Mori no Yōjinbō (森の用心棒) is the 35th episode of Crush Gear Nitro. It was originally aired in Japan on October 12, 2003.
Synopsis[]
Plot[]
The introductory scene
The episode opens with a cinematic introductory sequence of Kouda walking at a barren land at sunrise with the narration in the background. The scene stops when Kouda passes out due to hunger. After the opening theme clip ends, Wild Iron Wolf is seen “waking” Kouda up. Then he proceeds to a cliff where he overlooks a town below. Excited, Kouda runs down the cliff so fast that he even rolls down on his way.
When Kouda arrives at the Western town he comes across a saloon to eat, only to find that he has a mere 500 yen coin in hand. At the saloon, the bartender gives him a slice of bread in exchange for the coin. Disappointed, Kouda walks out with the bread until a group of horse riders rush along the street, pushing him aside and tramples the bread. He confronts with the riders led by Clint and challenges them to a Gear Fight. However, Kouda realizes that his Gear is missing when he is going to take it out, to everyone’s laughter. He begins to think that Wild Iron Wolf might be lost when he rolled down the cliff. Kouda rushes back to the forest while the bartender seeing him from afar amidst the laughing crowd.
At the forest, a raccoon picks up Wild Iron Wolf near a river when Kouda searches for his Gear and finds one of its wheel weapons. Later, he observes the raccoon washing Wild Iron Wolf by the river, wipes it clean with a leaf and even fixing it by putting some tree sap on the gears. Kouda starts to chase the raccoon when it puts the Gear on its back and goes away. His pursuit leads him to a series of misadventures, including being hit by a dead branch, attacked by the bees after their nest goes into his hat that lands back to his head, and nearly bitten by a crocodile when he crosses a river. As the beaten Kouda walks wearily in the forest, he sees the raccoon playing with Wild Iron Wolf on a large stump. Much to his shock, a bear is approaching him from behind when he is observing his Gear’s movements being synchronized with the raccoon’s.
Wild Iron Wolf against the bulldozer
During sunset, Kouda is washing himself by a stream before the scene zooms out to the map of the United States and switches to the zoomed-in map of Japan, where Masaru and the others are enjoying a picnic in a pear orchard. As the scene goes back to Kouda’s, he is seen following the raccoon quietly at night. When the raccoon is sleeping in its den Kouda uses a battery tied to a string to lure Wild Iron Wolf out. However the Gear goes away from him, forcing him to follow it until they eventually come across a logging site where Clint leads the project. From the still footages, Wild Iron Wolf “tells” Kouda that the logging project disrupted the wildlife’s habitat, and that it tries to protect the raccoon from being harmed. Shortly thereafter, the Gear attempts to attack a moving bulldozer but it is thrown into the air before Kouda grabs it from the bulldozer’s path.
The bartender’s horse cart is stuck in the mud while riding along a path, until Kouda offers to help him. At the saloon, Kouda is having his meal while talking with the bartender about what happened in the forest, and also about Django, one of Clint’s henchmen who is a fearsome Gear Fighter in the town. Later, Wild Iron Wolf “senses” the raccoon’s presence (it is captured and brought by Clint and his minions). Clint’s minions go into the saloon, and during their conversation Kouda pours milk onto one of them. This provokes them to fight and Kouda ends up being defeated instead. The incident is brought to Clint’s attention as Kouda leaves the saloon for the forest. That night, the bartender meets Kouda at the forest before the scene switches to the picnic scene (this time in a peach orchard).
In defense of the animals
The next day, Kouda is about to battle against Django who comes to the Crush Gear ring by horse-dragged coffin. During the game, Django’s Gear, Handsome Magnum attacks Wild Iron Wolf with its continuous fire. Still, Kouda’s Gear manages to fight back as it evades the ring’s jammer on time and launches Wild Bite against its opponent. Seeing Django being hit by his own Gear and fell back into the coffin, Clint orders his henchmen to defeat Kouda, but they are surprised to see the latter with the animals from the forest before running away.
Before leaving the forest, Kouda and Wild Iron Wolf meet the raccoon for the last time. The episode ends with a cinematic scene of Kouda and his Gear continuing their journey across the barren land.
Narration[]
This episode has two narrations; one is before the opening theme clip as stated above. The opening narration is as follows:
| Japanese text | Romaji text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
|
天涯孤独を背に受けて
呼ばないかも・・・ |
Tengaikodoku o se ni ukete
Yobanai kamo... |
A person without a single relative on his back
I may not call... |
Another one is the ending narration during the episode’s final scene, which goes as follows:
| Japanese text | Romaji text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
|
吹きすさぶ風が今日も呼ぶ
|
Fukisusabu kaze ga kyou mo yobu
|
Today the gusty wind is called
|
Trivia[]
- This episode is the only episode in Crush Gear Nitro that has the ending narration.
- The design of Handsome Magnum bears a striking resemblance with that of Assault Panzer from Crush Gear Turbo.
| Crush Gear Nitro | |
|---|---|
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 34 (Giafaitā Makoto!) | Episode 36 (Chitei Kara no Chōsen) |