[Salaryman Zero]

Moving on to episode 2 of Space Sheriff Gavan!

So we start with...a floating oil tanker!

Which immediately brought to mind the classic OG Ultraman episode "The Forbidden Words," where Alien Mephilas made a tanker float with an anti-gravity field...and then Fuji of the Science Patrol became a giant. As you can probably surmise from that sentence, it was one of the greatest Ultraman episodes ever.

But this episode of Gavan decide to go with a far less 70s sci-fi approach, with the revelation that Makuu is essentially taking the tanker hostage, and holding it over Japan like a bomb. As far as villainous plans go, I kinda dug it. It seems exactly the sort of terror plot that a criminal enterprise would dream up.

Under the fake guise of "Alpha" (which was a nice touch, I'd assume evil organizations like to muddy the waters of their identity), Makuu demands a payment in diamonds. Which the authorities acquiesce to by...launching a rocket full of diamonds into space. Amazing.

But when "Alpha" makes a second demand for Mount Flippin' Fuji (demanding that the mountain be SENT INTO SPACE AS WELL), Gavan's Makuu-senses start tingling and he springs into action.

Our hero sets off in his spaceship to stop the Japanese authorities from...handing off Mount Fuji I guess...but he encounters Makuu's fighters! He then deploys in his giant robo-dragon by standing on its head, which is singlehandedly the most metal thing about this show so far. The fact that Gavan could just as easily commandeer Dol from inside the cockpit is what makes this that much more awesome.

((I do wanna add that Dol really reminds me of Ryuuranger's RyuseiOh for obvious reasons but far as I know, Ryuuranger never stood on his dragon's snout mid-battle...))

Anyway after a fairly neat fight scene where Dol shoots lasers out his eyes and blows up the Makuu spaceships, Gavan stumbles on the island where Makuu are keeping the hostage tanker. What follows is a supremely entertaining sequence where Gavan, in his civvies, infiltrates the island. We're treated to some kickass sneaking and knocking out henchmen, plus Gavan dodges some spiked traps and a friggin' rolling boulder like Indiana Jones.

And then our hero comes face to face with the kaiju of the week, Gamara! Who looks kinda dumb, but they can't all be winners I suppose. Anyway Gavan transforms and this time Don Horror doesn't play around, sending our hero and Gamara straight into Makuu Space!

The Makuu Space fight this time is pretty novel. Gavan and Gamara fight in some ancient ruins, before dueling on the ring of a planet. I do appreciate the unabashed fun that the show seems to have, I will say. Anyway, the fight eventually ends up in another region of Makuu Space-that-is-totally-not-a-quarry, at which point our kaiju grows giant Super Sentai-style.

Gavan summons Dol, again choosing to stand on the dragon's face instead of riding inside it like a normal Space Sheriff, and Gamara is defeated. Gavan returns back to the island and then...

An Age of Sail-type ship emerges from the island, floating into the sky, and starts firing cannonballs at Gavan.

Yeah. I don't know what the hell's going on at this point but I dig it. Though I think this new ship is supposed to be the old oil tanker that's been converted?

Gavan then deduces that the floating ship is being controlled by radio, and using his "Electro Sonar" (which looks like a car aerial popping out his helmet), pinpoints a nearby speedboat as the source of the floating ship. He summons Cyberian which flies after the speedboat, and Gavan summarily beats the Doubleman inside it.

Finally, with the help of Dol, Gavan gets the floating ship into space, where it blows up harmlessly.

Overall...I dug this one too. The plot does kinda jump from point to point without really taking a breather, but I was thoroughly entertained, so I'm genuinely not complaining. Can't wait until the next Gavan ep drops!