« Transformers: Super-God Masterforce ep 6 »
FIERY PHOENIX!
"Go, Goshooter—Showdown in the Wasteland" 行けゴーシューター・荒野の対決 () (Yuke Goshooter—Kōya no Taiketsu)
Production company	Takara, Toei
Airdate	17 May 1988
Writer	Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Director	Hiroki Shibata
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Wilder continues to revisit his past when he kidnaps a former member of his gang who turned against him, and Shūta has to lead the Headmaster Juniors in rescuing him.

Synopsis

"I wanted the police, but you underage unlicensed drivers seem like you know what you're doing."

In the Decepticon base at the bottom of the ocean, Blood lectures the Headmaster Juniors on the Chōkon Power, the three primal energies of life—Chichōkon, the power of Earth, Jinchōkon, the power of Man, and Tenchōkon, the power of the Heavens. The Decepticons aspire to destabilize the balance of life on Earth by disrupting any one of the three Chōkon Powers, taking that energy for their own evil ends. Wilder decides to make a very personal start to the theft of Jinchōkon from human beings, selecting as his victim his former friend Chris, previously a member of his Jack Boys motorcycle gang who left the group after Wilder joined the Decepticons. Chris is snatched off the streets by the gang under Wilder's orders, but his sister, Mary, spots the kidnap and follows on her scooter. She soon loses their trail, and, searching for help, spots a police car—only it's not an actual officer's vehicle, but the Transtector belonging to Shūta, who is out shopping with Minerva and Cab for a party for their last night in America. The Headmaster Juniors listen to Mary's story, and vow to help save her brother; she leads them to one of the gang's hangouts in the barren land outside the city.

Chris briefly reconsiders his decision. Wilder's transtector sure is shiny.

At the gang's hideout, the kidnapped Chris is brought before Wilder; although Wilder proceeds to deliver a speech about how the power they now possess means they have nothing to fear, he also seems to display a genuine friendship for Chris when he asks him to stay with the gang—making him all the more furious when Chris refuses, telling Wilder that he is a changed man, causing Wilder to hurl his former friend into a wall and punch and kick him until he bleeds. At that point, a gang member alerts Wilder to the approach of Mary and the Autobot Headmaster Juniors. A battle ensues, with Shūta drawing the attention of the three Decepticon Juniors while Cab attempts to sneak into the hideout and get Chris to safety. Bullhorn spots him, however, and Minerva then comes to his aid while Shūta continues to battle Wilder.

"I know you have one! Gimme your Salt-Man Z toy!"

Cancer tips the battle when he disconnects from his Transtector and captures Mary, putting a knife to her throat and preventing the Autobots from acting. Chris recovers from his beating in time to see his sister in danger and sneaks away from the gang, who are caught up watching the fight, stealing a motorcycle and driving it straight into Cancer's head. Chris leaps free as the bike explodes, and Cancer is toppled, allowing Mary to escape while Minerva paralyzes the other Decepticons with her Shock Gun. With Mary and Chris both safe, the Autobot Juniors transform to vehicle mode and make themselves scarce.

This heroic image doesn't show one second later when Chris is engulfed in a terrible explosion.

Back at the Ocean Research Institute, Diver joins the Juniors, Chris and Mary in a dinner party cooked by Cab. As Chris sees the friends laughing and joking together, he is reminded of his early days with Wilder, and how much his friend changed in the name of power. Diver tells Chris that all the Autobots are his friends, and Chris decides to make a new start with his life.

Meanwhile, back in the Decepticon base, Gilmer walks through the main hall alone, passing by the pillar atop which rests the glowing orb of light as he mutters to himself that Wilder is still a weakling. No sooner have the words passed his gills, however, than a bolt of crackling energy leaps from the orb and rips through Gilmer, who screams and begs forgiveness...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Uh, this is a police car, but I'm obviously not a policeman."

—Shūta

"Hey, Shūta! When you said leave the barbecue to you, did you mean the eating?"

—Cab

"After they've succeeded, they'll just discard you, like a lot of old clothes!"

—Goshooter

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• The shop the kids are shopping at is a "Super Marcket".
• While challenging Bullhorn, Cab is drawn with a red Decepticon mark in place of his Autobot symbol.
• In the park, while sitting on the bench speaking about Chris being in danger, Minerva's eyes move up and down slightly.
• Getting pummeled by Wilder, Shūta loses his Autobot symbol for an instant.
• When Chris first sees Mary in the clutches of Cancer, her left hand appears slightly off with an especially thin thumb.
• Climbing down from the cave Chris appears to be stepping on thin air at times.
• Humorously, it appears as if Minerva is moving the same portion of food from one plate to another twice. In another perspective not long after, the same part of the table has an empty plate with a wine glass sitting beside it. A third perspective of the table has the plates of food return, but an empty plate and wine glass from the first scene (in the corner nearest Minerva) is missing.

Transformers references

• For the first time since its debut in "Terror! The Decepticons' Manhunt", we once again see the pulsating globe of light in the Decepticon base. As discussed in that article, since we have to list it in the character table above there's no point in hiding the fact that it's the Decepticon emperor, Devil Z, but the significance of the orb is not yet known in the show itself. This episode really draws viewers' attentions to it, however, with a lingering shot early in the episode, and the final scene (described above) making it clear that this ain't just Dauros's nightlight.
• The Autobot Headmaster Juniors have been visiting Diver in America since last episode.
• Likewise, we also learned about Wilder's past with the Jack Boys in the previous episode. He appears to have rebuilt the gang in the interim.

Trivia

• As noted in the article for "Birth! Headmaster Jrs", the "Goshooter" mentioned in the title is Shūta's "Transformer" name, derived from the traditional Japanese construction of one's full name. It's the name his toy was sold under, although it's never actually used in dialogue and doesn't appear in the show again in any capacity after this episode.
• This episode introduces the mysteries of Chōkon Power—although it bears very little relevance to the events of the episode itself, it will go on to be one of the most important concepts in Super-God Masterforce.

Foreign localization

English

• Title: "Battle in the Barren Lands" (Omni Productions dub)
• Original airdate: July 8, 1990

• Title: "Go, Goshooter! Showdown in the Wasteland" (Shout! Factory sub)

• The three energies of the Chōkon Power are now "kinds of Energon," or Energon Power made up of Earth Energon, Spark Energon and Star Energon.

Italian

• Title: "La battaglia nel deserto" ("The battle in the desert")
• Original airdate: ?

• Once, Mary pluralizes the term "Distructor" (Italian name of the Decepticons) as "Distructors", despite the fact that in the dub of this series "Distructor" is used as both singular and plural.

Home video releases

VHS

1988 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — 2 (VAP) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — DVD Box 01 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 2 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Super God Masterforce (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2012 — Transformers: The Japanese Collection (Shout! Factory)
2012 — Transformers Japanese Collection: Super-God Masterforce (Shout! Factory)