Costumed superheroes and sexy super-villian. Semi-mechanoid mutant henchmen. Huge mechanical dog. Giant robots. Rampant dinosaurs. Nuclear holocaust. Japanese pop songs. Weird dance routines. Takashi Miike.
What more can I say?
Yatterman [aka Yattâman] (Japan-2009; dir. Takashi Miike)
Trailer:
Trailer 2:
Synopsis:
Gan (Sho Sakurai [Arashi super-fame]), the only son of the owner of Takada Toy Shop, and his girlfriend, Ai (Saki Fukuda), are inseparable. They build Yatterwoof, a dog-shaped robot that shares their will, and together with a small robot named Toybotty, they form a fighting team to protect world peace. So, they are our heroes, YATTERMAN 1 and 2! Meanwhile, Doronjo (Kyoko Fukada), the sexy female boss of the Doronbow Gang, and her henchmen, genius mecha designer Boyacky (Katsuhisa Namase) and brawny Tonzra (Kendo Kobayshi), are hoaxed by the mysterious Skullobey to find the Skull Stone, which is said to realize any wish. But now [the] Skull Stone [has] been split into four pieces and lost over the world. When Gan and Ai learn of the Doronbow Gang sinister plot, they stand up against the villains and use their various mechas to foil their plans. (Promotional material)
Yatterman: The Movie is based on the anime series Yatterman, which was the creation of Tatsuo Yoshida (founder of Tatsunoko Productions: Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets and others), racked up 108 episodes between 1977 and 1979 and was revived to great success in 2008. I’ve been reading some great reviews, but I’ll quote from the one I like best — Bob Doto’s review on QuietEarth:
YATTERMAN is hilarious. YATTERMAN is massive. YATTERMAN is you plunging into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory if ten other Willy Wonka factories were superimposed on top of the original factory and each new superimposition was violently vying for sugar-coated supremacy. Explosions, electricity, weird dancing sequences, discount wedding dresses, over-sized sushi, under-sized brains, robot fish going through puberty as a means of defeating enemies, “titty missiles,” miniature Thievery Gods, and mechanical dogs having orgasms. Get the picture? Skulls, villains, puppy love, dry humor, slapstick humor, dark humor, bright colors, bad animation, great animation, cartoon animation, live action. This is what we’re dealing with here. Maximalism at its most toy-robotic.
“Maximalism at its most toy-robotic”! Excellent!
- Source: QuietEarth.
