HOLY PLOT TWIST, YATTERMAN!
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):
Well…dang. I sure didn’t see that one coming. After goofing off for the last few episodes, Yatterman Night goes full speed heading into the finale and it’s looking to be quite a ride. The show’s usual brand of seriousness mixed with comedy is back with maximum force, which makes for some good material, but the biggest thing this week happens at the very last minute.
The episode starts off with a quick retelling of the Yatterman legend and the gang narrating what their journey through the Yatter Kingdom meant to them. The largest part being how Leopard’s influence has helped the others to think more positively and how much she inspires them. Leopard also re-emphasizes her view that the Yattermen are evil and that her ancestors were doing the right thing by standing up to them. It’s all stuff that’s been covered before over the last few episodes but there’s a lot more significance to it here, both because the show’s at it’s last stretch and really needs to make sure it’s themes are reinforced and also because it makes the ending to the episode a lot more impactful.
Having arrived at Yatter Metropolis, Galina works out an invasion plan and the others being to acknowledge how much he’s grown into a leader. The city itself though, despite initial appearances, looks as bad as the rest of the kingdom, if not worse (also seems to be the only place where there’s any pollution, so you know it’s evil). They also have quite a bit of propaganda going, mentioning how the Yatterman saved everyone from the war by defeating the Doronbows. Galina notes that they’re just saying all that to keep the people under their thumb, but of course we also that there’s a lot more truth to it than the gang wants to acknowledge.
The gang’s infiltration plan ends up coming comes to a halt when they get spotted by the Twelve Yatter Guardian Gods, or more accurately eleven now that Goro’s out. Given how hammy he was it’s no surprise these guys are but their introduction is made as goofy as possible, though some of the charm’s taken away by how much one of the designs for them looks exactly like Goro (scheduling issues maybe?). The ensuing fight is almost hilariously one-sided (and the scene a bit off-model compared to the rest of the show) as the gang awkwardly tries to hold them off but it’s not long before their put on display to be punished and executed.
Before that can happen though, the Guardians get a call from the original Yattermen themselves to spare the Doronbows and brought to them. For a portion of this episode, everyone’s been under the impression that the original Yatterman duo are immortals,and though the Doronbows don’t quite buy that, they at least assume the originals have been running the show in some capacity. Needless to say that everyone’s shocked both in the show and out, when it turns out that not only are the Yattermen apparently happy the gang’s arrived but that the real person behind the scenes is none other than Dokurobey, the original leader of the Doronbows.
It’s quite a twist and thematically speaking it’s the best one the show could have possibly pulled. It’s now extremely clear that the “Yatter Kingdom” is really his, and that the actual Yattermen are long gone. Exactly why he’s decided to paint the Doronbows as the villains despite being the ruler is a little strange, and hopefully explained soon but that’s besides the point. For a while now I was wondering how the show was going to go about having Leopard find out the truth about her ancestors, and this is quite a way to do it. Everything she and the gang have fought for has now been proven false as the original Doronbows really were the villains they’ve been painted out to be, are the cause of all the suffering everyone in the kingdom is going through right now, and the original Yattermen probably really were the heroes they’ve been painted as in legend.
I’m extremely curious to see how she takes all of it but the show now has a pretty straightforward line to it’s ending. The trio will probably end up having to take the fall for Dokurobey’s antics, while Galina and Alouette become the new Yatterman duo, putting everyone back into their original positions. It’s a great way for the show to reinforce it’s themes about heroism, and if it actually ends up going down that route it would make the title of this series a lot more appropriate as it leans into the same kind of morally grey take on it as The Dark Knight. Really looking forward to seeing how much things head this way, and how well it comes together.
In Summary:
Yatterman Night is back in full steam and the revelation at the end of this week’s episode is a significant one, both for the story and thematically. Now that everything has likely been turned on it’s head for the Doronbows it’ll be interesting to see how they handle it and if they must indeed truly become the villains in order to be the heroes. Next week can’t come fast enough.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation, Hulu
