around for the old man, and are confused when they don't see him anywhere.

Number 8 is announced to be the winner, and his name is revealed to be 'The Good Voicer'. Onion-Beard is finally given a name as well. He is the horse's owner, and introduced as 'Professor Henjinman'.

The professor and the horse are both wearing strange flower leis, and are being buried in a rain of paper.

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Everyone cheers (except Jinpei and Ryu, who still can't believe the 'old guy's horse finally won'). The two men in trenchcoats make for the exit.

Cut to Dr. Nambu.

"Of course that horse won!" he tells the Science Ninja Team. "The others didn't even have a chance!

The ninjas are confused by this statement.

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Look, Jun lost the stripes on her pants! Hmmmm.... she's standing awfully close to Joe. Maybe she was in his room, and had to put on a pair of his pants...? Sorry... smutty fic mind going off again.

Nambu reveals that Professor Henjinman was a 'senior student' when Dr. Nambu started his studies. Now wait a minute... Henjinman looks like he's in his 60s at least, if not 70s or 80s. How old is Dr. Nambu supposed to be, anyway? He's at least twenty years younger than Henjinman. Perhaps in Utoland, graduate studies take multiple decades?

According to Nambu, Henjinman was 'intelligent and passionate about his research', but he was also.... dun dun dun... anti-social.

Yep, anti-social. Clearly if you're not the life of the party, you're going to end up a bad guy. Just ask Nambu, the social party-animal.

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Look, Jun got her pants back! Did she change when no one was looking?

Apparently uninterested in Jun's pants, Nambu reveals that Henjinman's research was all about cyborgs. Jinpei doesn't know what a cyborg is.

"Well, it's kind of like, their brain is legit, but their body's nuts and bolts." Ryu explains.

"In other words, it's a very intricate robot that looks like the real thing." Ken summarizes.

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I'm wondering how Joe would feel about this statement 100 episodes later (in Gatchaman II) seeing as Ken doesn't think of a cyborg as 'the real thing'.

Meanwhile, far-from-being-a-cyborg-yet Joe states that he thinks the horse could be a cyborg, although Jun wonders if this is really possible.

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Nambu tells Jun that no matter how real that horse looked, it was a cyborg. Jun is so shocked to hear this that she grabs for Joe's hand.

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Okay, maybe not, but I'm enjoying the screenshot. wink.gif

Nambu turns on a 'video recording of the TV broadcast'. Guess Nambu doesn't have Tivo.

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What is Nambu's evidence that number 8 is a cyborg? Well, it was doing fine when the other horses were struggling during the race, and its eyes never blink. Ah, so that isn't just lazy animation!

But the biggest piece of evidence: Nambu claims that a real horse wouldn't kick like number 8 did.

This is a shocker for the Science Ninja Team.

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Dr. Nambu just slides across the screen. I can't show this without an animation, but it's freaky... like he's on a conveyer belt or something!

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Or maybe Nambu is the cyborg! Hmmm..... Plot bunny!

"What a jerk! That old dude cheated!" Jinpei shouts.

"Damn! I feel like an idiot!" Ryu adds.

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But are they going to tell anyone about this discovery?

No. Of course not! Telling the public would just cause 'mass confusion'. Really? I don't know...

Nambu goes on to say that he's sure that Henjinman just wanted to test his cyborg. But what he's really worried about is the possibility that someone could get their hands on this technology and use it for evil!

Can you say, 'foreshadowing'?

Ken says that there must be something they can do to keep this from happening.
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