Ginrai: God On of Rage!!

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Who needs Optimus Prime? You've got Ginrai!
"Ginrai: God On of Rage!!" ジンライ 怒りのゴッドオン!! () (Ginrai: Ikari no God On!!)
Production company	Takara, Toei
Airdate	21 June 1988
Writer	Yoshihisa Araki
Director	Katsutoshi Sasaki
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

While Ginrai debates over whether or not to join the Autobots, the Decepticons begin a series of fatal attacks on his trucker friends in an effort to draw him out.

Synopsis

Eat your heart out, Tiger Woods!

When a military jet investigates the appearance of a mysterious "island" in the middle of the ocean, its flight through storm-riddled skies is soon brought to an abrupt end when the object of their investigation turns out to be the Decepticon base. Perched atop the base are Giga, Mega, Hydra and Buster, in a bizarre scene—Giga stands poised with a golf club, a large purple sphere resting on a tee by his feet. He drives the ball high into the sky, and it suddenly bursts into flame, smashing through the windshield of the plane, and destroying the aircraft in a massive fireball. This is the Decepticons' newest invention, the Deathball, which Hydra and Buster are ordered to put to use in destroying the new Autobot Godmaster, Ginrai.

"Such a rare and fine vintage!"
"Why thank you!"
"I didn't mean you."

At the Ocean Research Institute of California, Ginrai and Diver await the arrival of Lander, who soon arrives to educate Ginrai on the Decepticons. Showing him various newspaper clippings detailing Decepticon attacks, Lander, like Diver before him, tries to convince Ginrai to join the Autobots. Ginrai jokes that he'd rather appear on television, and Lander asks him to do it for the sake of the world—an argument that strikes a chord with Ginrai, who says that he will not become part of the Autobot army and command structure, but promises to fight the Decepticons when they appear. Ginrai departs to complete a delivery job, and Diver relays their progress to Hawk, who in turn reveals Ginrai's existence to the Headmaster Juniors, telling them that he is sure the trucker will soon join their forces.

Sadly this Billy won't come back in a rebuilt body the following week.

Elsewhere in America, Buster and Hydra's search for Ginrai has begun, as they launch Deathball attacks on numerous tractor trailers in an attempt to locate him. A pair of truckers named Dan and Couga meet their end in a blaze of fire when their truck is destroyed... but this is totally unknown to Ginrai, who has met with fellow trucker Billy Husky at a gas station, and arranges to meet him for a drink that evening at the Bar Neluson, a favorite haunt of his fellow Union Transportation drivers. Unbeknownst to either man, it's a drink that will never be had, as Billy, on his last delivery of the day, finds himself pursued by a massive big rig that ultimately forces him off the road. Billy's truck fishtails and explodes; and from within the big rig's cab, Hydra watches Billy burn...

"Here I am lying in bed, staring at a photo on a screen. People won't do this in the 21st Century, will they?"

At the Bar Neluson that evening, Ginrai is distraught to hear of Billy's death on the news, and learns of the attacks on truckers from others at the bar. Diver and Lander also see the report, and quickly deduce that the Decepticons are involved; after informing Hawk of the situation, they go searching for Ginrai, but he too has realised that the Decepticons are to blame and has taken his truck out on the road to try and lure them out. Hydra's big rig soon appears alongside Ginrai on a treacherous mountain road, and Ginrai attempts to force it into a cliff face. Hydra returns the favor, and as they drive along the road, Ginrai has to swerve to avoid a sports car coming in the opposite direction, almost going over the side of the cliff. As Hydra attempts to push him the rest of the way off, Ginrai manages to drive past him, however Hydra sees the damage to Ginrai's cab repair itself, and knows he has finally found the Autobot Godmaster.

Cannot unsee the googly eyes.

Furious, Ginrai attempts to ram Hydra's truck, but a Deathball from Buster sends him toppling off the cliff. As he crawls from the wreckage clutching a picture of his deceased friends, Diver and Lander arrive on the scene, but Buster holds them off while Hydra attempts to finish Ginrai, who has forgotten the code-phrase to trigger his transformation. With a little prompting from Diver, he gets his words right and combines with his Transtector, but Hydra is ready for him and parries his every blow, until a ray of sunlight glints off Ginrai's photograph and hits Hydra right in the optics, dazzling him long enough for Ginrai to tackle him and drive him to the ground. At that point, Metalhawk and Phoenix arrive, and the outnumbered Decepticons pull out, covering their retreat with a hail of Deathballs. At the dust settles, the Headmaster Juniors arrive to introduce themselves to Ginrai, who swears over the photograph of his friends that he will avenge them. Hawk extends the hand of friendship to Ginrai, asking him if the Autobots could replace the friends he has lost, and Ginrai says that he will think it over.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Things like taking orders and command structure isn't my thing. A trucker's first rule is 'to go where the wind blows and where his heart resides!' That's how it is for me."

—Ginrai

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• Although all the trucks attacked by Hydra and Buster are said in dialogue to be red (since the brothers remember that Ginrai's transtector is that color) Dan and Couga's rig is colored blue.
• The blue car with the young couple make an impossible sideways squeeze between Ginrai and Hydra driving their trucks side by side. Ginrai's truck even hops in the air a little to make room. In the shot immediately after this, Hydra's truck is no longer next to Ginrai's and appears to have vanished. This makes Ginrai inching to the edge a bit puzzling, unless an invisible Hydra is there shoving him off.

Continuity errors

• The Headmaster Juniors are asked to guard the Autobot base while Metalhawk goes to the aid of the other Autobots, but they disobey him and drive up in their Transtectors to greet Ginrai at the battle's end. Problem is... the battle was in AMERICA, and the Autobot base is in JAPAN. Masterforce is never averse to having characters cover great distances in disproportionately short periods of time, but c'mon, the Juniors can't even fly over the ocean.
• When Ginrai attempts to get his trailer off from the ledge, his trailer's wheels spin, trying to grip the road. EARTH TRAILERS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY.
• Ginrai is 19 according to the title sequence. He is able to purchase beer at an American bar without issue.

Transformers references

• This being a Japanese cartoon, it's not a surprise to see the word "Destron" (the Japanese name for the Decepticons) in the headline of one of the newspaper clippings that Lander shows Ginrai. What is amusing, though, is that on the opposite page, there's a headline that uses the word "Decepticons!"
• The newsreader who reports Billy Husky's death appears to be the same one who reported on the Decepticon Headmaster Juniors' rampage in "Rage!! Little Devils with No Need for Rules".

Real-world references

This is the guy that's gonna save us? We're so fragged.

• Diver regards Robert Mondavi's wine as California's best.
• When Lander pulls out his "for the sake of the world" line, he and Diver are a bit taken aback when Ginrai unleashes a massively over-dramatic bit of pose-striking as he loudly and repeatedly insists that Lander "wait just a minute, please!" He is, in fact, talking and moving as if he were in a Kabuki play, a traditional form of Japanese theatre, as emphasised by the ornate background he is superimposed against.
• Dan and Couga are a reference to the anime Chōjū Kishin Dancouga. The reference is constantly emphasised by Ginrai stating "Dan...Couga" at multiple points in the episode.

Trivia

• For the whole of the "Generation 1" era, the code-phrase for transformation in Japanese Transformers shows is simply the English word, "transform". When Ginrai forgets the code-phrase in this episode, though, he tries the Japanese word for "transform", "henshin". Funnily enough, "henshin" went on to become the Japanese substitute for "Maximize" and "Terrorize" in their dub of Beast Wars and subsequent shows, including Robots in Disguise.

Foreign localization

English

• Title: "Turn the Anger to Power" (Omni Productions dub)
• Original airdate: August 12, 1990

• Title: "Ginrai: God-On of Rage!!" (Shout! Factory sub)

Italian

• Title: "L'ira diventa forza" ("Anger becomes strength")
• Original airdate: ?

Home video releases

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — DVD Box 01 (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)