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GaoGaiGar Ep. 7: Chase the Black 300!

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Summary

In another faraway galaxy, the Zonderians pushed the limits of their advance technology to create Zonder metal crystal. The crystal turns any living being it bonds with into a Zonderian through a forced machine-life evolution and grants them immortality as well. Polonaise comments on how easy it is to create Zonder metal on Earth. He later turns a man into a Zonder monster and tells him he will defeat his enemies with the power of true justice. Construction workers are busy repairing a train track when their flood lights go out. They notice a black bullet train tearing towards them and run off the tracks. 3G wonders about the Zonder’s identity and try to connect it with the recent disappearance of a man riding the Shinkansen. Mikoto and Swan assume the victim had strong feelings towards the Shinkansen. They note the ship captain who formed EI-07 is now enjoying his life in retirement. Entouji says that the current Zonder is emitting an electromagnetic pulse that disables any nearby machinery and prevents it from being tracked by satellite. Guy says that it’ll cause trouble if they don’t find it before it evolves into a Zonder robo. HyoRyu and EnRyu volunteer to go on patrol and look for it. Guy takes Mamoru on the GunDober bike to rendezvous with Hyuuma on a bridge overlooking a train track. Just as Mamoru gets off, he senses the Zonder and street lights go dim. Guy sees EI-08 speeding towards them and grabs Mamoru, turning GunDober into hover mode. They evade the train, but the electromagnetic pulse causes Guy and the bike to short out and crash. Hyuuma, HyoRyu and EnRyu arrive just as Guy passes out and the unharmed Mamoru frantically tells them to get Guy back to 3G. In the infirmary, Leo notes that Guy’s armor couldn’t protect him from the pulse and only Mamoru’s presence was what kept his G-Stone from giving out. Mikoto notes that he’ll need 14 hours to recover, and the two discuss the G-Stone and Mamoru’s ability as the key to fight the Zonders. At school, Mamoru’s teacher announces that there’ll be no homework during vacation. Mamoru and his friends discuss their vacation plans as Ikumi Kaidou looks on. Hyuuma, HyoRyu and EnRyu continue to patrol the city while Mikoto monitors their progress. Mamoru wakes up in bed and senses the Zonder. He alerts 3G then sneaks out of the house. He’s nearly caught by his mother but he tells her he needs to use the bathroom. Isamu tells Ai not to worry because the North Pole Lion sank into the sea and won’t take Mamoru from them, but Ai notes that the lion head on the black robot’s chest looks just like it. Isamu goes to check up on Mamoru to make her feel better.

Mamoru meets up with Guy in the StealthGao. They take off followed by Galeon in the direction of the Zonder. Taiga wonders how they can approach EI-08 and Leo notes that the Mirror Coating can briefly protect against the electromagnetic pulse. Hyuuma, HyoRyu and EnRyu launch in the Triple-Decked Flying Carrier and meet up with Guy, Mamoru and Galeon. Mamoru greets Galeon and notes that he always feels at ease around him. Isamu sneaks into Mamoru’s room and sees what he thinks is the latter lying in bed, but it was actually a stuffed lion doll under the cover. EI-08 finally emerges from a tunnel and zips past Hana’s grandparents’ house, blowing the roof clean off. HyoRyu and EnRyu launch from the carrier and transform to vehicle mode. They land alongside EI-08 and use their cranes to slow it down, which in turn stops the electromagnetic pulse. LinerGao moves in and latches on to EI-08, finally stopping it. EI-08 suddenly emits the pulse again and knocks all three vehicles off of it. It then changes into a giant black robot and shoots an eye beam at LinerGao. LinerGao is knocked off the tracks but quick thinking on HyoRyu and EnRyu’s parts allows them to save it from crashing by sliding it on their cranes. GaiGar jumps in with a kick, but is repelled by a barrier. After Taiga’s approval, Guy forms GaoGaiGar and HyoRyu and EnRyu change to robot mode to assist with evacuating the nearby burning buildings. GaoGaiGar blocks another beam with Protect Shade but it bounces off into the trees and starts more fires. Hyuuma launches both the Dividing Driver and Eraser Head while HyoRyu and EnRyu combine into ChoRyuJin. Guy slams the Dividing Driver into EI-08’s head, causing a repression field within its body. ChoRyuJin fires the Eraser Head into the field which disables the electromagnetic pulse and collapses EI-08 into itself. Guy uses Hell and Heaven in tandem with another Eraser Head to extract the core without damaging the surrounding neighborhood any further. The next day, Isamu turns on the news and sees Mamoru purifying the Zonder core. He rushes with Ai into Mamoru’s room and finds him asleep in his bed, having just gotten back in time thanks to Guy. The purified Zonder was Ginosuke Otomori, who fell on hard times after the real estate he had invested in were cleared to make way for Shinkansen tracks.

Commentary

Another episode with another not so run-of-the-mil Zonder. Although it seems Polonaise had no plan for it unlike Penchinon and was content to let it run around and wreak havoc. Meanwhile, Mamoru’s night life is starting to catch up with him as he struggles to keep it a secret from his parents. The battle, though quick, was very well choreographed thanks to Hyuuma’s plan. Using the Dividing Driver on the Zonder robo was certainly an interesting tactic, but the writers might be stretching the Eraser Head’s energy dispersion properties a bit when it was used to nullify the pulse.

Overall Rating
3/5

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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