Ms Ann Reviews BoTP Episode 10 and Gatchaman Episode 10 by msannomalley
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Author's Chapter Notes:

Note: This review was originally written in 2002 based off the Rhino subtitled version appeared on there DVD release of Battle of the Planets. However, a I've rewritten this, I do reference the ADV dub from time to time.

It's nighttime in the city, evident by the darkness broken by all the neon lights. The Narrator says that in the daytime, the city looks dirty with smog, but at night, it is quiet and beautiful with bright neon signs.

A quiet city at night? I've been to large cities at night. It's not exactly quiet. Does this one have a curfew or something?

The narrator goes on to say that people are on their way home. But at Jun's snack bar, young people have gathered for a go-go contest.

A go-go contest? I thought go-go dancing involved dancing in a cage. Maybe I'm wrong. I wasn't born yet in the 1960's. My mother was pregnant with me during most of 1969, though, but being a bun in the oven during 1969 is not the same as being born in the 60's. Although some people argue that the 1970's didn't start until January 1, 1971, so if you follow that school of thought, then you could say that I was born during the 1960's. But most people don't follow that rationale, so I was born in the 1970's. Okay, very, very early in 1970, when people were still writing 1969 for the year on their personal checks.

There I go, off on some weird tangent again.

Anyway, we see Jun and Jinpei dancing among a bunch of people that look like they could be extras on the Brady Bunch or the Partridge Family. And they dance like they're purposely trying to throw out their backs or something. I know that Gatchaman is supposed to take place in the year 2001, but the show was made in the early 1970's, and everything looks like that, but I am convinced that the kind of dancing that I'm seeing here is responsible for people my parents' age taking their frequent trips to the chiropractor. (By the way, my parents are in their 60's and I'm in my 30's.) There's one guy dancing who, by the expression on his face and the way he's hunched over, reminds me of Quasimodo. Just thought I'd point that out.

Anyway, all these people and Jun and Jinpei are dancing and then the power goes out. And true to fashion, like in every Japanese monster flick I have seen, everyone panics and runs away. Poor Jinpei gets trampled. I should point out that the animators only drew the same two people and they are running over and over again in an infinite loop. Somebody at Tatsunoko was a little bit lazy, huh? I mean the animators could have at least given a couple of them different colored clothes or something.

Out on the streets, it's dark and quiet. That is, until we hear the screech of tires on the pavement. The power outage caused the traffic lights to stop working, and I guess a policeman couldn't get there in time to prevent the five to seven car pile up that has occurred. Guess who drives up? Yep, Joe. Joe sees the wrecked cars and says, "Shit, what's going on? A sudden blackout!"

I'm beginning to think that it's required that Joe say the word "shit" at least once per episode. He's said the word in every episode Rhino subtitled so far. You don't hear it as much in the ADV version.

Now we're taken to the airport. Even the airport is in the dark. A passenger plane tries to land, but it crashes into another plane, which causes the airport to close. Flying overhead is Ken. He sees the darkened airport and says, "A power outage at the airport? That's weird! Did something happen at the power plant?"

It sure did, Ken. The power plant has been taken over by ants. Ants who spit some nasty acid stuff that eats metal. Ants who kill people. With the amount of ants there, I wonder if someone has a secret stash of half-empty Mountain Dew cans lying around. I know that stuff attracts ants.

But back to Ken. Nambu calls him. "Gatchaman, Gatchaman. This is Nambu. It's an emergency." I guess so, since Nambu used Gatchaman twice. Ken says, "Roger."

Back out on the streets, Nambu calls Joe. "G-2. G-2. Mobilize." Joe says, "Roger" and then he drives away from the now flaming auto wreckage.

Back at Jun's snack bar, Nambu calls Jun and Jinpei, while the people around them run away in panic. "G-3, G-4, Mobilize." Jun says, "Roger." Then Jun goes outside and revs up her motorcycle. "Jinpei, come on," she says. Jinpei says, "All right." Then Jun starts riding away and Jinpei runs after her and jumps on the back of her bike. And for some reason, he's not wearing his striped pants. They're a solid blue.

Where's Ryu? Just wondering...

Anyway, the team is assembled on the God Phoenix and Nambu is briefing them. He says that an army of ants is attacking the power plant. "If we leave it alone, they might destroy the reactor, leading to a radiation leak." Nambu goes onto say that because of the blackout, chaos has erupted all over town. But the SNT must "mobilize" themselves and take care of the robot ants. Nambu wishes them "success" and Ken replies, "Roger." After Nambu signs off, an image of the burning power plant is on their monitor.

Now we're back at the power plant and we get more ant destruction footage. We also get to see a guy dying, a guy who has these ants crawling all over him. Before the man dies, he says, "We have a problem." Well I should say you definitely do. The man, right before he keels over, says that the reactor has been breached.

I hope everyone has their radiation suits on.

Then we see something blow up as the God Phoenix is flying right over the power plant. Ken goes, "Damn! Why does an army of ants attack a nuclear power plant?" Jun only says, "Ants can be so destructive when there are so many of them." I don't know about that. I suppose certain types of ants can be, but every summer, I get ants in my house and they crawl all over everything and we have to be careful and not leave the sugar canister open, otherwise when I make cookies, there will be "extra" ingredients in them and I sure don't want to eat an ant. Then we have to get the Terro Ant Killer stuff. Ants love that stuff and it works really good, too. But, I digress...

Ryu, who I still don't know where he was when the others were caught in the blackout, says, "But against such tiny ants, Bird Missiles are useless." Then Joe says, "Why not cause a flood and wash them away?" Jinpei wants to know how and Joe explains. He points to the river that runs next to the nuclear power plant. The river is contained on each bank by a wall. Then Ken goes, "I see! We can demolish it with Bird Missiles."

Oooh! That was a pretty crafty way for Joe to get to fire the Bird Missiles. He's cunning, too. Ms. Ann likes that.

I have to back up a little bit here. I somehow get the impression that maybe there aren't that many ants in Japan, because neither Ken, Jun, Jinpei, or Ryu seemed to know what to do about them. However, Joe did. And Joe is not Japanese. So I'm thinking that maybe at some point in his life, perhaps when he was a little kid, there was an ant problem in the Asakura household. Either that or Joe had a bad ant problem in his trailer. But I digress.

Anyway, Ken asks Nambu for permission to fire the Bird Missiles. Nambu says okay. Then Ken tells Joe to aim for the riverbank. Ken acts all commander-like, and I'm wondering if Ken is having a Mark-moment because he didn't know what to do about the ants and Joe did. Joe says, "Roger." Then the panel covering The Big Red Button opens automatically. I am convinced that it will only open this way for Joe and only Joe (and I also believe that this is the same for Jason in BotP.). Ken had to smash it open with his fist. Some crosshairs appear on the monitor and when their all nice and centered, Joe pushes The Big Red Button and the missile hits the wall. Water comes gushing out and the ants meet their watery end. Ken, Jun, and Ryu are watching this and they're all happy. Ryu goes, "Look at them!" Jun says, "It worked well!"

Now the sun is out and everything is drying out. The SNT is on the ground amid what's left of the nuclear power plant. I hope their Birdstyles are equipped with some sort of radiation protection. Ken is looking at the ground. He remarks that it looks like the ants have gone underground. Then he turns to the others and warns them to be careful because there is a radiation leak. I repeat what I said before about the Birdstyles being equipped with some type of radiation protection. Then he also warns that there might be some ants remaining. The team start searching the area. Jun sees something, goes "Huh?", screams, and jumps towards Joe, throwing her arms around his neck, and judging from Joe's reaction, he was clearly not expecting this. Jun found one of the robot ants.

Ms. Ann is thinking two things right now. One, why is Jun, who can take down Galactor goons, killing them with her yo-yo bomb, scared of a bug? And two, Ms. Ann, in a sudden fit of Fan Girlishness, wishes she could trade places with Jun right about now. *evil grin*

Ms. Ann also wants to take this moment to point out to Mr. Ann that Condor Joe is only a cartoon character. I will never meet him, much less have the chance to shriek upon the sight of a bug and jump up at him and throw my arms around his neck. If I were afraid of bugs, which I am not (mice, however, are another story), I would shriek and throw my arms around Mr. Ann's neck.

Okay, back to the review.

Ken picks up the robot ant, looks at it, and says, "Wow! This is impressive." The ant's mechanical guts are hanging out of it. Jun is standing next to Joe and she's got her hand on his chest and I know that there are a fair number of women out there who are wishing they could trade places with her at this moment. Then they come closer to look at the ant.

Now the ant is being shown on a projector. Nambu goes, "Look at this. This is no ordinary ant." Now a picture of the ant's autopsy is shown. Nambu continues. "It's a robot ant made of extremely fine machines." Ken goes, "This is surprising." Then Jun goes, "Who could have made such a thing?" I would think that by now, ten episodes into this series, Jun would know who is responsible for something like this. Jun's not too bright today, it seems. Maybe all that go-go dancing has gotten to her.

Nambu only replies, "A terrifying power of science. They must have been made to attack the nuclear power plant and cause panic." Ken goes, "Galactor, then."

Give this boy an A!

Nambu goes, "Yes, no one other than Galactor has such a power of science." I'm wondering if he really wanted to say, "No duh, Ken." I mean, they're ten episodes into this series and they only have this one enemy who is bent on taking over the world and Ken should know by now that it's a given that Galactor is behind every nasty thing that happens in his world. I could understand if it were Mark in BotP who said this, because sometimes, instead of having Zoltar wear the sillier outfits that Katse wears in Gatchaman, they make up a new character who is explained as being in cahoots with Spectra, such as Captain Doom or Antoff. (Which, I guess means that Zoltar has more dignity than Berg Katse if you stop and think about it.) But Ken, you really should know who your enemy is.

End of rant.

Moving right along...

Nambu orders the team to search for the robot ant base. Jinpei goes, "But they are so small!" Ryu thinks it will be impossible because there are also real ants, too. Then Joe smiles this cunning smile and goes, "In a chess game, a good player will use his opponents pieces."

You are a crafty one today, aren't you, Joe? *grin* Smart, too. :-) Maybe I should start awarding points to Joe, too?

Jinpei wants to know what Joe means. Nambu says that Joe is right.

Next we see a pair of hands placing the newly repaired robot ant on the sandy desert ground. Ken goes, "Dr. Nambu is great. He fixed it quickly and now wants us to use it against them." Nambu may have fixed it, Ken, but the using it against them idea came from Joe. Having another Mark-moment today, Ken?

Jun must have doubts, because she asks Ken if they'll really be able to find Galactor's base. Ken tells her that according to Dr. Nambu, the ants are controlled by a radio signal and if they follow one, it will lead them to its base. The ant is looking back and forth repeatedly and suddenly its antennae pop up. Jinpei says that it found the radio signal. The ant starts walking off and Ken, Joe, Jun, and Jinpei are following it and Ryu is following them in the God Phoenix.

Did I mention that the four on the ground are in civvies? Well, they are.

They follow the ant for awhile and stop by some rocks. Ken goes, "Phew! It's not easy following it." Then Joe, turning his head to look at a tired Jinpei, says, "Ken, someone is already giving up." Ken turns and looks, then says, "What's with you Jinpei? Don't look so miserable." Jun giggles and gets her dig in. She says, "You look pathetic. Get a hold of yourself." Uh, Jun? Kettle calling Pot, come in, Pot. Does your shrieking over an ant ring a bell? Jinpei replies, "But we're following a robot. I just can't walk any farther."

Then Ken goes, "Oops! The ant is gone." Sure enough, the ant has disappeared. The team take off running and they run up to a ledge where they stop because they see these huge twin towers of earth. Ryu, on the God Phoenix, saw them, too, because he mumbled something about "this is so irritating", "this" being the fact that he is left behind again, then goes huh? Jinpei wants to know what happened to the robot ant. Ken goes, "But what are those humungous towers?" And I believe more and more that there aren't that many ants in Japan. Ken should come to Wisconsin sometime. We got lots of ants. Mosquitoes, too. And several varieties of flies: stinging horseflies, houseflies, and the dreaded lake fly. Anyway, Jun thinks they are creepy and Joe thinks that the ants might possibly be inside them. The Jinpei goes, "I remember! They're ant hills. Ants live in them." Ken goes, "I see. Then this is the robot ant base." Joe is all for breaking in and investigating and he's got this kind of devious look on his face. But Ken says no, they'll wait until nighttime because it's too dangerous to break in right now.

And now it's nighttime. As the KNT watch from above, robot ants come pouring out of the ant hills. Ken remarks that this was the robot ant's base, just as they suspected. Joe tells Ken that since they know for sure that this is the base, they should go and investigate. Ken agrees. The team runs to the base. Ken wonders how they should sneak into the base. And as soon as Ken says that, the ground starts shaking. A big hole opens up. Jinpei goes, "An ant lion!" just before the KNT are sucked into this big hole. As they are falling down this ant lion, we get individual shots of the team and they all groan and stuff. Then Ken orders everyone to transform and he does the Bird Go! thing. When they enter the base, Ken, Jun, and Joe land on their feet, while Jinpei lands on his face. (Poor guy.) And then the shot pulls back to see that they are standing in some circle on the floor, so we know that Something Bad Is Going To Happen. A familiar voice greets them. "We've been waiting for you, Gatchaman," says the voice of Berg Katse. Then the shot pulls back to reveal Green Goons with guns trained on the KNT. Then the shot pans to the right, and...

Berg Katse is dressed in an ant costume.

Let me repeat that. Berg Katse is dressed in an ant costume. And not just any ant, either. He's a Shakespearean ant, complete with the Sir Walter Raleigh Car Air Filter Collar, the cape, the tights, and I think Berg is wearing a corset, too. I know in the BotP review, I mentioned that Antoff's (the name they gave to the villain in that version) pecs were huge, but as I watch both versions more and more, I'm beginning to think that the effect is caused by a corset.

And yes, the mandibles/buckteeth still move when he talks.

Either Sosai forced Berg to wear this ridiculous outfit, or Berg dabbles in summer stock theater and has to perform in a play right after the invasion. Shakespeare on the Mound, anyone?

And yes, I am laughing my butt off, too. I can't help it. And I thought the Katzenberge/Captain Doom outfit was bad!

Like G-Force, I think the KNT have to go through some specialized training to not laugh at Berg Katse's ridiculous outfits. They have to, because I can so picture Joe and Jinpei bursting into laughter at the sight of Katse.

Okay, back to the review.

Katse says, "Gatchaman, I compliment you for finding out our secret base." I should point out that in the ADV dub, he kind of talks in a gay lisp, which is hilarious with the outfit. Then he turns to a goon and says, "Do it." The goon pulls on a lever and calls the KNT bastards. The KNT now find themselves encased in a giant glass egg. Ken puts his hands up to the glass like a mime, while Joe tries to break out of it. It doesn't work. Then Katse taunts the KNT, telling them that they won't escape from the hard glass egg no matter how hard they fight. Then we see, from a distance, Ken pounding on the egg with his fists while Katse, who seems to enjoy this, informs them that they will soon run out of oxygen and then they'll have nothing to worry about. Then Katse says that with the ant robots, Galactor will finally conquer Earth. Katse cackles, and Ken pounds on the egg.

[Insert Golden Ken Title Card Here]

Back in the egg, the KNT are gasping for air. Ken goes, "Shit" and then grabs his birdrang. He tries to cut open the glass egg, but I guess the blades aren't diamond tipped, which is unfortunate, since diamonds can cut glass. He doesn't even make a dent. Ken goes, "No." Then Jinpei goes, "Okay, I'll do it!" He reaches into his belt and gets a box of powder. Then he shakes some into one of his clackers, which he has unscrewed. Jun tells Jinpei that that's dangerous. But Joe says, "No, it might be a good idea." As he's crawling back to the others after he set his charges, Jinpei says not to worry and that he'll handle it. Then he tells everyone to take cover. Actually the Rhino translation said "We need to gather and cover ourselves with the capes". But take cover sounds better so I don't know why the translators didn't use that. I mean, if we're watching with subtitles, it's not like we can understand what they're saying, right? Well, I understand a few words. Words like kuso, shimatta, baka, nani, aniki, onechan, hai, hakase, and yarou . But that's beside the point. I know when one language is translated to another, there are some things that either can't be translated or are just translated weird, so why not use something that sounds better, but means the same in the language you are translating it into?

I was just re-reading the last part, and for some reason, I can picture someone in Japan reading this and saying to themselves, "We've got such a nice language but all these Americans seem to know is our swear words!" Why do I picture this? Well, I guess because when I first got online in the late 1990's, and I encountered foreigners who could speak English, some of them were writing posts in broken English and apologizing for their bad English and their misspelling of English words. But yet they knew all the slang and all the swear words and how to spell them correctly. And I was amazed by that for some reason. I didn't think that they were stupid for not having good English. Most Americans have terrible English. English is a difficult language to learn, English grammar and spelling are even worse, and it's even difficult for us native speakers to learn, too. I understood English grammar better after I took three years of German in high school. But one of the few words I remember is the German word for "shit". *g*

And as usual, I digress. But you all should be used to it by now. ;-)

Okay. The KNT take cover. After a few seconds, the charges go off and the egg is broken. Jinpei crawls out first, stands up, and says, "That's how to do it."

Cut to a shot of Red Impulse flying in and shooting missiles. RI goes, "Don't give up. To preserve our honor, don't even let one ant robot get into the city." From a screen in the robot ant's base, Katse sees this and says, "Those damn red flies! How dare they torment my ant robots! We shall avenge with Galactor's new state-of-the-art weapon."

Now that the KNT have escaped, they are walking down a hallway. They walk until they find a giant cocoon. Actually, I think it's supposed to be an egg since ants do lay eggs. But it kind of looks like a cocoon.

Outside, and still hovering in the air, Ryu is waiting in the God Phoenix. "I wonder if Ken and the others are okay. I just can't wait by myself out here." Then he sees something and goes, "What the hell is that?" That giant egg/cocoon is popping out of the ground and a giant ant hatches from it. Ryu flies away and the ant tries spitting at the God Phoenix, but Ryu is too quick and the ant misses. Then the giant ant goes lumbering off to God knows where and to do God knows what.

Ryu goes, "Whew! That was a surprise." Then Ken contacts him. Ryu asks Ken if he's alright. Ken says of course and adds that he though Ryu might have been killed by the giant ant. Ken goes onto say that they destroyed the ants missiles and not to worry. As he says this, we see Jun playing with her yo-yo, Joe standing there looking all manly and impressive, and, well, I'm not sure what Jinpei is supposed to be doing. It's in the image gallery. Ken asks Ryu to pick them up. He does. And with a rope, too.

Now they're on board the God Phoenix. Nambu says that thanks to the KNT, they know where the base is and the ants weakness. They don't like external heat, and therefore, they only attack at night. Ken says, "So a strong outside heat can destroy them." Nambu says that Red Impulse used flame throwers to defeat the robot ants. Ken thinks that they could use the same method against the big one. Nambu says that the same method doesn't work on the big ant. They should wait until sunrise. The team object to having to wait. Nambu says, "I know, but we have no other way."

More scenes of ant destruction. The train tunnel gets hit, a building gets hit, and some people in cars get hit. The big ant spits at a lot of things. Then Red Impulse shows up again, shooting missiles at the ant, but they don't really work, per se. Katse sees the "bothersome red flies" and decides to retreat into the tunnel. Red Impulse says "damn".

Then Nambu informs the KNT that the ant went into "the worlds longest tunnel". No name. Just the world's longest tunnel. The team is ordered to wait by the nearest exit. As they take their place, the sun is coming up.

Now there's some ant in the tunnel footage. It spits on a car and melts it.

Meanwhile, back at the tunnel exit, the God Phoenix is hovering over and Nambu is watching from either an observation tower or one of those Toll Booths of the Future. On the GP, Ken is irritated at having to wait, but Ryu says they have to wait. Then Ken asks Jinpei for the weather forecast. According to Jinpei, everything's fine so far, but some clouds are gathering. Then Ken goes, "Please, Sun, shine brightly upon us." And for some reason, I can picture the Sun, replying in a big, booming, deity-like voice, "No!"

I know, I'm weird. But weirdness leads to creativity. :)

Anyway, the clouds are pulling in and Nambu is watching the tunnel entrance. So far, it's quiet, but then a pair of high beams appear. On the GP, Ken orders Ryu to "commence Operation Sunshine".

Excuse me for a moment, while I laugh again.

Okay. I guess I'm just used to the types of names the American military uses, which, if you think about it, are probably just as silly as Operation Sunshine. Anaconda? All that makes me think of is that line from Baby Got Back, "My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hon." But when I think of this line, I don't think of Sir Mix A Lot saying it. Instead I think of Crow T. Robot on MST3K singing it to the tune of an extremely white-bread folk song in the movie "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies." If you've ever seen that episode, that line is hilarious.

I wonder what kind of hits I'm going to get from Google for this? I'm digressing again. I know.

So, then...

Ken gives the order and Ryu pushes a button. The nose on the GP slides back to reveal a... folded up fan? Excuse me for a moment, but isn't' there supposed to be a car there? Where is it?

The fan unfolds, and I was mistaken. It's a giant satellite dish.

Okay, when did the KNT have time to have a retractable satellite dish installed in the God Phoenix. As I recall, when they were in the ant base, Ryu was waiting in the God Phoenix up in the air. And while they were following the robot ant to its base, and getting trapped in glass eggs, they were gathering information. And as I also recall, this was AFTER their briefing with Nambu where they were shown the ant autopsy pictures. So if they gathered this information after this first briefing, then HOW DID A GIANT RETRACTABLE SATELLITE DISH GET INSTALLED IN THE GOD PHOENIX? Did some poor ISO workman have to do this in mid-air? What's up with this?

Ms. Ann really needs to cut down on the caffeine. Especially at one in the morning.

So now they're waiting for the ant to come out, and the Giant Retractable Satellite Dish is pointed at the tunnel's entrance. The ant is making its way down the tunnel. Then we see Nambu, who has the shakes, so maybe he should cut down on the caffeine, too. Then, back to the ant, then onto Ken in the God Phoenix and then to the ant, which is finally emerging from the tunnel. The ant just stands there. Then Nambu goes, "Now!" And then Ken tells Ryu to focus on the ant. So Ryu adjust the Giant Retractable Satellite Dish and aims it at the ant. Sunlight is reflected off the dish and onto the ant, which is now shaking and the metal is peeling apart. Inside, it looks like Katse is having the mother of all ice cream headaches, because that's exactly how I feel when I get ice cream headaches.

On the GP, Jun goes, "A little more!" And then Ken goes, "Do it!" And if one were to take this totally out of context and listen to the audio, it sort of sounds dirty. Not in a Zark/Susan dirty way, but...

I really should lay off the caffeine at one in the morning. Now I'm really getting weird.

Anyway, Jinpei informs Ken that a cloud is blocking the sun.

Oh crap. Or as Ken says, "Damn!"

Sure enough, clouds are blocking the sun. Lots of clouds are blocking the sun. First, there was the few clouds, then there are a lot of clouds. Maybe Utoland is really Wisconsin? There's a saying about the weather here. "If you don't like the weather, then wait a minute." We have weird weather here. It often goes to extremes, especially in the spring. One day it will snow, and literally the next, it will get in the 70's. Thank you, Global Warming.

Anyway, Katse seizes this reprieve. He orders the goons to "swat down the God Phoenix." He's got his fist in the air, and this is the exact moment in BotP when Antoff decided to quote Muhammed Ali (and should have been slapped for that, too.) The ant sprouts some wings and takes off into the air. It flies right towards the GP and spits some of that greenish stuff at it. I'm starting to think that the greenish stuff is "Surge" soda, because that's what it looks like.

Ken tells Ryu to watch out, but Ryu can't go any faster with the Giant Retractable Satellite Dish attached to the GP. Back in the Toll Booth from the Future, Nambu shouts, "Get away from it!" The ant is still chasing the GP and spitting Surge soda at it. And just when we think Gatchaman is really in trouble, Red Impulse shows up. They shoot missiles at the ant, and for some reason, when we see them shoot their missiles, it turns into night time. Red Impulse, the cocky man that he is, tell the Science Ninja Team to let them handle it. Ken says that they (The KNT) can't let Red Impulse steal all the glory. They should fight. Then Joe says one of his famous lines. "Let's shoot bird missiles at it."

I wonder if anyone's playing the Gatchaman Drinking Game right now.

Ken tells Joe, "No. Wait for the sun."

The Jinpei shouts, "Aniki! Chance!" The sun comes out. And the ant gets fried. And of course, Katse escapes.

On the GP, Ken goes, "We did it." Ryu echoes him with extreme enthusiasm. Back at the toll booth, Nambu wipes the sweat off of his face. Then Red Impulse goes, "Gatchaman, well done. But we can't let you take all the glory."

Um, excuse me, Red? But it wasn't you who destroyed that big Surge spitting ant. It was the Science Ninja Team.

Then he goes onto say to the KNT that they might meet again. Actually, they will, but in the next episode. *snicker*

The KNT retract the Giant Retractable Satellite Dish and the nose cone goes over it. And the next time I see that nose cone open, and Joe's car isn't there, there'd better be an explanation as to how the object currently taking the car's place got there.

Okay. Now for some final thoughts from the team. Ken goes, "I've never appreciated the sun as much as I did today." Ryu goes, "That was good." Jun says, "Everyone did good." Then Jinpei goes, "We almost got the monster all by ourselves." Then Joe says to Jinpei, "Don't be a sour winner." And back in the Toll Booth, Nambu goes, "The Science Ninja Team and the ISO lead our team to victory." On the GP, Jun says, "We can't forget another friend of ours. Look!" And this friend is shown. Jun goes, "The sun was on our team." Then the God Phoenix flies off. Since it's already daytime, there's no sunset.

And what happened to the narrator? Seems he disappeared quite some time ago. At least he doesn't pop up to engage in some icky flirting with a breathy disembodied voiced female.


A Few Thoughts From Ms. Ann:

I do like this episode. I may rag on these episodes, but I adore them. :)

I think this is the longest episode review I wrote and I think it took the longest to do, too. Usually, I can write these in a day, but this one took me over two months to do. Why? I got busy. :)

I also think that Rhino, when doing the translations, should not be translating the words "aniki" and "onechan". They're translated as "brother" and "sister", and when Jinpei calls Ken "Ken aniki", it's translated as "Brother Ken" and that, well, sounds really, really stupid, like Ken's a monk or a participant in a ninteenth century revival meeting. Since those words are honorifics, I think they should be left alone. The ADV dub handles this a lot better. "Bro" sounds much better than "Brother Ken".

And as I end this, I am toying with writing these episodes out of order. I really want to skip ahead to 12, because that is one of my favorites, but I said I'd try to stay in order. Whatever I decide, you'll just have to find out...

Five years later, I still haven't gotten around to writing Episode 11. Also, Ms. Ann no longer drinks Mountain Dew, which she consumed copious amounts of during the original writing of this review. It's just coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day.

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