UFO Robo Grendizer 2.04

Story of the Red Eschar

or La pierre de foudre (The Lightning Stone)

or The Ballad of a Red Scar

A glowing meteor falls to Earth. It lands in a zoo. A lion tries to pick it up with it's teeth and receives a jolt of electricity that knocks it out.

Professor Umon studies the meteorite. He tells Daisuke and Kouji that it isn't a weapon but a natural substance. It a source of great energy. Kouji gets excited by the news and runs off to work on his new spaceship.

The Vegans have rocks similar to the meteorite that Daisuke and the other were examining. Minister Zuril knows where to find more, the planet Gods. He makes a saucer beast made entirely of the substance and calls is Goda Goda.

Kouji finishes work on his new spaceship but it is raining outside. He wants to test it out but lightning strikes and hits the spaceship. Daisuke protects Kouji but in the process he is hit by a large pipe in his right arm.

Zuril sends Goda Goda to Earth to destroy Grendizer. Daisuke wants to transform and fight the Vegan threat but his wounded arm starts to bother him. Professor Umon analyzes the wound and discover that it is radioactive and that it isn't a new wound. Goda Goda starts to destroy the city while Daisuke writhes in pain.

Danbei saddles up with a bow and a quiver full of arrows to fight the alien craft. Kouji jumps in his new spaceship and takes off to take on the alien craft. Hikaru helps Professor Umon treat Daisuke, who finally wakes up. He tells them about how he got the red eschar. It was during the Vegan attack on Planet Fleed. It was his last day on the planet. Professor Umon and Hikaru want him to stay and recover but he insists on joining the fight.

Kouji tries taking on Goda Goda but his spaceship is without weapons. His new spaceship gets shot down by the Vegan saucer beast. He crash lands on a large rock in a river. Danbei helps him get back to dry land but his spaceship gets swept away by the river.

Duke Fleed in Grendizer takes on Goda Goda. The saucer beast seems to have the advantage, especially after it splits in two, Duke Fleed turns the tables on the beast and destroys it. He returns to the Space Center where Professor Umon reveals that there is no cure for the eschar. Daisuke vows to continue to fight the Vegans regardless of the pain.

Thoughts

Gandal is in this episode but not Lady Gandal.

Kouji gets a new spacecraft only to have it destroyed in the same episode. I don't think he is going to be on the sidelines forever.

The reveal of Duke Fleed's wound seems to be a parallel to radiation wounds some people must have lived with who survived the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

This season continues to impress me more than the previous one did.