Time Bokan

Time Bokan
Anime
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Anime
Time Bokan: Royal Revival

Time Bokan (タイムボカン) is an anime series first aired from October 4, 1975 to December 25, 1976 throughout Japan on every Saturday at 6:30pm, with a total of 61 30-minute episodes. It was produced by Tatsunoko Productions, and is the very first show in the "Time Bokan" series. It was succeeded by seven other shows and an OAV. First came Yattaman, then Zenderman, Otasukeman, Yattodetaman, Ippatsuman, Itadakiman, Time Bokan: Royal Revival (an OAV that consists of two half-hour OAV episodes, with all the styles from previous cartoons retained), and Time Bokan 2000: Kaitou Kiramekiman: a short series aired in 2000 by the original crew as an attempt to recover the series' influence.

Aspects of the Time Bokan genre would be seen again in Flint the Time Detective

The Story

Dr. Kieda, a somewhat slightly wacky, but intelligent scientist, had finally succeeded in inventing insect-shaped all-terrain time machines called "Time Bokan". To prove its efficiency and safety, he decided to serve as the very first guinea-pig for its maiden voyage; however, by the time the machine returned, he wasn't anywhere inside the machine. The only thing that returned with it was a talking parrot who called himself Perasuke, along with a large gemstone called the Dynamond (ダイナモンド) which was seemingly the most powerful and valuable jewel in the world. Now it is up to a search party, founded by Dr. Kieda's lab assistant Tanpei, to travel though time to find Dr. Kieda; but it seems that someone power hungry is looking for the "Dynamond"...

Plot

The story starred two vividly opposing sides, the protagonists (善玉) and the antagonists (悪玉). Typical plots follow this format:

• The protagonists travel to a particular era/space during their search for Dr. Kieda/hunt for the nature of the Dynamond, meeting the famous historical figures/fictional characters in the process.
• They eventually encounter the antagonists.
• The two sides battle each other with their time machines.
• The antagonists always suffer a crushing defeat, mainly due to their own mistakes made on their own machines or their plots, or the smart foiling of their plans from the heroes.

The Cast

The Heroes

Tanpei (丹平): (Voiced by Yoshiko Ota) The loyal lab assistant of Dr. Kieda, a smart and sporty boy at the age of 13. He is warm, pure, and courageous, also he is a genius at mechanics. He is often seen sparring with Junko, his fellow assistant and Dr Kieda's granddaughter, comforting and encouraging her, and has been depicted as having a crush on her for more than once. Everybody in the team calls him "Tanpei-chan". Not much of his family and school background is given.

Junko (淳子): (Voiced by Mori Okamoto, Keiko Yokozawa in eps. 34~36) Dr. Kieda's 10-year-old granddaughter. She is gentle, caring, erudite and resourceful. She misses her grandfather dearly, thus earning a lot of sympathy from the rest of the team. She might seem a little cry-babyish at the first glance, but vows to become stronger under the influence of Tanpei, who she has a crush on. Her name is derived from Junko Sakurada, a famous Japanese singer.

C-robot (チョロ坊, Chorobou): (Voiced by Reiko Katsura) A robot sidekick created by Tanpei, it can appear pretty childish in both appearance and actions, but it is not always a hindrance. Its power source is the winding key protruding from its back. Its features include also a flamethrower built into its nose, extendable limbs, and an ability to shock others with a significant amount of voltage output. (Although a robot, it is seen briefly eating cream puffs in the second episode. )

Dr. Kieda (木江田博士, Kieda-hakase): (Voiced by Ryūji Saikachi) Junko's grandfather and creator of the "Time Bokan" time machines. A famous scientist, he wasn't recovered until the 27th episode, but soon joined Tanpei's team on other journeys. His name is probably a play on the term "消えた", which pronounced familiar and means "disappeared".

Perasuke (ペラ助): (Voiced by Junpei Takiguchi) An apparently prehistoric talking parrot who seems to be the only source of information about Dr. Kieda's location when he was lost in time, but he always made random testimonies on that. The only thing he fears is probably his wife, Otake. It turns out in ep.6 that he accidentally triggered the time machine while Dr Kieda was absent, and returned to the modern days with it. His voice can be heard in the previews of oncoming episodes at the end of each episode before the ending themes.

Otake (オタケさん): (Voiced by Haru Endou) A bossy and impatient female parrot of Perasuke's kind and his wife. She is depicted with a distinct air of vanity and a body frame much larger than Perasuke's. She is also frequently kicking Perasuke about, despite her love for him. At the beginning of the series, she and Dr Kieda are frequently soothing each other's eagerness of reunion.

The Villains

Commonly known as "The Skull Trio" ("ガイコッツ トリオ") through the show, the three villains portrayed in this show were even more familiar to the audience than the heroes, mainly due to their renowned stupidity shown by the inevitable fate of always suffering a crushing defeat in each episode.

Marjo (マージョ): (Voiced by Noriko Ohara) Marjo, 30 years old is the female leader of the trio. Her character was writen after the "vain villainess" stereotype, and accordingly, she often acts and speaks as if she were the most beautiful and intelligent character in the series. Of the trio, she is the ost enthusiastic about capturing the "Dynamond", but ends up doing virtually nothing except bossing her two henchmen around, invariably cursing them after the "defeat" sequence in each episode. Her name is derived from the Japanese term "魔女" (majou), which pronounced the same and means "witch".

Grocky (グロッキー): (Voiced by Jouji Yanami) The "brain" henchman of Marjo, aged 25. He used to work for Dr Kieda under cover, therefore he's usually employed to build a new and different mecha in each episode to encounter the Time Bokans used by the heroes. He is cunning though quite prone to making silly mistakes on the machinery (most of which became the key issue of the villains' misfortune throughout the episodes).

Walther (ワルサー): (Voiced by Kazuya Tatekabe) The "muscle" henchman of Majo aged 35. He is seemingly less intelligent and more clumsy than the other two of the trio, and is often seen controlling the weaponry devices of their mecha. He is heard speaking in an accent known as the Kansai-ben and frequently end his sentence with a phrase "~man-nen" (~まんねん). His name is derived from a Walther pistol, most preferably a Walther P-38.

Narration: Kei Tomiyama His voice is mainly in charge of introducing the different eras/spaces the characters are travelling to, and sometimes it can also give a brief comment or overview on the episode, especially at the ends.

Time Bokans

Created by Dr Kieda at the beginning of the series, there is a total of three machines which formed the "Time Bokan" series of time/space traveller. Every one of them follows the design as one particular kind of insect, both appearance-wise and function-wise. Although the term "time" is the only term in their name to state their function, they are also capable of travelling between spaces, even fictional and hypothetic ones: including the spaces depicted in Grimm's fairytales and the ones making hypothesises to some unsolved mysteries such as Easter Island.

Time Mechabuton ("タイムメカブトン", aka Time Bokan I): This blue machine, bearing the vivid resemblance of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, is the Time Bokan used the most by the heroes. Its features include:

• The machine's primary weapon, a rotary saw/digger fashioned like the beetle's large single horn.
• Durable all-terrain tyres, enabling the machine to travel to a maximum of 200 km/h.
• Wings which will open just like the actual insect's to allow its flight when powered by its jet engines; or to flap violently to create a surge of sandstorm.
• A defensive launcher, which projectiles include small missiles and weighted lassos, is mounted in the bow.
• A small red dome on its back: it is a manually pilotable scouting/surveillance airship named "Ladybug-Drone" ("テントウキ"), able to either operate on its own right or to simply serve as a lookout post of the main machine. It includes a series of wacky gadgetries and tools including mechanical limbs, shears, fire extinguishers, reflectors, nets, slingshots etc.
• A small submarine, named "Strider-Marine" ("ヤゴマリン") hidden in its belly.
• A remote control of the whole system incorporated in the watch of Dr Kieda.

Time Dotabattan ("タイムドタバッタン", aka Time Bokan II): This green, locust-shaped Time Bokan is actually created by Dr Kieda before Mechabuton, and is supposed to be the "prototype". It is modified by Dr Kieda later in the series to increase its functions and transport capacity. Its features include:

• The machine's primary weapon, a projectile launcher mounted in the bow of the machine.
• Strong mechanical limbs just like the actual insect's, allowing the machine to jump over great distances. Once damaged, their functions can be replaced by a set of retractable caterpillar tracks hidden in the machine's belly.
• A pair of small rudder that allow the machin's flight when powered by its jet engines.
• A worm-shaped scouting/surveillance unit named "Inchworm-Drone" ("シャクトリン"), able to operate on its own to complete small works such as reparing the machines. The heroes has been using it to sneak behind the villains' mecha and cause a havoc for more than one occasion.
• A small helicopter, named "Firefly-Copter" ("ヘリボタル") hidden inside.

Time Kuwagattan ("タイムクワガッタン", aka Time Bokan III):This red, stag beetle-shaped Time Bokan is also created by Dr Kieda on his return. Its features include:

• The machine's primary weapon, a cutter/digger fashioned like the beetle's horns.
• Limbs that ends in wheels to cover the machine's ground travels.
• The machine's carapace, also fashioned like the actual beetle's, will open up like the rotor of a helicopter, to allow the machine's flight.
• A bee-shaped scouting/surveillance airship named "Honeybee-Drone" ("ビーチクリン").
• A small, woodlice-shaped all-terrain vehicle, named "Armadillidiidae-Rollin'" ("ダンゴロリン") hidden inside.

Note: Although written in katakana, "Bokan" can mean "carrier" (the same meaning as in "aircraft carrier") if written in hiragana or kanji, as each the main machines carries a few smaller mechas with them all the time.

The Villain's Machines

Only one recurring mecha has ever appeared in the villain trio's garage: the "Time Skull"("タイムガイコッツ"), a small, skull-shaped time machine built by Grocky.

In order to match the "time bokans" in strength, maneuverability etc, this mecha is often linked to a larger mechanical structure, of which it serves as the head. This construction often results in various animal-shaped mechas as large as (or even larger than) the "time bokans". These machines are often equipped with an abundance of concealed gadgets and weapons, most of which are capable of leaving the heroes' machines severely damaged.

The most important features of these mechas is a deadly device which the villains wish to finish the heroes off for good, and has been dubbed as "Highlight of the Week" ("今週のハイライト")by the villains.(It is usually in the shape of a bomb launched in various crazy fashions). However, the triggering of such device often backfires onto the villains themselves either by silly mistakes in mechanical design or the foiling of the heroes, causing the whole structure to explode spectacularly, only leaving the Time Skull fully intact and the villains very tattered.

One running gag in the show is that, compared to the relative smaller noises and flashes made by the "time bokans" as they depart into times and spaces, the villains' mechas always tend to make a very loud bang and vanish in a huge explosion after a series of minor accidents, and a few stray parts can always be seen on the floor when the explosion clears. (In the first few episodes of the show, the director used the same group of pictures, which depicted exactly same stray parts, to emphasize this gag)

References

Direct Translation from Wikipedia Japanese

Timefighters

Several of the fairytale-themed episodes were edited together and dubbed by Jim Terry Productions (of Force Five and Robby the Rascal fame) for the US home video market in 1984, under the name Timefighters in the Land of Fantasy. (Review: 1}

Name Changes:

• Time Bokan/Time Fighters
• Tanpei/Jett
• Junko/Starr
• C-robot/Tonk
• Dr. Kieda/Professor Von Spock
• Perasuke/Squarky
• Otake/Bromhilder
• Skull Trio/Skulduggery crew
• Marjo/Lucinda Skulduggery
• Grocky/Captain Arrow
• Walsa/Mungo
• Time Bokan/Time Fighters
• Time Mechabuton - Time Bokan 1: Scorpion 2
• Time Dotabattan - Time Bokan II: The Grasshopper ship (Referred to initially as the prototype time machine, only able to transport 1 passenger. Later refitted to carry a whole crew)
• Time Kuwagattan - Time Bokan III: The Ant ship

External links

• A detailed review of Timefighters