#tsuntsun

-The one made of ink

A slight diversion in trio characters comes from Tatsunoko themselves. In 1977, Tatsunoko partnered with Toei Animation to produce a show that aired on Tokyo Channel 12.  While many years after Japan’s original airing of Mach Go Go Go (ie: Speed Racer), super car mania was still a thing and thus amidst a pack of race car themed animation did Tobidase! Machine Hiryuu (とびだせ!マシーン飛竜) try to break out as its own thing.  Indeed, of four car shows airing that year, it was the only one to attempt to be a comedy!  Borrowing more than a little from Speed Racer in our heroic main characters, the bad guys would see Tatsunoko already trying again with the formula of characters Time Bokan had provided them-- and keep in mind, this show was airing in the same year as Yatterman itself!

And so, constantly against our heroes we have their wicked antagonists, the Zenizeni Team. Behind the wheel of the car is musclebound oaf Okkanabichi (オッカナビッチ).  Providing support and generally calling the shots is his wife, Icarine (イカリーヌ) who makes sure to dole out punishment to her husband when he loses.  Next is their daughter, Tsuntsun (ツンツン) who typically pilots a third vehicle and helps carry out traps and tricks to foul up our heroes.  Lastly, there’s Natasha (ナターシャ), Icarine’s pet dog who is loyal to her and enjoys being a bit of jerk to Okkanbichi.   Tatsunoko would of course try again with an animal companion to the bad guys when they got to Zenderman.

So way back in 2004, I had a tamer named Asuna who had a fan-made machine jackal back before BlackMetalgarurumon was a thing. 2005 they were intended to get Cheri instead. And then they were never used or seen again until recently, where I reinvented them for Cyber Sleuth.  Their name changed to Aoki Sakai, a gender ambiguous mechanic who originally had a BlackGabumon as their partner, until it ended up being deleted permanently after a very unfortunate face-off with a Beelzemon on a rampage- their BlackMetalgarurumon becoming easy fodder because Aoki froze. Fast forward years later, they still haven’t had the heart to replace their partner, but end up taking in an Impmon as a second try, though there’s something familiar about the guy. At least he’s cute and endearing right now.