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Fighbird Ep. 42: Yuutarou Becomes a Daddy

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Summary

Momoko announces on the news that Shounosuke Kusugahara; the head of the Kusugahara Corporation; is offering three hundred million yen as funding for the Space Police to thank them for their efforts towards world peace. Momoko says that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Fighbird’s human form should contact the TV station. Hiroshi immediately suggests that Katori should make the call but Kenta reminds him that Draias will discover their location that way. Hiroshi says that they won’t need to give out an address, but when Katori makes the call and fails to provide any proof of his identity he gets mistaken for a prank caller. Elsewhere, Shounosuke’s daughter Kaoruko is taken to the mall by her butler. Kaoruko complains that her father promised to take her to the theme park on her birthday. Her butler says that her father was busy and instead asked him to buy her anything she wants, to which Kaoruko retorts that she wants to buy a new father. The limousine is ambushed at a traffic light by Zol who smashes the window and tries to grab Kaoruko, but the butler manages to hold him off long enough for her to escape into the mall. She runs into Kenta and Katori just as Shura and Zol manage to catch up, but Katori easily throws them both through the connecting bridge’s glass and into the river below. Satsuda arrives and demands to know what happened, but Kaoruko surprises everyone by claiming that Katori is actually her father who was frantically looking for her when they got separated. Back at the Amano Peace Labs, Haruka is furious at the site of Kaoruko latching on to Katori and Hiroshi notes that she looks familiar. At the Kusugahara residence, Jango threatens that if Shounosuke doesn’t give him all his company’s assets he will never see his daughter again. Shounosuke refuses to cooperate at first but relents when Jango convinces him that he’ll profit more from giving money to him than from donating it to the Space Police. As Haruka fusses over the ruined groceries, Yoshiko wonders why Draias’ men were after Kaoruko. Kaoruko discovers the secret elevator that leads down to the hangar and meets Ace Baron there. Katori follows her and explains to Ace Baron that he’s her father now. When Ace Baron asks how one becomes a father, Kaoruko answers that anyone who’s cool, strong and takes her to the park can be her father. Hiroshi and Satsuda finally recognize Kaoruko as Shounosuke’s daughter. Satsuda thinks that Katori kidnapped her while Hiroshi says they can use her to bargain for the money Shounosuke promised. Kenta however says that she’s not in the mansion anymore.

Katori and Kaoruko spend the day at the theme park, but the latter eventually breaks down crying because her real father isn’t with her on her birthday. Kaoruko believes that her father loves money more than her and Katori tells her that she shouldn’t be crying on her birthday. Satsuda visits the Kusugahara residence and is surprised when Shounosuke insists that his daughter is resting in bed because of a cold. Inside, Jango contacts Zol and orders him to find Kaoruko quickly. Shounosuke shoos Satsuda out but the latter decides to stay around. At night, Zol watches over the Kusugahara residence from afar and spots Katori and Kaoruko driving towards it. Inside, Jango urges Shounosuke to make a decision. Hiroshi contacts Katori and warns him that Draias wants to use Kaoruko to extort her father for money. Just then, Zol fires upon the pair and destroys their car but Katori manages to leap the both of them to safety. Guard Star uses the distraction to slip away from Satsuda. Zol contacts Jango and accidentally blurts out that he found Kaoruko and Fighbird. Shounosuke demands to know what’s going on but Jango runs away and summons a giant mechanical monster that starts demolishing the Kusugahara residence. Zol blows Satsuda skyward with a rocket but Guard Star saves him and tells Katori to handle the residence. Guard Star charges the monster and tells the Baron team to launch. Jango destroys Shounosuke’s mansion and nearly tramples him but Katori pushes him out of the way. Jango grabs Kaoruko and Katori summons the Fire Shuttle and combines into Granbird. Jango tackles Granbird and charges at him but Thunder Baron arrives and kicks him away. Jango pins the both of them with beam blasts and Shounosuke gets on his knees begging the former for his daughter in exchange for all his wealth. This distracts Jango long enough for the Space Police to break Kaoruko out of his grasp. Kenta arrives in the Fire Jet and takes Kaoruko away. Jango electrocutes Granbird and Thunder Baron with tentacles but they manage to yank themselves loose and destroy the monster. After the battle, Kaoruko runs towards Katori but he convinces her that her father cares more about her than money. As she embraces Shounosuke, Katori and Kenta leave and ignore Hiroshi’s cries to claim the reward money.

Commentary

This is a heartwarming if somewhat confusing episode. On the one hand you have little Kaoruko who’s desperate for an affectionate father figure and gets into some cute antics with Katori (to much seething rage from Haruka), on the other hand you have her father Shounosuke who clearly hasn’t gotten his priorities straight. The way he seriously considers Jango’s demand to invest money in him clearly makes his previous offer to the Space Police less than noble, but his reaction later on doesn’t make any sense. If he didn’t think that Jango had already kidnapped Kaoruko, what exactly was Jango threatening him with earlier?

Overall Rating
3.5/5

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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