The Third Series: Gatchaman Fighter
48 episodes
Though Sosai X was destroyed in Gatchaman II, a fragment of the wreckage continued to glow. In Gatchaman Fighter, that fragment rises from the debris, takes in its surroundings, and builds itself a monstrous new body. We don't see quite how large this new body is until later in the episode, but suffice it to say that a monstermech hundreds of times the New God Phoenix is pulled into Sosai's new body like a particle of dust.
Joe is lying in a dark room, still suffering from lack of energy to his circuits. He tells Ken that he has no reason to live now --he lived to destroy Galactor, and Galactor is gone. Ken opens the blinds and bids Joe live to appreciate the pastoral scene beyond, the peace he fought so hard to win.
But peace is an illusion. A new villain, Count Egobossler, is bringing the planet to its knees with massive military forces. Unlike other attacks we have seen in the Gatchaman series, Egobossler's troops are well-organized and quite intimidating. They come on foot and in hundreds and hundreds of tanks. After his soldiers have brought down their victims, Egobossler invariably sweeps in to assert his authority. He is cold and smooth and driven by ambition. Not even a single episode is wasted wondering what lies behind his grinning mask: an extremely handsome man, Egobossler bears a long scar across one cheek and indigo skin. Galactor is dead, but Egobossler has every intention of succeeding where they failed, even going so far as to take over what's left of the syndicate with Gel Sadra's death and X's destruction.
President Anderson's death has left Dr. Nambu in charge, and Egobossler calls to issue a challenge. Nambu does not want to send the Gatchaman team back into battle, since Egobossler's methods are conventional, not an abuse of science, but Ken insists. Everyone else displays appropriate shock at his determination, except Joe, who is not present due to his illness. But they are easily convinced, and the team (still sans Joe) takes off in the New God Phoenix. They are winning, but one of the troops aims a huge gun at the NGP. Just then, the earth splits open and a massive mecha (which looks suspiciously like the Goodyear Tire man) climbs from the crevasse. It blows holes in the NGP in short order, and the ship crashes to the ground.
The team climb from the wreckage of their ship only to see that Sosai has returned in the form of Z. It hovers above them, a massive hunk of junk in a vaguely triangular shape. It would see Gatchaman destroyed via its (Goodyear) mecha, but a burrowing mecha pops out of the Earth, scoops up the Gatchaman team with a huge hunk of grass and dirt, and carries them back into the ground.
While Egobossler and his two commanders, Mechandor and Kempeler, and their men look on, Z draws its mecha up inside itself via a tractor beam. It then proceeds to do the same to an astonished, but fascinated, Egobossler. The inside of Z is dark and the scene is reminiscent of Joe's confrontation with X at the end of Gatch II. The deactivated (Goodyear) mecha sits quietly across the darkness, its massive claws resting on its lap, looking almost demure. Z addresses Egobossler, and Z's new incarnation is faintly demonic and definitely intimidating.
Z strikes a deal with Egobossler. Together they will conquer the world and Gatchaman both. Egobossler jumps at the idea, and thus he is suddenly, truly, the leader of Galactor. The mandatory green goon suits appear on many (but not all) of the troops, and the mandatory monstermech start to show up. Egobossler never gives up his tanks and rows of soldiers, and is a more effective conqueror than his predecessors for it.
The Gatchaman team wake in a laboratory to be greeted by a rotund and gray but terribly friendly-looking man who introduces himself as Chief Engineer Saburo Kamo. Kamo has, at Nambu's instructions, created new weapons and a new ship for the team. Ken takes on a sword that is sometimes a blade and sometimes much more a lightsaber. Even though it is really a broadsword, it's called the Gatchaman Fencer. There are feather shuriken with blades the size of arrowheads for the still-absent Joe, an armband that shoots a web of fire for Jun, a yo-yo type weapon for Jinpei.
The Gatchaspartan, unlike the two Phoenixes, does not exist unless all five team members have united their individual vehicles. They lock together like a Voltron to create one ship that looks like a paper airplane. This means that the team go out together for every mission, but they go out in individual vehicles and later unite. Kamo warns them that they must have all five members if they wish to form the Spartan, and to use their most powerful weapon, the Hypershoot. Ken goes anyhow, and so do the rest.
The word "Galactor" brings Joe out of his stupor, and he leaves his bed (and the medallion he's been wearing) and takes off in the new G-2 to help his teammates. And at his arrival, Gatchaman is able to complete the Gatchaspartan. Joe then passes out. Ken's part of the Spartan disconnects from the rest of the ship, and he climbs up on top of it (in an amazing defiance of every law of physics I know). Using the Gatchaman Fencer, he cuts into the attacking mecha, which previously was indestructible even under heavy fire. Still on top of the G-1 and with the Hypershoot surrounding him, he flies into the mecha, which causes it to explode much like the Firebird invariably destroyed everything through which it flew.
The series quickly grows redundant, focusing on Egobossler and his conquests and leaving the appearance of the mecha to the last few minutes. Why Egobossler and Z keep building the mecha is beyond most watchers, because Ken, encased in the Hypershoot, always immediately destroys them.
By the fifth episode we have our first hints that Kempler, one of Egobossler's two seconds, would love to be in Egobossler's position. He is a villain in his own right: swaggering, malicious, and power-hungry.
In the 30's, we learn that Egobossler actually stole his half-brother's name and position. Erun was the son of the previous Cassary Egobossler, but he was illegitimate, his mother a mere maid. Not knowing this, he became Cassary's bodyguard, only to be blamed and beaten when Cassary broke his arm. His mother attempted to intercede and was killed for her efforts. Before she died, she told Erun that Cassary was his father. Horrified, Erun dyed his skin blue and bleached his hair white. He murdered his father, imprisoned his brother, and took his place as Cassary. In that second battle he received the characteristic scar that mars his face.
Meanwhile, we learn that the Hypershoot has a few nasty side effects, manifesting in a cancerous illness in Ken. Joe, the best bet for continued use of the Hypershoot, can't, since it would destroy his cybernetics. Jun, Jinpei, and Ryu can't use it, because the weapon operates on passion, and none of them have enough to power it. So Ken keeps using it.
Kempler grows weary of being pushed around by his leader and rescues the real Cassary Egobossler —Kaseru— so they may stop Erun. Erun is arrested, but so many of his men are loyal to him, particularly his other commander, Mechandor, that Galactor is split down the middle. Not one to be stopped, Erun kills his half-brother and destroys the Gatchaman headquarters, taking Nambu captive in the process.
Nambu, who allows himself to be captured in hopes of learning the secret of the Cosmic Pulse AQ-3 (this series' Big Plan), is subsequently tortured. I've always liked Nambu, but this part of the series shows us a side of him we haven't seen before --Nambu is a warrior in his own right, devious and determined to take his enemy down. He even takes a gun in hand and shoots back at the attacking enemy. He does manage to discover the information he's looking for, but just as the team reaches him, he is shot. Ken, horrified, disbelieving, and enraged, watches Nambu fall. In a scene that is far more poignant to me than Ken's reaction to Red Impulse's death, we see Gatchaman spiral into full-blown rage fueled by grief.
Egobossler desecrates Nambu's funeral by appearing atop his tombstone and laughing. Joe runs around behind the gravesite and finds a bomb, which goes off moments later, blowing up the grave. The team, having just laid bouquets of flowers on the site, throw themselves face-down to avoid being hurt.
Egobossler then executes Kempeler for his defiance. In vengeance for the mockery of Nambu's death, the Gatchaman team totals Egobossler's headquarters.
Everyone begins to understand that Z's intentions for the Earth have not changed. With the help of an antimatter asteroid, he will destroy the planet. The Gatchaman team try several tacts to stop the Plan, but their lack of success leads to their having to enter the massive body of Z. Egobossler, angry that he too has been betrayed by Z, takes Mechandol and some of his men into the structure as well. None of them survive, but their attempts allow the Gatchaman team to make an effective attack.
After this great battle, the team lie unconscious inside of Z, and Nambu appears to Ken, exhorting him to live, promising him that they are immortal. Fans disagree on whether or not the team actually die at this point, since a pendant Nambu gave Ken begins to glow, the five team vehicles lift up to form the Gatchaspartan, and Ken opens his eyes. Z explodes with all of them still inside, but a Phoenix shoots from the wreckage and heads for Earth. Kamo assures witnesses that "Gatchaman can never die. They are the immortal phoenix!"
Personally, when I watched the end, I wondered how people got the idea that they died at all. Ken looked pretty alive to me. I may be in denial, but that's what I saw. Most people I've talked to do believe that Gatchaman lives on in some form (certainly in the passionate hearts of fans!), and the Phoenix has always been symbolic of new life rising from the ashes of death.
My Ten Cents
I was so happy to see the New God Phoenix destroyed. ("Lo, I have seen the destruction of the New God Phoenix Chicken Ship from Hell, and yea, it was good.") The Gatchaspartan certainly isn't the original God Phoenix, but anything is a visual improvement over the New (ChickenShip) God Phoenix. On the other hand, the way the Spartan comes together is rather unbelievable. Once united, walls and chairs move to create a full open bridge for the Spartan. And, of course, the Hypershoot is too powerful. (And I still wonder how anyone could believe that a human being flying through steel with the protection of an invisible "hypershoot" could not develop bad side effects. Forget cancer. How about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?!) Bombs, bird missiles, and small nuclear devices do nothing to an attacking mecha, but Ken can cut through the thing with a Hypershoot-encased G-Fencer. And he stands on top of the G-1 unit the whole time. Does being a Science Ninja means that the laws of science don't apply to you?
Then there's Count Egobossler. Hey, he's handsome. His voice reminds me of Ken's. He's a huge improvement over Gel Sadra. But he's just not Katse. My biggest problem with Egobossler is that you practically never see him without a glass of wine in hand. I'm sure it's supposed to, in conjunction with his classical music, make him seem distinguished and cultured, but I was soon yelling "Our villain's an alcoholic!" at my tv screen. It's also a bit distracting that you can't see his mouth through his mask since the first two series got us used to seeing movement when Katse and Gel Sadra talk. Egobossler must make great use of his hands to keep the frames from growing static.
I like the animation in this series better than that of Gatch II. Finally, Ken and Joe look like real men. They spent a lot of the first series looking like youth (I know, that's because they were), and the second series looking like they were on steroids. In Gatch Fighter, they are proportional and muscular without looking silly. The animation is occasionally smoother than the other two series, and the team's faces have a bit more character than they did in the second series. Unfortunately, the animation quality varies hugely. The episodes that show Nambu's death and the final episode are both beautifully drawn, and the second-to-last episode is so well-done it almost looks like modern anime during some segments.
As for characterization, there isn't much for the team here, but of note is the fact that Ken and Joe have practically swapped personalities. Joe has grown laid-back, Ken savage, smashing panes of glass with his bare hand, flying off in early-Joe-like rages. His devastation and rage at Nambu's death are magnificent, and worthy of Nambu. (Whereas if Red Impulse had been my dad, I would have yelled "Good riddance!" after his exploding rocket. I'm just not a Red Impulse fan, folks.) Ken does seem to be taking a little more notice of Jun, however. Maybe it's just that he's lost so many people he cares about by the end of Fighter, but when he sees her go down at one point, he screams her name in a way that's even more chilling than when he thought he was burning her in the Gatch I Jigokiller episode.