Gatchaman Episode 8: The Secret of the Crescent Coral Reef

Jinpei, upset at being considered the most unpopular Gatchaman team member, goes off on his own to face a giant sea anemone.

Episode Summary

A bunch of small International Science Organization submarines do something or other underwater. Suddenly, a giant sea anemone appears and destroys them all with tentacle lasers!

Popularity Poll

Elsewhere, Ken and Jinpei hang out with some kids who gush about Gatchaman’s awesomeness. An excited Jinpei, careful not to expose his secret identity, asks the kids to rank the members of the team based on coolness…he gets last place.

New Mission

The team gathers in the God Phoenix, where Nambu explains that they’re getting a secret underwater base, but they need to patrol the surrounding area to make sure Galactor doesn’t try anything funny.

They run into the giant sea anemone but activate the God Phoenix’s smokescreen and escape to an island for the night.

Jinpei sneaks away from his sleeping teammates and goes back underwater in his little buggy vehicle, hoping to prove himself.

But he’s immediately captured by the anemone and he becomes Berg Katse’s captive. Galactor then finds the ISO base and destroys it.

The God Phoenix attacks the anemone and the team heads inside to rescue Jinpei, but Katse escapes at the last minute.

Fate of the Base

It turns out the base that was destroyed was just a decoy. While Galactor toiled with Gatchaman, the International Science Organization was able to complete the real base, which was built under a moveable crescent-shaped coral reef. The God Phoenix lands in the new base, and the Science Ninja Team calls it a day.

Thoughts

For once the show focuses on a member of Gatchaman who isn’t Ken. This time the young, impertinent Jinpei gets a moment in the spotlight, but was it any good? I’d say yes, for the most part. He’s headstrong, prideful, and wants to prove himself. He has sufficient motivation, and he’s more vulnerable and prone to making mistakes, unlike Ken, which adds more interest and suspense to the episode. He actually didn’t fare too badly on his own.

My only complaint is that I felt the resolution to this plotline was overshadowed by the reveal of the new base. Jinpei learns his lesson to not go off on his own, sure, but his desire to be number one isn’t really addressed or mentioned at the end. Maybe he just decided it wasn’t important to him anymore.