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The Autobots are SERIOUS about their beach volleyball.
"Super Ginrai Gets Blown Away in the Desert!?" スーパージンライ砂漠に散る!? () (Super Ginrai Sabaku ni Chiru!?)
Production company	Takara, Toei
Airdate	11 October 1988
Writer	Toyohiro Andō
Director	Hiroki Shibata
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Ginrai faces his greatest challenge yet when Mega and Giga reveal their true power.

Synopsis

The Autobot Headmaster Juniors are summoned by Metalhawk to the British Motors factory in Canada, where they are led to an underground production complex and are at last informed on the existence of the Bomber Project, intended to upgrade Ginrai. They are suitably impressed, but Hawk tempers their enthusiasm by explaining that the Bomber Project has only been created as a countermeasure to the approach of a mysterious Decepticon super-weapon.

Meanwhile, in Decepticon Base, Devil Z has some revelations of his own to impart to his minions—the space-based Decepticons have learned that Grand Maximus deduced their plans and informed the Autobots on Earth. To put a stop to the Bomber Project, Hydra and Buster are instructed to attack Ginrai and destroy his trailer.

Ginrai himself is relaxing in a truck stop, where he is approached by Billy Hyler, a movie producer from Z Production who is looking for a big rig driver to perform some stunt driving for his newest feature. Ginrai is convinced to accept his offer by the barkeep and patrons, and is taken to the set in the desert, where he meets the director, S. Pakinper. The director directs him to the truck he will be driving for the shoot, but Hyler suggests he use his own truck (his transtector) due to his experience with it. A short time later, Buster informs "Hyler", who is in reality a disguised Hydra, that he's planted two charges which aren't on the map given to Ginrai. Giga and Mega, still in Decepticon Base, tune in to watch the action unfold.

Yeah, this is a better plan than shooting him at the diner....

Shooting begins, and Ginrai deftly drives between the staged explosions, until the director yells "CUT!" Ginrai relaxes, but his truck is suddenly launched into the air by a blast not on the map! As his cab and trailer are hurled apart, the film crew looks on in horror. They're relieved to find that Ginrai has survived the explosion, but as they wonder where Hyler has gone, the two Godmaster brothers swoop in to attack Ginrai in their transtectors, with Buster focusing his attention on Ginrai's battered trailer. As Buster pounds on the trailer, Ginrai transforms to robot mode to stop him, and ends up brawling with the two brothers.

Mega and Giga observe the battle from Decepticon Base, and decide that it is at last time for them to take an active hand. Donning their Godmaster armor, they board their transtectors—the Megajet and the Gigatank—and take off for the desert.

Sorry to spoil your moment, Overlord, but he hasn't turned gray yet.

The Godmaster brothers combine into Darkwings, attempting to destroy the trailer, but Ginrai merges with it into Super Ginrai and blasts the Decepticons out of the sky with his Special Fire Guts attack. Just as he's about to deliver the final blow, Giga and Mega arrive on the battlefield. They introduce themselves to Ginrai, and then reveal their true power, merging their transtectors to form one, giant robot—Overlord! The villain's Chokon Bolt Masher attack destroys Ginrai's weapons and begins eating through his armor, but Ginrai boldly fights back, only to be quite literally crushed beneath Overlord's heel.

Back at base, Minerva has a feeling that something has happened to Ginrai, but Shūta and Cab assure her that Ginrai is indestructible.

Standing atop Ginrai's broken body, Overlord declares himself the victor and departs, but neither Mega nor Giga realize that the determined Ginrai still lives!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

*Flashback only

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• Three of the crosses on the map Pakinper shows Ginrai are colored darker than the other two, making them substantially less visible for no apparent reason.
• Not so much an error, but Ginrai's arms seem to be drawn with a lot more cabling at the joints than usual when he's fighting Buster and Hydra.
• As Giga announces the Decepticons should move out, he appears to be bald.
• The animation of Ginrai's super-attack, in which he draws on all three Chōkon Powers, is reused from "A Powerful Foe!! Sixknight the Wanderer for his "Special Fire Guts" attack in this episode.

Continuity notes

• The threat of the mysterious Decepticon super-weapon was introduced in "Life? Death? The Desperate Lightfoot". Although not referred to by name, it is briefly glimpsed for the first time in this episode, and will be recognized by astute viewers as BlackZarak.
• Likewise, the Autobots' Bomber Project was begun in the same episode, to counter the threat posed by BlackZarak. This episode is the first to visually display what the outcome of the project will be, as God Ginrai is seen for the first time as a drawing in a set of blueprints.
• Though not explicitly stated, it is evident that Lightfoot’s father has offered the British Motors facilities to the Autobots as payment for saving his life in that aforementioned episode.
• Ginrai's "Fire Guts" attack previously appeared in "Save the Little Girl! The Chōjin Warriors, the Godmasters". Just as that episode featured the only instance of him using the move in his standard robot mode, this episode includes the only time that he uses the attack as Super Ginrai, in which form it is known as the "Special Fire Guts". Because the footage is recycled, though, it doesn't look fiery at all.
• This episode features the debut of Overlord, although Mega and Giga were revealed to be Godmasters way back in "A Strange Friendship: Cancer and Minerva", and their armor and Transtectors debuted in "Expose the Decepticons' Dark Trap!".

Real-world references

• S. Pakinper is a parody of noted film director Sam Peckinpah.

Trivia

• This episode is the first appearance of the infamous phrase, "You evil man!" in the dub.

Foreign localization

English

• Title: "Battle in the Desert" (Omni Productions dub)
• Original airdate: December 2, 1990

Home video releases

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)