Yatterman
Yatterman, Yattaman
atterman (ヤッターマン Yattāman) is a Japanese anime television series first aired from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979 totalling 108 episodes. It is the second show in the Time Bokan series by Tatsunoko Productions. It was preceded by Time Bokan and followed by Zenderman. A remake of Yatterman is currently airing on NTV and Yomiuri TV from January 2008, with the voices of the Dorombo gang from the original returning to reprise their roles. A live-action movie is also in production (see below). It was the final series to be produced by company founder Tatsuo Yoshida prior to his death that same year.
A mysterious stone known as Skull Stone (ドクロストーン Dokurosutōn)) is currently split apart and scattered across the planet. It is said to have the power to reveal the location of the largest deposit of gold in the world. This legend has entranced the trio of villains in this show: the "Dorombo (ドロンボー Doronbō?) Gang, who is on a pursue of fame, power and wealth. 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, due to a righteous duo of pursuers called the "Yatterman".
Unlike the previous series, this show does not cover any specifically notable time/space travel (apart from the 38th episode, in which the two sides convert their own mechas into time machines). Instead, the places the characters travel to and the individuals they meet are generally homages (or spoofs) of existing ones (to emphasize that they are NOT actual historical events of characters, but modern ones existing in some other ramdom places of the world). These fictional characters/places are usually represented by purposely misspelt names or familiar actions. For example, a revolution leader is named "Yashington" as a homage of George Washington; and a place resembling ancient Japan is named "Yametai", as a spoof of Yamatai.
(Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. "Yatterman")
