To escape the loan shark Yang, Robby and Ikku take off into space on their spaceship Nagaya Voyager. Robby decides to go on a trip to Isekandar to get rid of his bad luck, but it turns out Hatchi, a part-time worker hired by Yang, is still on board too! Robby tries to get Hatchi off the spaceship, telling him to go home, and the two get into an argument. Meanwhile, Yang's ship starts chasing them, and then even attacks them.
Robby and Hatchi try to repel the attack by boarding small spacecrafts that they accidentally discover inside the Nagaya Voyager. Even though they somehow manage to escape Yang, they run out of fuel. The group has to make a stop at Mars...
The episode starts in the same place that the previous one finished off: with Robby and Hatchi inside a newly formed Hizakuriger, about to free their ship from Yang’s tractor beam.
Robby and Hatchi spend a good moment arguing between themselves about who gets to order the other around basing on which half they pilot – Robby says that obviously the upper half is more important, as this is where the brain is, Hatchi retorts that without the lower half it’s not even possible to stand up. Ikku interrupts the argument and reminds the duo about the tractor beam. Hatchi finds a button that looks promising, and the middle of Hizakuriger’s chest lights up.
Yang, thinking the robot will fire a laser at his ship, orders an emergency retreat and flings Nagaya Voyager away, but when Hatchi presses the button he found, the light just flashes and nothing else happens. The confusion of everyone in the scene is still used to their benefit as they grab onto their ship and Ikku warps out, escaping from Yang shooting at Nagaya Voyager.
Allo and Gras listening to Yang's deduction that Robby will head to Haccone.
Allo and Gras lament the escape, but Yang says he has an idea where Robby will go now – in the past, criminals in Japan would go to the farthest place north they could reach, Hokkaido, but now, in the era of space travel, the most distant place would be planet Haccone and its Galaxy Highway Checkpoint No. 1. The group sets off on their way there.
On Nagaya Voyager, Robby explains the ship used to belong to his father, but he took it with him when he ran away from home and made it into his apartment. He has no idea about why Hizakuriger was there, though. The conversation is interrupted by Ikku, who announces they have ran out of fuel and need to land on the nearest planet – Mars.
Robby says that as soon as they land, Hatchi can go away, to which the latter promptly disagrees, arguing that the debt is still not paid. It is also mentioned that it’s not possible to lift off immediately after Hatchi leaves as the ship needs not only refuelling but also servicing after years of disuse. Robby wonders out loud if the servicing will be done by an octopus, which completely baffles Hatchi who doesn’t believe that Martians are octopuses. They argue about it loudly until Ikku in no certain words asks them to shut up.
As it turns out, the servicing is, indeed, conducted by an octopus. Hatchi is roped into paying for it despite his initial disagreement, countered by Robby saying it’s repayment for getting a lift from Earth to Mars.
While the ship is being repaired, the duo wanders off and encounters a takoyaki[1] stand. Robby tries to creep Hatchi out by telling a story that perhaps the food they are eating comes from an octopus criminal locked in some prison in the middle of the desert, but Hatchi instead gets excited and runs to ask for a second serving.
Later on the streets, Robby is approached by a Martian lady – Miss Glamorours – and lured into the bar she works at. Hatchi, completely ignored, follows, but is less than impressed, especially as they spend more time inside. The moment a Martian Cabaret show starts, he excuses himself to go to the bathroom and accidentally sees two female workers removing their suits to be able to breathe better for a moment. He is then promptly arrested by a Martian guard.
Eventually, Robby notices Hatchi went missing and tries to go look for him, but Miss Glamorous distracts him.
Meanwhile Hatchi is shown in a secluded prison where his smartbracelet doesn’t have any signal – this, once more, makes him thrilled, as he exclaims he would never experience something like this if he lived a normal life. The guard who arrested him is confused, but explains the story behind Martians dressing up as octopuses – during first contact, Martians were wearing protective suits that made them look similar to the animals and overly-excited Earthlings shared the news of Martians being octopuses before this mistake could be rectified. And now, since Mars is trying to attract tourists from Earth, everyone is forced to wear a suit to appeal to the visitors.
Robby, entertaining Miss Glamorous, notices she ran off out of sudden and follows, only to also discover she is not a real octopus. She is the daughter of the head of the Mars Tourism Bureau Chu-Chu Takokawaina, who runs a live broadcast What brings you to Mars?. The purpose of this broadcast is to make Mars, declining in popularity, appear as still attractive by showing tourists.
A broadcast starts and surprisingly, the tourist starring in the episode is Hatchi, who was transferred out of jail for this purpose. His acting of an amazed visitor is very awkward and he is visibly just reading cue cards, saying how he came to Mars to visit the “wildly popular” Takotubo Land theme park (which Miss Glamorous reveals is actually completely unpopular).
Miss Glamorous confesses their existence as Martians is sad as they are forced to live a lie for their whole life, being perceived as octopuses. Robby, deciding to kill two birds with one stone, takes her to the filming spot.
After Hizakuriger descends next to the filming crew – to everyone’s shock – Miss Glamorous takes off the head of her suit while on air and reveals the truth to everyone. Her father is devastated, but after Robby says a few motivational lines to him he gains new confidence and also removes his bodysuit.
The news quickly hit the web – Allo announces some ground-breaking information was just made available and puts it on big screen. He is heartbroken with the news while Gras doesn’t really see why it should be a big deal. Yang focuses on another thing – he spots Robby in the background of the attached photo. Immediately, the crew turns back to fly to Mars, despite already almost arriving at Haccone and previously having agreed to go visit the famous hot springs there.
Ikku commenting how Robby knew Hatchi boarded the ship.
At Nagaya Voyager, Robby is bragging about his motivational speech and how he solved the problem, only to “suddenly” notice Hatchi is still there. His fake shock is demasked by Ikku who comments to himself Robby knew perfectly well Hatchi was boarding the ship. A bit later, Hatchi insists on showing something he discovered – an anime made half a century ago using the traditional cel animation method: Galaxy Traveler Hizakuriger. It stars the same robot that they have in their airlock, and the opening theme is the music that played in the robot’s cockpit.
In some online spaces, the episodes are available with no addition, in others: with a short animation at the beginning indicating that Funimation was the show’s original licensor. The animation lasts for 7 seconds and ends with a purple screen with “Funimation” written on it.
For checking the timestamps for used music tracks, please select the tab that reflects the presence or lack of this short intro animation.
[01:30] Isekandar (opening section)
[01:54] Action (Hizakuriger merged)
[02:51] Brave (Hizakuri beam)
[03:38] Reverse play (arguing about grabbing onto Nagaya Voyager)
[04:27] Yang (Yang explaining where the duo is going)
[05:31] Jazzy (back into the cockpit)
[06:06] Take off (Yang’s ship in warp)
[06:28] Up tempo (landing on Mars)
[07:43] Comedy (servicing Nagaya Voyager)
[08:37] Excite (arrived to the city)
[09:10] Laid back (eating takoyaki)
[10:50] Love (Miss Glamorous appears)
[12:06] Beauty (Martian Cabaret starts)
[12:35] Unrest (Hatchi discovers the truth about Martians)
[12:47] Beauty (Robby realises Hatchi went missing)
[13:41] Excite (Hatchi laughing in jail)
[14:16] Suspense (prison guard’s story)
[15:29] Unrest (Robby discovers the truth about Martians)
[15:56] Miserable (Miss Glamorous and Robby talk in the booth)
Robby: Turning into a robot is fine and all, but now what do we do, lower half?
Hatchi: Don’t call me lower half, upper half. Robby: Heh, if you’re the lower half, you’ll listen to what the upper half tells you. Hatchi: Hey, you couldn’t tell me what to do in a billion years, upper half.
Robby: Well, look who’s getting into a tizzy despite being the lower half.
Robby: Mars is a place filled with octopuses who have floppy limbs.
Hatchi: What year are you living in? Those Martians are a work of fiction H. G. Wells wrote about long ago. Robby: Oh, no, I’ve seen them on the web. They’re definitely octopuses. Hatchi: It’s fiction! Robby: They’re octopuses! Hatchi: They are not! Robby: They’re octopuses, I’m telling you! Octopuses! Octopuses! Octopuses! Hatchi: Are not! Are not! Are not!
Ikku: Stop it! Shut the hell up!
Robby: Come to think of it, takoyaki has flour in it. Are you okay with that? I figured you’d say something about going gluten-free being better.
Hatchi: You don’t get it, do you? Robby: Huh?
Hatchi: This isn’t just any takoyaki; this is takoyaki made by Martians. Plus, it’s 4.8 stars.
Hatchi: Here I thought there were really octopus-people Martians, and it turns out they’re just people wearing suits! On top of that, I’m locked up out here in the desert! If I’d lived a normal life, this would’ve never happened! It’s insanely awesome!
Robby: Look, trying to paper over the truth by putting on an act as someone you’re not is going to bring you nothing but grief.
Chu-Chu Takokawaina: S-still, if we give up being octopuses, we’ll lose our Martian-ness!
Robby: That’s all right. Just be yourself. Chu-Chu Takokawaina: Just be… myself… Robby: Show people who you really are. Chu-Chu Takokawaina: Show people who I really am… Robby: Be who you really are. Chu-Chu Takokawaina: Be who I really am… Robby: There’s nothing to be afraid of.
Chu-Chu Takokawaina: There’s nothing to be afraid of… [takes off the head of his suit] I don’t feel cold at all.
Robby: Mars is a place filled with octopuses who have flappy limbs.
Hatchi: What year are you living in? Those Martians are a work of fiction H. G. Wells wrote about long ago.
These Martians come from the novel The War of the Worlds, wirtten between 1895 and 1897.
Cabaret girl: Want something to drink?
Hatchi: Oh, I'm still underage, so...
Legal drinking age in Japan is 20.
What Brings You to Mars? parodies a popular show Why Did You Come To Japan? which shows foreigners visiting Japan, similarly how Hatchi, a foreigner, was asked to participate in the Martian program.
Takotubo Land takes its name from takotsubo – a trap tool used for catching octopuses, shaped like a pot – exactly like those that can be seen in the park itself. It is unclear whether the name change is intentional or due to a misspelling of the park’s name on its welcome sign. Official English subtitles and dubbing both use Takotubo in line with the presented spelling, while Japanese dubbing seems to say Takotsubo.
The speech Robby gives to Chu-Chu Takokawaina is a part of the lyrics to Japanese version of Let it go from the film Frozen. This is why the latter replies he doesn’t feel cold at all after he takes off his suit. The song can be listened to here, and the exact phrase can be heard at 1:00-1:20. This reference did not make it into the dubbing.
Hatchi: It's a TV anime that was made a half-century ago, made in Japan using the classic "cel" animation method.
Cel animation is a traditional animation technique in which every frame is drawn by hand.
Staff notes for this episode:
Opening: A giant robot suddenly appears. What exactly is Hizakuriger? And what is waiting for them on Mars?
Ending: A mysterious space patrol stands in the way of the duo as they head for Isekandar. What is the wish the abducted Robby and Hatchi see from the unhappy Plutonians?
↑Grilled balls of batter made with flour and eggs filled with octopus chunks and other ingredients like pickled ginger and leftover fried tempura batter. An article about takoyaki
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