Yattodetaman Character Biography: Wataru Toki / Yattodetaman

Wataru Toki (Beppe Domani in Italy) is a cowardly 15-year old boy that transform the courageous and charismatic Yattodetaman. Just about every aspect of him is a parody of Takeshi Yoroi and his superhero identity, Hurricane Polymar, another Tatsunoko series that some of the Time Bokan staff had worked on prior to this show.

Along with his girlfriend Koyomi, both serve as assistants to would be detective Kingorou Toyama and live in the apartment building which he manages. One day they notice a time machine appears in the attic, and out of it appears Princess Karen, the future descendant of the two teenagers. Seeking the Jujaku phoenix to become ruler and bring peace the Nandara Kingdom, Wataru and Koyomi agree to help her travel through time to find it.

After Wataru gets into a nasty encounter with Milenjo’s gang, a rival group looking for the phoenix, Karen bestows upon him the power to awaken his inner courage, and from then on he can become Yattodetaman to fight off the gang and prevent them from getting the Jujaku first.

Wataru is normally rather meek, clumsy, and wimpy, constantly upstaged by others around him. In spite of that, he is determined to prove himself to everyone and at times tries to act bold to impress everyone. He wears clothing consisting of overalls and a hat with stylized markings on them, and their general blue colours contrast that of his girlfriend and his heroic alter-ego, which are more of a “courageous” red. His favorite food is noodles, in particular cup noodles, and the occasional gyudon beef bowl dish.

He’ll attempt to fight back against Milenjo’s gang with varying degrees of success, sometimes with a gadget he made himself, but he is always brushed aside by Kokematsu, Sukando, or his own carelessness. This makes changing into Yattodetaman necessary to properly deal with them.

As Yattodetaman, he is bold and confident, and acts without hesitation. He frequently introduces himself by playing a flute, then proclaiming a motto along the lines of “Surprise, peach tree, pepper tree! From the ends of time I’ll get you! At last I came through, I’ve finally came through, Earth’s Idol Yattodetaman!” Unlike previous Time Bokan heroes he acts alone without a female companion, although he calls upon Koyomi to combine his key with her keepsake lock to summon the Daikyojin.

This state is often triggered by praying and chanting “courage” three times. Although it’s implied to be a physical transformation, later episodes show that Karen calls for a special team from the Nandara Kingdom to aid him. They engulf Wataru and themselves in a ray where time doesn’t pass, bonk him with a hammer to put him into a trance, and have him go through a rapid training exercise and costume switch which occurs the span of a few seconds outside the ray.

One of his signature weapons is the Rose Shurikens, which often hit the top of somebody’s head or through their clothes. His other notable weapon is the Doremi Sword, which acts more like a combination of a flute and an extending pole that stamps a Y for Yattodetaman onto his enemies, though it can slice through objects.

He appears as in the Banpresto Time Bokan games, as a foe of the Dorombo gang in the shoot-em-ups and as a NPC computer controlled racer in Bokan GoGoGo! in opposition against Milenjo’s gang racing for a pair of magical tulips.

While Wataru himself isn’t present, Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya transforms into Yattodetaman in the animated music video for “Believe”, complete with Rose Shurikens and Doremi Sword. In this state, Ninomiya fights a robot mole that wrecked his grandparents’ garden, and later faces off against the Dorombo gang with the rest of Arashi.

Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Gan-chan / Yatterman-1

Gan Takada, also known as Yatterman-1 or by his nickname Gan-chan (said nickname being his actual name in Italy as Ganchan), is the 13 year old son of a toymaker who, alongside his girlfriend Ai-chan, are the Yatterman who battle to stop the Dorombo gang from retrieving fragments of the Dokuro Stone.

He took it upon himself to finish the Yatter-Wan mecha that was left incomplete by his father, with some assistance from Ai-chan. Upon it’s completion, they decide to become heroes and fight crime, a decision that’s cemented when they find out about the Dorombo gang’s search for the Dokuro Stone.

Gan-chan’s usual clothes are a blue jumpsuit, with a black unitard worn beneath it, and a matching blue cap. He turns his jumpsuit and cap inside out to a different set of colours as Yatterman-1. They become a white jumpsuit and a black hat, with a red mask and matching gloves added to the appearance.

From what’s displayed from Gan-chan’s personality, he’s comparable to Tanpei in that he gets flustered easily and can be a bit cheeky. Despite that, he has a strong sense of justice and seeks to A bit too strong perhaps, as he’ll sometimes find excuses to punish the Dorombo gang at any given moment, and refuses to sympathize with them at all.

When Gan-chan gets into a scuffle with a villain, he brings out the Kenda-Magic, styled after a Japanese toy known as a kendama, similar to a cup and ball toy. On top is a ball attached to a sting with a long reach that can hit hard, entangle foes, and is capable of electrocuting anything that touches the string with the press of a button.

The Kenda-Magic isn’t the only crafty toy he has. A gadget used only in episode 31 is the Karu Koma (Curling Top), that splits into two and spins it’s target around in circles. Another one is the Shuru Shuru Cutter, a weapon that shoots a beam that can cut through metal, though he only used it twice (technically once since the second time occurred in a dream Boyacky was having).

13 years later, Gan-chan and Ai-chan have gotten married and are enjoying their honeymoon, to the point where it takes them quite a bit to notice that the Dorombo gang are up to no good again. Both of them appear to be over it by the Banpresto games, where they quickly respond to the gang’s antics and even band the other Time Bokan heroes together to stop them.

Gan-chan appears in all versions of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. He is a quick hitting fighter that has a decent range with his Kenda-Magic, although his low health makes it easy for him get KO’d if he’s not careful. While effective on his own, he calls upon Yatter-Wan for his supers to really cause some pain.

Following the defeat of Yami, Gan-chan and Yatter-Wan attempt to escort the Street Fighter characters to safety. In his original Cross Generation of Heroes ending, he winds up recruiting them and various Capcom characters as “Yatterman 4-9” to stop the Dorombo gang during a bank heist.

In his Ultimate All-Stars ending, based off of the Royal Revival OVAs, he is joined by Ai-chan, whom he narrowly saves from falling off battlefield. The two lovingly gaze at one another whilst Yatter-Wan observes the romantic scene, unknowingly running over the Street Fighters.

Time Bokan Character Biography: Tanpei

Tanpei (called Cosmo in South America and Jett in Time Fighters) is the main hero of the original Time Bokan. A hot-blooded boy at the age of 13 always sporting a blue jumpsuit and helmet, he travels alongside Junko and Chorobo in the Time Bokan to find Dr. Kieta and the elusive Dynamonds before Marjo and her gang can.

While little is shown of Tanpei’s life other than being Dr. Kieta’s assistant, he is a skilled mechanic and is good at making technology, since he built Chorobo and often repairs the Time Bokan after a battle. He’s also shown to be a fairly adept fighter, being able to take on a handful of thugs with relative ease with his own strength or through one of the Time Bokan mechas.

Tanpei can be a bit brash and cocky, often showing off and getting riled up over remarks made about him. He also gets easily flustered in the company of pretty girls, much to Junko’s chagrin, and is quite panicky over small things.

Because of that Tanpei will sometimes run into trouble because of his attitude, but he has a good heart, a strong sense of justice, and tries to ensure that everything works out alright in the end.

In a way he can be considered a good counterpart to Marjo, in that both are reckless and determined to achieve their goals no matter what. But while Marjo is self serving and her antics often lead to her defeat, Tanpei will help others out and is able to get himself out of some tight jams at the last second.

Ohno Satoshi, a member of the Japanese boyband group Arashi, dons Tanpei’s costume when fighting against the Dorombo gang’s robots in the animated music video for the group’s song “Believe”. Unlike the rest of Arashi, who gain weapons matching their respective counterparts, Satoshi’s is purely cosmetic and relies on directly fighting with punches and kicks, much like the real Tanpei did.

Though not as flashy as the subsequent Time Bokan heroes, Tanpei’s courage and determination was something that would be carried on through them.