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Da-Garn Ep. 2: The Boy Who Became Commander

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Summary

After the battle, Da-Garn drives Seiji home and says that he needs to talk to him. At the temple, Hikaru and Tadashin wake up and notice that Seiji and Tadashin’s car are missing. Da-Garn tells Seiji that he must never tell anyone about the Aurin or his life will be in danger. He gives him the Director device which can store the Aurin and act as a communicator for Seiji to give orders to Da-Garn through. Hikaru storms into Seiji’s house and demands to know why he left her unconscious at the temple. Seiji makes up an excuse about waking up inside his house and feigns being sick, which Hikaru falls for. Tadashin sulks back to his koban thinking he’ll lose his job after having his car stolen but is surprised to find it parked in its spot and vows to find whoever stole it. Inside Hikaru’s family restaurant Tsukushi, Hikaru’s father Haruo watches a news report by Misuzu about the battle that happened earlier. Hikaru walks in and explains that school was out because of the UFO attack. She says that Seiji is acting strangely and thinks he hit his head. Tadashin enters and asks Hikaru’s mother Tsukushi if she saw any suspicious characters around. He explains that his car got stolen during the battle in the city but was later returned. Outside, Seiji asks Da-Garn who the enemy is and the latter replies that he knows nothing other than that the invaders are from space and they’re targeting Earth. Everyone inside the restaurant watches Seiji and Haruo wonders if they should inform Misuzu. Hikaru volunteers to fetch Misuzu from the city and Tadashin goes to straighten Seiji out. Seiji asks Da-Garn if he’s an avatar of the Earth’s will which the latter confirms just before Tadashin walks up to them. In space, Redlone orders his combat trooper Wolf G1-40 Beta to destroy Da-Garn. Misuzu rushes home after hearing about Seiji and apologies to him for being too busy with work. Seiji insists he’s fine but to his horror Misuzu decides to cook him lunch. Wolf descends into the city with two Riken Alpha saucers.

The combat troopers begin attacking the city. Misuzu tries in vain to cut up some vegetables and Seiji quickly takes over for her. She apologizes profusely for forcing Seiji to become independent despite being in elementary school and the latter says that he doesn’t mind. Just then Misuzu receives a phone call informing her about the attack on the city. Da-Garn contacts Seiji through his Director and tells him the same thing. He asks Seiji for his orders and the latter tells him to protect the city and he’ll follow as soon as he can. Da-Garn drives off in a hurry much to Tadashin’s horror and Seiji tries to leave the house only to be stopped by Misuzu who demands that he take his medicine and rest. One of the Riken Alphas destroys a bridge which causes a bullet train to derail. Da-Garn arrives and kicks the Riken Alpha to the ground. Misuzu locks Seiji in his upstairs bedroom but the latter creates a makeshift rope. When he tries to escape he accidentally drops the rope but a gust of wind blows it back into his hands just after he spots Hotaru staring at him from a distance. Hikaru and Tsukushi watch the battle from their window. Hikaru spots Seiji running towards the city and chases after him. As the bullet train passengers frantically try to evacuate, Da-Garn’s magnum shots explode harmlessly on Wolf’s body. Wolf knocks Da-Garn down just as Misuzu rendezvous with her film crew. GDO fighters including a prototype jet arrive and start firing on the combat troopers. The Riken Alphas destroy the jets and cause the prototype to crash into the ground. Wolf grabs Da-Garn just as Seiji arrives and the latter asks what he can do. Da-Garn tells Seiji to hold up the Aurin but Misuzu spots him and says he shouldn’t be here. Seiji tries to get away but Hikaru and Tsukushi arrive. Misuzu thanks Tsukushi for looking after her son and Hikaru notices that Seiji slipped away while they were talking. Seiji holds up the glowing Aurin and it causes Da-Garn to shoot out a beam at the bullet train and the prototype jet. The two vehicles rise into the air and combine with Da-Garn to form the giant robot Da-Garn X! Everyone is surprised, including Redlone who quickly orders Wolf to destroy Da-Garn X. Da-Garn X pulls out his Da-Garn Blade and quickly dispatches the Riken Alphas before slicing Wolf in half. Tadashin finds his car parked outside again just as he’s writing his resignation and thinks he’s going crazy. He decides to go see a doctor and runs into Misuzu and Seiji leaving the hospital after the latter checked out with a clean bill of health.

Commentary

Despite the first episode not ending on a cliffhanger, the second one picks up right where it left off and happens within the span of a few hours. We’re introduced to Hikaru’s parents, who seem rather unnervingly calm about the fact that a giant robot fight took place just a few blocks away from their house. It’s no coincidence however that they happen to run a natural food restaurant as we’ll be seeing in later episodes. We also get the first of many instances where poor Tadashin has to watch his squad car take off on its own only to be returned later. Hotaru makes another appearance along with a very convenient gust of wind, making it obvious that she’s aware of the situation in some capacity. Da-Garn X makes his debut and while he’s a nice colorful design, something always irked me about one of his components. Although fancy futuristic vehicles appearing out of nowhere to become a combination piece is nothing new to the Brave series at this point, the prototype jet is a really jarring instance because the GDO just happened to have it lying around without any explanation of what it was. It’s a level of laziness just below Transformers having their vehicle kibble on their bodies before they even arrive on Earth for the first time.

Overall Rating
3.5/5

Da-Garn Info

Director(s):
Katsuyoshi Yatabe
Shinji Takamatsu

Writer(s):
Fuyunori Gobu
Yasushi Hirano

Mechanical Designer:
Kunio Okawara

Character Designer:
Masayuki Hiraoka

Musical Composer:
Yasunori Iwasaki

Format:
46 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 02.08.1992 – 01.23.1993

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