Zender-Lion is the primary mecha of the Zenderman used to travel accross the Time Tunnel and often fight against the Akudaman trio. Compared to the Yatter-Mechas in the previous show, he’s a bit more prominent and err… sings a lot, for lack of a better word.
Zender-Lion almost always talks in a singsongish tone similar to an enka singer and takes great pride in his vocal talents. So much in fact, while going through the Time Tunnel he likes to perform karaoke and sing along to his self-titled theme song. Many times he has had guests (either fans or family of the staff) sing along to his theme song, one instance had Tetsu and Sakura sing the original Time Bokan theme.
Zender-Lion can use his mane to unleash a powerful Lion Beam that can quickly heat up anything in it’s path, and he’s capable of breathing fire or shooting ripples of energy out of his mouth. Of course he also weaponizes his singing as well, since it’s loud enough to destroy solid objects entirely.
Regardless the Akudaman trio are always able to overwhelm him, especially by turning his own singing against him. As a result, a support Zender-Mecha is dispatched to save his sorry hide and Tetsu has to use a “Whip of Love” to snap him back to his senses.
Right afterwards, Zender-Lion deploys a “system mecha”, bit and bobs of pieces remotely controlled and assembled by Amattan that form together into an object that destroys the Sharekobe Mecha. These range from pipes to bamboo to Legos and even Space Invaders!
From episode 36 onwards Zender-Lion was put on the sidelines in favor of Zender-Gorilla and his support crew. He still escorted everybody through the Time Tunnel, and he got a new but not as catchy theme song which was quickly dropped towards the end in favor of his original theme.
The Daikyojin (King Star in Italy, translated as Great Giant in the Royal Revival OVA and Great Flame of Anger in Nurse Witch Komugi) is Yattodetman’s mecha in times of need, first appearing as a ship before quickly taking a humanoid form. Instead of having several cartoony mechas like in past series, the Daikyojin goes for a more Gundam-esque design and is the only one used by the hero here.
Whenever the villainous Milenjo’s gang would receive a mecha via their Timenagamochi, the heroes would summon the Daikyojin by combining Yattodetaman’s key Koyomi’s heart shaped lock and citing the following chant:
Japanese: “Odoroki, momo no ki, sanshou no ki, buriki ni, tanuki ni, sentakki~! Yattekoi koi Daikyojin!” English translation: “Surprise, peach tree, pepper tree, tinplate, tanuki, washing machine! Come come forth, Daikyojin!”
The Daikyojin’s weapon of choice is primarily a blade, though in certain situations he can also use a javelin or a bow and arrow. Yattodetaman usually pilots him, although how much of the input is Yattodetaman or the Daikyojin himself seems to vary. While the Daikyojin can act independently and offer some guidance to Yattodetaman, his pilot can trigger special functions to help get them out of a bind if need be.
Contrary to most other mechas at the time, he’s got quite a personality and can be very emotional, getting angry or excited, even being able to cry. While he hates Milenjo’s gang with a passion, he is a true defender of justice and does go out of his way to not kill them. Yattodetaman supposedly pilots him, although how much of the input is Yattodetaman or the Daikyojin himself seems to very.
If the Daikyojin’s struggling in a fight, Yattodetaman will call upon the Daitemna (Sagittarius in Italy), a yellow pegasus mecha. The Daikyojin will then combine with with it via a method known as Super Docking and form a centaur body that grants him the ability of flight, enhanced speed, and discs that serve as armor and weapons. The Daitenma can also transform into a tank like form with or without the Daikyojin called the Daibajin Tank.
A running gag is that after Milenjo’s gang was defeated, they would plead with the Daikyojin to leave them be. Any sort of bad mouthing about him, often started by Kokematsu, Komaro, or even Don Fan Fan, would get him riled up and attack the gang and what’s left of their mecha. It got to the point where the gang would put on dramatic performances either praising the Daikyojin or making him pity the gang, but all it took was a slip of the tongue for him to unleash his wrath upon them.
In the Royal Revival OVA Milenjo and Kokematsu summon the Daikyojin, borrowed from the Yattodetaman heroes in exchange for appearing in the next episode if the trio wins, and send him to attack the Clean Aku trio’s Sharekobe Buggy. They retaliate by summoning Ippatsuman’s Gyakuten-Oh to fight back.
Both mechas prove to be evenly matched, and the battle quickly comes to a end when their swords break. Both sides feeling embarrassed, the Daikyojin and Gyakuten-Oh spark a friendship and call a truce. This prompts Milenjo to start insulting the Daikyojin, and it should be pretty obvious what happens next.
The Daikyojin appears as a boss in both Bokan to Ippatsu and Bokandesuyo, with it’s combined form with the Daitenma serving as his second form in the latter. On a related note the Daikyojin was considered as a fighter in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but was cut either due to two giant characters being enough or replaced by Gold Lightan. It goes to show how prominent the Daikyojin is to the Time Bokan series as a whole.
Ryuko is a dragon girl summoned by Yan-Yan’s Sea Dragon Whistle (which resembles Tatsunoko Pro.’s mascot) who doubles as the fourth or fifth member of the Dirt Cheap Trio and as their mecha.
Going with Itadakiman’s “Journey to the West” motif, she is based off Yulong, a shapeshifting sea dragon that serves as Xuanzang’s horse after the former devoured the latter’s previous horse.
Living at the bottom of Otamaga Pond, she is often summoned by Yan-Yan’s Sea Dragon Whistle to either transport the Dirt Cheap Trio across the world or assist with dealing with Itadakiman. To do this, she transforms into a snail like mecha known as the Den-Den Mecha (mistakenly called the Ryuko Mecha in the Royal Revival OVAs).
In this state the Dirt Cheap Trio can ride inside her as she teleports across the world, and with the press of a button can allow the trio to transform a yokai into a giant remote controlled mecha with a mind controlling antenna. She also has a component for several objects including the Divinity Trio gag robots.
Because this is Ryuko transformed into a mecha, there are organic segments such as ribs protruding from the controls and her breasts manifesting as buttons which she does not like being pressed. Any beating taken by the Den-Den Mecha also applies to Ryuko as well, with her being just as bruised up as the Dirt Cheap Trio sometimes.
Occasionally she’ll tag along with the trio on their search for the Divine Puzzle pieces out of sheer curiosity. Though she always assists them, Ryuko doesn’t mind throwing a bit of snark at them or teasing them. She gets along with Kusaku quite well partially because of their mockery of the trio
Beginning with episode 13 Ryuko appears, decked out in baseball attire, on a bullpen cart carrying a small Relief Mecha which she enlarges with her magical breath, and it becomes the main method of the Dirt Cheap Trio’s counterattack for the remainder of the series. One exception was when the trio were slowly turning into trees and immobile, in which case Ryuko launched a giant needle to turn the yoaki into a mecha much like prior instances.
The mechas are still themed after the yoaki creature that Itadakiman has beaten by that point in the episode, and the puzzle piece it had is taken by the mecha to power it. Ryuko keeps watch on the mecha’s generator while the trio control it from the cockpit (which resembles the Den-Den Mecha’s own cockpit).
The spunky dragon girl gets a bit of focus in the sixteenth episode, Ryuko is a Woman Too. In her home beneath Otamanga Pond, she expresses her loneliness to Kusaku while he casually eats her dango treats. While the Dirt Cheap trio explore Italy for the next puzzle piece, she becomes smitten with a gondolier named Wanita . She then tries to get Yan-Yan to relinquish her Sea Dragon Whistle to be with him, but Yan-Yan is also in love with the gondolier and the two star to butt heads.
Unfortunately for both of them Wanita is actually an alligator yoaki enhanced by a Divine Puzzle piece (wani = alligator), which they find out the hard way when they break his guitar during a feud. After all’s said and done and the Dirt Cheap trio is bested again, Yan-Yan and Ryuko are left heartbroken and lonely once more.
(warning: spoilers for Itadakiman below!)
As it turns out, Ryuko does not have any ulterior motives whatsoever and she just kinda disappears after the Dirt Cheap trio are defeated for the last time.
Oddly enough, though the Den-Den Mecha appears in later Time Bokan spinoffs, it never shows any sentience or any indication that it’s Ryuko herself.
Yatter-Wan (Yatta-Can in Italy, called Yatter-Ruff
in the English version of the Royal Revival OVAs) is the first and most
iconic of the mechas used by the Yatterman. A combination of a dog and a
firetruck, he’s the go-to mecha in the first half of the series,
helping the Yatterman travel to another part of the world in only a few
hours.
Yatter-Wan
was an unfinished robot designed by toymaker Tokubei Takada, which
Gan-chan and Ai-chan decided to work on and finish by themselves. Upon
his initial activation, he states that his duty is to protect the world
and the people that inhabit it. This prompts the two kids to become the
Yatterman and set out to stop the Dorombo gang from causing trouble in
their hunt for the Dokuro Stone fragments.
As
with many other characters Yatter-Wan’s name is based off a pun, with
wan being the Japanese onomatopoeia for barking (and from wan-chan, an
affectionate term for dogs in Japan), while also sounding like the
English pronounciation of the number one. The Italian version instead
turns it into a play on the word cane, Italian for dog.
Activated
by the turn of a crank, Yatter-Wan blares his siren with one hand and
pulls a lever to move himself forward with the other. On the side of his
shoulders and his stomach are handles for the Yatterman to hold onto
and for Omochama to sit on, and on top of his nose is a bell that’s rung
when they’re ready to depart.
When feeling proud and confident, flags are raised from his cheeks to
display his feelings.
When dealing with a situation directly, he can fire cannonballs through
his nose, and has hoses at the ready in case a fire needs to be put out.
One of Yatter-Wan’s well-known.traits is to happily exclaim his name and
stomp his foot during a victory pose, which always knocks Omochama
over.
Despite that, Yatter-Wan actually had little in terms of
characterization, though one episode depicted him as being quite
stubborn unless spoken to by Ai-chan
When
the Dorombo gang’s mecha overpowers him (which they always do), the
Yatterman feed him a Mecha-Moto bone (Mecha tonic) that provides
Yatter-Wan with a boost of energy, which is mostly converted into
surprise mini-mechas that walk onwards from a ladder concealed in his
mouth.
Yatter-Wan’s
often consists of gators, turtles, hippos, ants, mice and skunks. Their
appearance usually spelled defeat for the Dorombo gang, though they
eventually found ways to combat against them, usually with their own
mini-mechas. These occurrences sometimes prompted the Yatterman or
Yatter-Wan to take actions into their own hands, or in some cases end
with the Dorombo gang defeating themselves due to an oversight or
stupidity
However in episode 45, The Secret of the Snow Woman, Koron!,
a last ditch missile attack from the Dorombo gang proves to be too much
for Yatter-Wan and the Yatter-Mecha is left in critical condition.
Luckily, the Yatterman are able to rebuild him as the larger Yatter-King
by the next episode.
By the time the events of Royal Revival occur, Yatter-Wan has apparently been upgraded again to Yatter-Wan FZ,
a bigger, stronger, more detailed version of the original. Yatter-Wan
FZ now has several new features such as built in rockets, an entire
orchestra to signal the surprise mini-mechas, and the inability to be
seduced by other mechas like the Dorombo gang’s Sailor Mun-Mun mecha.
The
original Yatter-Wan appears as a boss in the shooters Bokan to Ippatsu!
Dorombo! and Bokandesuyo, with Yatter-Wan FZ also being a boss in the
latter. He is also an unlockable racer in Bokan GoGoGo, though he
doesn’t have part in the game’s story.
Yatter-Wan
also features prominently in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom as the basis for
Yatterman-1 / Gan-chan’s Supers, running the opponent over, breathing
fire on them, or deploying the mini crocodile mechas to attack. In
Chun-Li’s CGOH ending, he assists her in taking out a Shadaloo base by
deploying little explosive Chun-Li mechas.
The Time Mechabuton (better known as Time Bokan I or simply just the Time Bokan, Scorpion-2
in Time Fighters) is the primary mecha of the original series, created
by Dr. Kieta and his assistants. Although it’s primary focus is time
traveling, it’s also capable of flight and it does have some combat
capabilities should the crew encounter a threat.
Upon completion,
Dr. Kieta took it for a test run by himself, which resulted in
Parrosuke traveling back in it without the doctor and thus setting off
the plot of the show.
The
Time Mechabuton’s based off a species of rhinoceros beetle native to
Japan, in fact it’s name is a combination of the words “mecha” and
Japanese word for beetle, kabutomushi. And for the “Bokan” in Time
Bokan, it can be an Japanese onomatopoeia for an explosion (ボカン), and it
can also be the word for carrier (usually spelt as ぼかん)
The
biggest quirk about the Time Mechabuton (and the other time machines in
this show) is that it time travels by exploding, opening up a hole in
time and space for it to travel through. Initially traveling can make
the passengers onboard disoriented, tossed around inside the cockpit,
and even lose consciousness for a period of time, although this issue
was seemingly ironed out by the 20th episode.
It and the later Time Bokan mechas all carry two smaller mechas that
can perform functions that it cannot, and they are often used to turn
the tide in a battle against Marjo’s gang. Although they also can also
carry two people, most of the time only Tanpei is in one.
The Tentouki
(combination of the Japanese words for ladybug, tentoumushi and time,
toki, essentially Time Ladybug) is stored on top of the Mechabuton.
Normally a flying aircraft, it has an extension that gives it wheels to
drive on land and can also deploy two arms that contain various gadgets
and weapons.
Because
of it’s multipurpose use it’s often used to handle several situations
such as fights with the evil trio’s Gaikottsu mechas, even without
leaving the Time Mechabuton. Interestingly, it’s depicted in the intro
to have the ability to time travel on it’s own, although this is not
actually shown in the show itself.
The Yago-Marine (basically Dragonfly Larva Submarine, may also be a pun based off the real life carrier ship Algomarine) is kept within the Mechabuton and is deployed from the bottom. As suggested it’s primarily a water based mecha, although it’s shown to be capable of flight. It was used rather sparingly compared to the Tentouki, possibly because it has more or less the same features.
While
not as popular as the later Yatter-Wan, the Time Mechabuton is still
quite iconic to the series as a whole and tends to make cameos across
subsequent series, as a callback to the original show and/or tying into
an episode’s insect motif.
Operation Time Bokan 