Katori opens a window at sunrise and is amazed by the sight of blooming flowers. He rushes to wake up Hiroshi and tell him about it, explaining that this life energy can be harnessed for world peace. Kenta and Haruka laugh at the notion but Hiroshi retorts that the feelings elicited by a blooming flower are important. Haruka then suggests that they go to the Flower Festival which will feature flowers from all over the world. Around the world, flower farms are being attacked by Draias‘ henchmen, who summon large spikes that cause all nearby flowers to wither and die. Down in the Amano Peace Labs’ hangar, Katori and Kenta discuss the attacks with Ace Baron and wonder why Draias would go after flowers. Haruka brings in a potted flower to brighten up the hangar just as Hiroshi informs everyone that another farm has been attacked. They all deduce that the Flower Festival will most likely be the next target and Hiroshi tells Katori and Kenta to head out. At a flower market in Tokyo, Satsuda is surprised by the sudden increase in flower prices. The shop owner tells him that supplies have been reduced due to the attacks on the farms. Satsuda angrily demands to know who’s behind the attacks just as the ground starts shaking. A large spike pops up and kills all the flowers in the market. The spike then turns out to be part of a mechanical monster which bursts out of the ground. Guard Star transforms to robot mode and kicks the monster to the ground. He demands to know why the monster is destroying flowers and Shura replies that humanity’s love of flowers disgusts him. His plan is to destroy all the flowers in the world in order to weaken mankind’s spirit. Guard Star tries to shoot the monster but it knocks his Star Blaster away then disappears in a flash of light. He then informs Katori of the attack and the latter tells him to meet them at the Flower Festival. At the festival, Satsuda orders a squad of police officers to watch for anything suspicious. Kenta spots him and has Katori hide in the bushes. Katori crawls through the flowers and comes out on the other side in front of a class of kindergarten students. An earthquake heralds the arrival of the monster which immediately starts withering the flowers. Kenta contacts Hiroshi and the latter mobilizes the Baron team.
The monster starts firing at the buildings while Satsuda evacuates the civilians. A blast sends rubble falling near him which knocks him out. The kindergarten teacher notices that two of her students are standing inside the entrance of a building and are too scared to run. She heads towards them but a blast from the monster sends concrete falling towards them. Katori manages to hold up the wreckage and urges the students to escape, but instead they run inside the building and are trapped. Katori promises the teacher that he’ll rescue the kids while she takes the others to safety. The Baron team arrives and starts firing on the monster. Guard Star and Guard Rescue arrive as well and Katori orders everyone to focus on rescuing the trapped children. Ace Baron has Katori and Kenta follow him in Drill Baron while the rest work on putting out the fires with Guard Fire. Guard Star and Guard Rescue distract the monster while Ace Baron and Drill Baron approach the building. Ace Baron tries to blast the rubble but a shot from the monsters causes him to shoot the roof instead. Katori says that they if they don’t put out the fire soon the trapped children will burn to death. Kenta points to a nearby fountain and suggests that they use that. Shura tries to burn Guard Star and Guard Rescue with a flamethrower but the two dodge and knock him back. Katori drills into the fountain and blasts the nozzle which causes it to spray water all over the festival grounds and extinguish the fires. Ace Baron blasts an entrance through the rubble, finally freeing the trapped children. Kenta escorts the children outside while Katori summons the Fire Jet. He combines into Fighbird while the Baron and Guard teams combine into Thunder Baron and Guardion. Shura puts up a last ditch offense but the Space Police quickly overwhelm him and weaken the monster, allowing Fighbird to finish it off with his Flame Sword. They find a device in the monster’s wreckage and take to Hiroshi. Hiroshi reveals that this was the device that was causing the flowers to wilt and tweaks it so that it has the opposite effect.
While there was some nice action in this episode, the plot was a bit silly. I can’t even begin to imagine the discussion between Jango and Draias about this diabolical plot to destroy all the world’s flowers. Speaking of dumb ideas, why does Satsuda keep dispatching beat cops to guard against attacks by giant robot monsters? And for that matter why is it that so far only the local law enforcement ever responds to these attacks when they can’t even muster so much as a bazooka?
Fighbird Info
Director:
Katsuyoshi Yatabe
Writer:
Yasushi Hirano
Mechanical Designer:
Kunio Okawara
Character Designer:
Hitoshi Ueda
Musical Composer:
Toshiyuki Watanabe
Format:
48 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 02.02.1991 – 02.01.1992
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