Escape!! The Underwater Volcano Erupts
From Transformers Wiki
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 Dianetics! By L. Ron Hubbard! | ||||||
| "Escape!! The Underwater Volcano Erupts" (Dasshutsu!! Kaitei Kazan Daibakuhatsu) | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | 15 November 1988 | |||||
| Writer | Toyohiro Andō | |||||
| Director | Katsutoshi Sasaki | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
When Lightfoot investigates the eruption of an underwater volcano, he discovers the site of a new Decepticon base.
Contents |
Synopsis
When the Decepticons begin construction of an advance base on the ocean floor off the coast of Australia, their repeated blasting causes a dormant underwater volcano to become active, in turn triggering a major earthquake that devastates Sydney. Lightfoot investigates and pinpoints the earthquake's epicenter, diving beneath the waves to examine the volcano. He reports back to Autobot headquarters his suspicions that a full-scale eruption may occur in the next 24 hours, but as he continues to gather data, he is attacked by a battalion of Seacons, exposing the presence of the Decepticons' base there. He alerts Ginrai and the Headmaster Juniors to the situation, but is then surrounded by the Seacons, who tear a fissure into the seabed with their blasts and send Lightfoot tumbling into it. With his communicator damaged in the fall, Lightfoot cannot be contacted by Ginrai and the Juniors, and they and Godbomber immediately head out to help him. Deducing that they will soon arrive, Mega instructs Turtler to ambush Ginrai when he arrives and destroy him and Lightfoot together.
Ginrai and the Juniors soon arrive on the Australian coastline, and Ginrai directs the Juniors to perform rescue operations in Sydney while he investigates underwater. Ginrai heads into the ocean, and after a while, he arrives on the scene, silently observed by the hidden Turtler and Gilmer. As Ginrai dives the crevasse to rescue Lightfoot, Turtler combines with the Seacons into King Poseidon and begins heaving rocks in after them, hoping to bury them alive and leave them to the tender mercies of the volcano. It looks like he has succeeded, too, but after a few minutes, a laser blast scatters the rocks, and Ginrai and Lightfoot emerge little the worse for wear. Suddenly, however, the volcanic activity escalates, and the trench begins caving in on the two Autobots again.
In Sydney, the Juniors do the best they can to help, with Shūta saving a young girl from some collapsing rubble. With their work done, they head back to the shoreline to see if Ginrai has returned. Informed by Godbomber that he has not, they transform to robot mode and prepare to follow him beneath the waves, but Godbomber restrains them and goes in their place. Very soon, he arrives at the collapsed trench and engages King Poseidon in battle, but as they fight, the volcano finally erupts! King Poseidon is laid low by the flying rocks and magma, and the Decepticons' advance base is likewise destroyed in the conflagration.
Beneath the seabed, Ginrai and Lightfoot are trying to blast their way free, to no avail, when the eruption occurs. Desperate to save his commander before they are consumed by the lava, Lightfoot decides to self-destruct, destroying the rock wall that blocks their escape. Ginrai refuses to allow it, but Lightfoot insists that it is his duty, forcing Ginrai to strike him in order to stop him from killing himself.
Thankfully for both of them, Godbomber smashes his way through the wall, rescuing them both. King Poseidon, however, proves that he is not out yet when he emerges for one last attack, forcing Ginrai and Godbomber to combine into God Ginrai to battle him. The two grapple on the very rim of the volcano, but Ginrai is saved when Lightfoot blasts his way through the Seacon drones and performs a "Chōkon Spin Drill," creating a powerful water spout that nearly pulls King Poseidon in. With his opponent thus distracted, Ginrai is able to turn the tables and flip King Poseidon over his shoulder, blasting him into the caldera with his God Cannon. Then, finally, the eruption reaches its crescendo, and a small island begins to rise up from beneath the sea as lava cools. As the Headmaster Juniors watch this incredible sight, God Ginrai and Lightfoot crest the waves, and swim to shore.
With the Autobots victorious and on their way back to base, Giga rages at the Decepticons' loss, and realizes that they underestimated the power of Godbomber. He, then, must become their next target...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
Human Autobots |
Human Decepticons |
|
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- Quite a few shots of animation are recycled in this episode, from Lightfoot battling the swarms of Seacons to lava bursting from the volcano.
- While videochatting with Lightfoot, Ginrai's entire lower torso armor is colored teal. Only the front should be that color, the sides should be white.
- After Ginrai dives into the crevasse, Turtler and Gilmer immediately run up to the edge. It seems difficult to believe that Ginrai wouldn't have noticed them running towards it.
- A quick scene change is all it takes for Gilmer to go from hanging out near the Volcano with Turtler to lurking around the Decepticon base with Giga and Mega.
- Godbomber's usually gray waist is red just prior to combining with Ginrai.
Trivia
- At the conclusion of the episode, Giga is suddenly holding a wine glass for absolutely no reason other than to crush it in anger. Because he's evil, see.
- It never enters anybody's mind to call Diver, the guy who turns into a submarine, to this underwater adventure. In fact, this is the middle of three consecutive episodes in which everybody (including the writers) seems to forget that the Autobot Pretenders even exist.
- While previous episodes have seen King Poseidon be defeated rather easily by Super Ginrai, he makes a much better showing this time around, with God Ginrai needing help from Lightfoot to turn the tables on him. This may have something to with the fact that the fight in this episode takes place underwater, whereas previous bouts between King Poseidon and Ginrai were always on land... or it could just be random power level fluctuation, which is hardly unheard of in the Transformers franchise.
- Why does Ginrai only bring the most junior and least powerful of all the Autobots to help with the potential catastrophic disaster? While the Pretenders have faded into the background by this point, he has two powerful Godmasters in Ranger and Road King (remember those guys?) going underutilized.
Foreign dubbing
- Title: "Underwater Volcanic Explosion" (Omni Productions dub)
- Original airdate: January 6, 1991
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — DVD Box 02 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 2 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Super God Masterforce (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2012 — Transformers: The Japanese Collection (Shout! Factory)
2012 — Transformers Japanese Collection: Super-God Masterforce (Shout! Factory)
