An underground drill bursts through the floor of the World Bank, unleashing a deadly payload: Micros, knee-high robots armed to the teeth with lasers, sent by Galactor to steal every bar of gold and destabilize the world economy. Team Gatchaman is dispatched to retrieve the stolen gold from an unknown base somewhere in the Barelli Islands. The base is soon found, and Ken, Jun and, Jinpei visit the base’s island out of uniform to ensure that they’re captured and taken inside. Joe is left in charge of retrieving the gold, with strict orders from Dr. Nambu not to exceed those orders. But as he often does, Joe manages to do just that, leaving Ryu in the God Phoenix to doze off at the wheel. Joe’s intent is to rid the world of Galactor once and for all, and retrieve the gold. Again, his overzealous refusal to disobey his exact orders put the rest of the team in danger.
written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma
Voice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)
Note: It’s implied that Sosai X himself designed the Micros; they do seem a bit more reliable than most Galactor gadgets. This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.
LogBook entry by Earl Green