Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Bushido

Welcome back to Gargoyles everyone!

As our heroes emerge from the fog, they find themselves in Japan. Bronx gets the scent of something that excites him and heads off, the others running after him. Elsewhere, some crooks are robbing a store in a nearby village only to be stopped by Gargoyles, and not just three or four like we’ve seen in previous episodes. We have an actual factual thriving Gargoyle clan on our hands here. The Gargoyles corner the robbers as the humans of the village look on. The Japanese Gargoyles make quick work of the thugs, one of whom tries to take out a Gargoyles with a dinky knife (some things never change). After everything is said and done, our heroes arrive in the village. The clan leader, Kai, is overjoyed to see other Gargoyles and welcomes Goliath and the others to the village of Ishimura. Turns out that humans and Gargoyles have lived together in this village for several generations. As Kai offers to show Goliath around, Taro, a well dressed shady looking fellow, and Yama, a rather aggressive and surly Gargoyle appear to be hatching some kind of sinister plan.

As Kai gives the tour, we learn that in ancient times, Gargoyles fought alongside the Samurai, but when peace came over the land, Kai’s ancestors settled in Ishimura to teach Bushido, the Samurai code of honor, to humans and Gargoyles alike. The Bushido code has instilled the denizens of the village with a sense of honor and respect that has allowed the Gargoyles and humans to peacefully coexist for centuries. Yama seems to be dissatisfied with the fact that his clan is cut off from the outside world, but Kai feels that their way of life is responsible for their clan surviving while others, like Goliath’s, have not. The sun will soon rise and the Gargoyles assume their positions. In an interesting moment, we learn that instead of facing outward during the day as Goliath’s clan does, Kai’s clan faces inward towards their home as a symbolic gesture of trust with their human allies. I dig it.

Since we are in Japan, the rules of lazy and possibly culturally insensitive writing dictate that ninjas show up eventually. And indeed, while the Gargoyles lay dormant in stone and the humans of the village tend to their daily duties, a squad of ninjas attack the town. Elisa manages to take out a few of them, mostly because these ninjas are so dumb they make Naruto Uzumaki look like a Harvard graduate, but she eventually gets taken out herself by a traquilizer gun fired by the real mastermind behind all this, Taro. Gee, who saw that coming? When Elisa wakes up, The Gargoyles are gone.

That night, as the Gargoyles wake up, they find themselves in a strange amusement park like setting. Taro arrives to spin some bullshit story about how the villagers saw them as a burden, and Yama backs up his claim. Taro has built this park as a living tribute to Gargoyles. Here, Kai’s clan can live in peace and in safety, while being introduced to the human race, and perhaps teach them the code of Bushido, for a fee of course. To be fair, this isn’t actually a bad idea. It would be a great way to expose humans to the existence of Gargoyles in a controlled and safe environment and show the humans that there is nothing to fear. Kai’s clan will be able to share the teachings of Bushido and the ways of Gargoyles to the world, and the humans running the park will be able to make a decent profit. Everyone wins. If Taro wasn’t such an obvious scumbag, I’d actually say this is a good idea, but with Japanese knockoff Xanatos involved, you know that there’s something sinister at work. Goliath warns Kai against the dangers of revealing themselves to the world, but Yama doesn’t want to hear the concerns of an outsider. Yama also lets it slip that he had a hand in designing the park. Goliath and Yama eventually come to blows but Taro breaks up the fight. Goliath tries to leave with Angela and Bronx and while Taro makes it appear to the others like he’s allowing them to do so, he actually lures them into a trap and gases them into unconsciousness so he can lock them in a dungeon.

Outside the park, a news crew has arrived at Taro’s request. Elisa and an old man from the village have also arrived, having tracked Taro to this location through his financial records. Inside, Kai tries to leave but Taro refuses to let him go, believing that, as leader, where he goes the rest of the clan will follow. Seeing Taro tranq Kai seems to finally knock some sense into Yama who now realizes that his alliance with Taro was a mistake. Taro also turns on automated guns all around the park to deal with the Gargoyles turning against him. Elisa crashses a van through the park gates, frees Goliath and the others and turns off the canons. However, Taro isn’t done yet as he dons some high-tech Samurai armor complete with electric fans. Taro may be about as generic a villain as one gets on this show, but I can’t lie, that armor is pretty dope. The Gargoyles are ready to swarm this electric Kamen Rider wannabe, but Yama sais that Bushido demands he face Taro alone. Taro has superior tech so initially he wipes the floor with Yama, but Yama manages to push his fans into his armor causing an overload. By the time the press arrives, the Gargoyles are gone and Taro sounds like a crazy person when he insists they were there. As everyone laughs at the disgraced dork, Elisa says goodbye to the people of the village, taking comfort in the fact that a place where Gargoyles can trust humans exists.

This episode has a lot of cool ideas. I really liked getting to see what a thriving human/Gargoyle cooperative society looks like in the modern era. Sort of makes me wonder what Goliath’s clan would be like had the massacre of Castle Wyvern never happened. I also really liked the idea of the Gargoyle Theme Park. I feel like without the obvious sinister undertones that Taro presented, it would have been an idea worth exploring. This was a fun episode, despite a few flaws. I wish some of the cool ideas could have been explored more, but what are you gonna do, I still like this episode and remember it fondly. Don’t’ worry, we’re done with Japanese Knockoff Xanatos, because next time, the real Xanatos is back to make another play for immortality as the World Tour heads to Arizona in Cloud Fathers.