The most fun and despair you’ll ever have at the hot springs
What They Say:
Long ago there was a war between the heroes, the Yattermen and the group of thieves known as the Doronbo gang. The Yattermen triumphed and created the peaceful Yatter Kingdom while the Doronbo were exiled into the dregs of the world. Generations later a girl named Leopard, who is descended from the Doronbo decides to journey to the Yatter Kingdom in order to save her mother but soon realizes that the Yattermen aren’t as heroic as the legends claimed. Devastated by her mother’s death she vows to take down the Yattermen with the help of her two servants and they reform the Doronbo gang.
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
So last week’s episode pretty much marked the end to the show’s prologue of sorts and marked what looked to be the true beginning of the series. Given that, this week’s gives a much better idea of where everything will be headed going forward. Thankfully it still looks to be a pretty great ride, and rather than slowing things down a little, it escalates to insane proportions.
To put things into perspective, this was simultaneously the most fun and most depressing episode of the show so far. It’s something that sounds ridiculous on paper even with how well it’s been able to handle tonal shifts, and by all means it shouldn’t work. Somehow though, it does, and the impact from that solid one-two punch of those contrasting moods is a great one.
The beginning of the episode is mostly lighthearted and funny with the gang relaxing at some hot springs, but things take a turn for the worse when the Yatterman robots show up and demand that the owner of the hot springs leave his pregnant wife behind to serve 35 years of hard labor at Yatter Metropolis. The whole thing sounds cartoonishly absurd, and the show acknowledges it with how the characters initially react, before it takes a turn for the disturbing when the wife is forced to salute to the Yatterman robots as they take her husband away under fear of what they may do to her if she doesn’t. The shift in tone from funny to sad happens almost instantly, and in spite of of that (or perhaps because of it) it works really well as it’s apparent that sense of whiplash is intentional.
Of course, the husband’s situation doesn’t sit well with Liepard and she wants to rescue him, but the others think it may not be a good idea since there’s really no place to escape from the kingdom. She convinces them to go along with it anyway, and they manage to save him but end up catching the attention of a higher-up called General Goro, and it further backfires when the husband and wife decide to sell the Doronbows out to him in exchange for the former not being sent away. The ensuing battle turns out to be the most fun one the show has ever had as it dishes out everything from monkey inspired robots to hot dog eating ones and a lot of good gags to go with it. Although one of the best things to come from this is a brawl between Elephantus and Goro as it brings out the best animated sequence the show has had so far(not to mention Goro himself turns out to be as hammy as his robots),and looks downright spectacular.
However the fun factor doesn’t stick around for too long as the Doronbows (obviously) lose the battle, and the episode takes a massive flip right back into the depressing when Goro sends the husband to Yatter Metropolis anyway. His wife once again can only salute to the robots in absolute terror and she turns the Doronbows away afterwards, because she can’t dare to oppose them. As a result, for the first time Liepard is forced to realize how hopeless the situation with the Yattermen is and her idealism is further shattered upon seeing how much these people live under fear. Rather than making her give in though, it only strengthens her resolve to get rid of them. She’s now even further set on the idea that they’re absolute evil, and it’s something that clearly won’t end well for her.
Aside from the gigantic shifts in tone, what’s also interesting about this episode is Goro’s existence. At first it seemed like the show was going to go the route of having the actual Yattermen being long gone and the robots acting on their own accord. However with him giving them orders and mentioning “Lord Yatterman” it seems as though someone may actually be pulling the strings after all. Are the actual Yattermen really behind all these atrocities? Exactly whether or not it’ll be the case is a tough call, but with how much the show has escalated the black and white point of view the characters currently have, hopefully whatever the truth is, it’s something shocking enough to give things a bit more ambiguity.
In Summary:
Yatterman Night ramps up it’s balance of tones this week and brings the saddest and funniest episode yet, as Liepard’s world view gets further pushed into black and white. It also does a good job of introducing a fun new antagonist and the idea that there really may be a larger threat going on in the Yatter Kingdom than just the robots. Not sure where the show is going to end up taking it all but so long as it manages to stay fun, the result should be pretty interesting. In the meantime though, I’ll never look at a hot springs episode the same way again.
Grade: A
Streamed By: FUNimation
