Overlord - Terror of the Chōkon Tornado



Overlord formulates a plan for revenge against Ginrai, but Godbomber is about to unveil a surprising new power that will thwart his evil scheme!


 * English/Malay dub name:  "And now the next episode of The Whirling Tornado"
 * Also known as: "The Psionic Whirlwind"

Detailed synopsis
Smarting from their recent defeat on the moon at Ginrai's hands, Mega and Giga conspire to find a natural environment that will put Ginrai at a disadvantage in their next conflict. Selecting a Middle-Eastern desert, they instruct Buster and Hydra to attack an oil refinery there to draw the Autobots outbut even the cold, cruel Hydra finds himself silently taken aback for a moment when Giga asks if they are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, should it be necessary. As they depart, Mega voices her own surprise at this coldness, but Giga tells her he is willing to die himself, if need be. The doubt remains in Hydra's mind as they begin their attack on the refinery, and in the midst of the assault, he confides to Buster that while he is not afraid of dying in battle, he will not sacrifice himself just for the sake of victory.

In Canada, the Autobot Headmaster Juniors race their Transtectors to the British Motors factory, where some improvements are being made to Godbomber. Cab decides to show off by being the first to arrive, but of course, Shūta has other ideas. The trio transforms to robot mode as they race down the stairway of the factory (with Minerva getting in on the fun by sliding down the railing), but Cab and Shūta wind up getting stuck in the doorway, and Minerva hops over them, winning the race, much to their disgust. After everyone calms down, Ginrai shows them the modified Godbomber, who now has cargo space to carry their three vehicle-mode Transtectors into battle. The first chance to put this feature to use comes sooner than expected, however, when Lightfoot arrives to deliver a report from Metalhawk, alerting them to Buster and Hydra's attack on the refinery.

Back in the desert, Mega and Giga have arrived on the scene in their combined form of Overlord, and watch as Hydra and Buster go about their mission. Soon, Ginrai and the Juniors arrive, and Ginrai instructs the Juniors to begin rescue operations as he launches into battle with the Decepticon brothers. With Hydra and Buster fighting more fiercely than ever, the odds don't look good for Ginrai until he combines with Godbomber and is able to fight his foes in the air. A God Punch attack from Ginrai shears one of Buster's wings off, distracting Hydra, but before Ginrai can exploit this opening, a blast from behind knocks him to the ground. He is, in fact, being fired upon by Giga, who has hidden his Gigatank beneath the shifting desert sands, and is able to get close enough to plant his barrel against Ginrai's head. There looks to be no way out, but then, Ginrai charges his body with Chokon Power, and is able to vertically take off faster than Giga can fire, avoiding his blast. He separates from Godbomber in mid-air, and the trailer drone dives at Giga, opening fire with the God Cannon. Giga returns fire, but Godbomber dodges, and much to everyone's surprise, splits into its component parts... which reconfigure into a robot mode!

Over at the refinery, Minerva tends to the injured while Cab and Shuta fight fires. Shūta spots one particularly large flaming oil well, which is burning to strongly for his "Fire Buster" cartridges to handle, and he calls on Cab to use his Transtector's water cannons on it. Unfortunately, Cab has used up most of his flame retardant already, and it expires before the fire goes out. In a crazy stunt, Cab transforms to robot mode and dives on top of the flaming fountain, blocking the spout long enough for Shuta to blanket it with his last Fire Buster shot, successfully extinguishing the fire. The pair then head out to help Ginrai, and arrive just as Godbomber transforms, clashing with Hydra, who energizes the sand around them with Chichokon Power and them holds off.

As Giga retreats under a barrage of firepower from Ginrai and the newly-born robot-mode Godbomber, Mega swoops in overhead aboard the Megajet, and combines with Giga into Overlord again. Hovering the sky above Ginrai and Godbomber, Overlord charges his body with Chokon Power and begins to spin rapidly through the air, creating a whirling tornado of Chokon-charged sand that sweeps the two Autobots up. They recombine into God Ginrai within the tornado and break free, then attempt to attack with a God Punch, which has no effect. Ginrai changes his tactics, aiming another God Punch at the ground; Giga mocks him, but is soon forced to eat his words when the God Punch bursts up of the sand and enters the tornado through its base, striking Overlord and throwing off his balance, sending him spinning off madly through the sky. Buster and Hydra combine and flee after their leader.

In the aftermath of the battle, Ginrai congratulates the Juniors on a job well done, and the group reflects on Godbomber's surprising new transformation, speculating that he responded to Ginrai's emotions.

Stats
Written by:  Yoshihisa Araki

Original airdate: 8th November 1988

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * In the middle of an oil refinery, surrounded by workers in jumpsuits and caps, there is... one, lone woman in traditional Arab dress. Buh-whaa?

Continuity errors

 * First seen in the previous episode, the God Punch attack involves God Ginrai disconnecting and launching his forearms at his enemy for a rocket-powered long-range punch. Now, God Ginrai's forearms are components from Godbomber which lock over the top of Super Ginrai's normal arms when they combine, and when he launched them in the previous episode, his normal arms were visible underneath them. In this episode, however, the entire assembly disconnects at the elbow, leaving him without any forearms, until they reconnect after the attack finishes. The portrayal of the God Punch switches back and forth between these two interpretations for the rest of the series.

Transformers references

 * God Ginrai defeated Overlord in the previous episode.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * This episode features the second appearance of the insert song, "Push On! Super-God Masterforce".