ba

[metablue]

What is the "ba" in "inochi wo kakete tobidaseba"?

[attwad]

Just a conditionnal form of とびだす(tobidasu => tobidaseba)

[metablue]

So the sentence literally means:
He risks his life if he flies out.

right?

The subtitles were:
He risks his life and flies out.

I see. I guess the first one doesn't sound quite right in English. Thanks!

[Jason]

So the sentence literally means:
He risks his life if he flies out.

right?

The subtitles were:
He risks his life and flies out.

I see. I guess the first one doesn't sound quite right in English. Thanks!

No. It literally means:
If he risks his life and flies out.

Since the conditional is just kind of hanging there, it doesn't really make much sense without more context.

"He risks his life if he flies out" would be:

飛び出せば、命をかける.

[metablue]

That's how I translated it after I looked up "ば", but you're right, it doesn't make sense. So I thought perhaps "ば" has another meaning.

The lines surrounding it are (cutting and pasting, sorry about romaji):
Shiroi tsubasa no Gatchaman
Inochi wo kakete tobidaseba
Kagaku Ninpo Hinotori da

Subtitles are:
It's the white wings of Gatchaman
He risks his life and flies out
It's the Science Ninja Technique Firebird

I suppose he risks his life more than usual when he uses the Firebird technique, but really every mission is dangerous.

[metablue]

Perhaps:
"If he risks his life and flies out, (you'll see) the Science Ninja Firebird."
ie the firebird is there when he flies out, but not otherwise.