Kagayake! Atsuki Gia Tamashī! (輝け！熱きギア魂！) is the 68th and final episode of Crush Gear Turbo. It was originally aired in Japan on January 26, 2003.
Synopsis
The final battle between Kouya and Takeshi is about to conclude which will determine who will be the Crush Gear World Champion. Will Kouya finally be able to defeat his long time rival?
Plot
"Three Gaikis!" - Kouya
The episode left off when Kouya attempted to launch Shining Sword Breaker despite Garuda Phoenix losing so much power earlier in the battle. Takeshi re-attempts to intercept the attack causing Garuda Phoenix to switch to spin attack. Although Kouya's Gear successfully hits Gaiki, it heads back into the ring. With Garuda Phoenix using up so much power, it becomes defenseless. This gave Takeshi the opportunity to launch King of the Dragon Fighters. Although Takeshi claims himself victor of the match, Kouya replies to him that he would not take that match that easily and still believes he can find a way to escape the attack after seeing it so many times. Kouya's confidence to keep on fighting enables Garuda Phoenix to break free from Gaiki's icy barrier and is very close to being disintegrated. After Garuda Phoenix dodges its first attack, Gaiki makes its next move in which then divided itself into three. Two out of three Gaikis pound Garuda Phoenix with nowhere to run.
As Takeshi prepares to attack Garuda Phoenix with the third Gaiki, he holds back when he suddenly visions his younger self running happily towards the Tobita Clubhouse and meets Yuhya at the ring, causing him to lose his concentration and tries to ignore the vision. Kouya takes the opportunity to throw Gaiki out of the ring. The three Gaiki clones then disappear. Kouya's Gear moves to attack mode. With Gaiki not having enough power and no other moves left, it leaves itself in the middle of the arena giving Garuda Phoenix an opening to attack the Gear with its remaining amount of battery power. Kuroudo states that he does not have enough power left. Despite this, Jirou yells out for Garuda Phoenix to "hang in there" a little longer. Garuda Phoenix then succeeds in throwing it out of the ring and wins the battle. At the same time Garuda Phoenix's battery dies (and has taken 95% damage) after knocking Gaiki out thus handing Gaiki its first defeat. Takeshi's Gear has taken 85% damage.
"No one was more upset over your brother's death... than Takeshi Manganji"
- Lilika to Kouya
During the intermission, the Tobita Club members notice that something had distracted Takeshi during the last round. The Tobita Club believes Takeshi would have beaten Kouya if he did not get emotionally distracted when he failed the use the final shot against Kouya. Nonetheless, Kaoru denies the truth and gets to the point of threatening to clobber Jirou, Kyousuke and Kuroudo for what they have said. Instead, she believes that Kouya won because he is better than Takeshi. Kuroudo somewhat agrees with Kaoru's point, nonetheless. Kouya tells them he still feels the hatred towards him despite being no longer having the feeling a long time ago. Kyousuke states that Takeshi is the only one who has the hatred at the moment and adds how he used to become the Tobita Club’s top player, which angers Kaoru. Kouya thinks that Takeshi hates him because he feels that the latter gets his revenge over Yuhya. However, Lilika tells Kouya that it is not true - rather, there is no one who is upset at Yuhya’s death other than Takeshi.
According to Lilika, all the members of the Tobita Club cannot easily accept the fact that Yuhya had gone. Only Takeshi did not show his sadness; he continued teaching Gear Fighting to the other children. This caused them to think that he is a cold-hearted boy, but little did they know that he bottled up all his feelings inside. In addition, he admires Yuhya and loves the Tobita Club than anyone else. She recommends Kouya to connect his heart to Takeshi’s by using his Gear just like he did to Wang Hu and Carlos.
Meanwhile, Gomano and Momita are assuring Takeshi that Kouya won the last round by luck. Takeshi compliments them for doing well in the past few months and requests them both to return to the Tobita Club after the match is over. As he proceeds to the ring for the next round, Momita and Gomano thank him before the final round begins. The final round of the Crush Gear World Cup now commences.
Back to the beginning
During the course of the battle, Kouya asks himself if he had ever understands Takeshi’s feelings. Kouya still would never understand how Takeshi really felt. About to refuse Lilika's advice, Yuhya's spirit speaks to Kouya to find Takeshi's feelings using the heart of the Gear. In a dreamlike sequence, Yuhya encourages him to connect to the other person’s heart with his Gear which can easily be found by feeling the emotions in Gaiki. Later, both Takeshi and Kouya are seen at the unfinished Crush Gear ring from the first episode. The former is asked about his ultimate goal to compete against Yuhya in the World Cup finals and assuming Kouya as his replacement. The two boys realize that no one will ever replace Yuhya, including themselves. Takeshi remembers how he agreed to train Kouya to become a Gear Fighter instead of the latter’s brother and aims to make him the World Cup champion. However, Kouya corrects him that Yuhya wants both of them to become better Gear Fighters than him in their own right instead of playing under his shadow. Hearing this, Takeshi thinks that although his goal (as stated by Kouya) is not fulfilled, he hopes to achieve it at the other time. Yuhya & Takeshi then bid each other farewell spiritually.
As the scene returns to the present battle, Takeshi acknowledges Kouya as his true rival and he that he will beat him. Realizing this, Kouya tells Takeshi that the game is on. Lilika remembers Yuhya’s words that the true power of Shining Sword Breaker will be revealed if one recognizes his true rival. Later in the battle, both Kouya and Takeshi launch their ultimate attacks. At the same time, the true form of their attacks are revealed.
The final battle
A magnificent battle ensues with the scene portraying the Gear Fight between Garuda Phoenix and Gaiki as a Phoenix Humanoid Warrior fighting against a Five-Headed Dragon (similar to how Gaiki divided in three but with two more dragons showing), respectively with and arena of fire (reference to the Bagua). First phase of the battle, the first dragon charges at the warrior. The warrior strikes the first dragon. Second phase, the second dragon hits the warrior's shield. Third phase, the warrior slays two more dragons. Fourth phase, the last remaining dragon knocks the warrior back. The dragon then bites the warrior and throws him back. Fifth phase, the warrior goes in defence but the dragon destroys the warrior's shield. The final phase, the warrior and the dragon charge at each other through a head-on collision. Before Garuda Phoenix strikes the final blow, the tip of the sword's blade was broken. Takeshi yells to Kouya that it's over for him. Persistant Kouya still believes it is not over for him yet. Garuda Phoenix makes it's one final move. The tip of Garuda Phoenix's sword flies and spins like a boomerang (similar to Kouya's Tornado Release) and blinds the last dragon head, giving an opening for the warrior to attack. The warrior (Garuda Phoenix) then punches the dragon (Gaiki)'s face, slaying the last dragon and resumes to the normal battle which leads to Gaiki being thrown out of the ring, while Garuda Phoenix stays inside the ring running despite losing the sword's tip and Kouya is declared as the World Cup Champion.
While Kouya is celebrating his victory, Takeshi said that he is done and thanks Yuhya. He then picks up his Gear and walks away. Upon seeing him, Kouya calls Takeshi and jumps in mid-air, which he follows suit - thus ending the episode (and the anime series).
Ending credits
Unlike the rest of the episodes of Crush Gear Turbo, this episode has a longer ending sequence with the show's opening theme, "Crush Gear Fight!!" being played instead of "Ai da yo ne!! ~Gear wo Tsunagou~", which is the usual ending theme. The scenes that happen during the credits are as follows:
Crush Gear Turbo - Final Ending
- After the frozen footage of Kouya and Takeshi in mid-air, the scene cuts to a lot of people lining up to register for the Tobita Club. Kouya, wearing the tuxedo from episode 37, is embarassed until Gomano and Momita strike a pose next to him, which attracts people to take pictures of them.
- The Manganji Group is holding a press conference of Takeshi being the world's first young boy to be sent to the outer space. The company also announces the latest space shuttle for the purpose - Gaiki - which, apparently, the name and the exterior design of the spacecraft is inspired from its Crush Gear counterpart.
- The key members of the Tobita Club are busy with various activities: Kouya coaches Gear Fighting, Kyousuke is teaching the structure of a Crush Gear to a group of children (they seem to wear glasses as well), and Jirou bringing the other children running along a river. Kuroudo, on the other hand, is seen practicing kendo until his comrades come to visit him.
- A registration form for Sunrise Cup and Garuda Phoenix is shown before Kouya takes the latter and turns around. The picture of Yuhya, Garuda Eagle and the badges for the World Cup and the Asia Cup is seen after he leaves.
Trivia
- The second time Garuda Phoenix suffers from losing battery power (although in this instance, Kouya won). The first one is in episode 49.
- This is also the second time Garuda Phoenix suffered 95% damage at the end of the second round after episode 63.
- Shingo's surname is mispronounced by Lilika as "Nagatori" in the English dub during the flashback of Yuhya's death in this episode as she narrates the incident to Kouya.
- It is unknown how Yuhya knows about Gaiki despite the fact that he died four years before the anime's timeline and prior to Gaiki's debut. Probably because throughout the start of the anime, it is mentioned several times that Yuhya's spirit lies within Kouya.
- The scenes during the final battle is a reference to Yamada no Orochi, a Japanese epic which features a legendary warrior fighting against an eight-headed serpent. It is also a reference to the Second Labour of Hercules in Roman mythology, where the son of Zeus fights the Lernaean Hydra.
- Despite Garuda Phoenix losing the tip of its blade, the Gear's weapon is seen still remained intact during the final battle and during the end after knocking Gaiki out of the ring.
- The ending credits (as stated above) is absent in the English dub, instead it is replaced with the usual ending sequence.
- The Garuda Eagle in the ending credits was actually given by Carlos to Kouya in episode 65 and later used it against Harry Gamble.
- Garuda Eagle is seen to have half a tire in the ending credits despite the gear suffering no damage during Kouya's battle with Harry.
- Lilika never mentioned of how Kouya connected his heart to Cain when he mentioned to Kouya to connect his heart to Takeshi after mentioning of Wang Hu and Carlos. Maybe Kouya may not have mentioned his name during the time he confessed his Gear Pancratum participation mentioned in episode 55.
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