The Love and Suffering in Gatchaman is an essay featured in Asahi Sonorama's second Fantastic TV Collection volume for Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. It recounts the individual incidents of suffering the Science Ninja Team members went through in meeting ordinary people or those associated with Galactor, up to the loss of one of their own.
While the author is anonymous and could even have been the editor, it can be noted that there is a usage of "Gatchaman" as plural for the Science Ninja Team, as Jinzo Toriumi and Satoshi Suyama would particularly come to utilize for them in the sequels. However, since Hisayuki Toriumi tended to be behind different writings in these volumes, it may very well have been his work.
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When we think back to the scenes in the Gatchaman series that touched our hearts, we realize that most of them unfolded on the basis of strong bonds between people, the love of family, and friendship.
Four of the Gatchaman had lost family members, and even Ryu, the only exception, was the only one who had to bear a grief that the other four could not understand. At Jinjin Prison, it was none other than the Science Ninja Team themselves who blocked Jim's path back to his normal life, after loving and giving the seagulls there the names of his wife and daughter. Ryu understood Jim's feelings all too well. If losing a loved one is sadness, then the sadness of never being able to meet each other again even if they are all alive is also great enough. Can Ryu's pain in rescuing his father in a stormy sea, yet not being able to reveal himself as his son and rejoice in his father's safety, be called luxurious?
No, I'm sure Jinpei felt the same way after his experience in Shosken. He met a mother who had lost her son, who looked just like Jinpei, and they spent a night together as mother and son with him learning the warmth of "sitting on Mama's lap". At the Devil's Graveyard, she chased after Jinpei, caring so much that she didn't care about the dangers, but he rescued her from Galactor. However, in front of this mother who was searching for Jinpei without knowing anything about him, Jinpei was unable to take off his helmet and only expressed "I'm sure he's alive". Only Ken realized that this was the best he could express as a filial son.
Because of the fight against Galactor, there are times when even a moment of peace was not permitted, and sometimes the only way to secure the bonds of friendship would be through death. However, simply because they were part of Galactor, many people died and left their hearts behind.
Devil Star #2 met Joe on the racing circuit. Her mother was actually the very assassin who killed Joe's parents 10 years ago, making a strange encounter between two enemy children. And now they had an ironic fate as Galactor and Gatchaman. However, unaware of that, the two fought and Devil Star #2 fell, uttering a sad cry: "Why can't children of Galactor escape from Galactor?
These five people came together under the name of the Science Ninja Team and grew to trust each other as they battled, but friendship is something that is born out of a chance. A man named Dave came to the Snack Jun as an intelligence agent for Galactor. Before long, a brotherly friendship was born between him and Jinpei, and it grew from there. An absolute friendship, a firm trust, something that Dave was willing to risk his life for. Unable to sell Jinpei and the Gatchaman out to Galactor, he had no choice but to die as a traitor to Galactor. But to Jinpei, he died as a friend and nothing else.
Jun was also forced to say farewell to a loved one during battle: Koji Yabane, Captain of the Blackbirds. Gatchaman and a Blackbird, they were two people who had to meet again to fight. Jun and Koji must have treasured the warmth that had sprung up between them as childhood friends in the backs of their minds. But the reality was that one of them would eventually have to die. In order for her to continue fighting as part of the Science Ninja Team, the long-lost Koji had to die. It was a battle that would leave a scar in the heart of both the victor and the fallen. Especially between people who loved each other, they would have wanted to avoid a battle if possible. They both wanted to go back to the good old days. Perhaps that was what was on their minds.
Do they have to fight because they're part of the Science Ninja Team? Do those have to be defeated just because they're Galactor? The frustration of the battles themselves gradually grow. Some even turn this into outright hatred towards Galactor.
Ken's memories of his father ended when he was 4 years old. It had been 14 years since he was told that his father died in the distant skies. Upon learning that his father was actually still alive, Ken was shocked and forgot his position as the leader of the Ninja Team and began to investigate on his own. However, his reckless actions ultimately led to his father's death. When the Captain of Red Impulse, who he had met many times before, who he had helped and was helped by, and who he had stood together with against Galactor, told him he was his father, it was fate that they had to part ways. After a brief moment of physical contact as father and son, Ken was thrown to the floor by his father's hands. Ken's image reflected in his father's sunglasses, with the first words of sadness he heard.
"This is hard, Ken..."
There was not much time to talk. They were all tense and focused on sharing their thoughts. You may be suffering, but I am suffering too...that's what those overflowing tears said. Ken was overcome with sadness, pain, and regret.
"I wish I had never known!"
Certainly, if he didn't know Red Impulse's identity, he believed in the existence of truth and held on to hope. But was it really better to never know? Even if it was only temporary, could it really be said that running away from the truth is happiness? If it was a truth that he would have to find out eventually, isn't now the best time? If he found out later, he would be hit with even greater regrets than the pain of finding now. He might have been shocked to the point that he would never be able to get up again.
"Be strong."
Ken, who can only call out his father's name, was entrusted with the greatest wish of his father. From now on, he would truly stand on his own two feet. When overcoming sadness, people grow. Ken witnessed the end of his father's life and changed significantly. The idea that it would have been better if he had never known...Ken was not the only one who experienced the pain of finding out the truth.
Joe had joined the Science Ninja Team with no memories of his childhood, but he was constantly troubled by a vague fear that some terrible truth was hidden in those blank spaces. His fears were confirmed. 10,000 meters below the surface of the ocean, amid the flames of an exploding aircraft carrier, Ken helped him recover the lost part of his memories. He learned the horrible truth that he was the son of Galactor members, and that his parents were assassinated for betraying Galactor.
"I hate you Ken. I was better off not knowing. You did this!"
Joe had also wanted to escape from his past by "not knowing". The pain was too great for him to bear alone. However, he had a friend by his side who had personally experienced the pain of knowing.
"Forget it."
But what he can never forget is that he knew it too. But more than that, he knew how much his Science Ninja Team comrades would support him with their great friendship. Right now, the only way for the five of them to overcome their respective sorrows was to come together as one. Joe's single tear firmly captured that.
However, even as the Science Ninja Team became more and more strongly bonded, they would suffer a major blow at the very end: Joe's death. Joe, who knew how his body was getting more and more afflicted by disease each day, headed towards his death without being able to tell anyone, in order to pay off his debt as the son of Galactor. He finally found the entrance to the enemy base, but collapsed from exhaustion, entrusting the hope of stopping Operation Black Hole to his four comrades who rushed to his side.
Joe's feelings of guilt about his past continued to cast a shadow over his determination to become a member of the Science Ninja Team until the very end. However, it was only when he was on the brink of death that he was able to find peace and leave a message for each of his comrades.
Ken...Are you going to lecture me until the very end?
Jun...Seize your girlish happiness.
Jinpei...Stop being selfish and annoying to Jun.
Ryu...I'm sorry for always disobeying orders.
He was finally able to apologize honestly. Joe's heart, which had always been cold, was now in a state of ecstacy to have met up with the other four.
"Go on!"
With Joe's heart connected to their hearts, they rushed into the enemy camp. However, the plan to destroy the Earth had progressed to a point where it was no longer possible for humans to do anything about it.
"I don't want you to die alone. Let's die together."
After all, humans can never get used to loneliness. Jun's cry was a common cry for all four of them. The four stood there helplessly. At that moment, a single feather shuriken slid silently into the machine. The shuriken twisted and twisted, but it managed to disengage the gears and destroy the bomb. With the counter gauge at 0002, Galactor's ambitions were thwarted.
They will never know that a single feather shuriken, imbued with Joe's tenacity, saved the Earth. But didn't we already see it in the image of the man who was Joe, the Science Ninja Team's G-2 the Condor?
After many battles, there are now those who cannot be with them - enemies, allies, loved ones, strangers... Katse, who had dreamed of solitary authority, bore the hatred of Ken in himself and died in a state of self-mockery. X had left, and for a moment peace was restored to the Earth. But then, the five people who had solemnly sworn that "We cannot lose even one person" had lost an irreplaceable person.
Just what was it that they hated so much?
As long as the battles would continue, they would have to suffer more than ever before. But they would grow stronger, supported by the wonderful qualities of love and helping each other.
Nobody is perfect on their own...and nobody knows the heat of a tightly held hand as well as they do.