This review contains heavy spoilers. Go watch the show and then come back here.
I started watching anime long, long ago. In the middle of the ‘80s, a TV channel in my country broadcasted them. Giant Robots, Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, the first Devilman, and others are part of my childhoods memory.
Yatterman (the original series) never appears among anime fans. The animation is old; the series is mostly episodic with no real developments and follows more or less the same pattern till the end. It makes sense as tastes have changed and anime - fortunately, is much more complex in its developments today.
But you know? I loved it.
No wonder when I heard of a retake on the original franchise, but in a modern and darker tone, I was immediately sold and I never expected to be moved by Yatterman honestly.
Yatterman no Yoru is a darker-themed reboot of Yatterman. For those nonfamiliar with the original series here is the plot:
A mysterious gem called the "Skull Stone" is said to be able to reveal the location of the largest vein of gold in the world. This legend has entranced many people who wanted to get their hands on fame, power, and wealth, including the trio of villains in this show: the "Dorombo Gang." However, their hunt for the Skull Stone is not as easy as they imagined, mainly due to the faulty information they receive from their leader, and most of all, by a justice duo of pursuers called the "Yatterman"! -
The original story follows the daily adventure of this trio looking for the stone to please Lord Dokurobei - their boss who they never saw - After over 100 episodes of shenanigans, we discover Dokurobei is an alien and the famous treasure is non-existent. The stones were just pieces of the spaceship he was looking for to go back to space. Succeeding in it, he leaves the earth, and the Trio loses any will to continue their adventure in the iconic ending scene where they part ways just to meet again at the following crossroads. Till the very end, Yatterman liked the Dorombo cast.
But what if?
From this point on takes, place Yatterman no Yoru. What if actually in the end there was a fight between the “Tyrant” Dokurobei and Yatterman? What if Dokurobei was defeated? What if Yatterman took power over the world, creating a Utopia and they forced the Trio Dorombo and their descendants into exile, paying for their mistakes and living a life of misery?
The anime is set in the future when we see the daily life of Dorombo's descendants. Dorothy (and her daughter Leopard), Voltkatse (most probably a descendant of the genius Boyakki), and Elephantus (The herculean Tonzura). Their life is pathetic, full of misery and solitude.
Have you ever wondered what is the life of descendants of famous villains in our history? Imagine being the grandson of a mass murderer and you have no fault about it. Despite that, each one and then someone will come out telling you that your grandfather was a maniac killer and therefore you are.
Dorothy falls sick, so her daughter Leopard tries to access the Yatterman Utopia Kingdom to find medicine for her mother, only to be attacked by the soldiers of the empire. In typical anime drama fashion, Dorothy dies, so Leopard revives the glory of their ancestors who were exiled. They brought Dorombo back to life with the other two members, taking resemblance of their ancestors too.
In the original Yatterman we had the sexy and charismatic Miss Doronjo followed by her two henchmen who were totally in love with her (because of her charisma and beauty) but in Yoru (I will shorten it from now on), Voltkatse and Elephantus are more like father figures to Leopard and even though they play the game of_ "We are Dorombo",_ there is always this hidden feeling that they are overseeing over her.
Yatterman had created a dictatorship, the army subjugate and fear people inside the kingdom. Why? What happened to the heroes?
The series digs heavily into this aspect of atonement and hidden truths.
In their attempt to reach Yatterman the inhabitants of the kingdom out of fear population betray the group but fortunately for them, a duo of friends will be with Leopard till the end: Galina (a boy) and Alouette (a girl), kids with a tragic past but who will take a great role in the series's ending.
And here we come to the ending. As predictable, there is a twist.
Dokurobei, the evil alien, wasn’t defeated. Yatterman perished, and the alien took power on Earth impersonating the heroes and rewriting history. Galina and Alouette to move the population towards defeating Dokurobei decided for a personification of the Yatterman, claiming that the Trio Dorombo and Dokurobei were again alive and behind all the evil deeds happening to humanity. Our Leopard and her two fathers agree to take the role again of the villain and even though they are the ones defeating Dokurobei, they accepted to continue their path of exile to give power now in the hands of the new Yatterman.
The ending is bittersweet as we see our beloved trio living again in exile on the island, probably with less harsh conditions, but history cannot be changed and they are the evil ones.
As we see the topics offered in Yoru are difficult to discuss, as we doubt in many circumstances our reality. Throughout the power of media nowadays we label the evil guys but is only a peripheral and partial vision of the complete history - what we see or believe is evil has more shades than we think.
Yoru is a very engaging tale of redemption, mostly personal redemption, as our Dorombo Trio brings justice to their ancestors even though in the eyes of humanity they will always be the bad guys because the victors write history after all.
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