Mmm, that title suggests he's also into racing, ice hockey, table tennis... He has nevertheless been used exclusively for kickboxing. This in combination with a project to activate a volcano. Ah, the internal cohesion of Gatchaman episode plots.
Near the to-be-activated volcano: an amateur kickboxing match at the orphanage where Jinpei grew up. The spectators include Jinpei and Ryu, who dropped in for a visit.
The match, starting out promisingly,
soon turns into this...
and this.
A bit of deceit here: pretending to be knocked out, one contestant catches the other with a kick and sends him flying.
The match is undecided, both boys catching their breath.
Jinpei, his annoyance rising, takes this opportunity to complain about their bad fighting style.
The reply "well, if you can do better, why don't you show us" takes him aback, but he's already found an unsuspecting victim.
"Why me?" might be a suitable caption under this picture.
Jinpei clangs the bucket while Ryu still leans on the ropes, musing whether this is the right thing to do, and so his opponent can easily attack him from the rear.
Ryu bites the dust - the onlookers cheer! Okay, someone's in trouble now.
He won't be caught off-guard again. A second kick is intercepted and countered in a way that is effective, but doesn't show much more technique than what went before.
The poor kid heads for the rope... breaks it... And lands on his back among the spectators.
Ryu feels he may have been a bit too rough, and doesn't share Jinpei's satisfaction over his victory.
Ryu and Jinpei invite both boys to a real, professional match. This is the stadium, inside and out.
The contestants are: kickboxing champion Shimura, and an enormous stranger called Galack X with a mask bearing the Galactor logo. Very subtle (not).
The champ proves his reputation, knocking Galack X this way and that with two punches and a kick to the head.
Again, "why me?" might be a suitable caption for this pic.
A spectacular jump, and Galack X is down! His opponent looks almost worried.
But he gets that glint in his eye (which, by the way, is made of glass; he's an automaton) and the match will now very quickly be decided...
He towers. Impressively.
He does a motion blur thingy. Shimura jumps again. A blow knocks him out of the air.
Still recovering, Shimura can't evade a knee in the stomach. He goes down and hits the ropes.
He's down, and K.O. The referee counts down, then declares Galack X the winner.
