Gyakuten! Ippatsuman Character Biography: The Northen Ostendel Skull Lease Staff

While the Clean Aku trio are the most well known and hard working, the staff of the Skull Lease Northern Ostendel Branch consists of an additional eight employees that answer to them. Or rather, they goof off most of the time when their superiors aren’t looking.

Instead of getting any business sorted out, they are more interested in gossip and their own hobbies. Initially their bosses, the Clean Aku trio, try to get them into shape, but it gets to the point where they stop caring about their lazy nature. Apart from the first three mentioned (Chinami, Piiko, and Seko), the employees go by nicknames.

Chinami is a tall lanky man that’s rather talkative and known for starting most of his conversations by saying “chinamini” (meaning “by the way” or “incidentally”).

Piiko is a young woman that’s (barely) the least likely to slack off and the most social. Kosuinen is smitten with her and is obsessed over her panties, something she does not tolerate.

Seko is a portly woman who has a crush on Kosuinen, much to his chagrin. She spends most of her time talking with Piiko and Chinami, and she and the latter get married in the 40th episode.

Jukunen-san is a brash man who spends his time betting on horse races and lashing out when he disagrees with something. Because of this, he doesn’t chatter with the others as much.

OL-san is a woman who is always busy putting on makeup rather than doing any actual work.

Yangu is a perverted yet meek man, who apart from the Clean Aku trio themselves seems to have the worst of luck.

Madogiwa-san is an aloof old man who’s often seen talking to….

Otoshima-san, an elderly woman with a constant gloomy expression.

The guard at the front gate is a skeletal robot, one of several in service to the entire Skull Lease. He interacts with the other staff members from time to time, even going on strike with them once, and therefore I figured that he merits a mention here.

Gyakuten! Ippatsuman Character Biography: Kyokanchin

Kyokanchin, sometimes nicknamed Kyokan, is the chief manager of the Skull Lease Northern Ostendel Branch and the enforcer of the Clean Aku trio. He returns to a more traditional design after Sukando’s radical look but he still diverges from the usual archetype in many ways with two buck teeth and beady eyes.

In contrast to his predecessors Kyokanchin mostly speaks in a polite and informal tone, although he can suddenly become quite commanding to his workers while acting like a mindless servant to his superiors. This appears to be the byproduct of his time in the military, and it’s bad enough that if he was given control of the entire Skull Lease he would run it like the Third Reich. He also lives in the same complex Kosuinen does, though he doesn’t appear to worry about rushing to work on time.

Kyokanchin is on friendly terms with both Mun-Mun and Kosuinen and often tries to keep them from quarreling with one another. However he’ll side with one if the other’s not around, and if he had the chance he’d rather be a wrestler than a manager. Kyokan’s outbursts tend to disturb his higher ups whenever they occur, mostly on account of being so sudden. His superiors are not above messing with him, as they sabotage Kyokan when Mun-Mun’s rival Tamashiro had him trying to secure a client for the Western Ostendel Skull Lease.

He also harbors a crush on Min-Min, which briefly escalated during the 29th episode when she called him cute and winked at him. Kyokanchin then has a fantasy they’re married and he’s the president of the Northen Ostendel Skull Lease bossing around his superiors. However, Min-Min didn’t mean anything by it and breaks Kyokan’s heart while Kosuinen rubs it in his face.

After begrudgingly accepting a nikuman bun as his final payout and the following chaos regarding Con Cordo and the Skull Lease, Kyokanchin parts ways with his superiors/friends and boards a train to find a better life. What he doesn’t know is that his superiors are also on the same train on the same path.

Yattodetaman Character Biography: Alan Sukando

Alan Sukando (Due Ottobre in Italy) is a member of Princess Milenjo’s gang, effectively serving as her bodyguard. As with many of the characters in Yattodetaman, he presents an interesting departure from past characters.

While fulfilling the role of a bad muscleman, Sukando is quite different in several ways compared to his other counterparts. He is tall with a huge build, sporting beedy eyes and an overbite with gaps in his teeth. Sukando also doesn’t talk too much and when he does he’ll sometimes pepper English phrases into his dialogue.

Unlike prior Time Bokan musclemen who were cowardly and easily brushed aside he’s actually quite intimidating and tends to be the biggest threat of Milenjo’s gang short of a mecha. It’s usually encounters with him that prompt Wataru to transform into Yattodetaman, whom Sukando can never defeat.

Sukando is also the focus of a reoccurring joke known as “Sukando’s Eccentric Oddball Corner” where Kokematsu demonstrates Sukando’s unorthodox abilities against a mustached man. Such feats, some of which occasionally factors into the plot, include drinking an entire pond to catch fish or making a headband out of his ears.

Time Patrol Tai Otasukeman Character Biography: Dowalski

Dowalski Yotanov is the stocky 32 year old brute of the Ojamaman seeking to be renowned for his strength like the legendary Hercules. Still a slow, short, and stocky man that controls the movements of the mechas, he benefits from a bit more backstory than usual.

His mother Warunya was a famous wrestler who excelled at every measure of strength and wanted her son to follow in her footsteps, so she subjected poor Dowalski to a brutal training regime since birth. He wasn’t able to get far though and was later stuck on Atasha’s under-performing team on the Time Patrol.

Dowalski’s actual activities when not acting as a Ojamaman consists of mostly eating with a bit of sleeping and only a small amount of exercise. He does appear to be the weakest of the muscle archetypes as he’s often crushed by even the simplest of objects. He’s also nearly as girl-obsessed as Sekovitch and infatuated with Atasha, though he doesn’t make any advances on her.

Due to being under his mother’s shadow, Dowalski has a deep feeling of insecurity and feels pressured to prove himself. Two episodes specifically show him pushing himself more than usual and nearly cracking due to not wanting to be a failure in his mother’s eyes.

Not helping matters is that both times he was singled out for punishment at the end. (mopping in the dark by his lonesome while the rest of his team ate the first time, and being smacked down by his own mama the second)

Zenderman Character Biography: Donjuro

Donjuro Naniwaya provides the strength and manpower of the Akudaman trio following Walsa and Tonzura. After their relatively low-key performances, Donjuro is the first muscle to get a significant show of character. An alter-ego, Donno Juroshi, co-spectates the matches between the Zenderman and Akudaman during the second half of the series.

As with Walsa and Tonzura, Donjuro is a simple-minded brute that’s supposed to be very tough, and he’s only slightly better in that respect. Distinct to Donjuro is his habit of performing kabuki gestures, which reflects his desire to become a famous kabuki actor once more. He harbors deep feelings for his boss Muujo, although for more personal reasons than Toboke.

The 32nd episode of Zenderman sheds some light on Donjuro’s past. Early in his life, Donjuro had a career as a wrestler and then attempted to become a Kabuki actor, only for it to end in failure. During this period he was found by Muujo, and has been part of the Akudaman for four years since (three of those years possibly spent as the Gaikottsu and Dorombo gangs, but that’s a can of worms for another post)

In the same episode Donjuro finds himself abandoned in favor of the warrior monk Benkei to take on a group of mobsters speculated to have the Elixir of Life. However the mobsters, in addition to the Zenderman and Yoshitsune, send the Akudaman running and it’s up to Donjuro to save them.

However his bad luck continues as not only do the Akudaman lose again, he’s singled out by the Judgement Machine and subjected to a “debut performance” of falling from a huge height. That said, he was only punished ten times throughout the series, the least of any Akudaman member.

Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Tonzura

Tonzura Sutakora (alternatively spelt as Tonzra or Tonzler) is the 30 year old brawn of the Dorombo gang. Formally a professional wrestler, Tonzura’s ambition is get back in the ring once more with the supposed fortune the Dokuro Stone is said to bring.

Like Walsa before him Tonzura speaks with a Kansai dialect, adding to his thuggish nature. He also follows Doronjo and Boyacky’s orders without hesitation. That said he does regard them as good friends and even calls the latter “Boyayan”. He’s also fond of eating large quantities of food, although this aspect of his personality is fairly low key in the original show.

Tonzura does relatively little in comparison to Doronjo and Boyacky, although he controls the basic functions of the mechas and is rather helpful with a couple of scams, even headlining some of them. Despite Tonzura’s supposed strength, he usually attacks the Yatterman with weapons and gadgets and usually gets defeated without much hassle. In the few times where he does use his brute strength he’s still on the losing side.

He does get some prominence in Yatterman’s 30th episode “The Island of King Mong, Koron!“. Due to stomach problems during a con, Tonzura coincidentally leaves as Dokurobei appears to inform the Dorombo gang about a possible Dokuro Stone fragment belonging to the giant King Mong.

This leads to Doronjo and Boyacky, ignoring that Tonzura was there with them every single other time, believing that he is Dokurobei and treating him like a king. Tonzura takes advantage of this and bosses his friends around throughout the episode, but after the Dorombo gang lose again Dokurobei exposes him and singles him out for a stoning punishment.

In the years following the disbanding of the Dorombo gang, Tonzura did become a wrestling manager and head of the “WHH” organization. Although he claims to still be a bachelor at this point, in Heisei Time Bokan he contradicts himself by stating he had a fully grown daughter.

Starting with a race against the other Time Bokan villains, Tonzura has reunited several times with Doronjo and Boyacky for several wacky endeavors. The Dorombo gang still don’t catch a break, but Tonzura can’t resist the chance to have fun with the crew again.

Time Bokan Character Biography: Walsa

Walsa (Walther or Warusa, Birba in Italy, or as the dub called him Mungo) provides the raw strength as part of Marjo’s gang in the original Time Bokan. Taking great pride in his strength the scowling 35 year old brute serves as a bodyguard for Marjo. There’s conflicting information regarding the origin of his name, either being based off the Japanese word for “evil behavior”, “warusa” or the name of the “Walther” firearms.

When the trio are out searching for the Dynamonds Walsa’s usually called upon to deal with someone that threatens the gang, although how well he does varies on his opponent. He’s also afraid of snakes and supernatural entities and he’ll often run away before Marjo and Grocky do.

Ironically, despite being the dumbest member of the gang he’s also the most observant, often quick to notice the Time Bokan crew or small details the other two would overlook. Walsa also serves as the co-pilot for the Gaikottsu, controlling it’s movement while Grocky handles the gadgets and weapons.

He seldom thinks for himself and most of the time he’s on the beck and call of either Marjo or Grocky. He shows the utmost respect for Marjo and appears to be pals with Grocky, although Walsa’s not above ridiculing him at any given moment.

He really didn’t contribute much to the overall plot compared to the rest of the gang, the most I can say is that he continued to follow Marjo to the bitter end of the series and subsequent spin-offs. But he started the series tradition of a minuscule muscular moron that Tonzura and others would later follow.

Time Patrol Tai Otasukeman Character Biography: Atasha

Atasha Hysterina is the 33 year old head of the Ojamaman, the Time Patrol team that attempts to change history. Her dream is to be the world’s most beautiful woman renowned in the same vain as Cleopatra. It’s with this villainess that the more sympathetic traits are really played up going forward.

While at a spaceport with her mother at a young age she played on a baggage carousel and accidentally wound up onboard the Time Patrol station. Unable to find her mother and return her home, they adopted and raised her as a member of the crew. In spite of this Atasha was something of an underachiever and was paired up with the bumbling Sekovitch and Dowalski.

Because of this she strongly feels a sense of loneliness in her life, despite the efforts of the entire Time Patrol crew to try and cheer her up. In addition to this Atasha’s also very insecure about her body and age. Sekovitch’s remarks don’t help in the slightest, while Gekigauski is somewhat oblivious in his unintentionally insensitive remarks. Atasha still retains the usual tropes her predecessors has though, being vain, reckless, and blowing a fuse quite often.

She is the one responsible for the costumes they wear as the Ojamaman, and often refers to the rest of the team by short nicknames like “Seko”, “Dowal”, and “Gekiga”. She also constantly flaunts a pendant of the one she claims to love the most which draws the curiosity of her teammates.

In episode 34, Atasha’s Tearful Reunion Between Mother and Child, two women named Gutasha and Yotasha appear before Atasha, both claiming to be her mother. This issue is put on hold while the Time Patrol are sent to the Edo period to intervene in a similar event where two women are fighting over which one’s the mother of a little girl.

Once that’s over with, it’s discovered that Yotasha led the Time Patrol on and Atasha finally reunites with her mother Gutasha, who’s shown to have the same temper as her daughter.

(minor spoilers for the last episode are ahead. Don’t look or something…)

In the final episode, it’s revealed that the person in the pendant is Atasha herself, showing a bit of vanity but also a bit of tragedy as it was her means of self-motivation and the only thing she could hold onto after her dreams of becoming renowned were crushed.

Kaitou Kiramekiman Character Biography: Dogurin

Dogurin (also known as DokiDoki Dogurin) is a mysterious being that guides and sponsors the Flower Detective Trio in Kaitou Kiramekiman. Appearing as a clay dogu riding a unicycle, he monitors the trio’s efforts to capture the Kiramekiman and prevent them from finding the Gold Eye.

Though this isn’t revealed until later on, Dogurin first appeared to the trio at a snowy outpost on the northern part of the world. He told them that if they went straight to Orgon City and captured the Kiramekikman their fortune would turn around and they would become globally famous heroes. Thus he set them on the path to becoming the Flower Detective Trio and antagonizing the Kiramekiman.

Dogurin is very similar to Yatterman’s Dokurobei in nearly every manner. They have the same deep, menacing voice, a verbal tic (dongu in this case), and a mysterious identity. He has eyes which switch from normal to glowing green, and when flustered he emits steam from his mouth. In spite of being an non-organic object Dogurin is capable of eating and drinking, even getting drunk once!

Dogurin can contact them at any given time at any given area or through the component of the Wonder-Bull usually reserved for gag robots and check on thier progress. If he’s angry with them he’ll drop a bomb on them, though he’ll never punish them for failure. Once he’s done chatting he vanishes into thin air, often by spinning in circles.

(Spoilers for Kaitou Kiramekiman below)

In the penultimate episode, Dogurin is quick to congratulate the Flower Detective Trio for finally capturing the Kiramekiman, and oddly singles out Hieru (the brains of the group) as the one responsible. The celebration is short lived due to the heroes escaping, and Doguin is extra determined Hieru gets them. Why?

His real identity is Dokku Ringo (spelt Doku Ringo onscreen in one instance, the name itself being Japanese for Poison Apple). He is a very childish and cocky master criminal from 500 years into future who stole an item crucial to Dr. Liquid’s well being and hid it in the Gold Eye, risking the world as well. He then sent the item back into the past, instigating the entire motion of events.

Despite being an infamous thief he wanted to be the leader of the International Police Force. To that end he discovered he was the descendant of Hieru (and apparently the other lanky geniuses of the Time Bokan series, though that’s debatable) and had been masquerading as Dogurin to make the Flower Detective Trio great heroes. Dokku Ringu specifically tried to give the Gold Eye to Hieru, but his ancestor effectively buried it within the police station and dragged this out longer than it needed to be.

The buffoonery of the trio only made things worse, and his attempt to help them in the final battle simply results in their two mechas crashing into each other and exploding. With the Flower Detective Trio fired and Dokku Ringo stuck in the past, he opts to have them become a group of notorious thieves on the run from the now future police force Kiramekiman.

Gyakuten Ippatsuman Character Biography: 2-3

2-3 (pronounced as the English “two three”) is a robot that works for the Time Lease and the companion of Gou, Ran, and Harubow. He pilots the Tokkyu-Saurus (and later the Tokkyu-Mammoth) and notifies Ran and Harubow of what they have to do when they get to their destination.

Partially inspired by C-3PO in regards to design, 2-3’s chest has a built in tape-deck that allows him to sing the Tokkyu-Saurus theme (along with any other Time Bokan songs performed by his VA Masayuki Yanamoto) He has a bad tendency to run his mouth off sometimes, and has a hard time keeping his personal feelings or someone’s secrets private because of it.

While 2-3’s role was small to begin with, it actually diminishes somewhat in the second half of the series. Ran and Harubow get more plot importance and get to man the turrets of the Sankan-Oh, all 2-3 gets to do is drive the dinky Relief-Car which hardly factors into any given situation.

He did get one episode in the spotlight, “2-3 is a Spy”. Trying to find a ball lost during a game in the park, 2-3 encounters a robot named Piroko and is immediately smitten by her.

This robot is actually part of a trap made by Kosuinen (a rather obvious one, most of her lines are “My name’s Piroko, I really like you!”) who proceeds to trap 2-3 in a van and render him unconscious.

Clean Aku trio to perform “surgery” on him by opening 2-3’s faceplate and inserting a spy cassette into his head, allowing them to spy on the Time Lease’s every move without anyone being aware of it.

When the Time Lease crew later try to escape an ambush set up by the trio, Kosuinen triggers the “main event” by having the tape rewire 2-3’s programming to drive the Tokkyu-Mammoth off a cliff, attempting to take Ran, Harubow, and himself with it.

Gou / Ippatsuman shows up just in time to stop the mecha, but 2-3 leaps out and tries to kill him. Ippatsuman’s psychic powers enable him to spot the tape and eject it from 2-3, briefly incapacitating the robot. He later returns back to normal after the Clean Aku trio are defeated, albeit oblivious to what had transpired.

2-3 shows up in the first Royal Revival OVA as one of the commentators for the race between the various trios. He’s the only one not (intentionally) affiliated with the villains of his series, and he begrudgingly supported the Clean Aku trio.