Team Relations: Ryu and Joe

Sal:
After reviewing some of Alara Roger's transcripts, it seems they don't get along much at all; that where Ken and Joe get after each other there's still a certain understanding between them, but when Joe and Ryu get into it, it's chaos.

The ep where Katse lands in the jungle and Ryu gets into trouble with banana bombs, people eating plants and deer. Joe is a total hard ass looking to do a job and Ryu is putzing along wanting to snack. Ryu aplogizes for the trouble with the bombs but basically calls Joe inhuman when he tells Ryu to leave the deer.

JOE: Stupid bastard! Which is more important-- your life or some animal's?
RYU: I can't be as cold as you! I've got to be a human being *before* being a Science Ninja.
JOE: What?

Later on, Joe hesitates when a herd of deer are in his firing path. Ryu calls Joe an idiot and attempts to fire when he sees what (I assume) Joe saw and acts surprised.

When they come across the 'ceremony' and realize it's Jinpei being sacrificed Joe tries to hold Ryu back without success and amidst more name calling.

Are there any eps where Joe and Ryu are getting along and not at each others throats when actually speaking?

I'm seeing instances where they side with each other against Ken when they agree something should be done, and in the ep where Crescent Coral is blown up, they work together fairly well, but it seems direct conversation isn't a good thing. Is there any speculation as to why they act this way other than personality differences?

Princess the Swan:
Joe and Ryu's basic problem seems to be mutual incomprehension they are such different people.

Ryu *is* terribly sweet, he's going to make some lucky girl a wonderful husband. Ayako once said she'd like to have an affair with Joe but marry Ryu, (assuming she survives the affair). But to Joe he seems 'soft'. While Ryu thinks the Condor is hard and heartless and says so, hurting his feelings.

Actually Joe has a heart of pure marshmallow beneath the hard-as-nails exterior he puts up. A real softy for puppies, miniature deer, and pretty girls in trouble.

As I recall in 105 when he's dying Joe apologizes to Ryu for being a pain at times.

Joe, (also Jason, Dirk and maybe Joe Thax) have a tendency to automatically side with anybody currently in trouble. Jason is very supportive of Tiny in the 'Tiny resigns' episode. And Joe resignedly drags Ryu out of trouble after trouble in 'chasing Katse' episode.

Veronika:
Pure marshmellow? I think that's a bit exaggerated :-). But Joe is certainly not the heartless man either that Ryu sees in him. He knows what he wants and goes straight for it. He does is less considerate in this way of acting than Ryu and rushes things more.

I think that another basic difference is that Joe always expects the worst while Ryu expects the best. It's a basic difference in the way you approach things.

Only when Joe runs into a nice woman, he's NOT expecting the worst - and then he's proven wrong most of the time. How can you actually not turn bitter at that?

But besides their differences, latest in 105 you realize that they ARE friends. It's Ryu who absolutely wants to put Joe to safety before charging the Galactor headquarter. But then, fighting together for such a long time binds people together I guess.

Muziknut:
I can't believe that Joe and Ryu don't get along. In many of the stills during some of the credits sequences you see Ryu and Joe all buddy-buddy with one's arm around the other's shoulders--like good friends. However, in G-I, you don't see them really share any screen-time together. Their friendship, I think, takes place primarily off-camera.

Wendy:
I've been working on two or three fics dealing with Ryu and Joe. I think Joe interprets Ryu's gentleness as a weakness (he may even envy it because he knows he'll never have it--it's not meant for him), and as a result is guarded against him. He doesn't think badly of Ryu, but the easiest way for Joe to deal with someone like him seems to be via bullying. Joe tends to snap and snarl at his teammates, and he teases Jinpei mercilessly sometimes, but when it comes down to the core, they're his family and he'd sooner die than see them hurt.

I think Ken and Jun have figured this out, and Jinpei has to some extent (Joe's behavior in the early episodes provided some clues). Ken, especially, knows how to deal with it. Ryu, however, still hasn't quite gotten it, so he's bewildered and alienated by the rough treatment he gets from Joe. Of course, sometimes Ryu gets what he deserves when he goofs around--I'd have ripped him a new orifice for messing with the booby traps in that jungle too.

(Sadly, the series writers also seem to interpret Ryu's gentleness as weakness, and they either play him as comedy relief or as a character to be rescued. This is especially apparent in G-II.)

I think that when they're not working, Joe and Ryu might do things together, like go to sporting events. Joe would not declare any kind of closeness, but would be content just to be around. Ryu remains hopeful that one day Joe will confirm that they're "really teammates and buddies, right?" But the one time Joe does, it's as his final confession.
(Call me a romantic, alright?)