Lum-A-Day 112 – Benten & Ryunosuke; Run for the Morrow

A former biker gang leader explains to his gang why he’s leaving it behind for a life of respectability. It all stems from their encounter with a pair of dangerous bikers known as Red Lightning…

We flashback to the bikers almost running over a girl and her cat, who are saved by Ryuu. Later that day the girl meets Ryuu and the gang coming out of school but Ataru scares the cat and it runs away. Ryuu & Benten (who is visiting) chase after it, but it falls onto the back of a truck. Benten grabs a motorcycle to follow it, and turns out the be biker gang leader’s. This sets them on chase across Japan to recover the cat, all the while clashing with the biker gang trying to retrieve their leader’s bike.

Lots of action here, all of which looks great for a 1984 show. The only downside again is some reused footage, and a technique they’ve been using in earlier episodes but I’d not mentioned yet. Basically they’ll overlay a loop on top of another scene that might have less animation to create an illusion of more movement. For example here we get a loop of a motorcycle wheel spinning over scenes of them asking people if they’ve seen the cat. Not sure it really works.

Screenplay: Keiko Maruo
Storyboard: Kazuo Yamazaki
Director: Kazuo Yamazaki
Animation Director: Masami Abe