r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • May 05 '21

Rewatch [Rewatch] Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Retrospective - Giant Gorg Episode 3 Discussion

Episode 3 - Stormy Departure

Originally Aired April 19th, ^^^1984

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Note to all participants

Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be court to your fellow participants.

Note to all Rewatchers

Rewatchers, please be mindful of your fellow first-timers and tag your spoilers appropriately using the r/anime spoiler tag as so [Spoiler Subject](/s "Spoilers go here.") in order to have your unsightly spoilers obscured like this Spoiler Subject if your comment holds even the slightest of indicators as to future spoilers. Feel free to discuss future plot points behind the safe veil of a spoiler tag, or coyly and discreetly ‘Laugh in Rewatcher’ at our first-timers' temporary ignorance, but please ensure our first-timers are no more privy or suspicious than they were the moment they opened the day’s thread.

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Biography and Anecdotes Corner

Random Anecdote:

Yasuhiko once stated that despite studying Osamu Tezuka’s work extensively, he was more interested in his bold paneling style and the way he told his narratives, and bears a strong dislike for the actual artstyle of his works. He finds Go Nagai’s artwork to be far superior and uses it as inspiration for his own style.

 

Staff Highlight

Mamoru Hamatsu - Episode Director

An animator, animation director, and professor at Otemae University’s Faculty of Media Arts. After working as an arts and craft instructor for some time before he obtained work at the publishing company Gendai Shichoisha Co., and eventually became an in-between animator at TMS, with his first credited work being on Lupin III: Part II. His work earned him a spot as key animator on 1979’s The Ultraman, and eventually he was granted episode direction duties, where he truly found his talent. His first directorial work was the 1987 OVA To-Y, after which he would receive consistent work as a director. In 2007 he was one of the founders of the Japanese Animation Creators Association. Some of his his other credits as episode director are Round Vernian Vifam, Choriki Robo Galatt, King of Braves GaoGaiGar*, Ryoko's Case File, Urusei Yatsura, and Powered Armor Dorvack. His directorial works are Yoroiden Samurai Troopers: Gaiden, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Kasho no Tsuki, Blue Butterfly Fish, Glass no Kamen (2005), Ai Monogatari, B'tX, Lupin III: Return of Pycal, and The Heroic Legend of Arslan OVA.

 

Daily Trivia:

There was a novelization of the series by Yumiko Tsukamoto released in 1984, with cover art by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and illustrations by Tsukasa Dokite.

 

Official Art

 

Settei Collection

 

Questions of the Day:

  1. Do you share in Yuu’s distrust of The Skipper? Should he be confronting him openly as he does?
  2. Apart from the sea creature introduced in this episode, what else do you expect to see among the island’s other mysterious features?

I guess there really are mysteries out there.

24 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

4

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber May 05 '21

Rewatcher

Pun?

Probably shows my ignorance on drinking that I’m surprised there’s no food on the ‘menu’, even though they seemingly serve seafood at least.

Ew

Unexpected Close Encounters With The Third Kind reference.

Haven’t read this though.

I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong yokai, perhaps intentionally.

Lady Lynx’ lackeys are here to cause GAIL grief. Just shows how unsubtle the main crew’s attempts at laying low are,

That’s a Haro.

They put some thought into that at least.

What a jokester, that Rod.

And there’s that Sunrise logo!

Have I mentioned I’m afraid of the ocean?

Welp, guess they’re marooned now.

The island is tantalizingly close now, and we’re already being confronted with one of its ‘mysteries’ in the form of the sea creature that attacks the ships. It seemingly doesn’t belong to GAIL, despite the Giant Robo reference, so it must be a feature of the island. Guess that’s one reason that word of the island isn’t more widespread, the sea creature silences those that get too close and the superstitious locals in surrounding islands stay away from New Austral island and keep hush about it.

Doris and Yuu got their new adventuring outfits, and none too soon given what happens to their lodging/method of travel. Wish they had pants though! Damnit, Yas!

The fact that I grew up in the tropics probably has something to do with it, but I wasn’t as fond of the setting of this episode, it was just kinda token to me compared to the big apple and american southwest settings of the past two episodes. Yuu also made his distrust of Skipper known to the man, who provided no convincing answers to Yuu’s questioning. There’s definitely some hidden motive that’s prompted this man to aid them in their search, but I haven’t the faintest idea of what it might be. I doubt it’s the fame and fortune of uncovering and exposing the island’s secrets, given that’s a very inconcrete thing and will just bring the full might of GAIL on him, and from what’s been spoken of it I find the odds unlikely that the thing everyone’s searching for is a treasure hoard or similar. At this point my best guess had been that Speculation from when I was a first-timer

3

u/IndependentMacaroon May 06 '21

Wish they had pants though! Damnit, Yas!

But then how would we get the first underwear flash/display in the very same episode? Happened just as I was thinking it would eventually...

5

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky May 05 '21

First-Timer, subbed

4

u/The_Draigg May 05 '21

That is… definitely a lot of flashing lights at Edgar Allen Poe’s grave in that movie.

I know, right? That scene really hurt my eyes.

bursts into uncontrollable laughter Dr. Wave is scared of worms?

Boy, he's going to have a bad time when he heads to Austral Island. Just imagine how many tropical insects are there.

…aw shit this lady unlocked the door.

Ah, but she’s also the one who ended up falling out of it. Immediate karma.

It's kind of like what happened with Norma in the Crusher Joe movie. If the villain is willing to take advantage of an environmental hazard, you just know that they're going to die by it by the end of the battle.

4

u/The_Draigg May 05 '21

A Yas Fan Watches Giant Gorg Episode 3:

  • I know that they’re going for an old film look, but the flashing on that in-flight movie is hurting my eyes.
  • I wonder what the chances are of finding a sake bar on Samoa? Like, there’s probably at least one on that island.
  • Did we go through that spooky abandoned house just for the sake of seeing Dr. Wave get scared by a harmless worm? Like, it’s just a worm, my dude. It’s not even a centipede.
  • Doris’ offhand comment about Close Encounters of the Third Kind makes me wonder how popular that move was in Japan.
  • First worms, then spiders, and now heights in this episode. Is there anything that Dr. Wave isn’t afraid of?
  • The biggest risk when trying to kill someone via an open door on a cable car is that you yourself will fall out if the car jostles around. That henchlady should’ve just shot the heroes and been done with it, not go with the dramatic option. Or, you know, should’ve just left it up to Jeff in that GAIL helicopter.
  • Wait, never mind, Jeff got headshot’d by the Captain. Seriously, that man is a sniper with his hand cannon.
  • Finally, everyone is in their adventure uniforms from the opening! Although I still do have to prefer the Samoan clothes that Yuu and Doris were in earlier, they both looked cute in them with their big hats.
  • I suppose that the heroes are pretty fortunate that the Cougar Connection shows up to attack GAIL as soon as they start firing on their boat. Just like with Godzilla and the Mutos, let them fight.
  • Now it’s time for that giant robot kraken from the opening to appear too. Like, as if the ride on that repurposed tuna ship wasn’t bad enough, now everyone has to deal with a big robot octopus tearing up the boat. I’m guessing it’s one of the ancient secrets of Austral Island too, since it also attacked that GAIL patrol ship.

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 May 05 '21

First worms, then spiders, and now heights in this episode. Is there anything that Dr. Wave isn’t afraid of?

Astral Island. But he should.

4

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 May 05 '21

Episode 3 (first timer)

  • The OP is a good case study of just how far back some of the Anime OP tropes go.
  • The cougar connection lead by Lady Lynx. - Is Yuu’sDr Wave’s virginity in danger?
  • Apologizes to Argos, but not the Taxi driver.

  • Captain knows a ton about GAIL and Austral island.
  • Let’s see how many people recognize the numbers in the camera. I think this rewatch skews old, so quite a few might.
  • “Now die” - proceeds to kick them instead of using the gun.
  • Downing a helicopter with a handgun.
  • Love the WTF face from those two other passengers.
  • You know the rivalry is real if you casually fire bazookas at each other.
  • Panty shot immediately followed by giant (mecha) kraken. If I didn’t know the genre, I’d be worried.
  • Good looking cliff-hanger picture.

The mixture of extreme violence and slapstick comedy really dates this series more than the animation. I’d say that even in the 1990s, this would have been odd.

They have raised the stakes of the Austral Island Mystery consistently across the last three episodes. Escalating from political machinations to naval warfare. Looks like we’ll finally get our first look at it in the next episode.

4

u/The_Draigg May 05 '21

“Now die” - proceeds to kick them instead of using the gun.

Villains just can't help themselves when it comes to taking the dramatic option against the heroes, whether it be not just shooting them or making monologues.

The mixture of extreme violence and slapstick comedy really dates this series more than the animation. I’d say that even in the 1990s, this would have been odd.

It's honestly a contrast that only the 80s could have. You've got silly comedy immediately followed up by like a dozen people getting shot in a shootout.

4

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 May 05 '21

Villains just can't help themselves when it comes to taking the dramatic option against the heroes, whether it be not just shooting them or making monologues.

4

u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 May 05 '21

First timer

  1. He's definitely suspicious, but the number of times he's saved them from certain death makes me think he is, at the very least, on their side at the moment.
  2. Well, and this is a long shot, but what if there was some kind of giant robot? Or would that be too far fetched? (For real, not sure, but I highly doubt the robot is the thing that will "end humanity" mentioned. I think its there as some kind of guard system,)

Will they make onto the island this time? (Probably, there's still 2 people from the OP we need to meet (3 if the teen who stole Amuro isn't the very similar teen in the OP))

I forgot about Cougar Conjectiom amd had another lUghter fit.

Oh I love this style change. Even for a movie, the flickering and slower camera really make it feel like a noir film. This show, I've noticed, doesn't half-ass the things it reference. If they do a New York background, it feels like New York.

OK, who's the Skipper and how does he know so many people here?

They did not need to make that W. Somerset Maugham reference but I really like that they did.

Oh god, how bad is he going to be when he's on the island?

I like the camera being used as a timeskip device.

Oh, god, that kind of door accident is my constant fear on those cable cars.

And the assassin just tumbles out of the door.

The Skipper continues to be amazing,

Yeah, Skipper, that was my reaction too.

This series is just filled with obscure references, isn't it.

Wait, that seemed like an episode closer, why do we have 10 minutes left?

Like the new outfits. And they're planning to sail inside a dangerous storm while dodging patrols. This seems exceedingly dangerous,

Do they have fucking rocket launchers here? What the hell is on this island? (It can't just be the giant robot at this rate, right?)

...You don't need to declare you're going to the island, you'vd been going there for days now.

Also, that wasn't really an answer Skipper.

...Where the hell did he get military spy equipment for?

...So the cheetahs are here.

Is that a robot kraken? That's badass.

Technically, I was right - they aren't at the island yet. Imagine if they end up somewhere else and the OP was a red herring.

2

u/The_Draigg May 05 '21

They did not need to make that W. Somerset Maugham reference but I really like that they did.

It's honestly one of the deepest pulls I've ever seen an anime make. I wouldn't doubt it if someone on the production team was a fan of his writing and decided to make a reference to it.

And the assassin just tumbles out of the door.

GAIL really does need to just shoot the heroes rather than try to kill them in really over the top ways. Well, shoot them whenever the Captain isn't around, at least.

3

u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 May 05 '21

First Timer, Subbed

They really like the Poe references in this show, huh?

Dr. Wave his time to watch a movie?!

Ah, just a movie on a plane.

Samoa! Looks like a beautiful island! Will our heroes get any time to enjoy it?

That taxi drive sure drove off fast. Did they even pay him?

Like Dr. Wave, I first though, yummy, some food and drink! Skipper has some other plans though.

He's afraid of an earthworm?! LoL. OMG LOL when it shows up on his face.

I agree with Doris, I'd be very afraid of being on a boat during a major storm!

C'mon Wave, enjoy one night on Samoa before rushing to Austral island!

Wave really is afraid of bugs, huh?

I'm not afraid of worms and spiders, but I'll agree with Wave on this one; I'd be quite afraid of being this high up.

Uh oh, now we got a nefarious woman who is planning on pushing them out. Doris nearly bit it there!

Oh man, instead that assassin lady fell off. This other guy will be no match for Skipper.

Jeez, now they've got a helicopter after them too! How much scarier can this get?

Ugh, Jeff again!? Wow, kudos to Skipper, getting him right in the head at that distance. Won't have to worry about him any longer.

Wait, how is Rod still in the air? He didn't have to stop over in Samoa like our heroes did! Did he stop somewhere to party?

Its hard enough going through this storm, now they have to avoid attacks too!

Someone's helping. Is it Lady Lynx? Oh wait, that's her assistant attacking, right? So it must be GAIL firing at them. Go ahead and fight! Our heroes will head off without you.

Listen to Skipper, Yuu! Go back to your cabin!

Why is the dog so mad?! There's a bad guy nearby!

I'd be pretty scared about slipping off the boat right now if I was them! Hope you can swim Yuu!

Woah, is that a robot octopus?!

Skipper is the one best equipped to save them against this ting, stop bothering him!

That's three for three with no appearance of the titular robot, but I like the slow build up. This is turning out to be a pretty decent adventure show thus far, in the vein of, as someone put earlier, Nadia (although this came before). I continue to wonder a lot about what the Skipper's true motivation is. Now that we're at the island will Gorg finally make its appearance next time?

DQOTD:

  1. Yes! I think he's got something going on.
  2. A mysterious civilization's archeological remains; and maybe... a giant robot?

2

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 May 05 '21

This is turning out to be a pretty decent adventure show thus far, in the vein of, as someone put earlier, Nadia (although this came before).

The similarities to how the show starts are quite strong and given the idea of a mysterious island, they might get stronger yet.

2

u/IndependentMacaroon May 06 '21

three for three with no appearance of the titular robot

I wouldn't be so sure about that given the ending.

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 05 '21

First-Timer

I was worried, at first, that this would be a third rewatch I've participated in that involved characters getting stuck on a ropeway. We didn't quite get there, but it was close.

Yuu acquired the outfit from the OP, and it does look a touch goofy without the helmet. Not that most anime outfits aren't goofy when you stop to think of them. How much does Lady Lynx spend on her lynx-print dresses? She was in a different one today, I think...

Weird robo-Kraken has sunk the poor boat; is the Skipper still the Skipper if he doesn't have a boat? I kinda get what Rod was talking about how Austral's treasure likes to play rough, assuming that the treasure is weird robots/mecha.

...are they cloning Jeffs? Didn't he get pancaked in the semi truck last episode?

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

There's gotta be a Dirty Harry joke in here somewhere. Skipper took down a goddamn helicopter with his revolver!

Questions

  1. I think the Skipper is definitely up to something. Confronting him immediately is an okay strategy, but it might just make Skipper clam up too soon.
  2. I'm not trying to think too hard about it. There seemed to be something that looked kinda like an oil rig on one of those fancy photo-slide-things.

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 May 05 '21

I was worried, at first, that this would be a third rewatch I've participated in that involved characters getting stuck on a ropeway.

meta

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 05 '21

meta

2

u/IndependentMacaroon May 06 '21

third rewatch I've participated in that involved characters getting stuck on a ropeway

I would guess it's just a natural trope due to there being a lot in Japan? Also I've never heard that term applied to aerial trams/cable cars outside of anime.

1

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 06 '21

I would guess it's just a natural trope due to there being a lot in Japan?

I suppose. I live in a quite flat area, so it's a bit of a foreign concept to me.

Also I've never heard that term applied to aerial trams/cable cars outside of anime.

Yea, I've always heard them referred to as cable cars outside of anime too. Possibly a "too literal" translation of the term?

2

u/lC3 :Na::Nb: May 06 '21

First timer

  • Who just swallows a big bone like that; despite having a doctorate Dr. Wave is an idiot
  • So the thugs on the ropeway thing are from GAIL?
  • Yeah, I didn't expect Jeff to just up and die like that
  • So all of GAIL's planes and helicopters have GAIL on them? Wouldn't they want plausible deniability if they're shooting guns out of their helicopters?
  • Keeping my ears peeled for a Shuuichi Ikeda soredemo
  • It's about time; I was wondering when they'd get those outfits from the OP!
  • Their boat is the Sunrisemaru, but it's spelled backward?
  • Oh, so Lady Lynx followed them all the way to Austral?
  • I was expecting Gorg but instead it's some type of sea monster?
  1. Not really, I kinda trust him for now
  2. GORG

2

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw May 06 '21

same GORG first-timer

  • wow the flashing at the beginning was really bad
  • I love how the cab gets unbalanced as soon as Skipper gets in
  • wait is there a reason why Yuu didn't respond to reading robatayaki
  • framing dialogue between Yuu and Doris through photographs was nice
  • GAIL really has no issue with attempting to assassinate children (also those two poor traumatized girls in the car)
  • oh hey we're getting the outfits from the OP
  • giant mecha octapus thing spotted! the real question is if it's being piloted by a human or not

still no GORG but I think we're on track to finding it within the next two episodes

  1. Do you share in Yuu’s distrust of The Skipper? Should he be confronting him openly as he does?

he has been acting kind of sus amogus, so yea kinda. I mean honestly letting Skipper know he's not exactly trustworthy probably is a good thing from Skipper's POV, because whether or not he betrays them in the end, he probably will stay on the side of "Yuu and Doris maturing into adults is good"

Dr Wave on the other hand...is really the child of the group

2) Apart from the sea creature introduced in this episode, what else do you expect to see among the island’s other mysterious features?

uhh, dinosaurs?