"One Big Slappy Family" - An Analysis of Intrateam Violence
Here is a list of who hit who and when. If I've left out any incidents, let me know. By hitting, I mean any kind of strike that's not a friendly pat on the shoulder or shove to the helmet. Not all the strikes are malicious, and some better fit in the slapstick category. Note that I am not including the incidents where a team member mistakes another for the enemy.
Episode: 4 "Revenge of the Iron Beast Mechadegon"
Event: Ken sucker punches Naomi, then later hits her when it comes time for
her to take revenge against the monster that killed her father.
Comment: By rights, Naomi attacked Ken first, and he hit her hard enough to
incapacitate her without hurting her too much. The second hit was a kind of,
"Snap out of it" slap, but I'm not sure it really merited it. However, this
shows the kind of "tough love discipline" Ken has both experienced and has
passed along.
Episode: Either 8 or later
Event: Ken raps Jinpei on the helmet for running off alone and disobeying
orders.
Comment: A combination slapstick and typical discipline smack. This also happens in #49.
Episode: 34 "Evil Aurora Operation"
Event: Joe hits Jinpei, Ryu and Dr. Nambu, knocking the characters from
their Gallactor-induced hypnosis of thinking they are animals (Jinpei and
Ryu thought they were cats, and Nambu thought he was a gorilla).
Comment: Joe employs the "fist of healing" in this episode. Note that Ken
didn't want to hit Dr. Nambu, but Joe had more practical considerations.
Episode: 39 Jigokiller, Part 1
Event: Jun dispenses a well-timed slap to Jinpei's head for one insult too
many. Joe punches Ken in the face and knocks him down when Ken obeys orders
to set fire to a field of flowers where Jun may be held prisoner.
Comment: The thought of Ken's willingness to kill a teammate under orders
puts Joe over the edge.
Episode: 40 Jigokiller, Part 2
Event: Red Impulse delivers a nasty tongue lashing as he beats the snot out
of a sulking, grieving Ken. Ken hits Jun for disobeying orders.
Comment: Daddy Dearest's patented, "Tough love for raising strong men"
method. Granted Ken needs to set aside his personal problems for this job,
and it may be the only way to get through to him. Notice that Red sheds a
tear or two over his son's bruised body. Is temperamant hereditary?
Episode: 44 "Gallactor's Challenge"
Event: Jun elbows Ryu.
Comment: Slapstick sequence in reaction to an insult.
Episode: 49 "Fearful Mechadokuga"
Event: Jinpei gets a knock to the head from Ken for running off on his own.
Comment: Typical reprimand smack.
Episode: 51 "Revolving Beast Cateroller"
Event: Ken flashes back in a dream sequence to where his father nearly
drowns him in rough horseplay.
Comment: I realize it wasn't intentional to hurt the kid, but Kentaro
Washio, you're freaking Father of the Year.
Episode: 52 "The Secret of Red Impulse"
Event: Ken raps Jinpei on the head for suggesting Ken's friend isn't trustworthy.
Comment: A relatively gentle reprimand.
Episode: 53 "Farewell Red Impulse"
Event: Red Impulse throws his son across the room to prevent him from taking
his place in a suicide mission.
Comment: Kentaro's last tender act of love. Awww.
Episode: 54 "Gatchaman Burns with Rage"
Event: Nambu strikes Ken in the face for disobedience.
Comment: Despite his grief over the loss of his father, Ken had it coming,
and I think he pushed Nambu to his last nerve. The rest of the team later
let him have it as well, but verbally. Joe gets in some good lines, but the
award for the best verbal dope-slap goes to Jun.
Episode: 56 "Bitter Bird Missile"
Event: Joe backhands Jun into the bar at the Snack J when Jun refuses to
offer information on her ex boyfriend, Koji.
Comment: This is one of those, "Snap out of it" slaps. Frankly, I'm
surprised that Ken didn't do it. Also, Ken's look of wide-eyed horror during
the event seemed a bit too contrived for me. I suspect a game of "Good cop,
bad cop" that may have gotten out of hand.
Episode: 62 "Blizzarder, the Snow Devil"
Event: Jun beats on Ken with her fists for running off and nearly getting
himself killed.
Comment: She's not hitting him very hard. A mere gesture to blow off steam.
I think she does this in one other episode where Ken does something rash,
but I forget which one.
Episode: 68 "Particle Iron Beast, Micro Saturn"
Event: Ken shoves Joe and Ryu violently away before turning to attack Dr.
Nambu... Who is actually Katse in disguise.
Comment: This was in BotP as well. I always wondered why Jason tolerated it.
Episode: 73 "Get Katse!"
Event: Ken punches Joe in the face for firing a Bird Missile against orders.
Joe moves to hit back before Jun intervenes. Instead, he punches Ryu's
headrest. Ryu later shoves Joe out of the way so that he can fire a missile
at the advancing Mammothun mecha, only to discover Joe hadn't opened fire
because of all the deer running at the mecha's feet.
Comment: I'm surprised that Joe didn't shove Jun aside and hit Ken back.
Perhaps he knew he was in the wrong, because he redirected his aggression
instead of pursuing the fight.
Episode: 74 "Secret of Bird Style"
Event: Jun picks up a hapless Jinpei by the cheeks and yells at him after the kid makes a wisecrack.
Comment: Combination slapstick move and redirected aggression. After losing her shoe and having it fall into Gallactor's hands, Jun's under a lot of pressure.
Episode: 82 "Aim at Crescent Coral Reef"
Event: Jinpei whacks a laughing Ryu with a two-by-four and throws a rock at the Godphoenix after Ryu mocks his efforts at creating a fake Crescent Base.
Comment: This is all slapstick. Ryu doesn't even feel the blows, he's too busy laughing.
Episode: 90 "Armored Iron Beast Metangar"
Event: Joe threatens to beat sense into Ken when Ken refuses to fight the
armored Metangar mech. Ryu tries to calm him down and reason with Ken, then
loses his temper (as a sight gag).
Comment: Not an actual strike, but shows intent. Still, I doubt Jun could
have prevented Joe from striking Ken if he really intended to. This was more
as a display.
Episode: 97 "Leona 3, Spaceship Without a Future"
Event: Joe shakes Ryu when Ryu fails to stop a closing door. Ken violently
shoves Joe out of the way in order to fire the missile that destroys what
remains of the Leona 3 spaceship before it can strike a nuclear plant.
Comment: More a dramatic move than anything. Still, Joe tolerates it.
Episode: 99 "Wounded G-2'"
Event: Joe elbows Jun away from him while he's trying to fire the Bird Missiles and falters.
Comment: Joe shoves her back when she attempts to comfort him. Granted this is neither the time nor place for it. He doesn't hit hard, but compared to Jun's hammering on Ken at the end of "Blizzarder," I had to include it.
Episode: 101 "Hebi Cobra Sniper Group"
Event: Ken and Joe throw down in an all-out fistfight. Joe throws the first
punch after Ken grabs him by the shoulders and demands that he explain his
recent odd behavior.
Comment: Joe's first punch was the act of a very frightened man--he doesn't
want Ken to get close enough to know the truth about his failing health and
possibly take him off the team. Ken didn't see this, so he returned the
punch, and the men's tempers did the rest. Note that the fight is, blow for
blow, evenly matched with an undetermined outcome--in effect, a tie.
Some observations:
The scoreboard for the series: Counting the #101 fistfight as one strike,
Joe gets nine strikes. Ken gets eight strikes. Jun gets four strikes. Red Impulse three strikes, and Jinpei, Ryu and Nambu tie at one. Some of these hits are slapstick. Ken hits
Joe twice and shoves him twice. Joe hits Ken twice. These aren't really big
numbers when you consider you're going through 105 episodes--20% total, and some of that is for slapstick effect.Joe challenges and intimidates more than he hits. He's only hit Ken twice in the series (I'm counting the opening punch in #101, not the whole fight). His attempts to hit Ken back after getting hit have been bluffs--Jun could not stop him if he truly wanted to attack Ken. Because Joe is naturally intimidating, he has a reputation for being quick with his fists. (What reputation?) The chief weapon in Joe's arsenal is verbal.
Seguing to BotP's Jason, we don't even get to see him hit Mark for any reason. We hear him threaten Mark, criticize Mark and lunge at Mark as a bluff. However, since Zark assures us that Jason is so hot-headed, we believe that Jason has hit Mark a few times.
In Gatchaman, one team member hits another because:
- He wants that team member to snap out of what ever delusion he or she is
suffering (Joe hitting Jinpei, Ryu, Nambu, and Jun, Red Impulse beating
Ken).
- He or she is letting off steam at a disobedient team member after a major
crisis (Jun hitting Ken, Ken hitting Jun).
- It's accepted that an erring team member will accept a strike for
disobeying orders (Ken hitting anyone else, Nambu hitting Ken, Red Impulse
hitting Ken).
- The strike is a sight gag as a result of someone saying something mean
(Jun hitting Jinpei and Ryu).
Which leads me to an important point: Nobody gets hit that hard, even in the heat of anger. Not hard enough to cause severe injury, within a professional band of fighters trained to kill. Not hard enough to overrun the intended dramatic impact. This does show a degree of trust that no one on the team should ever betray. Even Ken and Joe's fistfight in #101 showed restraint. The two men had cuts and bruises. If they had "let loose," there would have been devastating injuries. The tricky part is to fight hard enough to drive the other away, but not hard enough to incapacitate him.
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