Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Boyacky

Boyacky Butsukusa (alternatively spelt Boyakki, often called Boyayan by Tonzura) is the 25 year old man responsible for the various inventions and mechas used by the Dorombo gang. “Pochittona”, the onomatopoeia uttered by Boyacky whenever he presses a button, has become a big part of Japanese pop culture.

His wildest dream is to be admired by high school girls, and to use the Dokuro Stone’s supposed fortune to afford plastic surgery to make this a reality. He’s also a bit more perverted than his predecessor Grocky, and is always trying to make some sort of advance on Doronjo. Ultimately, he really does want a consensual, mutual relationship with anyone willing to return his feelings.

Some of Grocky’s aspects like his doormat personality and eccentric quirks were toned down with Boyacky, although he enjoys crossdressing whenever he’s given the chance. In stark contrast to his predecessor, Boyacky tends to run his mouth off and make snarky remarks at everyone except Tonzura. And while he usually views himself quite highly, Boyacky even does this to himself via the gag robots that pop out of the mechas’ cockpit.

On account of being the smartest of the trio, Boyacky can be somewhat knowledgeable about the locations the Dorombo gang are sent to. He’s also responsible for the design of the mechas and controls the various gadgets deployed by them and by himself when he directly combats one of the Yatterman.

His biggest flaw is that he tends to overlook details, leaving the gang vulnerable to a mini-mecha attack or in the rare case of an advantage over the Yatterman, no clue how to proceed. Another bad habit of his is putting a self-destruct button in nearly every mecha, which is often bumped into by accident.

After the Dorombo gang parted ways, Boyacky married his high school sweetheart Ohana and opened up a successful noodle shop in Kokubunji (apparently being taught by Ippatsuman’s Kosuinen), and according to Heisei Time Bokan they had a daughter together named Happy.

Doronjo and Tonzura meet up with him for the first time in 14 years when they stopped by to ask him about entering a race against the other Time Bokan trios for the leading role in a OVA. Conflicted between reuniting with the gang again or keeping his current, peaceful lifestyle, Boyacky initially turned down the offer.

When Marjo’s gang snares the Dorombo gang’s Daidokoron (Kitchen Mecha) in a trap with Doronjo and Tonzura inside Boyacky decides to assist his friends and help them win the race. He then resumes his usual role in the OVA itself, being able to locate the Tatsunoko Kingdom due to a prior meeting with the Gatchaman at his noodle shop and attack said kingdom and the Yatterman with his magnum opus, a mecha capable of evolving from a little girl, to a high school girl (his favorite form), and finally a elderly woman.

Boyacky’s activities afterwards kicked off the plot of Heisei Time Bokan, having spent his time gambling at Las Vegas. When he winds up winning a huge sum of money as a result it is essentially used as funds for the Dorombo gang’s well intentioned “social reform” that ultimately went nowhere. Boyacky’s personal life didn’t affect subsequent stints with the Dorombo gang though, and he had a blast each and every time.

Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Omochama

Omochama (also known as Omotchama, Robbie Robbie in Italy) is a small dice shaped robot created by Gan-chan to serve as the mascot for his father’s toyshop. His proper role is that of the sidekick to Gan-chan and Ai-chan when they’re the Yatterman and he is also the announcer for the title of every episode in addition to the previews for the next episode.

As with the rest of the Yatterman cast and their predecessors, Omochama has some of Chorobo’s quirks, such as being somewhat childish and even cheeky at times. He is dedicated to fighting crime and can be very supportive of both Gan-chan and Ai-chan when they need it, though he can find some of their antics questionable and teases about the romance between them. He prominently has the verbal tic of adding “koron” to the end of his sentences, and as such every episode title ends with “koron” because he announces them.

While lacking much in terms of gadgets, Omochama has a propeller that allows him to fly and can retract his head and limbs into his body. His face consists of three cogs, two grey ones for eyes and a red one for his mouth. He can easily be knocked back by the simplest of blows, best shown during the Yattermans’ victory pose where the Yatter-Mecha makes him fall over nearly every time. He is also powered by batteries which need to be recharged every now and then, although this only appears to affect his propeller.

Omochama was initially the one who discovered the Dorombo gang’s hunt for the Dokuro Stone, and usually spies on their activites afterwards with or without Gan-chan and Ai-chan. A couple of times Omochama actually exposed the Dorombo gang’s scams, though most of these scams were harmless like a magic show and Omochama’s sabotaging actually endangers the trio’s lives.

By the time there were three established Yatter-Mechas, Omochama would be rolled like a dice in a cup to determine which one would be deployed, with one and two for Yatter-Wan (later Yatter-King), three and four for Yatter-Pelican, and five and six for Yatter-Ankou.

From the 58th episode up to the 80th, just before a fight with the Dorombo gang, Omochama would pick a mecha by conducting a game of Musical Chairs with the Janken Trio, robot girls who represent the Yatter-mechas via janken symbols (or rock-paper-scissors). Gu-ko (rock) for Yatter-Panda, Choki-ko (scissors) for Yatter-Dozilla, and Pa-ko (paper) for Yatter-Bull. The one that wins has the mecha they represent called out into action.

Over the following ten episodes afterwards, Omochama would deploy a small robot known as the Miai Duck (or Matchmaking Duck) that walked on a string of paths that led to three doors displaying the Yatter-Mechas. Again, the path the duck followed determined which mecha was being sent out. For the last few episodes this was dropped entirely, and the Yatterman would use whatever mecha (mostly Yatter-Yokuzuna).

Omochama appears in the second episode of the Royal Revival OVA, where as usual he overhears the Dorombo gang’s plans and sets out to inform the newly-wed Yatterman. However, they’re too lovestruck to notice and it takes a while before they finally take off. His troubles don’t end there, as later on Jun the Swan falls on top on him due to the Yattermans’ brief lovesick daze.

Omochama also cameos in the various Banpresto games, as an enemy in the shoot-em-up games and again spying on the Dorombo gang’s activites in Bokan GoGoGo!. This time the Yatterman are all ears and even spread the word to the other Time Bokan heroes since thier respective villains are involved.

In all versions of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Omochama can be found in the background of the Yatterman’s Workshop, cheering on the fighting and chasing off a spying Odate Buta. In Ultimate All-Stars, he can be summoned by Ai-chan/Yatterman-2 to assist in attacking her opponent for a brief time. If he’s still out when Ai-chan wins the match, he’ll do the Yatterman’s typical victory pose.

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.

Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Dokuobei (Part 1)

Since he appears several times throughout the Time Bokan series with different goals each time, I’ll be covering his bio bit by bit, starting with the original 1977 Yatterman.

The self proclaimed god of thieves, Dokurobei (alternatively spelled as Dokurobey or Dokurobee) is the enigmatic man who leads the Dorombo gang on a hunt for fragments of the Dokuro Stone (or Skull Stone if you prefer). Claiming the stone to be a family heirloom that contained a map to a huge gold deposit, he promises to share half the fortune with the trio if they can find the fragments for him.

Dokurobei possesses a deep and intimidating voice and for the majority of the show his true appearance is shrouded in mystery. He is very self-centered and egotistical, and is prone to getting angry at any sign of trouble or disobedience from the Dorombo trio. He also has a crush on Doronjo, something she’ll occasionally try to exploit to get him to reveal to his face to no avail. The Dorombo gang, Boyacky especially, have a habit of calling him “Doku-chan” or some variation much to his annoyance.

He tends to add “Beh” at the end of most of his sentences, much like how his name is simply the Japanese word for skull, “dokuro” with “bei” added at the end. He also tends to shout “Akapontan” at the Dorombo trio, a combination of the Japanese words “anpontan” and “sukatan” which equates to “idiot”, “nitwit”, and the like.

Dokurobei delivers his messages to the Dorombo gang in the form of robots or devices disguised at food, animals, or such, usually in relation with whatever scam the gang was pulling. He informs them about where a Dokuro Stone fragment is possibly located and supposed facts about the area and the fragment is there. This information tends to be faulty at best, which he later acknowledges but unfortunately cannot do much about.

After he’s done explaining, whatever he used to relay his message explodes. At first these were harmless, but it wasn’t long before they blew up the Dorombo gang. Later on in the series the trio would try to avoid getting caught in the explosions with varying degrees of success.

Every time the Dorombo gang failed, Dokurobei would give them a punishment “worse than their mama”. His excuses were them not finding a Dokuro Stone fragment or losing to the Yatterman, despite his misinformation being partially to blame. Even when they actually got a fragment, he still punishes them anyways seemingly out of habit. He signaled the punishments with a music cue, usually the opening notes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5

Dokurobei can be seen as a parody of Gatchaman’s Sosai X (Leader X). Both are unseen forces that have others do their bidding, and it’s through their advice that their subordinates act on and wind up taking the blame for when they lose.

(Spoilers for a 30+ anime ahead)

Eventually the Dorombo gang encountered Dokurobei with the completed Dokuro Stone in an abandoned castle. He looks like a short, portly man with glasses and a long handlebar mustache, balding with tuffs of hair on the sides and a little skull on his forehead. He also wears a purple shirt and skirt, dark purple gloves, boots, and cape, and either tan coloured pants or no pants on at all.

However even his “human” form was yet another robot decoy, and his true appearance was none other than the Dokuro Stone itself.

“Dokurobei” was an alien from the Dokuro planet, renamed Planet XYZ in subsequent media, who had visited the Earth when it nothing more that a ball of magma. The extreme heat split his body into four pieces, and he has spent eons trying to put himself back together.

When nobody would aid him, he made up the story of the Dokuro Stone to sucker somebody into retrieving pieces of his body, and that turned out to be the Dorombo gang. Back in one piece, Dokurobei went back to his planet and left the trio with nothing but broken promises, causing them to disband shortly afterwards.

This too parodies Sosai X. Both were aliens that were stranded on Earth that turned out to have different goals in mind and left when they were seemingly completed, although Sosai X’s were far more cruel and malicious in nature. (ie. blowing up Earth.)

Although Dokurobei’s intentions were innocent enough, his way of going about it and his treatment of others was harsh, and every subsequent appearance made him more villainous than before.

Yatterman 1977 Character Biography: Doronjo

Doronjo, real name Hiroko Sasagawa, is the beautiful masked leader of the Dorombo gang. A bumbling thief at the age of 24 (or so she claims), she and her equally inept henchmen Boyacky and Tonzura seek out the Dokuro Stone for the mysterious Dokurobei with the promise of a huge amount of wealth.

Doronjo’s “name” is based on the Japanese word “doronko”, meaning “muddy” or “dirty”, something that’s brought up often by various characters. Her reason for starting the Dorombo gang and seeking the Dokuro Stone was to become the richest and most admired woman in the world, although it’s been hinted that what she really wants is to simply settle down and raise a family.

Although she retains previous villain Marjo’s traits of being vain, selfish, and impatient, Doronjo is significantly nicer to her subordinates Boyacky and Tonzura, even though their antics can get on nerves. She’s quick to praise them for achieveing something, and just as quick to scold them (mostly Boyacky) if they blunder. Despite her recklessness, she’s fairly intelligent and quite a smooth talker, which is best seen when she’s pulling a con or trying to get Dokurobei to reveal himself.

Doronjo plans out most of the scams and activities when searching for a Dokuro Stone fragment. During the earlier episodes her face can clearly be seen when in a disguise, although later on she wore a mask When it comes to battling the Yatterman, she has Boyacky and Tonzura do the fighting for her most of the time and at most uses the mecha they were travelling in to pick them up when they lose. Occasionally, the destruction of the Dorombo gang’s mecha will result in her clothes being shredded to revealing levels, although this can happen to all three members.

Her favorite food is french fries and she has a strong dislike of rats, although there is an good reason for the latter. When she was a little girl she came accross a rat that bit down hard on her nose. Because of that trumatic event, she’s absolutely horrified whenever a Yatterman mecha deploys mini-mechas resembling rats or mice.

Towards the end of the series, she begins to have second thoughts about her career as a thief. She develops feelings for Yatterman-1 (Gan-chan) which are obviously unrequited, and at one point imagines the conflict going on to the point where they’re all elderly. When the Dokuro Stone and the truth behind it are revealed and leave the Dorombo gang shocked and with nothing to show for it, Doronjo tearfully disbandons the gang and they go their seperate ways.

Afterwards, Doronjo got married and became the mother of five children, and according to Heisei Time Bokan she also opened up a bar named “Buchikku Dorombo”, decorated with Time Bokan memoribillia. However, she missed the fun she had with the Dorombo gang, and be it the starring role in a OVA, a chance to defeat all the various Time Bokan heroes, or an attempt at a social reform, Doronjo would bring the gang back together for more hijinks during the 90s.

Being the only playable villain in the game, Doronjo is a fighter in both versions Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, with Boyacky and Tonzura assisting her with some of her moves. Notably, this is a rare instance of her directly fighting an opponent rather than relying entirely on her goons. This is prominent after winning a fight where she’s clearly exhausted from having to physically attack someone.

Time Bokan Mechas: Yatter-Wan (1977 Yatterman and spin-offs)

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.

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.