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tokupedia · 8 years ago

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SPECIAL SAIKOU!: Japanese Super Hero Showcase: Yatterman

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Ooh~ wan, wan, wan - Ooh~ jin, jin, jin!

{Yatteman No Uta: One of the many catchy classic 1970s anime tunes)

The year is 1977:

Osamu Tezuka debuts Jetter Mars, an Astro Boy-like character, on television.

Jimmy Carter is sworn in as President of the United States.

Apple Computers is founded and debuts the Apple II computer to the public.

Enterprise undergoes a battery of tests in flight for the sake of its sister ships-to-be to ensure Space Shuttles can fly safely.

Star Wars: A New Hope debuts in theaters as a smash hit and makes George Lucas a household name in the movie biz. The War in Space a tokusatsu space film, tries to capitalize on the success of Star Wars (like pretty much everything was trying to capitalize on Star Wars)

Shotaro Ishinomori and Tohru Hirayama debut Daitetsujin 17, Ishinomori’s only time dabbling in the Super Robot genre and in a way an homage to the works of Mitsuteru Yokoyama such as Giant Robo in terms of story formula. (Boy with a giant robot he can control remotely fights evil.)

1977 was a bittersweet year for Tatsunoko. The popular Time Bokan Series was in its second show and Tatsuo did his best to make it memorable by supervising the project. It succeeded as Yatterman lasted an astounding 108 episodes and left an impression that has endured due to its humor, wacky mecha designs and fun and simple charm.

Some have even considered it a standalone, a distinct installment of the Time Bokan series as it deviated from the formula by being a globetrotting adventure-comedy rather than a time travel sci-fi comedy as a good majority of the installments did.

Then the news hit.....Tatsuo Yoshida was diagnosed with liver cancer. Like many who have been taken from us by the many variants of this terrible illness, he tried his best to fight it. But ultimately... the cancer won. On September 5, 1977, at only 45 years of age, Tatsuo Yoshida died from his illness, his final work being the anime Temple the Balloon Girl.

But, Tatsunoko pressed on as Tatsuo’s younger brothers took charge, with his youngest brother Kenji taking over as president until he eventually stepped down 1988. Tatsunoko continued to follow in its founder’s philosophy of collaborating with the best and brightest in animation to produce quality television.

Incarnations

The original ‘77 series

Gan Takada and Ai Kaminari are the proprietors of the Takada Toy Shop, but are secretly the superheroes Yatterman 1 and Yatterman 2. They protect the world's treasures from the evil Doronbo Gang and keep them from obtaining parts of a mystical artifact called the Dokuro Stone, a mystical skull-shaped crystal that is said to contain a map to the world's greatest treasure; a massive deposit of gold. The show follows a basic formula, Doronbo gets ordered by their boss the mysterious Dokurobei to find the Dokuro stone, tries some scheme to get it, Yatterman gets involved and hijinks and mecha battles ensue.

What makes the show stand out though is its use of sheer zany insanity, Dokurobei’s skull comes out of random objects to give orders to his subordinates, Doronjo suffers wardrobe malfunctions at the most awkward moments, parodies of cities and events in global pop culture and the “Surprise Mecha” of the week the Yatterman would summon to defeat the Doronbo gang’s mecha.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about them as they are the real stars of the show.

While the heroes are good, there is not a lot of depth to them. This series fleshes out the villains more. Doronjo, Tonzura and Boyacky.

Doronjo (Real Name: Hiroko Sasagawa) is a vain thief who is more used to giving her subordinates all the grunt work and uses her cunning to try and stay one step ahead of the Yatterman.

Tonzura Sutakora is the muscle of the group and gets along well with Boyacky, he speaks with a Kansai accent and usually does all the heavy lifting. But he is cowardly when danger comes.

Boyacky Butsukusa is the tech genius of the bunch, a lecherous, clever and crafty man who builds the Doronbo Gang’s mechas. He is married and owns a noodle shop, which he returns to working at whenever Doronbo disbands in the franchise.

While these three are bad guys, they never try to do anything that goes way too far like destroy the world. They are just simple crooks who want the Big Score and for Yatterman to stay out of their way. And when they put the masks away at the end of each installment, they go back to doing their honest livings but stay close friends. What was even better is they had been voiced by the same actors for over 40 years: Noriko Ohara, Jōji Yanami and the sadly now late Kazuya Tatekabe who passed away in 2015.

It should be noted that the popularity of these characters had a massive cultural impact in the form of the Villain Trio trope. Let’s just say without these guys or the Time Bokan series, you possibly wouldn’t have a certain other trio from your childhood....

Time Bokan OVA

Mr. and Mrs.Takada save Jun the Swan.

The Time Bokan OVA features the Doronbo Gang as the stars of the show, first competing in a Wacky Races style adventure against their Time Bokan counterparts. Another involves them invading the Tasunoko Kingodm, which consists of old Tatsunoko superheroes, only to be foiled by the now older and married duo of Yatterman 1 and 2.

2008 Reboot

Like Casshern, Yatterman was rebooted more or less to celebrate 45 years of Tatsunoko. Evidence of this is in the fact that during the first half or third of the show, there are random background appearances by other Tatsunoko characters or the characters interact with them like the Doronbo Gang being foiled by Go Mifune chasing them in the Mach 5 in episode 12!

Unlike Casshern, the series stayed true to its roots with some updates including a few brand new mechas and mecha designs. The premise was now on the Dokuro Rings rather than the Dokuro Stone and one or two new characters were added. It still kept its satire, with the series poking fun at the pop culture of the aughts (namely Hollywood films) and mocking the media circus surrounding the then-current 2008.... US... presidential... elections.

...

Heh, heheheh.....HAHAHAHAHHAHA!

Sorry...blacked out for second. What was I talking about?? Oh yes, Yatterman ‘08

The series even poked fun at itself, such as characters breaking the fourth wall noting how bizarre something was or referencing past events from the previous show like the now strict censorship laws on nudity in the Monday kids time slot (Doronjo has her wardrobe fall off and the boys cover her up only to comment: “Whew, safe! Back in the day we would have shown it proudly!”)

Gan is more of a genius ditz in this version and oblivious to Ai’s unrequited love. Ai on the other hand is the brains of the outfit and has a quirk of speaking how she feels in percentages. (Ex: 67% terrified, 100% angry etc. )

In 2009, the show also had a feature film which debuted movie exclusive mecha and the creation of the re-designed Yatterking, created by Brave series and Gundam series artist Kunio Okawara (Who also made the original mechas back in ‘77!):

With the live action movie the following year, the anime did a Real Ghostbusters trick, in that the upcoming film was “inspired” by the fictional characters lives. They even got the cast of that movie in the recording studio to play the “actor” versions of the characters.

The 2008 series and its ‘77 predecessor did try to get a US release via Anime Sols, but sadly that experiment died due to lack of funding and no future plans are being made to bring it over at this time.

2009 Tokusatsu Film

The film starts out as a typical Yatterman episode, or rather the end of one. The movie then changes into a live action variation of the final battle between Dokurobei and Yatterman with a possible hint of romance between Doronjo and Gan. Of course this leads to problems and Ai getting jealous, but everything works out in the end.

This film was directed by Takashi Miike...

Yes, as in Ichi The Killer Takashi Miike

Yes, it is as bizarre as his films are known for being at times, but fits the style of the world Yatterman is.

Yatterman Night

Created to celebrate 40 years of the Time Bokan Series, Tasunoko sought to rectify their mistake of not making a dark Yatterman in 2008 by making a dark Yatterman with a 12 episode series in 2015.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

During one of the battles of Yatterman vs. Doronbo, Dokurobei got so fed up of losing that he went a step way further. He destroyed the moon, killed dozens of people and when the dust settled...his enemies the Yatterman were slain. He then orchestrated to ruin the Yatterman’s legacy and exiled his incompetent minions into isolation. Dokurobei then turns the world into a nightmare Police State, with robot duplicates of 1 and 2 enforcing his rule and the Yatter Mecha reprogrammed into mindless servants of destruction.

Jump ahead a few generations into the future and a woman named Dorothy is sick and needs medicine from the Yatter Kingdom. Her daughter Leopard and her friends Elephantus and Voltkatze go in a boat to get help. They are greeted by the “Yatterman” who open fire on them and drive them away from the wall surrounding the Yatter Kingdom. Dorothy dies and the three plan their revenge on the cruel Yatterman. They soon learn they are the descendants of the Doronbo Gang and take on their ancestor’s roles to “punish” the Yatterman.

So the roles are reversed. The big payoff though is seeing the True Yatterman heroic duo come back in the form of two kids who take up the mantle.

A “Yatterman Beyond” if you will.

Yatterman 1 and 2′s Abilities:

No superpowers, just highly skilled young prodigies in electrical and mechanical engineering. They are also skilled in toymaking, as Gan and Ai own a Toy Shop called Takada Toys (a parody of a toy company, Takara) when they are not moonlighting as superheroes.

As far as weapons, Gan wields the Kenda Magic, a special kendama he uses as a flail weapon or grappling hook (The Yatterman Night version has super strong steel wire with an automatic reel-in feature and can discharge an electric shock). Ai is armed with the Electric Stick, a telescoping baton which can shock her opponents (Yatterman Night Version can discharge a large amount of electricity to the point it can create bolts of electricity that can fry a mecha’s circuits).

And of course before we leave Yatterman, I can’t forget the trusted canine companion and his upgraded form....

Yatter Wan

A combination of a firetruck and a dog robot, Yatter Wan was the unfinished work of Tokubei Takada, Gan’s father. Gan decides to finish building the mecha as it was intended to protect the world and the people in it according to the dog when it first comes online. Yatter Wan is equipped with rocket boosters that allow him to move blindingly fast to get where the Yatterman need to go. It is also armed with a cannon in its nose, flame breath via a flamethrower in his mouth and fire hoses for putting out fires or itself when he catches fire.

Whenever he gets beaten by the Doronbo gang’s mecha, in true old fashioned Popeye formula, he eats a “Mecha Tonic Bone” and gets stronger. The bone then is converted into energy that creates mini-robots aka “Surprise Mecha”.

However despite the lovable mutt beating Doronbo many times with his mecha companions, he eventually gets destroyed at some point or goes offline due to heavy damage. He is then upgraded too...

Yatter King

The original Yatter King was modeled after a dachshund and served as a Mecha Carrier. It was much larger than Yatter Wan and was armed with another water cannon on its tail and the ability to hurl projectiles.

The 2008 version was more of a combat mecha and took more of a Gundam approach, able to change from a carrier mode to a humanoid battle mode. It was equipped with: rocket boosters, shoulder mounted high pressure water cannons that could detach into a hand blaster, a chest plate that could detach into a shield, extendable ladder arms that could be used as battering rams, a water barrier shield and a fire hose that could be used as a super high pressure water sword.

The live action version didn’t get to do much, it rocketed to the location of the final battle and had one mecha fight which didn’t go well and the Yatterman only won due to the incomptence of their enemies.

So now that you know about Yatterman: Shōri no pōzu!

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Up Next: It is finally time to Soar into The Light.....

#tokusatsu #anime #tatsunoko #55th anniversary #yatterman #doronjo #yatterman 1 #yatterman 2

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