MovieChat Forums > Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman (2005) Discussion > Ryu The Owl

Ryu The Owl

posted 18 years ago by TheSolarSailor
10 replies | jump to latest

Is he a completely useless character or what? This is supposed to be ninja's, right? How did this guy ever get chosen to be on the team? LOL! In one episode, he went into the giant mech that was stealing sugar and repeatedly endangered his team mates with his ineptitude and excess weight. In another, he was sleeping at the controls and ruined a mission, then felt all sorry for himself and quite the team. Really, this character was made to be far too stupid. Jinpei is hard enough to believe, what with his being scared of everything, but Ryu takes the cake. I know they were trying to inject the show with a sense of humor for kids, but Rye was overboard. Anyone agree?

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OK, so what's the speed of dark?

[–] bowieeno3 18 years ago

I find Ryu to be a very sympathetic character. Even though he's not an orphan like the others (and neither was Ken really, until Big Daddy Red Impulse bit the dust), he comes across as a very sad and lonely guy. He's quite often left behind to mind the God Phoenix while the others are off bringing the pain to Galactor. Also, his moments of introspection --quite often involving being overly critical of his physical form-- makes him very endearing. On the other hand, Ryu is certainly no slouch when it comes to holding his own in a heated battle against the minions of Galactor. His smooth, Sumo moves can take out a reasonable amount of the enemy. The Science Ninja Team is a paragon of synergy. It wouldn't be the same without Ryu.

[–] TheSolarSailor 18 years ago

Listening to the commentary by the linguist used to translate the Japanes to English for us, it was mentioned that the voice of Ryu depicts a character that could be considered somewhat of a hick by Japan's standards (in much the same way that we here in America have differing dialects that carry with them attributes that make us generalize about people...the southern hick dialect, for example). I found that interesting, seeing that we generally don't think of the various dialects based on the different parts of any said country one may live within. She said that Ryu comes across in Japanese as easy going and laid back, much like what is done with his character's voice interpretation here.

I'll admit that Ryu has his moments, but I still hate how he is dismissed as too much of an oaf or simpleton just for the sake of a laugh. Granted, he is an expert pilot, but many times I am left wondering why other expert pilots who actually sport common sense and brains couldn't have been chosen as the team was being assembled. I mean, Ryu is willing to sacrifice success just to get some sugar! If they had toned down the jokey treatment of Ryu, I wouldn't always be wondering these things about him.

Do you remember those horrible new animated scenes for Battle Of The Planets where they were in the recreation room of Center Neptune? This just added to the idiocy of Tiny's (Ryu) dummy nature and stereotype as he sat there gobbling down one hamburger after another. Yeesh!

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OK, so what's the speed of dark?

[–] bowieeno3 18 years ago

What I recall from the added sequences in "Battle of the Planets" was the overused footage of the team "jamming" on musical instruments. As if being in a team of highly trained ninjas wasn't enough, they also had to hone their chops as a rock "combo" in their off hours. I also hated the voice for Jinpei--um, excuse me--Keyop, for "Battle of the Planets." I couldn't stand that strange polyglot of stupid cartoon voice with bird-like chirpping sounds. Awful!

[–] grendelkhan 14 years ago

Ryu is definitely played as the weak link, though vital in his flying expertise. Ken is the closest as a pilot, but he specializes in smaller craft.

Ryu was better used to explore family connections, as he was the only non-orphan. He really gets to shine in these episodes. Also, in the latter half of the series he gets to have more physical interaction. Part of that is character development, as he is allowed to grow a bit. However, he was played as a stereotype, but even moreso in BOTP and G-Force. Keyop was just a dumb idea to add a robot presence, along with Zark, to conjure up Star Wars.

The OVA treated him a little better, though Ken and Joe are the main focus there.

[–] TheSolarSailor 13 years ago

The OVA depiction of Ryu was better, but he honestly had very little characterization at all. Thus was the case with all of the characters in the remake from 1994.

I agree that Ryu was presented fairly well in episodes dealing with his family, as he is the only one on the team who is NOT an orphan. But it still annoyed me how they treated the character overall, as incompetent and an actual hindrance to the team. I mean, his actions in the sugar episode pissed me off, and I still can't get over his falling asleep all of the time. He was very unprofessional. I guess that could be said of all of the team, though. They all were ruled by their emotions more often than not and could be deemed as unprofessional. but Ryu seemed to be the worst of the lot.

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[–] grendelkhan 12 years ago

As I understand it, Ryu is supposed to be a bit of a sterotypical "country bumpkin"; thus, his portrayal. Not saying it was correct, but it wasn't an uncommon feature in that era, even in the US.

"Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!"

[–] In_Correct 11 years ago

All of them have other jobs (or at least skills) in their spare time. Ken flies an airplane, Joe drives a race car, Jun and Jinpei own a restaurant, and Ryu?

It seems he is a recreational fisherman. He only has a small boat (and probably sleeps while waiting for fish to show up!)

And I think they are all supposed to be teenagers, or very young adults, except Jinpei who is like 9 or 10. Why have somebody that young? It seems like Dr. Nambu knew all of them personally, and even raised them (except Ryu) and so it was very easy for them to be recruited. They must have spent their childhood in training.

Ryu and Jinpei bear a vague resemblance to Geordi and Wesley from Star Trek TNG. as in: "Why are THEY there? Aren't they doing more harm than good?" lol. But instead I try to think of Ryu and Jinpei as Shaggy and Scooby. Both are good friends. (And Ryu's green color reminds me of Shaggy's green shirt.)

Additional things the two have in common is that both are the weakest members of the team. While Ken, Joe, and Jun battle Galactor out of hatred and revenge, Jinpei and Ryu battle Galactor because they feel the need to prove their usefulness.

Jinpei improved earlier in the series. Ryu ... eventually ... improved. We get to see his family more which is important because he is the only one with a family and a home town. About midway into the series, Instead of being left behind, he was able to accompany the rest of the team.

It would have been nicer (and more helpful to Ryu) if the PiMa robot from the New GodPhoenix was introduced in THIS series instead of Gatchaman II. And perhaps the G-5 Tank. (But none of those horribly ugly paint jobs)

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[–] Clusium 8 years ago

But instead I try to think of Ryu and Jinpei as Shaggy and Scooby....(And Ryu's green color reminds me of Shaggy's green shirt.)

Interestingly, the actor who did the voice of Shaggy, the late Casey Kasem, supplied the voice of Gatchaman/Ken in The Battle of the Planets (only they changed his name to Mark in that series).

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[–] In_Correct 8 years ago

All of them have other jobs (or at least skills) in their spare time. Ken flies an airplane, Joe drives a race car, Jun and Jinpei own a restaurant, and Ryu?

It seems he is a recreational fisherman. He only has a small boat (and probably sleeps while waiting for fish to show up!)

I checked again and Ryu is not just a recreational fisherman. He owns a marina.

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[–] Clusium 9 years ago

In the Jigokillers' second episode, Ryu was the one who broke Jun free from being crushed by that Galactor device, after she had been captured by those giant flowers.

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