Gatchaman Fighter (48 episodes) followed Gatchaman II in 1979. A tiny fragment of Sosai X survives the final battle in Gatchaman II, and mutates into the ultimately nasty Sosai Zed. Zed recruits a half-sane megalomaniac named Count Egobossler, who is taking over the world by military force rather than by weird scientific schemes. Zed backs him up with mechs and manpower, but the two villains often fence with each other. The Kagaku Ninjatai suffer through another vehicle change, acquiring the lackluster Gatchaspartan. The 'Spartan's ultimate weapon is called the Hypershoot, used in conjunction with Ken's new sword, the Gatchafencer, to slice through enemy mecha in improbable-looking battle sequences. Gatchaman Fighter's art and animation quality was unsteady, but seemed an improvement over Gatchaman II. What crippled this series was its singleminded focus on Ken and the Gatchafencer, which left the other characters with nothing to do but watch the fireworks. This was undoubtedly the darkest series of the three, and the weapons and constant stalemates steadily took their toll on Ken's health and sanity. However, viewer percentages jumped when the final episodes came around: Tatsunoko was notorious for spectacular finales, and they delivered.
Egobossler's first attack, backed up by one of Zed's giant mechs, completely startles out heroes. Ken, Jun, Jinpei and Ryu rush to the scene of the battle (leaving Joe behind to quietly expire). The mech is too powerful, and the New Godphoenix is completely trashed in the first skirmish with Egobossler. Fortunately, Chief Engineer Saburo Kamo is waiting in the wings with brand new mechs. With only one problem: the new vehicles need five operators to combine. It's up to Joe, who upon hearing the phrase, "Gallactor has returned," will crawl on his final strength to rejoin the team. TheGatchaspartan saves the day.#6 "Burn! Gatchaman Fencer!" Ken asks the same question viewers have probably been asking since the beginning: "Enough battling the little guys--why can't we meet Egobossler head on?" The Team does, but fails miserably. This episode ends in a very disturbing role reversal scene with Ken--now beyond reason--raging at a laughing Egobossler, and Joe finally having to bring all his strength into play to drag Ken back into the Gatchaspartan.
#7 "Steal the Giant Iron Beast" The Kagaku Ninjatai continue their tries at direct confrontation by stealing aboard Zed's tower and facing him directly. This doesn't work either (can we say "outnumbered"?), though they do get in a few good punches.
#14 "Destruction by Fire! Egobossler's Palace" The Team dons disguises and steals aboard a key enemy base to find... Gallactor homes and families. (Uh oh...) Ken dons overalls and plays a rural innocent while trying to appeal to a Gallactor/ISO double agent. Joe masquerades as a bus driver, and hits Mechandol with the bus in an ensuing battle. Good fun all around.
#19 "Don't Touch the Super Stuff!" Mercenary scientist Professor Gordon develops an indestructible material called Neophryte and decides to sell it to the highest bidder. So he summons agents from both Gallactor (Egobossler's first officer, Kempler) and the ISO (the Gatchaman, naturally) to meet alone on a spot he specifies. Of course Kempler doesn't come alone, but much to both his and Ken's surprise, neither does Ken. While the Gallactors and the rest of the Kagaku Ninjatai take part in a snarling standoff outside, Gordon, Kempler and Ken negotiate. Kempler offers money, while Ken refuses to haggle, stating honor and decency as his reasons (and knowing as Gordon does that once he withdraws his protection, Gallactor will simply take what they want by force). Worried about his father, Gordon's son finally ends the standoff and uncovers the compound for both sides to fight over. Joe uses a bazooka loaded with Neophryte to blow a hole in the monstermech that appears at the end. The icing on the cake was the guest star who did Prof Gordon's voice... none other than Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse).
#25 "Skyriders from Hell" One of Egobossler's old friends and colleagues Oncain, is also the last man on Earth who knows Count Egobossler's deep, dark secrets. The Kagaku Ninjatai get to Oncain first and try to convince him to stay away from Egobossler, but the man will have nothing of it. He invites the Team to go fox-hunting and with his two children, Michael and Mary, and as they're distracted, arranges to meet with Egobossler. The inevitable showdown with Egobossler and his special Skyrider command is spectacular, but even Ken and Joe at their best can't prevent Ego from gunning down his man. Joe comes round the corner just in time as Ego shoots Oncain right before Michael and Mary's eyes (triggering a flashback where you almost see the faces of Joe's parents). In the final scene, Joe kneels down and has a little heart-to-heart talk with Michael. You don't hear what he says, only Michael's reactions.
#26 "G-1 Enraged! A New Way to Kill" (Nicknamed "A Boy and His Cow.") Though not essential to the series, this episode is remarkable because it's so unbelievably bad it's essential to mention it. The ISO has built a research lab near a quaint rural village where every year, the people bring in their cattle to be blessed. Gallactor throws in some mad cyborg cattle and wreaks havoc, and... Oh no! The cows are attacking the village! Watch this episode and laugh.
#31 "Runaway! The Great Train Chase" Ken and Joe impersonate two scientists who are kidnapped by Gallactor, and wind up on a train chase through underground tunnels built by the Syndicate. Joe gets to be "more powerful than a locomotive." This episode would be perfect if it weren't for the last ten minutes when the Gallactor mech appears for the obligatory Gatchaspartan battle scene. (And it's a shoddy-looking "Transformers" ripoff that goes, "RAAAAAAHRRRRR!")
#33 "A Promise Kept" This is an excellent episode for Ryu fans. Our large-hearted hero goes as a spy to a northern port city to rescue a kidnapped professor, and winds up rescuing his young daughter as well. Ryu gets to show his compassionate side as well as his prowess at fighting, repairing boat engines and piloting all sorts of sea craft.
#35 "Hypershoot Crisis" The angst begins. Ken begins to show signs that use of the Hypershoot is hurting him, unfortunately at the same time that a Gallactor mech is attacking the main ISO building in New Jork. Despite his knowledge that the building is overrun with Gallactor goons, Chief Nambu drags Ken into his lab for a checkup. Meanwhile, Joe and the others grab Gallactor disguises and easily infiltrate the mech. ("Scuse me, you got some spare bazookas? Oh don't trouble yourself--we'll go get them...") Egobossler interrupts Ken's physical examination, but not before Nambu discovers the awful truth. The final scene has Joe standing before a glowing screen in the ruins of the lab, staring at Ken's test results.
#36 "The Shadow of Death Approaches G-1" Joe and the others try to keep Ken from joining in any future missions, but he puts a stop to that and reminds them that he is the leader of this team, dammit. We find out why Ken was chosen for the dangerously unstable Hypershoot weapon instead of Joe (Ken's quoted excuse was that Joe, by dying and being changed into a cyborg, had already paid his dues).
#37 "Revive! Gatchaman" Chief Nambu and Jun seek a way to repair the damage done to Ken by the Hypershoot, and discover that a doctor in a remote laboratory may have a device and process that can help... but they must fly to that laboratory. Egobossler learns of this and tries to intercept them, and we discover that Chief Nambu can fight and shoot quite well when cornered. Again the Team tries to keep Ken out of the action until he is healed, and Jun finally explodes and slaps Ken across the face. ("Weren't you the one who told me that it was wrong to so casually give up my life?") While she was at it, she might also have given Joe a good whack for trying to ram an enemy mech in a suicide dive.
#41 "Collapse! Gatchaman Base" When Egobossler discovers and attacks Gatchaman Base, Chief Nambu collars a pilot and rides shotgun in an F-18 to deal with the battle personally. The episode ends with a deliberate sacrifice: in order to save Kamo and what's left of the base, Nambu forces the pilot to eject and flies the plane into the attacking mech's docking bay--in effect, surrendering.
#42 "The Death of Chief Nambu" This episode begins with Nambu captured and undergoing torture and truth drugs, which he resists. When Ego gets bored with him, Nambu signals the Team from his confinement. When Egobossler calls him in later for a gloat session, Nambu turns the tables on him, slipping a truth drug into the leader's wine and forcing out details of the latest Gallactor threat: "The Poison Apple and Seven Dwarfs."
The final scenes are unforgettable: The Team captured and trapped in a room walled with Neophryte (Dr. Gordon's super-armor material from #19). Ken overloads the G-Fencer and manages to cut his way free just in time to see Nambu take two fatal bullets at point-blank range....
#46 "G-1 Desperate for High Power" Ken's rejuvenation treatments continue, but they're not working. The final ultimatum is delivered by his physician: if Ken uses the Hypershoot once more, he will die. This doesn't deter our Fearless Leader; instead he jury-rigs the Hypershoot system to full power in the expectation of going out in a blaze of glory. The Team tries to convince him otherwise, and finally must resort to outright mutiny.
#47 "Earth Extinction! 3...2...1" Only a few hours remain before Earth is destroyed. The Team and the Gatchaspartan, specially outfitted with the ISO's last three super missiles, is launched into space to battle the Poison Apple (what appears to be a mass of antimatter) directly. It finally dawns on Egobossler what Zed's plans are, and he faces the alien to vent his spleen. ("This is my world to rule, and you won't destroy it!") The Kagaku Ninjatai fights a hard battle against the Poison Apple, and Joe is badly hurt when he takes a full-scale energy bolt through the chest. This doesn't prevent him from threatening to beat Ken to a pulp if he tries to attack the Poison Apple with the Hypershoot. Jinpei stops the impending brawl by suggesting that if they go after Zed, perhaps it will stop the Poison Apple's progress. Ryu changes course for Zed's tower, and the final battle begins.
#48 "Gatchaman Eternal" The Team searches for Zed in his tower, and are thrown around like playthings. When they finally meet up, they discover what happened to Egobossler: his corpse is pinned against a wall in Zed's main chamber, run through by his own sword. At this point, Joe picks up on Zed's vital signs (as Rafael had designed him to) and tracks the alien to his last refuge, where the Kagaku Ninjatai battle to destroy him... and fall. Chief Nambu's mysterious pendant (an unanalyzed device he'd instructed Kamo to give to the Team before the last battle) comes into play then, activating the Gatchaspartan and swallowing the fallen ninjas with light... The final scene is of an enormous firebird breaking free of Zed's exploding tower and flying around the Earth, leaving us to analyze the wide open ending. (Chances are high, though, that they aren't dead--they're still under contract, after all.)
