G-2: Kondoru no Jo
Name: Condor Joe
AKA: Joe; George Asakura (Gatchaman) Jason (BotP) Dirk Daring (G-Force) Joe Thax (Eagle Riders)
Nationality: Italian (Sicilian)
Age: 18 (first series)
Cover Occupation: Private race driver; drives in endurance rally and stock car races. Lives in a small trailer, which he tows from race to race.
Info: Joe is defined in the series guidelines as a "tragic, troubled loner," and indeed he seems to be a magnet for disaster. He lives to take revenge on Gallactor for killing his parents back when he was eight years old. It appears his father, Giuseppe Asakura, was a high-level leader in Gallactor until he either ran afoul of organizational politics or developed a conscience and decided to seek asylum with the ISO. It's unclear what his motives were, but he was waiting to meet with Dr. Nambu when a Devil Star fatally shot him and his wife, Katarina. Joe was nearly killed by the Devil Star as well, but was rescued by Dr. Nambu and later trained for the Kagaku Ninjatai. For a long time, he had no clear memories of his parents' deaths or Gallactor's motive for their assassination.
Joe acts as a counterbalance for Ken--impulsive, impatient and furious when Ken is lucid; stable and sensible when Ken is acting irresponsibly. Joe is a top-class marksman and acts as chief gunner for the team. His preferred mode of action is "Shoot it now and improvise the rest," but he is by no means a cold-blooded murderer. He's good at hot-wiring his way out of tricky situations. Excels at throwing darts and knives; every member of the team carries feather shuriken, but use of these weapons becomes Joe's trademark.
After his painful death at the end of the first series, Joe is transformed into a cyborg for Gatchaman II and Fighter--something he attempted to keep secret until Dr. Pandora blew the whistle on him. Since he's nearly indestructible and believes he is a machine whose only purpose is combat, he tends to throw himself into dangerous situations before the rest of the Team can be endangered.
Voice Actors: Sasaki Isao (Gatchaman); Ishii Koji (Gatchaman 94); Ronnie Schell (BotP); Cameron Clarke (G-Force); Bryan Cranston (Eagle Riders)
Diinzumo's Review: The "Kinder, Gentler Condor"
Okay, I'll admit it--Joe's my favorite character. I like his unique looks, those predatory eyes, that rumbling voice and his "lovable jerk" image. But I can't help noting that Joe has to be the most overexaggerated character in the series. He likes to fire Bird Missiles and he wants revenge for his parents' deaths, so fans call him a savage psycho. He seems to fall in love with the wrong kind of women (usually enemy agents who expire before the end of the episode), so he's called a sex maniac. He briefly thinks about his mother in two episodes, and his voice actor says he has a "mommy complex."
Poor Joe. I think his main problem is an overblown reputation. Actually, he didn't get to do enough in much of the first series. Joe was the dark, silent type, always glaring from his vantage point off to the side. Occasionally he stepped in to shoot or tinker the Team's way to safety or to snarl his trademark, "Kuso! Gallactor me!" ("Damn! Stinking Gallactors!") He wasn't often shown fighting, usually throwing a few basic punches and then giving the stage over to Ken and his flashy martial arts moves. It wasn't until Tatsunoko became more aware of his popularity that he was allowed to do anything interesting. And then his karma came in and smacked him in the head. As the old saying goes, you only hurt the ones you love.
Joe has his own sites: The Completely Unofficial Condor Shrine and Condor Joe's Trailer. There is also a club at Yahoo! called Joe Asakura's Trailer.O tanoshimi ni!
Ken << Joe >> Jun