Time Bokan Series: Yatterman

I usually find it hard to truly enjoy a repetitive episodic show, but Time Bokan: Yatterman takes all the tropes of such a formula and perfects it through self-awareness, great characters and absurdity. Allow me to explain, each episode has the same pattern of Doronbo gang running a scam, being informed of the location for the Skull Stone (the shows MacGuffin) by Dokurobei, heading to the location to get the stone in their mecha, mecha fighting the Yatterman gang and then being punished. Despite the pattern, each episode has a unique twist. To start with, the opening scam would be unique each time and thetheme of the scam would often be reflected in the resulting mecha. The gang will be tasked to find the stones in a wide range of locations, often inspired by history or by fairy tales. For some reason, the names of these places and characters will be modified, for example Everest will be Marvelest and the Alps are the Halps. I am unsure why this is done, as I think it takes away with the potential educational aspect of the cartoon, however it is easy enough to identify the place or person who is being referred to. Following it is the best part - the mecha fight. Each fight would start with a simple mecha vs mecha battle before quickly evolving into a mini-mecha vs mini-mecha battle. These start off quite generic. However, in the second half of the series they begin to get more and more surreal - from stationary battles to vegetable beauty shows and mecha marriages. I could go on and on highlighting all the memorable battles. If you enjoy surrealism, absurdity and parody you will love this part of the show. My only minor criticism is that the weekly characters often do not get involved with the battle and simply disappear for the duration of the fight, however the benefit of this is that we get more times with the Doronbo gang and the mechas. Outside of the formula Boyacky and Doronjo are two of the most entertaining villains I have ever seen, full of fourth-wall breaking (even taking phone calls from viewers to ask them for advice) and signature gags. The Yatterman gang are a bit more of a blank slate, but have some great dynamics with the Doronbo gang. Overall, it is a great show which will reward you for watching it and investing in the time it takes to enjoy its self-awareness and absurdity.