ROJ Episode 7 Notes

RETURN OF JETMAN

"Confrontation"
(Episode 7)
Production Notes
by Christopher Elam
© 2003-2010 Christopher Elam

 

These notes are based on material originally posted on June 18, 2003 & July 15, 2003 on the now-defunct OWARI Message Board (formerly http://pub14.ezboard.com/bowari, currently http://owari.yuku.com/).

Episode 7 - "Confrontation" wrapped principal writing on November 26, 2002. It is the first ROJ story written entirely by me, though the basic concept was conceived by Lewis Smith. Originally, he had planned it to be his second part, but it kept getting pushed back until it was definitely the seventh part - which never materialized.

The title is probably my least favorite of the series, though it does signify the underlying theme of everything that happens in the story. My working title was the far more interesting "Wild In The Streets". I elected not to use it since it is also the title of a 1968 film and the story has absolutely nothing in common with the movie. In retrospect, I think I should have just gone with my first instinct.

This one might be a little bit formulaic in terms of main plot, but I think there is a lot to be said for this formula when it comes to these types of stories. Plus, there are a number of subplots running to keep things from getting stale with just the fighting. I particularly like the emotion I managed to achieve in a few scenes. This story is also the first to carry a dedication. I'll deal with the whys of that near the end of these notes, for reasons which will eventually become clear.

• The opening sequence this time is meant to give a bit more depth to the villains of the piece, and perhaps even make them (dare I say it?) a little sympathetic. Rather ironic, given that my original conception of them was extremely two-dimensional.
  
  
  
• Michiru Oshima calling the new Jetman's value into question is a vague riff on one of the ideas Lewis tossed around for the proposed 1999-2000 revival. It isn't a big subplot, but I thought it was was worth mentioning since (by pure chance) the team's first public mission occurs in this story.
  
  
  
• The Jet Weapons are a nod to a sentai convention that was oddly omitted in the JETMAN series - the members having individualized weapons. They are based for the most part on the ones seen in the sentai series LIVEMAN and ZYURANGER.
  
  
  
• Jet Phoenix stepping down as field leader is a plot twist born out of practicality, in that it meant that I would not have to juggle 7 heroes in any one fight sequence. The fact that I was able to tie it in to the running subplot about Jet Phoenix's identity and condition made it borderline irresistible. Plus, he was so much more confident that the others automatically deferred to him. Not so now that...
  
  
  
• Gai Tendo is named field leader. This, of course, may be a "duh" revelation if there ever was one. He's been a de facto leader since the beginning. Besides, he's the red member, and they are almost always the leaders (in spirit at least) in sentai.
  
  
  
• "People of Earth, your attention please," - This line is a direct quote from the Vogon captain in Douglas Adams' THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, no matter what flavor of the property is your favorite. I'd be a dirty liar if I didn't fess up that Adams is a big influence on how I look at writing.
  
  
  
• After a big buildup, most of the monsters flee! Yes, mostly because I didn't want to deal with so many at one time. I liked this idea because it allowed me to drop a bunch of potential adversaries on Earth without having to waste time on establishing every single one. So you do get dozens of monsters on the rampage, but only a few get the spotlight treatment.
  
  
  
• The genesis of the "Yokohama Fantasy Castle" scene was the Toei Tokusatsu Song Collection DVD series. Upon seeing the strangely compelling opening to MAHO SHOJO CHUKANA PAI PAI (a series involving a "good witch"), I conceived this sequence based on a part where that all-powerful heroine has a bunch of manga collections fall on her head. Inspiration is strange, no? It just seemed the right dead-end job for a perpetually frustrated Kei. The idiosyncratic otaku ("fanboy") owner Shoji Tanaka was first created for another story that I ultimately phased out. He found his way into this scene instead.
  
  
  
• The electric spider Kumoden derives his name from the Japanese kumo ("spider") and denki ("electric"). Like all the monsters, he speaks as if he was dubbed in Hong Kong.
  
  
  
• The monster Kujigoku is derived from kujaku ("peacock") and jigoku ("Hell").
  
  
  
• Saikong comes from saiking ("rhinoceros") and, quite obviously, KING KONG (1933). The bit where he pulls his horn off was Lewis' favorite part of the tale on first reading!
  
  
  
• I coined the term "Chaosizer" for the size-changing gimmick and it is one of my favorite made-up words. You don't even need to recognize that it has the word "size" in it for it to work. The mecha battle owes a huge debt to the anime series MAZINGER Z and GREAT MAZINGER (especially the "Gust Hurricane", my play on Z's "Rust Hurricane"). What can I say? I was watching a lot of both at the time. "Finger Gatling" and "Shimmering Buzzsaw" (the latter inspired by the Shredding Halo of ULTRAMAN) are two weapon attack commands that fill me with glee every time I think of them.
  
  
  
• Ken tells what he knows, or at least what he thinks he knows. At first, I wasn't quite sure how the team dynamic would play out in my version, so I was uncertain how this would happen. In Lewis' concept, Ken was angling to be leader himself, but I decided that in my version, he might try to blackmail Phoenix to help out his new girlfriend. Obviously, this "big revelation" that has been building for some time falls short. This was a deliberate move on my part. The reasoning becomes apparent not very long afterward. But this incident will not be forgotten.
  
  
  
• The Lake Sai/"Nessie" reference is a throwaway bit inspired by Toei's largely intolerable 1977 film THE LEGEND OF DINOSAURS. I had considered introducing Michiru Oshima in a full story in this vein. I scrapped this plot when I realized I was essentially rewriting the tenth episode of ULTRAMAN (1966-67).
  
  
  
• Speaking of Michiru, I had wanted to use her since back in the original series. She was a young girl who had developed a crush on Gai Yuki in JETMAN episode 20, and I just found her terribly interesting - especially the idea of her all grown up. She was even a photographer! I gave her the name "Oshima", little realizing that Michiru Oshima is a composer for recent Godzilla films! Small world, I guess. Anyway, I planned several different ways to bring her into the story, and ultimately chose to make her a supporting character threaded through the narrative. Her true identity, however, would be unrevealed until this crucial point of the story.
  
  
  
• Chibi seems to be a generic nickname for a kid, or someone/something small and cute. Gai called Michiru that pretty much throughout the episode which introduced her.
  
  
  
• To the surprise of pretty much no one, Jet Phoenix was created as a means to bring Gai Yuki back after his death at the end of the last episode of JETMAN. The actual method ended up evolving over time. He was originally imagined as an energy being in a containment suit, much like Wildfire from DC Comics' LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES. There was also a time limit aspect to his character.
  

  The problem was that there was no real mystery to the Jet Phoenix mystery, at least for the potential reader. As discussed previously, Lewis and I even toyed with pulling a switcheroo and having it turn out that Jet Phoenix wasn't Gai Yuki after all. But that felt a bit like a cheat. So I drew inspiration for him for this version of the series from two different characters : the Vison and Hakaida.
  

  The Vision, from Marvel Comics' AVENGERS comic, has the brainwave patterns of a deceased person, but has a distinct personality. This felt like a good idea, and then I remembered the original Hakaida in KIKAIDA. He had the brain of Dr. Komyoji, but was a totally separate entity. It turned out that I had already introduced a Kikaida-connection through Masaru, so that appeared to be the way to go. Therefore, I made Jet Phoenix an android with Gai Yuki's brain. This made it seem like he was Gai Yuki, but also threw into question whether he actually was or not. This "identity crisis" will play a significant factor in later episodes.
  
  
  

• The revelation of Jet Phoenix's secret, and the fact that he is in dire straits, became one of the first truly poignant moments of ROJ. I am particularly proud of it. The line "Even an android can cry." is quoted from Marvel Comics' THE AVENGERS #58 (Nov. 1968). That story, the origin of the Vision, was written by Roy Thomas and pencilled by John Buscema, hence the dedication.
  

 

© Christopher Elam.