Yatterman Movie
So I decided to split my post into two parts, since I have a tendency to write essays when I blog (I apologize for my long entries). But here is the movie summary where I tried to account all the scenes that are worth mentioning. (I wish I could have tallied the amount of times Sho said ‘Yabee‘ in the movie, but I could only remember so much).
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Basically the movie is set in the futuristic city of Tokyoko. The first scene jumps right into battle between Yatterman and the Doronjo gang. Apparently it is just one of the weekly battles between the team of evil-doers and the pair of justice-keepers.
Skip a few scenes ahead and we finally get introduced to all the characters. After a quick introduction to Gan and his toy shop laboratory, it jumps right into a song and dance routine by the Doronjo gang. The choreography was amateur and the singing was off-key, but the audience absolutely loved it. The best part was that the audience actually clapped along to the song!
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Finally we’re back to the storyline. The narrator tells us there’s been an imbalance in the city and things are disappearing. (Skip to a group of men in a business meeting when they discover that ‘Tuesday’ has disappeared from their agendas). Apparently these disappearances have something to do with the proximity of four legendary skull pieces. When the pieces come together, it opens a portal which will wreck havoc on the world. So far, only two pieces have been recovered. Naturally, the hunt is on for the other two, which means that Yatterman must prepare for battle with the Doronjo gang once more.
In the next battle scene, the group travel to the pyramids in Ogypt and fight to capture the third skull piece. Apparently Gan’s Yatterwan creation is not equipped to fly (or equipped with seats for that matter) because it takes them the entire length of a song to travel to Ogypt.
Inside the pyramids, they are met with the Doronjo gang. After an intense battle in which both Yatterwan and Bridesmaidiot are destroyed (errr, perhaps destroyed is not the right word, but this needs to be kept PG-13), Yatterman no. 1 finds himself in a tight situation with Doronjo-sama. After he saves her from falling debris, he continues holding on to her endearingly as the camera pans back and forth between their faces. Of course, Yatterman no. 1 only had pure intentions at heart, so it was unfortunate when a rock falling out of thin air hits him on the head and causes his head to dip, angling perfectly so his lips meet hers in a kiss. Embarrassed, they both pull away, vowing to meet again at the next battle.
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The next couple of scenes we see Doronjo-sama getting more infatuated with Yatterman no. 1 and Gan’s girlfriend getting more annoyed. (Flash to Doronjo-sama’s daydream sequence and we see Sho in his very newscaster-like suit walking towards her, waving and wearing his Yatterman glasses).
As the tension builds and the mysterious disappearances go out of hand, it ultimately leads to the last scene where they travel to the Southern Halps for a final showdown. Naturally, they had to show Yatterman’s transformation sequence again, in which Sho’s stunt double does an awesome job with the backflips. The time, the newly modeled Yatterking has been upgraded to fly, but it seems he was built too big to get out the door. Flying is also not a good thing, as Yatterman no. 1 seems to suffer from motion sickness.
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When they finally meet face-to-face with the Doronjo gang, Doronjo-sama is quick to lay claims on Yatterman no. 1. Unfortunately, good and evil do not mix and she is rejected by him. In retaliation, she opens fire onto Yatterman no. 2. Seeing his partner in danger, Yatterman no. 1 willingly sacrifices himself after realizing that Yatterman no. 2 is his true love. (Insert gagging here, but more will come later).
So now that the love triangle (or maybe square/pentagon?) has been dissolved, both sides feel they are better off as enemies and quickly prepare for their final battle. Yatterking’s surprise mecha releases these flying fish which easily attacks that Doronjo gang”s hamachi fish. But lo and behold, Doronjo gang’s hamachi army matures into buri fish and now they’re clobbering the poor little flying fishes as they advance along. Alas, it is a short victory for the Doronjo gang as the teenage buri have decided to rebel against its parents.
Now that all their gadgets are destroyed, it seems like it’s up to Skull-head to finish the do-gooders. But wait – why is Skull-head a skull-head who’s chasing after a skull? As Yatterman no. 1 points out, it”s not very original. So Skull-head reveals his actual appearance and turns himself into the archaeologist who’s body he’s taken over.
At this point, the poor archaeologist’s distraught daughter is just beside herself, frantically trying to get her father back. (Her character wasn’t very interesting, so I’m only mentioning her now). Yatterman decides to take a much deserved timeout break and sits down at the sidelines. Skull-head and archaeologist have an intense inner-body battle in which the archaeologist is freed as his daughter pulls him out by his teeth. (I guess you couldn’t really grip anywhere else).
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But nope, Skull-head isn’t finished yet! He manages to get all the skull pieces together and opens up the portal. Before he leaves, he pulls Doronjo-sama in with him, but others are quick to her rescue. When they finally break free, the skull has been dislodged. In a volleyball-like manner, the skull gets passed to Yatterman, who prepares this amazing ‘double-attack’ and breaks the skull.
And just to prove that love does conquer all, they do this amazing mid-air pose where their arms are angled and their legs point out together to form the shape of a heart. As little hearts spew out in pure anime fashion, here’s where I insert the gagging once again.
So Yatterman saves the day and the world is once again back to normal. The few scenes at the end wrap up the storyline nicely before it breaks into ‘Believe’ by Arashi.
End movie!