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I usually find it hard to truly enjoy a repetitive episodic show, but Time Bokan: Yatterman takes all the tropes of such a formula and perfects it through self-awareness, great characters and absurdity.

Allow me to explain, each episode has the same pattern of Doronbo gang running a scam, being informed of the location for the Skull Stone (the shows MacGuffin) by Dokurobei, heading to the location to get the stone in their mecha, mecha fighting the Yatterman gang and then being punished. Despite the pattern, each episode has a unique twist.

To start with, the opening scam would be unique each time and the ... theme of the scam would often be reflected in the resulting mecha. The gang will be tasked to find the stones in a wide range of locations, often inspired by history or by fairy tales. For some reason, the names of these places and characters will be modified, for example Everest will be Marvelest and the Alps are the Halps. I am unsure why this is done, as I think it takes away with the potential educational aspect of the cartoon, however it is easy enough to identify the place or person who is being referred to.

Following it is the best part - the mecha fight. Each fight would start with a simple mecha vs mecha battle before quickly evolving into a mini-mecha vs mini-mecha battle. These start off quite generic. However, in the second half of the series they begin to get more and more surreal - from stationary battles to vegetable beauty shows and mecha marriages. I could go on and on highlighting all the memorable battles. If you enjoy surrealism, absurdity and parody you will love this part of the show.

My only minor criticism is that the weekly characters often do not get involved with the battle and simply disappear for the duration of the fight, however the benefit of this is that we get more times with the Doronbo gang and the mechas.

Outside of the formula Boyacky and Doronjo are two of the most entertaining villains I have ever seen, full of fourth-wall breaking (even taking phone calls from viewers to ask them for advice) and signature gags. The Yatterman gang are a bit more of a blank slate, but have some great dynamics with the Doronbo gang.

Overall, it is a great show which will reward you for watching it and investing in the time it takes to enjoy its self-awareness and absurdity.

I do not usually leave reviews, but I noticed nobody has reviewed this anime after watching all of it. So I would share my thoughts.

Maicching Machiko-sensei is a pretty good episodic anime which offers an interesting insight into cultural trends of the early 80s in Japan. Such as the downfall of model making, puppet shows and small businesses coupled with the rise of arcades, takenoko dancers and rock music.

Each episode is pretty much standalone, however there is good continuity between episodes with characters making reference to previous events. The show often follows one of three general ideas. A talented person becomes unavailable to ... do their job and Miss Machiko is able to fill in for them and is a perfect fit whether it be as a singer, circus performer or voice actress. Miss Machiko will meet a struggling person and will work with the kids to turn their life around, such as a struggling noodle seller or puppet show owner. Finally, there are episodes where Miss Machiko meets a man she likes and the students as well as her colleague Yamagata work together to ensure Miss Machiko stays single out of their own self interest.

This leads in to the biggest weakness in the anime, without a doubt the meanness of Kenta, the young boy and main character of the anime. He is a complete asshole. Unlike a character like Bart Simpson who rivals with equally mean spirited teachers, Kenta is a bully for absolutely no reason to people who constantly treat him well and it becomes frustrating how often he gets away with his behaviour without any repercussions. Even his best friend Kameyama seems to be scared of him and his constant sexual harassment of his teacher and classmates is always excused as 'oh this is just how boys show their love'. The only times I really enjoyed this show was when Kenta was not on screen or in the few episodes where he finally had some punishment.

The other children in the school are very one dimensional characters and are easy to forget with the exception of Maruko who is quite funny. Yamagata is a good character and the series improves once his role grows (around episode 10), it is entertaining to see him completely fail to gain Machiko's interest and get shrugged off by all the other characters.

The anime also improves a lot with the introduction of Kagoshima (episode 56) as he bounces off Yamagata to create an interesting ongoing rivalry for Machiko's affections. At this point the episodes improve a lot and some of the episodes are really standout and are a pleasure to watch. Despite the quality of the last 20 or so episodes, the show sadly ends quite flatly with no major climax or event.

If you are interested in 80s anime then this is a must watch. If you can enjoy Kenta than you will love this show. Otherwise this anime has a ceiling of 6/10. With a 7/10 for episodes 60-95.