This is a review for Samurai Pizza Cats but to explain the title, that is the Japanese title for the show and this review is for that version and not the gag dub to avoid confusion. With that disclaimer done, here is my review on Kyatto Ninden Teyandee.
We begin the series in Edoropolis, a modern day city mixed with feudal Japan populated by robot animals. This town is led by Shogun Iei Iei Tokugawa whose pretty much lost all his screws in terms of mindset, his Prime Minister Korn is plotting to overthrow him with aid from a family of ninja crows led by Gennari & managed by Karamaru; they do so with various plots often involving a large robot Oppressing the people and using the Shogun as a scapegoat, or trying to uncover other things like weapons or large sums of money, anyway to overthrow the Shogun.
The Chief of the Palace Guard Wanko, decides to form a team of Ninjas to combat the evils of Lord Korn; they are the Nyankees who work under disguise as Pizza Delivery men at a popular restaurant called Pizza Cat which explains where that comes from in the first place.
The team of three consists of Yattaro who plays the typical hero lead and is usually the one to finish the battle with his final attack, Pururun the only female who to be honest is typical female lead material and Skashee the hopeless romantic that makes an ideal third character, to be honest not much changes in 23 years, we still get teams like that and one only has to look at Pokemon's regular lineups over the years to see.
The restaurant is managed by Otama who takes in all the communications and launches the Nyankees by means of a clock tower gun. Couple of other characters are Omitsu a kind sheep girl who sprays out missiles when she's upset, the rescue squad consisting of four other ninja cats with special equipment specific to certain situations, the spoilt Princess Usako, the mother & son who appear once an episode and state the obvious and the Narrator who always speaks with the same Tatsunoko catchphrase "Allow me to Explain"
The series is basically a robot of the week affair; the plot happens and the Nyankees sort it out and ending in the same way each time with only a couple of more important plots breaking the chain. There's some slapstick in places and the retro music stops the combat from getting repetitive. But there is one thing about this show which makes it so strange is that it was even dubbed at all.
This show is very, very Japanese and even translated into subtitles it's blatantly obvious that this show would be lost on an American Audience, especially when the Ninja Turtles were taking most of the Cartoon viewing at the time. The fact that Saban barely received any of the translation notes was a bit of accidental genius as the team then decided it was best to play it as a gag show to get around the fact that a) they had nothing to translate with and b) the weirdness could easily be shown as a gag series, the title Samurai Pizza Cats refers to the name of the restaurant crossed with the misconception that the characters were Samurai mainly due to their weapons consisting of Kitana, a flute & an umbrella with a sword inside it.
As a gag series in the states it surprisingly worked mainly because the Ninja Turtles made the Animal fighting shows popular and the 90s had so many different ones that Samurai Pizza Cats fit right in but how does the original hold up?
Well I'm not one for over done formulas this day and age but there is enough in the series to entertain everyone and if you can get past the heavy Japanese barrier it's very enjoyable.
Final Verdict: It's an easy show to watch if your an anime veteran but may be lost on a newbie especially when the original is packed to the brim with Japanese jokes, plots and themes. I recommend the sub for veterans who want to see what the original was really like and I recommend the gag dub for newbies and nostalgia fans who enjoy bonkers cartoons.
Kyatto Ninden Teyandee Review
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