Bizarre! The Black Spaceship (怪奇! 暗黒大戦艦 ) – A fairly compelling start to the series with an immediately apparent scope on-par with the film. The Gavanas Empire, led by Roxair XIII (Descended from the one seen in the film) conquer the peaceful human-colonized 15th Solar System, inhabited by the mysterious young man Hayato Gen, who bears witness to his family being murdered (Reminding one of Kamen Rider V3) by them. Hot shot cargo pilot Ryu, with his co-pilot Ballu, is apparently familiar with Gen’s father, but doesn’t go into details. Clearly, Gavanas know of Gen’s father, and wanted him out fo the picture as soon as possible. A mysterious red ninja makes an appearance to fight off some footsoldiers. Hellbent on revenge, Gen is rescued by a mysterious woman named Sofia and is granted the now-legendary ship the Liabe, as seen in the film. 3.5/5
Terror! The Ninja Corps (恐怖！忍者兵団) – Picking up where the previous episode left off, with the Gavanas empire continuing to conquer the 15th Solar System and Gen searching for Ryu and Balu. Despite being tasked with dominating a planet, Igar, brother of Commander Kogar and one directly responsible for Gen’s family’s death, apparently has time to partake in knife-throwing contests to win a robot. And said contest is what leads Kogar and Ryu to have their first encounter that leads to a mild rivalry between the two, in addition to the robot Tonto joining the main gang. A small group of freedom fighters led by a man named Kamiji offer Gen and Ryu to join their cause, but Ryu for some reason turns it down, preferring to work on his own like the rogue scoundrel he is. Exactly how Ega found out the connection between Ryu and Balu when they were separated isn’t clear. 3.5/5
A Beautiful Messenger from Earth (地球の美しき使者) – Continuing from the last episode with the gang on the planet Cita, Balu’s homeworld. There they meet a young woman from the Earth Council who answered the distress call sent by Gen’s father who comes with bad news – the Council will not be providing defense assistance to the 15th Solar System. The idea of them abandoning their brothers, as the solar system is human-colonized, does not sit well with anybody, including the messenger or we the audience. Gen begins to question just how Ryu knew his father and why they both have the same type of sword. Despite seeing right through her disguise last time, Ryu fails to catch on to Gavanas’ female ninja Kunoi masquerading. 3.5/5
Message from Space: Galactic Wars (宇宙からのメッセージ・銀河大戦) – Released very early on, the movie serves as essentially a “preview” of the show, with all the basic elements including space battles, Kamiji leading a group of rebels, Kunoi using her disguise abilities, and most notably both Shooting Star and Phantom working side-by-side. Given Phantom hasn’t even been introduced yet, the movie simply isn’t canon. Kamiji is told by Sofia to travel to Earth for help, which is somewhat contradictory to the Council’s refusal to provide aide. Hibito, the Ninja Corps member appears in episode 4 despite dying in the movie. An alright little movie, but hardly anything special, with really no plot at all, again, just serving as a taste of things to come. 3/5
Fighter for Justice, Shooting Star (正義の味方 流れ星 ) – A pretty simplistic episode at its surface, with the gang off to Analys to free a group of freedom fighters, including Kamiji from a concentration camp, but one that makes a lot of important revelations. The warden of the planet is assigned by Koga to being construction of a palace on the planet for Roxair. In order to retrieve a map, Ryu reveals himself as the mysterious red ninja, dubbed “Shooting Star”, though only to us audience members. While Ryu’s off, Gen decides to go for a joyride in the Liabe, which gets him into trouble, rightfully ticking off Ryu. Ryu and Balu finally see Sofia for the first time. 3.5/5
The Cursed Star (呪われた学校 ) – Picking up from the last time, considering their princess (Freedom fighters) was in another castle (planet). While on Belda, Gen decides to stop by his flight school to see how everyone is, only for him to discover the entirety of it, sans a couple of mildly-annoying kids have been abducted to work in the mines. They are made to work via Hibito, a one-eyed alien (Perhaps a descendant of Mr. Titan?) from Gavanas’ Ninja Corps who can hypnotize people into doing his bidding via patches with eyes on them put on people’s necks (Almost giving off a The Manster vibe), and decides to use Balu to his advantage. The scene of Ryu being forced to attack his best friend during the dogfight is pretty emotional. The shot of Balu eating with a little ape child seen during the montage is from the next episode. Can Ryu see the future? 3.5/5
What is the Monster Empire? (怪皇帝の正体? ) – The introduction of a new silver ninja warrior dubbed “Phantom”, who’s identity is pretty obvious, but remains unconfirmed to us viewers. The “superhero” element with both space ninjas is now at full play here, and is honestly one of the show’s weaker elements. The high-energy action sure isn’t a bad thing (And our heroes being masked allows for stunt doubles), but Gen and Ryu’s “alter-egos” of Phantom and Shooting Star feel unnecessary, and whether Gavanas knows their identities or not becomes kind of confusing as the show progresses. The small mystery as to how Ryu knows Gen’s father is pretty much dropped, with it just being assumed he trained under him given their similar space ninja garments. Gavanas have figured out, or at least seriously believe Shooting Star’s true identity being Ryu, and lure him into a trap via allowing him to sneak aboard their mothership, in which they hold him hostage in order for the Liabe crew to come rescue him, and put an end to the whole crew in one fell swoop. A pretty entertaining episode all around, with us getting a possible look a the mysterious emperor Roxair’s psychic powers. The Ninja Corps warrior does almost nothing and is pretty pointless to the story. 4/5
Friendship Shining in the Starry Sky (星空に輝く友情 ) – A pretty typical episode, with the Liabe crew returning to Analys to assist Kamiji and some more freedom fighters in preventing the construction of Roxair’s castle. Among them is a young man named Dan whom Ryu quickly takes a liking too, and his adopted sister Hana who reminds Gen of his late sister. The episode is mostly a series of them fighting off Gavanas’ attempts at thwarting them, and its fine, if unremarkable. The ending is pretty tragic, however. The Ninja Corps warrior is easily the most traditional Kaijin-looking up to this point, looking right at home in Inazuman. 3/5
Cruel! The Ape Hunt (無残！猿人狩り ) – A Balu-centric episode that’s easily the darkest up to this point, with his species being rounded up for labor to build Roxair’s palace, only for Roxair to not want their filthy damn dirty ape paws contaminating his castle, ordering the mass extermination of them all. The Gavanas Empire is without a doubt at their most despicable here, reminiscent of Nazi Germany. An old friend of Balu’s is coerced into luring him, only to be betrayed once his usefulness is over. The betrayer, a tree-like Ninja Corps warrior is another more traditional Kaijin (Somewhat similar in appearance to Marvel’s Groot). A good episode, despite its very dark tone. 4/5
The Devil Castle of the Gavanas (ガバナス悪魔の城 ) – A bit of a “game changer” episode with Roxair’s palace being completed. In order for it to be properly christened, a female sacrifice is required, and Roxair wants none other than Sofia for it. To attract Sofia, Gen, Kamiji and his rebel friends are shot into space, where Sofia’s galleon is found and badly damaged, with its dimensional-barrier broken. Much of the episode has the Liabe trio guarding the ship as it repairs, making sure Sofia isn’t kidnapped. A solid episode, even if it is a shame Sofia never psychically interacts with the gang despite her being within their realm. 4/5
Destroy the Planet Earth (惑星地球を消せ ) – An episode with a lot going for it, with Kamiji wishing to travel to Earth (Right out of the movie) to convince the council to assist them and Roxair deciding to break the spirits of the humans under his rule by destroying their original home. In order to do this, Gavanas kidnaps a scientist from Earth who has the blueprints to a shuttle capable of traveling there, as travel to the planet is apparently difficult. Some his colleagues were convinced to work for Gavanas under the promise that their work is being done to rekindle the Earth’s relationship with the 15th galaxy. Despite being a prominent enemy of Gavanas, Kamiji apparently has no qualms in being a regular at a restaurant near the newly-built palace, visiting in broad daylight shortly after a feud no less. Misa, the Earth Council agent from episode 3 is mentioned by Gen and Ryu, with them wondering how her pleas for the council to reconsider assisting the 15th Solar System went, only for them to have no real way of knowing. Not a bad episode, but just doesn’t feel quite as gripping as it should. Balu and Tonto are pretty pointless to the plot, resulting in rather tedious scenes of them being chased, and Gavanas apparently having a planet-destroying bomb on them this whole time is a bit of a revelation that you feel would have been stated earlier. 3/5
The Princess of the Underground Kingdom/Duel! The Mysterious Ninja Tower (地底王国の王女 /決戦! 謎の忍者塔) – The first proper two-parter of the show, even if most episodes directly follow each-other, and while decent, maybe not really warranting of its status. There is some decent world-building provided for Belda, with a mysterious mountainside purported to be haunted being investigated by Gavanas, only to find a race of people called the Mongo Tribe, the planet’s original inhabitants driven underground by colonizers. Roxair’s obsession with ruling every single part of the planets in the 15th System is really showcased here, with them aligning themselves with a power-hungry tribe member (Played by the great Kenji Ushio) to overthrow the king and obtain an emerald passed from princess-to-princess, said to be the most valuable in the universe. Much of the first part has Ryu and Balu climbing the mountain in an attempt to find Gen, who has been in the hospitality of the Mongo Tribe, developing a potential romance with the princess. In a real funny scene, Sofia gives some prep talk to the climbing Ryu and Balu, only for them to complain why she didn’t opt to give them a lift on the galleon. The second part involves Gavanas taking the princess hostage in exchange for the emerald, with Roxair offering her to marry him, though that’s most likely just a taunt. She’s held prisoner in the Ninja Tower, the training center for the various ninjas under Gavanas’ command. A perfectly fine set of episodes with some interesting ideas and good scenes, though being two parts, it does occasionally drag. 3.5/5
The Miracle of the God Magnol (神マニヨルの奇跡 ) – Starts promisingly, with Roxair once more expressing xenophobia towards the Delans and residents of Cita, and ordering his men to put a stop to an annual religious festival and prove Magnol, the god they worship is fake. Things sadly get a little messy when we meet an old friend of Balu’s who’s become disillusioned with the god and has decided to work for Gavanas (Balu sure has bad luck with that, huh?), resulting in an on-and-off feud between him and Balu that eventually leads to Gen and Ryu trying to restore his faith. The episode certainly has a pro-religion message to it, with a series of events towards the end that definitely seem to prove the existence of the god at least somewhat, including an end some may find contrived. And while that’s fine, it’d be hard to call his abandoning entirely unjust – after all, where was their god when Gavanas invaded the 15th Solar System? This really isn’t explored too much, instead mostly focusing on their attempts to reintegrate him. Not one of the better episodes, but some interesting, if underdeveloped ideas. 3/5
The Terrible Flying Ninja (恐るべし! 有翼忍士 ) – A solid episode showcasing a former Gavanas ninja who has long-retired to Cita with his granddaughter. The empire take notice of this, and force him out of retirement by holding his granddaughter hostage, promising her return if he kills Phantom and Shooting Star. A good episode that really showcases Gavanas’ cruelty. The retired ninja is shown to have both a human and kaijin form, though which is “real” isn’t specified, complicated by his granddaughter being human. Apparently, the man trained Kogar and Igar at a young age, and is widely considered one of the strongest ninjas. His family were either killed by or died fighting for Gavanas, which is what led to his abrupt retiring. It’s a bit contrived the Liabe crew just happen to be camping right near where he lives, and the ending involving Sofia raises some questions as to why she’s never used certain powers before, but a good episode. 4/5
Fly, Embracing Love! (飛べ! 愛を抱いて ) – A “poison gas” story rather reminiscent of a Kamen Rider episode (But rather amazingly, Masaru Igami was not the writer) that’s very well-done and pretty gripping. Gavanas creates a poison gas that infects people with a virus, which they intend to spread throughout Belda. Fortunately, there’s a defector among them who arrives with the antidote, something like the various evil organizations in Kamen Rider, Gavanas has on hand, not daring to be infected themselves. Though the gas kills instantly in chambers, when used outdoors, it apparently takes a few hours to hit, giving Hayato possible time to reach a lab and get the antidote mass-produced. A very good episode that has Hayato almost entirely on his own, with his communicator broken, and with little time to spare. Soon-to-be Battle Kenya Kenji Ohba appears as an unlucky villager affected by the gas. 4/5
The Girl in the Trick House (からくり館の少女 ) – A sadly sub-par episode mostly due to it being convoluted and just kind of uninteresting. Gavanas apparently do not know the true identities of Phantom and Shooting Star, despite Gen and Ryu transforming in front of them several times, and order the latets Ninja Corps member to capture Gen or Ryu in order to lure them out. This is accomplished via a pretty convoluted way – brainwashing Kamiji to notify a young rebel woman (Emi Hayakawa) that her father is in Gavanas’ hands, prompting her, Hana and Gen to go to her household to search for him, which of course winds up being a trap. Kamiji apparently never made it to Earth like he had hoped to, given he’s back on Analys. As stated, the whole affair is just kind of overwrote and uninteresting, though not awful. The Ninja Corps member is actually not a kaijin, but rather a semi-normal looking woman with a spider on her head. It is odd they opted to make her humanoid given the twist to her identity revealed later on, which is admittedly one of the better parts of the episode. 2.5/5
The Golden Vampire Princess (黄金の吸血姫 ) – A very unusual sort of episode that’s perhaps a bit of a failed experiment, but maintains some interest. The plot is kind of messy, with the Liabe crew finding a princess from the Planet Igauna, which was destroyed by Gavanas, and her leading them to a colony on Cita said to be descended from the Nazca people of Earth. Said colony is terrorized by a Vampire Woman and her two goofily-voiced henchmen who are working on behalf of Gavanas, wanting the secret of a pyramid that serves as a route between the village and Nazca on Earth, with Gavanas apparently keen on invading Earth eventually. The process of how it works and its ties to the Nazca of Earth are never really explored, and its only made more complicated by its ability to harness light from the sun Glora. Quite simply, the episode’s runtime just didn’t allow for enough legroom for it to be explained properly, and while that’s a shame, the writers probably should have opted for something a little simpler. For the second episode in a row, there’s a “revelation” regarding the Ninja Corps warrior, that is again unexpected, but having it twice in a row is pretty repetitive. There’s a bit of a romance going on between Gen and the princess, with her falling for his devotion to peace and justice. It feels a little forced, but does make the “reveal” scene more powerful. If there’s one thing the episode has going for it, it is the location filming and cinematography, both of which look really impressive. 3/5
Great Escape! The Boy Ninja Team (大脱走! 少年忍士団 ) – A good episode showcasing the true cruelty of Gavanas. Revealed are the existence of Gavanas’ Ninja Corps training schools, in which children from the planets are abducted and put through horrible training to become Ninja Corps members. Those that do not excel are either killed by their classmates, or thrown off cliffs. Unfortunately for them, their star pupil has enough and flees after being forced to kill his best friend, resulting in him coming into contact with the Liabe crew and the whole team going off to free the students and destroy the school. A solid episode from start to finish with a gripping plot with some emotional weight. After having his hand sliced off two episodes back, Igar receives an iron one (And for those that want to call it an Empire Strikes Back rip-off, this came nearly two years before it). 4/5
Rise! The Warrior of the Wasteland (起て! 荒野の勇者) – A pretty crazy “wild west” episode with the trio arriving to the western part of Cita (Which is of course like the wild west) which has been dominated by Gavanas who force its people to mine ore. and meeting a once-renowned mechanic Melos, who has become a vigilante, distrusting of both the town’s people and Gavanas. They meet a once-renowned mechanic-turned vigilante who distrusts both the townspeople and Gavanas. His reasoning for distrusting the people involves them giving the whereabouts of his family in exchange for the lives of their children, and while he is sympathetic in that he lost his children, it is kind of hard to relate with him considering theirs were on the line too. Melos’ theme song is none other than that of Shocker’s from Kamen Rider (More specifically, an instrumental version of “Akuma no Shocker”). The Ninja Corps member is simply an evil cowboy, feeling a bit like a low-key Kaiketsu Zubat villain. Kooky, and at times just feels like an excuse to make use of a western set, but a pretty fun romp. 3.5/5
The Legend of the Golden Ship (黄金船の伝説 ) – A mixed bag of an episode with a little too much going on, but not without merit. Gavanas continue their quest to get a grip on the entire Delan race but once again exploiting their beliefs, this time staging a doomsday prophecy involving purple skies and a galleon (The connection with it and Sofia’s, if any, is not clear). Meanwhile, Gen runs into an old friend who’s also fighting Gavanas, and Ryu gets himself captured in order to learn of their scheme. As stated, there’s just a little too much going on, with the whole scheme of Gavanas faking a doomsday event barely getting any screentime. The plan to lure Gen onto the galleon is somewhat convoluted, and it’s not clear why he must die on it and not elsewhere. The Ninja Corps member is once again another “twist”, one that might remind people of Kamen Rider’s Scorpion Man. Despite being a bit messy, there’s still enough to enjoy, particularly Phantom and Shooting Star raiding Roxair’s palace and Shooting Star’s escape from prison. 3/5
The Monster from Another Dimension (異次元の怪物（モンスター）) – An enjoyable monster-on-the-loose story that almost feels in-vein to a show like Captain Ultra. Roxair personally unleashes a giant monster from his dimension, which was done to lure Sofia, who, sympathizing with the creature, will send it back, only to find a whole lot of monsters awaiting her. A little goofy and a bit curious as to why a bunch weren’t just sent out at once, but pretty fun. The royal Mongo family returns, with the monster first appearing near their mountains, and the magnetic qualities of their rocks playing a key part in defeating the monster. The monster resembles the Pairan aliens from Warning from Space, perhaps mixed with Spectreman’s Hedoron. A fun episode that ends on a cliffhanger. 3.5/5
Great Demon God Roxair (大魔神ロクセイア ) – The beginning of the show’s endgame, with Sofia unable to return to her home and hiding in the same lake she hid at on Analys back in The Devil Castle of the Gavanas. Gavanas is of course hot on her trail, with Roxair seeming to know her every move. The crew return to Belda to hide Sofia among the Mongo Tribe, but she urges to join them in their fight against Roxair. Roxair apparently reveals himself at last, as a giant stone majin. There’s quite a bit of chase sequences with Gavanas wanting their hands on Sofia that can maybe get a bit tedious, but a solid episode. 4/5
Blow Up the Imperial Palace! (大爆破! 皇帝宮殿 ) – Picking up right where the last episode left off, with the giant stone Roxair arriving at his palace. The King of the Mongo Tribe apparently has a map of Analys’ underground, which gives the crew information on just where to destroy Roxair’s palace (What are the odds?). They join forces with Kamiji’s band of rebels, though quickly get a mole among them in the form of the possessing Kagamibito, who’s possibly the lamest-looking Ninja Corps member in the whole show. Sofia reveals that Roxair’s conquering of the 15th Solar System is only the very beginning – using all of the energy harnessed from the three planets, he intends to conquer the entire universe. In a somewhat confusing series of events, the gang notice a man (Kagamibito in disguise) missing during their raid, who has gone back to camp to capture Sofia. Gen arrives to rescue her, and is willingly kidnapped in order to be taken prisoner and destroy the palace internally. It makes enough sense for him to do that once he knows Sofia and Hana are safe, but he weirdly seems to imply he’s’ the only one capable of reaching the core of the palace when everyone else has been taken prisoner too. Did he hoard the map for himself, wanting to be the one to take the glory? A few weird bits, but still a pretty solid episode that ends on another cliffhanger. 3.5/5
Great Comet Zatan Appears (大彗星ザタン出現 ) – Continuing from the last episode with the great meteorite Zatan approaching Belda. Sofia reveals one thing Roxair apparently fears – the Gen clan, Gen’s ancestors. A LOT gets revealed here, mainly the fact Roxair attempted to invade the 15th Solar System centuries ago, and was thwarted by the Gen clan via a great weapon comprised of three stars on each planet – Heaven, Earth and Man. Though there was certainly some indicating Gen was much more than a normal kid in the first episode with his father, a bit more build-up to Roxair’s fear of him might have been nice. Meanwhile, Kogar is beginning to plot his own little rebellion against Roxair. Knowing the Liabe crew may have the key to Roxair’s defeat, Kunoi is tasked to keep up with them, possibly even obtaining the fabled stars beforehand. 4/5
The End of Planet Belda (惑星ベルダの最期) – Picking up from the last episode with Zatan growing closer and the crew stumped as to where to search for those stars. Kogar’s despising of Roxair is elevated when he’s ordered to kill a respected Gavanas general after he’s forced by Gen to transport Belda residents to safety. And while Roxair’s orders are awful, Gen wasn’t exactly a spring chicken in forcing the general to carry the evacuees either – he forced Gavanas soldiers out, presumably leaving them to die on the planet. Kogar proposes an alliance between him and Gen, even offering him a transport ship on Analys to help evacuate people from Belda, but Gen naturally declines. That doesn’t stop him and Ryu from stealing said ship, though. The King of the Mongo tribe speaks of a prophecy that a white ship will carry its inhabitants to safety during end times. We’re led to believe said ship is the Liabe, but there winds up being a real fun twist to it. The possible truth as to what the three stars are is revealed. 4/5
The Mystery of the Emeralida (エメラリーダの謎 ) – Continuing from last time with the Liabe crew apparently helpless in regards to finding all stars – or are they? There is a pretty clever twist regarding a component that reveals just why Roxair wanted princess Himine’s brooch. The crew is required to return to Gen’s temple on Analys once again for their quest. If there’s one flaw with the endgame arc, it is their constant back-and-fourthing between Analys and Belda. Igar reveals to Kamiji the reason why he’s kept him alive for so long – he may be a useful tool in getting Gen and Ryu. A great episode all around with a great final duel between Shooting Star and Igar and some shocking developments regarding Kamiji and Kunoi. And the cliffhanger is bound to make one’s jaw drop. 4.5/5
Farewell! Heroes of the Galaxy (さらば! 銀河の勇者 ) – The series finale and a pretty solid one that hits all the right marks for the most part. The downright shocking cliffhanger from the previous episode is explained pretty quickly, but is still pretty unexpected. Indeed, Kogar is just as surprised as we the viewers are that that was who has been answering to the whole time…which only gives him more reason to backstab Roxair and take the stars for himself. The final confrontation with Roxair at the sun Glora is pretty thrilling and ends on a bit of a tearjerker…and the fate of Tonto is never revealed. Everyone is seen having been safely transported back to Cita at the end, except for our little robot buddy. 4/5
Beta Capsule Reviews 