Japan just does it differently. There’s no other way to say it. What’s the “It” I’m referring to? Broadly, most things, but for the sake of this piece, I’m referring to storytelling. Sure, there’s the same structure that most of humanity has followed for as long as humans have been telling stories, there’s going to be considerable overlap. But the shift is in the details. Some of those stem from cultural differences, some of those are a product of the budget. That does not diminish Japan’s contributions to fiction, it actually enhances it and makes it unique. Japan isn’t afraid of darkness. Western media has tried its best to sanitize the media of darkness, feeling children aren’t ready for it. There are plenty of exceptions throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Disney’s The Black Cauldron or The Black Hole, even shows like Batman: The Animated Series or Gargoyles.
But when you juxtapose that with tidbits such as angry parents complaining Lord Zedd was too scary for Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers or how Spider-Man: The Animated Series had to replace all guns with laser guns, Spidey could never throw a punch, and they couldn’t even call the Sinister Six the Sinister Six! (Because Insidious Six sounds so much less evil, right?), it all seems silly. For as much as some Japanese media is inspired by Western pop culture (Gavan being no different), they never felt the need to sanitize darker themes for their target demographics (at least until circa 1995).
A lot of Gavan’s plots involve kidnapping, brainwashing, or straight-up harming children in rather diabolical ways. While this is most likely a way to allow the child viewer to live vicariously through the kids in peril, adding even more stakes to the show’s plot, I also feel this can be an educational tool in a roundabout way. Our world is full of darkness, it seems it gets darker every day. Kids should be prepared for the real world, and a little bit of fear can prepare us. Fear is a great motivator. But so is hope. Gavan shows that, yes, there are terrible evils out in the world, but there’s also a lot of hope. Gavan never gives up despite insurmountable odds. And neither should you. I believe we need more shows like Gavan. So! Let’s talk about the next three episodes.
EPISODE 8: GOOD OR EVIL? THE SILVER-MASKED GREAT HERO
Hunter-Killer plans to turn the children of Japan against Gavan. He enlists the help of Kaenzaru Monster (or Fire Monkey Monster). Another fantastic design. It’s as if an Egyptian sarcophagus were carved in the visage of a baboon and then that sarcophagus animated to life. The kaiju designs are becoming more and more interesting as the series progresses. Maybe Toei’s budget was rising? I’m sure not complaining, it makes for more fun! We also get another unique Doubleman, this one resembles a robotic bat but cast in silver. This Doubleman takes on a disguise, as they are one to do, of the Editor-In-Chief JACOB LYNGLE!… No, not really. But it is the unnamed EiC of “Space Magazine,” The Doublewoman, on hand takes the form of the equally unnamed Secretary of Space Magazine.
This is one of the more ingenious plots Makuu has cooked up so far. Space Magazine publishes UFO sightings that the children of the ranch are absolutely gobbling up. The genius part is that the photos are of Makuu’s own fighter ships. The magazine catches the eye of Retsu, who, of course, recognizes them as Makuu ships. Our hero heads straight for the office of Space Magazine, where the secretary greets him. The EiC tells Retsu they took the pics at Mt. Tsurugi, and believes there’s a UFO base there. Retsu, a bit naively, goes to investigate. Many folks have gathered at Mt. Tsurugi to do their own bit of investigating. This is when the Fire Monkey Monster strikes…and I don’t think I realized in his initial reveal that he’s a tiny fella. That makes sense, though! Big Wizard of Oz flying monkey energy. The Monkey and a group of Crushers surround the children, which catches the attention of GAVAN.
As Gavan battles the evildoers, the impostors for Space Magazine snap some pictures and then “rescue” the children. The baddies disappear, and now Gavan is on the lookout for the kids. But the damage is already done, Space Magazine publishes photos of Gavan seemingly kidnapping the children! I think this is one of the best plots so far. It’s really well done and believable. This also invokes memories of Spider-Man. J Jonah Jameson would hate Gavan, too! Of course, this plan causes a widespread panic, just as Makuu wanted. When Retsu returns to Space Magazine, there’s no one there to confront. They’ve vanished. Commander Qom states the obvious: The only way to prove Gavan’s innocence is to find the lost children.
Retsu once again heads to Mt. Tsurugi to investigate, but only finds Kojiro. Kojiro does not believe the “Silver Alien” is the culprit, as he had seen the Fire Monkey. Retsu notices the Tsurugi Dam, and speculates this is where the children are being held. Just when we think Gavan has the upper hand, however, Makuu sets another plan in motion. They plan to throw the kids off the dam, and frame Gavan for their murder! The Makuu have been reading up on The Green Goblin’s playbook. Gavan outsmarts Makuu, though. He uses his trusty car as a diversion (setting it in autopilot) while sneaking around to the kids. They pick up on the trickier pretty quickly and engage our hero in battle. So, I don’t know what was going on earlier, but now the Fire Monkey is bigger than Retsu? Did we have multiple actors here? or am I just seeing things? OH well, their fight goes on. ELECTROPLATE!!!
A fight on what appears to be a REAL dam? This is simultaneously really cool and also looks really dangerous. Toku fans have heard so many horror stories about the making of these things, I can’t help but get a pit in my stomach. Toku actors are the bravest soldiers. Gavan releases the children and instructs Kojiro to get them to safety. It’s about that time! Don Horror sends us to Makuu Space. This time, however, instead of landing us on some barren wasteland to engage in fisticuffs, we get a space battle! The dog fights have been few and far between since the pilot (which I totally understand for budgetary reasons). Gavan pilots of Dolgiran and the dogfight with the silver Doubleman rages on. Gavan takes some damage and resorts to summoning Dol! This dude Gavan is standing on a cyber space dragon’s head. Incredible. Dol blows up the enemy forces and the Doubleman crash lands. Now, we got our on foot battle.
The Fire Monkey arrives too, it’s a handicap match now. Gavan uses an attack called Dimension Bomber that just replays the same clip of Gavan punching the monkey in the face with both fists over and over. Eventually the Fire Monkey flies into the sky and grabs on to a ring of Saturn. Seems the Monkey can teleport now and is giving Gavan a run for his money. Gavan finally overcomes the Monkey’s flame breath and finishes him off with the Laser Z Beam. No time to rest though, as the Doubleman is back in action. This doesn’t last too long though, because once that Laser Blade comes out…you know they’re done for.
The day is saved and now the children (and Kojiro) know Gavan’s name, and that he’s a hero. This episode is an absolute highlight. The final battle is a little dodgy, with some pretty obvious uses (and re-uses) of footage. But man, that plot was good! The Makuu plots are getting bolder, smarter, and increasingly more entertaining. Some great set pieces too, particularly the dam. Big thumbs up on this one.
EPISODE 9: THE BEAUTIFUL PUPPET SKY
We open on the “1st Kanto Bacteria Research Facility”. A nightwatchman is doing his rounds around when he is shocked to find a dinosaur/alligator/snake man rummaging through. He pulls the alarm but is grabbed by the creature and promptly chokeslammed. The alarm travels to the Dolgiran and alerts Gavan of the danger. Gavan confronts the monster, who I’ve gathered is yet another new type of Doubleman. He bears a striking resemblance to the Gorn from Star Trek. Love this design, love a good lizard man. He would also fit right in with the Snake Men of Masters of the Universe. Green skin, scales, fangs, and a shield that can deflect Gavan’s Cyberian Lasers. They tussle but Gavan can’t get the upperhand and the Doubleman escapes.
Gavan convenes with Commander Qom about the matter and references an event from seven years past. Qom estimates Makuu is after Bacillus X0, a bacteria that multiplies at a terrifying rate. The heroes guess Makuu wants it for a bomb. Gavan sets out to find Tetsuya Sugimoto, the person who discovered Bacillus X0, but the scientist disappeared after the discovery.
Unfortunately, Makuu has beaten them to the punch. They’ve found the scientist, who has changed his name to Tetsu Tsukahara and now works at a middle school. A Doublewoman is sent to infiltrate the school. The teacher is lured to a warehouse near the school. A Doubleman is waiting for Tetsu there and offers to buy X0 for ten billion yen. Tetsu claims ignorance but comes around when the Doubleman mentions the scientist’s daughter, Nanae. He races home only to be told Nanae is at the Avalon Riding Club, imagine that! Tetsu goes and picks his daughter up from the riding club, and she’s holding a mysterious doll. Kojiro is there and recognizes Sugimoto, but once again, the scientist denies it. He relays this info to Retsu.
That night, Tetsu hears something while trying to sleep. The Doubleman has invaded his home! The Doubleman uses a magic technique called Doll Manipulation, what a convenient power to have. The baddie astral projects and enters the doll. So now, we have a killer doll movie. After once again threatening to hurt his daughter, Sugimoto relents and agrees to help Makuu. Makuu wants him to cultivate more Bacillus X0 and tells him he will be a billionaire for it. Sugimoto asks what happens if he refuses. The doll tells him that his daughter will be “as good as dead”. Sugimoto flies into a rage and throws the doll when his wife comes in. Now we enter the classic trope of a killer doll movie, a character telling another character a doll has come to life and possessed, but the doll remains still when anyone else is watching. Mind you, this episode was well before the Child’s Play or Puppet Master films, but it’s an angle we’ve seen numerous times. Surprisingly, though, his wife actually seems to believe him!
Sugimoto decides he’s going to bury the doll. Of course, the doll immediately rises from the shallow grave. The family is in for one hell of a shock when Nanae awakens the next morning holding the doll. A great reaction shot here. Sugimoto snatches the doll and throws it to the ground. But in a twist of events, the doll sits up a la WWE’s The Undertaker and begins firing laser beams from its eyes. We get a pretty funny cut where Sugimoto is immediately working on the bacteria. Mimie, in bird form, is spying on the doctor.
We get some more fantastic paintings depicting what could happen if Makuu succeeds in unleashing a Bacillus X0 bomb. Every living thing on the planet is dead, nothing but a barren wasteland. The Doubelman leaves the doll and, along with the disguised Doublewoman, once again threatens Nanae. Mimie chimes up causing a bit of confusion. This persuades our villains to change locales. Are there really an infinite number of abandoned warehouses in Japan? It’s a staple of Tokusatsu. But this one may be the only one that currently houses Hunter-Killer. HK welcomes Sugimoto to his new living arrangement. Retsu tracks the villains down but they’re ready for him. Crushers surround our hero. Once the Doubleman gets involved, Retsu has no choice but to ELECTROPLATE.
I began audibly hollering when Gavan shouted Dimensional Bomber, assumed a Superman-esque flying pose, and just mowed down seven bad guys in his way. Very satisfying. Gavan finds where they’re holding the scientist and his family and destroys all the work done on the X0. The family escape in Retsu’s jeep while Gavan fights off the deadly foes. There’s a pretty creative sequence where Gavan battles the Doubleman on several stacks of old tires. Gavan must have been watching some Looney Tunes because he messes with his enemy by popping in and out of the tires Whack-A-Mole style. Just when Gavan has gotten the upper hand, like clockwork, Don Horror draws our hero into Makuu space.
Some space battles are always welcome. Gavan pilots Dolgiran against a garrison of Makuu fighters. He destroys them all except the Doubleman. Their battle continues on foot, surrounded by archaic pillars reminiscent of ancient Greece. Using his mirror shield, Doubleman is able to reflect Gavan’s Z Beam back at him. Gavan applies a bit of strategy and breaks the shield. The bad guy isn’t long for this world once Gavan summons his Laser Blade and hits his opponent with the Gavan Dynamic.
Once again, Makuu is foiled thanks to Gavan. Nanae now has a new, somehow even creepier doll, that she says Gavan gave to her. This seems to puzzle Retsu. In reality, Sugimoto bought the doll for his daughter but told her it was from the Space Sheriff so she would “never forget the name Gavan.” In a pretty comedic reversal of the episode, Sugimoto believes Retsu is Gavan but Retsu denies it.
Pretty fun episode. Notably, this one does not feature a BEM kaiju. I think that’s a first so far. Of course, we still got a sweet villain with our new reptilian Doubleman. I loved the balance of this one, some great bits of horror and humor. Ohba really shines here, especially at the end, nervously denying he’s Gavan.
EPISODE 10: REPEL THE HUMAN CRUSHER SQUAD
Makuu’s plot is made apparent immediately. They’re going to make “human Crushers” by augmenting capable humans muscles, making them fives times as strong. Essentially, a Makuu Super Soldier Program. A Doubleman, looks like a standard one but with blueskin, and A doublewoman disguise themselves as humans. Hunter-Killer provides them with a list of youngsters with exceptional athletic ability. And hey, a new BEM Kaiju and perhaps the most unique one yet. The Nijichou Monster or The Butterfly Monster is like a yellow Mothra prop with two human legs and large eyespots on each wing. It’s very striking and not a design I will soon forget.
The first target is a boxer. The Makuu are parading around as the “World Sports Club” with our main Doubleman disguised as “Doctor Toshi Kojima”.The idea here is the Makuu will seduce and indoctrinate these athletes into joking the “Club” so they can be experimented on. Kojima tells the boxing lad he can triple his punching power if he joins. The next target is a kendo swordsman, promising him he’ll become world champion.
Word begins to spread as Kojiro tells Retsu about the Sports Club. Kojiro’s nephew is a baseball pitcher and he, too, was seduced by what the club is selling. Retsu goes to check it out and is instantly suspicious. The athletes go on a jog but Don Horror summons a “Makuu Road” that transports them into the domain of the Butterfly. The Kaiju’s scales have a narcotic effect putting the sportsmen into a stupor. Then Don Horror himself rallies them. They will become The Ultimate Crushers, and they’re hooked, line and sinker. The kids return as if nothing has happened, much to the chagrin of Retsu and Kojiro.
The followers of the club begin to act strange at home, lashing out at their families. Retsu rightly assumes the training is behind this and attempts to find Dr. Kojima. The good doctor is increasing the intensity of their program, now striking them if they fail. Retsu finds them and a battle ensues.
I need to once again take a step back and talk about how great the soundtrack for this show is. Michiaki Watanabe brings the funk to this score. I can’t help but bop my head along to the tunes every episode, with pieces that fit every moment. Sure, a lot of them get recycled a lot but that’s most television shows. It’s a highlight of the show and a perfect accompaniment to the story and action.
The young men are now little more than zombies. Entranced and seemingly unresponsive, they walk like the living dead. The young men have left home and are now missing. Gavan and Mimi are on the case. We see a secret location where the young men are training, and their power has increased greatly. Breaking targets, crushing cinderblocks, and obliterating rocks, their strength is overflowing. Dr. Kojima gets word that Dolgiran is near and sends all his new minions into a cave. They plan to speed up their surgery process before Gavan can foil it.
The process has begun, strapping the young lads in for their twisted surgeries. Retsu is confronted by a host of youngsters, unable to break their mental chains. Kenji Ohba really is something. The mark of a great martial arts actor is to be able to react while fighting. Ohba’s facial expressions here, where he is purely in a defense mode and not wanting to harm the guys, are remarkable. A true master of his craft.
The Butterfly Monster appears and has a heinous cry. It seems to play on loop. It tries its narcotic attack on Retsu but our hero is too spry. Another memorable scene here is where a band of crushers attempts to interrupt Retsu’s henshin but are quickly swatted away. It’s time to Electroplate! He starts by swinging the Butterfly around by its nose (beak? proboscis?), akin to Ms. Trunchbill spinning the young girl around by her pig tails in Matilda. Meanwhile, the surgery is beginning. Will Gavan make it in time?
Gavan summons his drill tank, the Scooper. Just before the scalpel cuts into one of the young men, Gavan drills through and stops them. Some close-quarters combat ensues before Gavan displays a new ability, Static Shock (no, not THAT Static Shock). The effect here is very reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine’s force lightning in Return of the Jedi (which this show actually predates). This shock apparently restores the young man to normal, breaking the brainwashing.
Once they’re back out in the open, Gavan is accosted again by the Butterfly. So, Gavan does his best pro wrestling impression and launches the kaiju with a Giant Swing maneuver and tosses him right into the Doubleman. But, as if on cue, Don Horror sends them into Makuu Space. We get a first time moment here, where a kaiju (without a vehicle) attacks Gavan while he’s driving Cyberian. Unfortunately, it’s the Butterfly monster doing the same lame dive move over and over.
The beast grows to daikaiju size. Gavan resorts to calling upon everyone’s favorite mechanical space dragon, Dol! Now we have a proper kaiju battle. Dol whacks Butterfly all about but takes fires from the monster’s eye beams. Dol can’t seem to hit the creature with its own laser beams but finishes it off with some fire breath. A victory befitting of a dragon. But there’s still the Doubleman to deal with. Our backdrop matte painting this time is over the solar system but with some groovy 1960’s lighting luminating the area.
Another first for the series, The Doubleman drops his sword and bows before Gavan, surrendering to him and claiming he doesn’t like fighting. Of course, this is a trick. This particular Doubleman may be the dirtiest player in the game as he tries to swipe at Gavan with his blade. Gavan blows the coward to smithereens with the Gavan Dynamic. This breaks the spell for the rest of the youths.
Everything is once again as it should be, with the athletes all returned to their homes and their family bonds mended. Another victory for the Space Sheriff!
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. I’ve said in the past, I think some of the best Gavan plots so far have been when Makuu have attempted to harm or exploit children. Now, these are a bit older kids, but I think that works to its advantage. Creeping on an athlete’s desire to better themselves is diabolical and predatory and so it’s perfect. This one is less horror than some of the other ones in this vein, but I think it works regardless.
Well, that wraps up another group of episodes. But before I sign off, I have to address the elephant in the room. During the writing of this piece, Kenji Ohba passed away after a long illness. I wrote a memoriam piece about him, but I feel it’s only natural that I reiterate here. Though my time with Gavan (and therefore, Ohba) has been relatively brief so far, I cannot deny the impact he’s already had on me. This show has been a joy to watch, and Ohba is a huge part of why this series is so great. It’s pretty rare in Toku to have the suit actor and the out-of-costume actor be the same. Kenji Ohba kills it on both fronts as both Retsu and Gavan.
I hope Ohba knew how much he meant to the world of Tokusatsu. His legacy and legend are unrivaled. The closing song of Space Sheriff Gavan says, “Somewhere in the starry sky, you’ll find my home”, and I hope that’s true for Ohba-san. Thank you for all you did.
ELECTROPLATE!
