Final Episode of Spider-Man – “Shine on, Ardent Great Hero!”
第41話 輝け熱血の勇者
Originally Aired: March 14, 1979
This is it! The final confrontation between Spider-Man and the Iron Cross Army. Professor Monster’s horrifying (really!) plan is revealed and it’s up to crusading arachnid to save the world from the clutches of the Iron Cross Army. What do the writers have in store for this explosive finale?!
The final tale begin en media res as Spider-Man works tirelessly around the clock taking down the secret bases that his foes have built around the country. Interpol is in charge of hunting down the rest around the world, but the burden of taking down the headquarters lies solely on Takuya Yamashiro, who has barely in inkling on where to start. Even finding these bases are a mystery, as somebody keeps informing our hero of where they are found.
The battles soon takes its toll on Takuya, as every night he crawls home with multiple wounds all over his aching body. Shinko and Takuji are puzzled at these latest incidents, but their brother tells to not worry as he’ll be find in the morning. You’d wonder if this is his healing powers pushed to the brink. A bullet wound is easy, but being caught in explosions on a daily basis?
At the Iron Cross Headquarters, Professor Monster is sick and tired of Amazoness’s excuses to eliminate their most hated foe. She wonders how Spidey knows the locations of their hidden bases, and Monster guesses Interpol must have a list of them. Amazoness sees Bella whisper something to Monster, bringing out a several episode-standing fear that she may be replaced. The new plan will be to gas an Interpol facility and retrieve the lists.
The next day, the plan is set into motion with officers being knocked out or worse by the gas. On the drive into the base, a Ninder talks with Amazoness about her two subordinates and why they aren’t doing this job. She tries to shrug away such a thought, but it still lingers, letting that anxiety take a hold of this commander of the Iron Cross Army. They finally raid the place, but it turns out to be a trap! Spider-Man and his police allies take care of the gun toting thugs, but Amazoness gets away. The webhead really wonders if this was just too easy.
Amazoness storms into the base, demanding Bella and Rita for their supposed treachery. There’s only one way Spider-Man found out what they are planning, and before Yoshida can do anything about it, Professor Monster comes out in a vehicle. Before they talk, Amazoness notices only three seats, adding more fuel to her fears. Professor Monster explains that it was he who leaked the information, because these were final tests, last opportunities to get rid of their most hated foe. Here he finally reveals the final plan of the Iron Cross Army in Japan.
Professor Monster and his two warriors will enter a rocket that will take them to a secret undisclosed location somewhere in the Amazon. As soon as it reaches the stratosphere, it will unleash a bevy of hydrogen bombs targeted at various cities around the world, including Tokyo! It is such a horrible plan, and only probably the only one the writers could think of for time constraints. Amazoness is given one final chance to take care of Spider-Man, and if she fails, they will take off without her. It’s a do or die situation for the show’s villainess.
At the Yamashiro household, Hitomi tries to get Takuya to go on a date with her, but he refuses due to the current tasks at hand. He tries to play the slacker, forcing her to leave in a huff. Before she can actual do so, Ninders pop out of nowhere, taking Takuya’s girlfriend away and holding the two hostage. Amazoness tells everybody that she’s here for Spider-Man, but Takuya holds back his fighting for fear of revealing his identity. She is definitely not impressed, and strikes him with her whip several times. If Spider-Man wishes to save the life of Hitomi Sakuma, he better show up at Onigahara.
In the next half, Spider-Man arrives on the island to find his girl friend tied up, except it was Amazoness in disguise. He sees his girlfriend at the bottom of the cliff , and takes her to safety after getting rid of the Ninders in their way. Despite the fight he puts up, Spider-Man finds himself slowing in his movements until pain takes over his body. Amazoness reveals that she knew all along that he is Takuya Yamashiro, as he put poison on the tip of the whip. This is it for our hero, as Amazoness can finally redeem herself to the eyes of Professor Monster. However, the killing strike barely misses him and he falls into the sea, taking her bracelet with him.
A few minutes later, Takuya emerges from the water with his vision and and strength fading. He crawls into a cave and sits there until his healing powers put him back into fighting shape. Awake, he notices Amazoness’s bracelet by the rocks and it starts to beep. He follows the direction of the signal and finds the Iron Cross Army Base. It wasn’t far from the Shinkansen line!
Professor Monster congratulates Amazoness for her latest victory, until he sees Spider-Man crawling through the grounds. Enraged, he tells Bella and Rita to prepare for departure and has Amazoness shot with arrow and bullet. Our favorite villain endures an assault by the two Amazon warriors, crawling into the rocket with her dying breath. It launches, but not before Monster gets the last laugh, blowing the craft to smithereens.
With the death of his long-standing nemesis, the Iron Cross Killer arrives to finally put an end to the organization’s plans. In a battle for the revenge of his father and Garia, he takes on the rest of the Iron Cross Army. He shows no mercy to Ninders or Amazon warrior alike, and even ends up strangling Bella with a Spider-String. The final battle between him and Monster is rather short, especially once he takes away the staff.
In a last ditch attempt, Professor Monster grows into BIG MONSTER and believes he’s invincible enough to fight Leopardon. Wrong. He gets annihilated with a Sword Vigor to the chest, and dies in a fiery explosion, screaming with all of his might.
In the end, Spider-Man stares out at the setting sun on the sea and takes off his mask. The costume’s top is connected to the mask, and instead of a suit actor, we finally see Takuya in the costume. He shouts out with relief that his yearlong battle has finally come to an end. Whatever challenges may come to him are still out in the horizon.
For a final episode, it was rather entertaining due to the fact that it was action-packed all the way for a superhero show. It may not have been much of a final plan, but H-bombs around the world sure is bonkers. What really is a shame is that we don’t get to see an epilogue, as we’ll never know the fate of our two young lovers, but that’s what fan-fiction’s for isn’t it?
I’ll write up a summary post of the episodes one should watch instead of going through the whole series.