Gatchaman Episode 98: “Grape Bomber, the Spherical Iron Beast”

BOTP Episode: “G-Force Defector”





This episode begins with Dr. Nambu hitting a switch on a control panel and activating a signal to alert the Science Ninja Team. “Calling the Science Ninja Team! Calling the Science Ninja Team!” he says into a microphone, “At 1404 hours, a Galactor iron beast mecha was spotted at area PS. Science Ninja Team, gather and launch the God Phoenix! Move out!”






It turns out that Dr. Nambu has a little control panel listing the Team, G-1, G-2, G-3 etc., with a little button beside each designation that lights up when each member responds to the alert. Well, the G-1 button lights up first and we hear Ken saying that he’s on his way to area PS.

And indeed he is.





So is Jun. “G-3, roger!” she responds.





Jinpei, likewise, responds with a “G-4, roger!”






And then Ryu.






I don’t know if they’re all normally in the habit of responding in numerical order, but the member who mucked it up this time, G-2, responds last of all. He’s also the only one who hasn’t already transformed out of civvies mode.





“Damn, there’s no way I can transform in the city like this,” mutters Joe, and he is on a busy highway, full of other cars.





“And Ryu’s going to get on my case if I’m late again,” he adds. It’s interesting that it’s Ryu, and not Ken, that is the enforcer of punctuality. I also wonder, as Joe says “again,” just how often he is late. There was that one time he refused to pull out of a race and ended up late –maybe that’s what he’s referring to here, or maybe he’s been late on other occasions too.

The street he’s driving on now is lined with street lights, and suddenly a beam of light from one catches Joe in the eye, and he cries out as if in pain.




Then more light shines in his face and he gasps again, even louder, his eyes wide as if staring blindly. Frantically he turns his steering wheel and sends his car right off the road, over a fence into a park.





It’s not clear how well he’s seeing but Joe does manage to get his car onto a road that runs through the park. Unfortunately, sun is shining down through the branches of the trees that line the road and into Joe’s face and once again he’s wide-eyed and staring blindly. Suddenly, we see a woman fly past his windshield, just as Joe slams his foot on the brakes.





Joe’s car has stopped, but the horn is blaring as, inside the car, Joe is slumped over the steering wheel (no seatbelt, Joe? Tsk, tsk.). But after a moment, he manages to sit up slightly, even as Dr. Nambu’s voice comes from his bracelet, asking “What’s wrong, G-2? The other four have already joined up and are waiting on you!”

Joe looks groggy but he does sit up fully and answer Dr. Nambu, “I’m sorry Doc, I’m heading out there right now.”

He’s about to head on his way again, but he glances out his side window…





And is horrified at what he sees.





“No!” he gasps, and he hastily leaves his car and runs to the woman on the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asks anxiously, but the woman does begin to move and attempt to get up. She’s middle-aged, not young. She turns her head to look at Joe and she says “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just old and I’ve gotten careless –I’m so very sorry.”

Joe looks both incredibly relieved that she says she’s okay but also incredibly guilty for hitting her and for the fact that she’s actually apologizing like it’s her fault.

“Excuse me, but I’m in a hurry!” he says rather abruptly, turning to head back to his car –clearly he’s also well aware that he’s holding up the Team in the midst of what could be a critical mission.

But suddenly the woman cries out in pain and falls to her hands and knees.

Joe is torn…





And Dr. Nambu is barking “Joe? Joe, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you coming?” But Joe makes up his mind –he turns off his bracelet’s communicator.





Now he goes straight to the woman’s side and he picks her up.





“I’ll take you you home, Ma’am,” he says in a much kinder voice.






“She’s frail,” Joe thinks to himself, “Are all mothers this frail? If my mother was still alive…”

But elsewhere, the God Phoenix is swooping through the sky and past Galactor’s newest mecha.





The thing looks like either some sort of Paleozoic trilobite or one of those sow bugs that live underneath rocks and logs and what not.





Whatever it is, it’s formidable. It blasts the God Phoenix with intense light, causing all the Ninjas to recoil, and Ken to hastily order Ryu to turn off the viewscreen.





Ken tells Jun to “Switch to instrument flight and bring the radar online.” She’s sitting in the chair normally occupied by Joe and seems to have inherited his duties in his absence. Her eyes widen in surprise, however, when she sees the radar screens filling up with a multitude of glowing dots instead of just one.

“Ken, the iron beasts are multiplying!” she says. “Huh?’ replies Ken and he and Jinpei both come over to see for themselves.





Ken determines it’s really some sort of jamming signal. “So out of all those bugs, only one is real and rest are just fakes?” asks a worried Jinpei.





“We can’t use the viewscreen or the radar,” concludes Ken, with some frustration, “It looks like we’ve lost our eyes.”

“One of them is coming in fast!” calls out Jun suddenly as she sees that one dot is zipping a path across the radar screen, “Fifteen degrees!”

“Dodge it –thirty degrees!” orders Ken and Ryu complies. But then the whole God Phoenix starts shaking, and Ken has to grab onto the wall to keep his balance.

It turns out that the mecha is directly atop them and the God Phoenix is repeatedly banging against the mecha’s underside now. But the God Phoenix gets past the mecha –only to have the mecha swat at it with one of its antennae.

On the bridge, Ken’s still holding onto the wall and Jinpei’s clutching the back of one of the chairs as the God Phoenix continues to shake.

“Ryu,” calls Ken, “Maintain altitude at 2000 or we’ll slam into the mountain!”

But they soon have worse things to worry about. A grape-like missile drops from the underside edge of the mecha and lands on top of the God Phoenix.





“It’s firing!” says Ken, sensing the impact. But more grape missiles now hit the God Phoenix.

“Damn,” snarls Ken, “It’s like we’ve been blindfolded and now they’re batting us around!”

“Ryu, can’t we use the screen yet?” demands Jinpei. Ryu tries it but it’s no good –they’re still being bombarded with blindingly bright light.

“If we had the power from G-2 we could find a way to force back this light!” declares Ryu.

But Ken’s mind is on other things –like the fact that highly toxic-looking gas is now seeping into the bridge.

“What the heck is this –it’s sulfuric acid!” cries Ken, covering his mouth hastily.





Sure enough, the grape missiles have deposited a highly corrosive substance on the God Phoenix in each location they struck, and it’s eating through the exterior and getting inside the God Phoenix. Jun gasps and turns away hastily as it begins leaking into the bridge where she’s sitting, at the radar screens. The mecha drops two more grape missiles, and soon the corrosive substance is dripping all over Ken’s G-1 jet.





“Where are you, Joe,” growls Ryu, “We need you!”

“The God Phoenix can’t hold out much longer,” says Jun anxiously.

“What do we do, Ken?” asks Ryu as Ken sits down beside him, “Our super BMs are offline.”

“What in the world’s happened to Joe?” wonders Ken grimly.

Another grape missile hits the wing pod that houses Jinpei’s G-4 buggy and soon the corrosive substance is dripping all over it too.

Thick clouds of the yellowish sulfuric gas are pouring into the bridge from around the edges of the main door.

“Big Bro, if this keeps up, we’re going to die!” calls Jinpei.

“Ryu, pull up,” instructs Ken, “The only way we can escape now is up.”

Ryu complies, taking the God Phoenix into a steep ascent.





The God Phoenix is shaking now from the strain of their sudden ascent –as are its occupants- as Ryu calls out their ever-increasing altitudes.

“Let’s see how high that iron beast can fly,” thinks Ken, “As high as the God Phoenix? Even higher? If that’s the case, then we’re done for.”





“12,000, great balls of fire!” cries Ryu soon, and it looks like they're nearly out of the Earth’s atmosphere but the mecha is still in pursuit. Considering the breaches in the God Phoenix’s exterior from the grape missiles, I’m surprised they can go this high without loss of air pressurization, but what do I know? The sulfuric gas seems to have dispersed too.





But Jun looks at the radar screens and sees that all the glowing dots are disappearing now. And indeed, the mecha has given up the chase and is dropping back towards the Earth.





And Ryu is able to use the view screen too, as the intense bright light has also ceased.

“Great,” says Ken, “You can go on and level her off then.” So, Ryu ceases their ascent and holds them in position.

And we cut to a shot of Joe’s car parked beside a somewhat rundown looking building.





Joe has taken the woman home and now he’s giving her a back rub. Is it worth getting hit by a car in order to get a back rub from Joe? Quite possibly! But here, it’s clear that the vibe is very mother-son.





“So, do you have any relatives around here?” asks Joe.

“I have a son,” she replies, “But he hated being poor, so he left me.”

“Well that seems pretty cruel,” says Joe, looking indignant on her behalf.

A tear wells up in the woman’s eye and runs down her face.

“What’s the matter?” asks Joe, looking both concerned and a bit uncomfortable.

“You rub just like my son,” she says. This seems to rattle Joe, maybe because earlier he’d been thinking that this woman was like his mother would be if she were alive.

But after a pause, he returns to rubbing her back and casts about for something to say.

“Well, all right…”

“I got a letter from him recently,” she says next, “It sounds like he has an important job and he says he’ll make big money and come get me.”

A little toy train car slips off the bed from under the blanket beside her. Joe picks it up as the woman giggles.





“That’s my choo-choo that I play with when I feel lonely,” she says, “It was my son’s –gimme.” She reaches out and takes it from him.

Okay, I get that Joe and we viewers are supposed to feel bad for this woman, but that is really kind of pathetic.

“He’s loved tinkering with machines ever since he was a boy,” she continues, running the train back and forth on her hand.

Joe stares blankly, as if not sure what to make of this, or…

He suddenly grabs his forehead, gasping in pain.

“Is something the matter?” asks the woman, turning away from her choo-choo.

“No!” says Joe –with blatant dishonesty, staggering as he continues to clutch his head with one hand.






“I just feel a little dizzy,” he says, pulling his hand away and standing up straight again, “I’ll be all right in a minute.”

He goes outside to the landing, and takes hold of the stair railing with one hand. His eyes are closed and he’s breathing hard. He opens his eyes and looks down the stairs towards his car.

Everything is blurry and distorted.





“Something is weakening my body…” he thinks.





But now we cut to a Galactor base somewhere, where Berg Katse and another man are standing on a platform looking at the trilobite/sow bug mecha.





Katse is very pleased to note that, of all the Galactor mechas, “Grape Bomber is the first one to fight the God Phoenix and come back to us undamaged.”





“Just what I’d expect from Galactor’s Academy of Science and Technology’s best,” he concludes.

“It’s all thanks to you, Lord Katse,” says the young man with him –who looks sort of like what a son of Dr. Nambu would probably look like, if he had one.

“If you hadn’t given your support to me,” he continues, “So that I can dedicate my life to scientific and technological research, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Okay he even sounds like Dr. Nambu –except, of course, for the fact that he’s working for Galactor!

“Please, please, don’t mention it, Mikhail,” says Katse, “Galactor’s academy of Sci-Tech exists for the underprivileged, such as yourself.”

Yup, this Mikhail was poor but now he has an “important job” working for Galactor. Hint, hint…

But now we cut to Dr. Nambu and he’s talking about this very same man.





“This is the man,” declares Dr. Nambu, “His name is Mikhail. He specialized in air pollution research. I want you to remember his face well. We’ve received information that he’s working for Galactor now.”

All the Team is listening –except the still-absent Joe.





Dr. Nambu goes on to explain “We’ve discovered large amounts of sulfuric acid on the damaged ship.”

He switches the image from Mikhail to that of the God Phoenix, and we get a good look at all the places where the metal exterior has been dissolved and eaten right through by the grape missiles' corrosive substance.

“The enemy’s bombs were designed to release a poisonous solution after exploding, capable of melting steel. The substance also included organo-chloric compounds.”

“Those are all air-pollutants,” notes Ryu –so there you go, the Owl knows his Chemistry- “Galactor’s a bunch of cheapskates, aren’t they?”

Ken wants to know if this means the mecha was designed by Mikhail. Dr. Nambu does explain that Mikhail had been working on recycling car and plane exhaust, which “completely saturate our atmosphere,” as solid fuels.

“He must have gone wrong somehow,” he concludes grimly, “Because he’s clearly ended up selling his intellect to Galactor and using it as a weapon of terror.”

“It’s a real shame, isn’t it?” remarks Ken, “What a waste of good talent.”

“Yes,” says Dr. Nambu, looking really grim, “I don’t want to repeat the same tragedy we had with Dr. Demon –I must try to reform him!”

(Nice bit of episode continuity there.)

The door opens now and it’s Joe, looking prepared to be chewed out for his absence but not looking very repentant.





He steps into the room but just leans against the wall, arms crossed, in his habitual pose, not saying anything.

“Hey, Joe’s here!” pipes up Jinpei, turning his head at the sound of the door closing.





Ken and Ryu are startled too.





“Joe! What have you been doing?” demands Dr. Nambu sternly.

Joe glowers at him and says “I haven’t been feeling very good,” in a not-at-all-sorry tone.

“Really?” Dr. Nambu frowns. “Don’t you realize the danger you put the Team in because of your absence? They were almost killed!”

Joe gasps and, for a second, he looks truly horrified as he says “But I-” but then he steels his face again and looks away.

Dr. Nambu continues to glare at him. “Well? What is it?”

“Doctor, let me talk to Joe about it,” says Ken, trying to intercede.

“No!” declares Dr. Nambu, “I won’t allow him to neglect a mission regardless of the reason. One failure could lead to disaster for all of us!”

“Disasters can happen whether I’m there or not,” retorts Joe.

Now Dr. Nambu really glares at Joe. “What?”

Ken’s looking quite alarmed at the way this seems to be going. “Joe!” he protests.

But Joe is determined to dig his hole deeper. “If we had a chance to win, I could do it by myself.” Then he sneers “Must be really easy to just sit behind a desk and give orders.”





Dr. Nambu stands up abruptly, planting a fist on his desk.





Everyone else goes “Oohh!” in shock and dismay.





“All right,” says a still-glaring Dr. Nambu, “Since you don’t need me to give you orders, Joe, feel free to take on this mission all by yourself this time!”

Without further ado, he stalks out of the room, ignoring Jun’s plea of “Doctor, wait!”





So Ken approaches Joe now, likely thinking that with the Doctor out of the room, Joe will be more forthcoming about what’s really going on.

“Joe, how could you say that?” he asks.

But nothing is coming forth from Joe except a defiant “I’ll show him!” Then he too stalks out of the room.





Now comes the scene that always kind of breaks my heart. Joe has to be confused and more than a little terrified about the strange affliction that’s suddenly come upon him, but he can’t let himself admit any weakness or vulnerability to anyone; it just comes out as hostility, driving away the very people he could, in fact, turn to for help –except that’s the very thing he’ll never do.

Joe’s sitting alone on a grassy slope beyond Dr. Nambu’s villa.





He examines his hand, as if it’s either numb or aching.




He’s looking worried and frightened, but Jun is walking up behind him now.

“Joe?” she calls, and maybe for a second he’s got that torn look on his face again.






But then his face hardens. Jun says “Joe?’ again. She’s probably hoping that whatever harsh or indifferent front Joe puts on before his male comrades, he’ll soften it for her.





“What happened in there?” she continues, “Everyone’s worried about you.”

He turns his face away from her.

“Please, say something. You’ve been acting strange lately.”

But there will be no softening, not even for Jun.

He turns his head to glance at her but snaps “How about ‘Go away and leave me alone?’”

Jun gasps, dismayed and likely rather hurt by this curt dismissal.

And for a second, Joe sees that he’s hurt her and remorse registers on his face, but he quickly turns away from her again.

“Jun, I’m tired,” he says flatly but a bit less harshly, “Could you please just go?”

“All right,” says Jun, anxiety and concern all over her face but it’s apparent, after this rebuff, that she can’t think of anything more to do or say right now. “But if anything happens, we’re here for you,” she adds.

As she walks away, he glances back at her, looking like some part of him wants to call her back. Except, of course, he won’t.





“Sorry, Jun,” he thinks to himself, “I’m thankful for all the concern…”





He turns away again, eyes closed and holds his head with one hand, looking thoroughly miserable. “But how could I possibly explain why I couldn’t combine with everyone else?” he thinks, “It can’t be…” He stares at his hand again. “It can’t be!” he thinks again, as his hand shakes and his eyes widen.

He gasps and turns suddenly to look at the flowers in the grass beside him, which for an instant are blurred and seem to loom too large in his vision





Crying out again, he whips his head to the other side and sees still more of the red flowers –a sight which seems almost to terrify him. He cries out again and makes a sudden sweep with one arm as if to ward it all away.

And then the sky is weirdly dark and we see a cascade of flower petals.





Joe seems to be, in that moment, suspended in a surreal, nightmare realm that’s filled with flowers and falling petals.





The thing is, this really reminds me of episode 78, “Mortal Combat! 10,000 Meters Beneath the Sea.” Then, when Joe was forced by Ken to stare into the fire, the first thing he remembered, before an explosion throwing him into the air to crash against the sand, was a cascade of flower petals against a surreal-looking sky.





What does this mean? That flowers and flower petals are linked to Joe’s deepest, subconscious terrors as they’re tied to the day that he lost his parents and to him finding out that he’s a son of Galactor? Is he carrying a deep sense of unworthiness that makes him feel, whatever’s wrong with him, that it’s fate punishing him for his tainted origins (Dr. Nambu’s theory as we shall see)? Or is he feeling that he’s just one who’s been chosen by fate to suffer, again and again? Or is this a hint by the writers that the origin of Joe’s physical affliction here goes all the way back to the day, more than ten years ago, when the Devil Star tried to kill him with a rose bomb (even though it’s generally assumed that the shrapnel in episode 20 is the culprit)?

Or is it a case of some animator at Tatsunoko thinking “Hey, let’s draw flowers!” and I’m reading way too much into this?


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