MMM: Cowboy Bebop

MMM: "By The Great Solar Wind!" - Ulysses 37

Alright! The controls are set for the heart of the, er, fun, as we cascade through the final four episodes of Ulysses 31, soaring towards the epic(-ish) grande finale. (Again, bear in kind the 'restored' episodes are numbered in a different order to the UK broadcast/DVD release)....

EPISODE 23

"May he be crushed like the crystal sand."

The Odyssey declares an emergency, detecting a "distress signal on D92" as they are approaching a Crystal Planet that is under attack from Tridents. Despite Yumi sensing that it is a trap Ulysses takes a shuttle and fights off the attacking spaceships, rescuing Calypso (who it has to be said has the galaxy's funkiest crystal hairdo)....

It seems Ulysses is too late as the crystal sun is fractured and the planet will soon be destroyed. With Zeus pressuring her to obey, Calypso tricks Ulysses into repairing the crystal sun using the route back to Earth as bait. Calypso soon has a change of heart as she realises she is deeply in love with Ulysses - again her funky 'fro does its thang! - and she can only bring herself to imprison him....

Again the Gods pressure Calypso and this time, as she attempts to kill Ulysses, she confesses all. With her tears of anguish reviving the Crystal Planet the Gods attack, raining down lightening, sending Tridents and conjuring up great crystal birds. Shirka sends down a shuttle to assist in the battle. Will Ulysses and Calypso - who might just have one more trick up her hairstyle - survive the onslaught....

EPISODE 24

"A curious kind of beggar."

Having landed on a planet the Odyssey is drilling for precious minerals, Shirka warning our heroes that the drilling area has "a high proportion of energy catalyst". The children, who are enjoying playing in the planet's low gravity, accidentally fall down one of the holes. As such Telemachus arrives at "The Place Of Time" and is sent 5,000 years into the distant past by the Gods....

Ulysses arrives and is told that to save him he must also go back in time and seek out the first Ulysses and help him protect the right to his throne - both the first Ulysses and first Telemachus are absent, Penelope fending off the interests of many greedy suitors. Ulysses 31 is captured and Penelope, taken with his cause, sets a challenge for the suitors, a trial of strength - if one can successfully string the bow of Ulysses 01 and fire an arrow then she will marry him. Telemachus 01 returns and attempts to rescue Telmachus 31, only they are captured by the dastardly Antilles(?)....

Fortunately they are saved by a mysterious man dressed as a beggar. Who could this be, and could his teaming up with Ulysses 31 foil the cunning plans of the 100 suitors....

EPISODE 25

"Lotus seeds will make you dreamy if you eat them."

Shirka reports the Odyssey will "soon be moving past the last planet recorded in this system" and that she detects a "trace of intelligent life" as well as imminent "meteoric activity". With the "meteoric density now rising sharply" Trident meteors begin to bombard the Odyssey, damaging the Iris. Ulysses utilises the emergency systems to make repairs, but quickly realises their only hope is to make use of the emerald supplies on the nearby Emerald Planet....

Ulysses and Nono take 2 shuttles down to the surface and proceed to begin their operation. Here they are approached by the planet's inhabitants who lead him to the emerald mines, showing him where to dig, and offering him a Lotus Seed to eat. With a warning of "volcanic activity imminent" Ulysses ignores Nono's protest, dreamily wandering off and wanting to stay....

The children speed to the planet surface, concerned that Ulysses will not answer their communications. There they meet Lota, who warns them of the debilitating effects of the Lotus Seeds - if you eat too many you will disappear! The race is on to find Ulysses and give him Lota's antidote before the volcanic eruption. With Ulysses back to normal the race is on to counter the effects of the plants, saving the young and old and to somehow stop the eruption once and for all....

EPISODE 26

"Full speed to the final point!"

The final episode! The Odyssey comes in sight of the oft-mentioned Galactic Glaciers and our heroes begin to hope that The Kingdom Of Hades (and home) is within their reach. Shirka warns that they are "entering a semi-luminous zone" and they encounter a giant butterfly swarm that threatens to envelop the Odyssey and drain all their energy....

Their escape brings the Odyssey to rest on the Galactic Glaciers where they meet a morose Orpheus who wishes to cross The River Styx into the Kingdom Of Death, and there join his beloved Eurydice. Can Ulysses defy the god of death, save his companions from their potential fate as citizens of Hades, and discover the route back to Earth (and Penelope) in time....

"...to the city, the styx, the darkness perhaps."

I had always assumed Ulysses and company never completed their mission, the (outcome of the) final episode never registering with my childhood self coupled with a perpetuating rumour that an intended second series was never made. Indeed there's no denying it's a genuine "kitchen sink" of a conclusion as they cram their usual mix of space adventure and gloomy lamentation together while racing towards a brisker than brisk finale to this truly excellent series....

Before blasting off one last time a final props to TheAdamAnt - a playlist of his loving and painstaking-ly restored episodes can be found here >> Ulysses 31....

MMM: "By The Big Bang!" - Ulysses 36

Blasting on to Volume Three, the end (of the universe) in sight....

EPISODE 19

"This is Nereus calling the universe. Is anyone listening?"

The Odyssey intercepts a "universal signal of distress" and as such rescues a lone girl on a spaceship, assuming it to be her. The girl, Princess Galitea, is quiet and unresponsive, enough for the crew to consider her a robot or automata. Just as Ulysses and the children are suddenly taken prisoner by The Sharkmen, the Odyssey surrounded by Tridents, the message is decoded by Shirka as relating to Nereus instead. They are all taken by spaceship to the planet of Skolopolis (renamed from Nereopolis by their new overlords) and locked in jail, soon to be subjected to pilot control, the means by which everyone is enslaved....

Ulysses plots his escape with his cellmate while Telemachus makes similar schemes with Prince Glycon. Ulysses makes his dramatic escape and Telemachus uses his participation in the games - he battles Glycon in a Gondola fight - to do the same. Ulysses finally meets King Nereus, who has been hiding amongst his people all this time, and together they hope to free the people of Neropolis and convince them in time that their king has returned. Chance reunites fathers and sons and they head to the locket office control room, conspiring to erase the control programs forever....

EPISODE 20

"Let all the underworld explode into light!"

This episode opens with the Odyssey being attacked from all side by Trident spaceships. Ulysses attempts to fight them off, fearing for the safety of Telemachus and Nono (who are currently manning a shuttle craft). Telemachus spots a great hole in a nearby planet and our heroes escape there just in time, the pursing Tridents exploding mysteriously. Shirka announces they are in "a region of intense energy" and that any damage they sustained, including that to the compartment containing their inert companions, has been repaired. A voice announces that they are protected, sheltered from the Gods of Olympus....

The Magician in Black then transports our heroes to his palace and, by "the great power of my will", he revives their companions. Of course, he wants something in return and Ulysses, Numinor and Telemachus step forward, willing to be hunted for the magician's sport (but not before Ulysses bargains for his companion's freedom). Should the three of them escape the hunt they will be freed, otherwise they will be enslaved forever. Ulysses chooses the terrain of the hunt, selecting an environment close to that of Earth, and the deadly hunt begins. Will Ulysses manage to outwit the crafty magician or perhaps his companions will escape and save the day...?

Another episode with the usual glut of Star Wars FX peppered throughout the opening Trident space battle. Also noteworthy for the rendering of pixellated and blocky backgrounds within The Magician In Black's computer generated hunt terrain - a nice (imaginative) touch....

EPISODE 21

"You don't trick a tyrant. You just stop obeying him!"

The Odyssey approaches a Saturn-like planet, Shirka suddenly receiving "signals from a shuttle vehicle in difficulty"....

Ulysses takes his own shuttle and, with the canny use of a tether, rescues the other ship. The pilot is Hypsipyle, daughter of the overthrown Thoas, who is fleeing the base at Lemnos for the security of the one at Istria. The men of Lemnos have retreated to the High City, using the women as slaves in the factory to build Tridents for the Sharkmen - when the women rebelled they imprisoned them. Sadly the base on Istria has been destroyed, leaving our heroes no choice but to return to Lemnos to try to persuade the inhabitants to unite and defeat the Sharkmen....

With the women freed and fighting the men, Ulysses helps devise a plan to trap the Sharkmen within the factory and to jettison it, freeing those of Lemnos from their tyranny (and just maybe discovering the route back to Earth from Thoas in the process). Naturally, no one thinks to tell the children who, with Yumi having sensed Ulysses was in danger, have made their way to the factory to assist. Will unity be restored in time to overthrow the Sharkmen and reveal the way home....

Interesting to note that the look of The Sharkmen has been overhauled since Episode 19 - one can only guess that different animation studios either interpreted the outline in different ways or that perhaps lazy dubbing saw the two alien "species" lumped together to save on effort. More Star Wars FX crammed in at the conclusion of this episode too.... 

EPISODE 22

"Machines only obey machines. Order rejected."

A gentle opening to this episode, everyone idling on the Odyssey - Ulysses even has time for a cuppa - before things begin to go awry. Firstly, Nono has to content with unruly cleaning robots before Shirka ceases to respond. "Look! The Odyssey is veering off its course!" Our heroes strap themselves in and attempt to take manual control (to no avail)....

The command cabin is hermetically sealed, Ulysses and the children now prisoners of Cortex, chief of the planet of the machines. On their arrival on the planet robots begin to immediately board and dismantle the Odyssey, breaking it up so that Cortex may make new machines. Nono befriends Nanette, a similar small robot, and together they free Ulysses and the children....

Seeing that Cortex plans to dismantle the Odyssey's Iris, and that all would be lost, Ulysses threatens to destroy his city... Cortex, who reveals himself as a servant of The Gods, must be stopped. Can Ulysses fend off the attacks of a cyborg lion in time for Nono and Nanette to locate and disconnect the power line to Cortex's brain....