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GaoGaiGar Ep. 35: Wind and Thunder

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Summary

Several months ago at China’s aerospace development center, Professor Yan Long-Li oversees the activation of AI units GBR-6 and GBR-7, which were developed using the GS-Ride technology given out by 3G to its Chinese branch as they did with other 3G branches around the world. On the Orbit Base, Guy informs HyoRyu and EnRyu that they’ll be heading out soon. GoldyMarg asks what’s going on and HyoRyu says that they’ve been asked to act as instructors to China’s new AI robots. Goldymarg jokingly wonders if it’s a good idea to let EnRyu be an instructor. They board Izanagi along with Taiga, Leo and Guy then set off. Liger asks why Taiga is going and Entouji replies that he has some business on G-Island. 3G tries to pinpoint the locations of the remaining Primeval cores but they keep getting vague estimates. Liger says that until they can pinpoint them more accurately they can’t take the initiative. Pagliaccio spies on the Orbit Base and says its destruction is a top priority. At the Bay Tower, Taiga picks up his things from his office and leaves. He runs into Sakura who tells him that the company’s reorganization is complete. Taiga walks past her and says he’s no longer the president because his mission now is to defend the Earth, but he promises to come back when it’s all over. Sakura says she’ll be waiting for him. At the Great Wall of China, Pagliaccio finds Spine Primeval and instructs it to destroy the Orbit Base. Taiga pays a surprise visit to the Amami’s home and tells them about Mamoru’s powers. He bluntly tells them that he knows Mamoru isn’t their real son and asks that they tell him the truth. At school, Mamoru thinks that since he can’t sense the Primevals or purify them, he can probably live a normal life now. Mikoto contacts Izanagi and tells Guy that they’ve found Spine Primeval near their location. Izanagi changes direction and launches HyoRyu and EnRyu. EnRyu crash lands again and HyoRyu tells him to stop messing around or the new robots will take after him. They grapple onto ZX-05 Spine Primeval to stop it from approaching the Great Wall of China. EnRyu tells HyoRyu to evacuate the civilians while he holds it but the latter says he can’t do it alone. A blast of lightning heralds the sudden arrival of a cement truck and a dump truck, which transform into the new robots FuRyu and RaiRyu. EnRyu asks them to evacuate the civilians but they attack Spine Primeval instead and knock HyoRyu and EnRyu off. They then kick Spine Primeval and it merges with the Great Wall, absorbing all the tourists on it and causing Entouji to lose track of its signal. Yan arrives and reprimands FuRyu and RaiRyu for letting the Primeval escape, then welcomes 3G to China.

As Taiga bids the Amamis farewell, Ai gives him a small box and asks if they can still be with Mamoru. Taiga tells them that Mamoru is who he is because of how well they raised him and asks that they continue to take care of him. Taiga quickly heads to rendezvous with Mic after finding out that Mamoru and Galeon are connected. Back at the Chinese development center, Guy and Leo introduce themselves to Yan. Yan thanks them for coming and Leo asks about the AI system. Yan tells them that they’ve vastly improved the system compared to its Japanese counterpart. Guy interrupts and says that their priority right now is to rescue the kidnapped tourists. Yan assures him that the army is doing their best to track the Primeval. In the hangar, EnRyu chides FuRyu and RaiRyu for letting the tourists get taken. RaiRyu retorts that they can’t disobey central command’s orders. HyoRyu asks if they consider civilian casualties acceptable, and FuRyu says that their highest priority is destroying the enemy, with the safety of civilians being a very minor directive. Yan, Leo and Guy lift down to the hangar in an elevator. Yan notes that although their robots are the same type as their Japanese counterparts, they have stronger weapons because they’re meant to defend China’s territory. FuRyu can fire compressed air while RaiRyu can utilize electromagnetism. Leo thinks that’s not the only thing they changed and Yan says he’s correct. Their robots’ thought patterns are based on military thinking. At the Great Wall, the troops searching for the missing tourists are attacked by emerging Zonders. Yan tells has his robots prepared for launch and Guy says they’re going too. Entouji detects Z0 particles and Liger is surprised to discover that the Primevals can grow Zonder metal inside their bodies. Izanagi approaches ZX-05 and the Zonders fire at it. Mikoto contacts Taiga who is still riding on Mic and requests permission for Final Fusion. GaoGaiGar is formed and ZX-05 begins rising skywards, dragging the Great Wall with it. Guy tells HyoRyu and EnRyu to handle the Zonders while he chases the Primeval. FuRyu and RaiRyu arrive with the intention of destroying ZX-05. Back in Tokyo, Volfogg asks Mamoru to accompany him to China to help against the Primeval, but the latter says he won’t be of any help to them. Volfogg tells him that he’s always been a great 3G member and that they still need him. Mamoru accepts and they dive onto the ocean where Volfogg uses his UI-Tech engine to drive over the water. Entouji finishes analysis of ZX-05 and they discover that it had burrowed its body fifty kilometers into the earth and connected with a layer of magma. Guy catches up to ZX-05 and fires a Broken Magnum. It gets reflected by a barrier and GaoGaiGar’s engines struggle to keep it flying due to the air thinning. RaiRyu’s lightning attack is blocked by the Zonder barrier and FuRyu puts up and air barrier to defend against their shots. They both charge towards ZX-05 and the Zonders form a large cannon aimed at them. HyoRyu and EnRyu push them put of the way and take the shot instead. Guy tries to attack ZX-05’s head again but it fires a magma powered energy blast from its mouth.

Commentary

With the Primeval threat now in full swing, there’s no better time to introduce new 3G robots. FuRyu and RaiRyu don’t give off a good first impression however, what with the stereotypical depiction of Yan as a selfish Chinese militant. The fact that they’re also recolors of HyoRyu and EnRyu with minor changes also reeks of Transformers G1 Seekers levels of laziness. Luckily that won’t last long and they’ll be a valuable addition to the team soon enough. Kaidou and J are completely absent from this episode for some reason, while the B plot of the episode involves Mamoru dealing with his helplessness and Taiga investigating his past. For a kid, Mamoru’s taking recent events pretty well. On a lesser show he’d be trying to pull off some stupid stunt in a desperate bid for attention now that his powers aren’t up to snuff, but here he openly welcomes the possibility of just being an ordinary grade schooler, albeit one that can fly and glow green. The truth about Mamoru’s origin was a plot thread that was left dangling since the first season, and slowly bits and pieces of it will be revealed in the coming episodes. Also, Volfogg can drive over water, which is totally awesome.

Overall Rating
3.5/5

GaoGaiGar Info

Director:
Yoshitomo Yonetani

Writer(s):
Yoshitomo Yonetani
Ryosuke Takahashi
Fuyunori Gobu
Yuichiro Takeda

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Takahiro Yamada
Takehiro Kirao

Character Designer:
Takahiro Kimura

Musical Composer:
Kouhei Tanaka

Format:
49 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 02.01.1997 – 01.31.1998

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