Bomberman Jetters

:"For the video game of the same name, see Bomberman Jetters (video game)Infobox animanga/Header
name = flagicon|Japan Bomberman Jetters
flagicon|Hong Kong BOM BOM彈珠人太空保衛篇
BOM BOM 彈珠人太空戰士


caption =
ja_name = ボンバーマン ジェッターズ
ja_name_trans = Bonbāman Jettāzu
genre = Adventure, comedy, science fictionInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Katsuyuki Kodera
studio = NAS, Studio Deen, Echo animation, Ajia-do Animation Works (assistant)
network = flagicon|Japan TV Tokyo
flagicon|Hong Kong TVB Kids, TVB Jade
flagicon|Canada Fairchild TV
first = flagicon|Japan 2002-10-02 - 2003-09-24
flagicon|Hong Kong 2006-05-16 (TVB Jade)
flagicon|Canada 2007-12-16
last =
episodes = 52

nihongo|"Bomberman Jetters"|ボンバーマン ジェッターズ|Bonbāman Jettāzu is a anime based on the popular video game series "Bomberman" created by Hudson Soft. The show ran for a total of 52 episodes in Japan on TV Tokyo. The soundtrack was composed by Kazunori Maruyama. Unlike the Bomberman Bakugaiden anime of the late 90's, this series is very true to the Bomberman videogames.

The anime tells the story of the "Higehige dan", or "Higehige bandits", who are a group of thieves foiled constantly by the Jetters.

The Jetters consist of Mighty (the Legendary Bomberman), Dr. Ein, the founder as well as Gangu's creator, Birdy, Shout, Bongo, Gangu, and White Bomber-Mighty's younger brother.

Plot

Mighty, expert Bomberman and the leader of the Jetters, a highly trained intergalactic police force for keeping unique items safe from the Hige-Hige bandits, disappears while on a mission. Dr. Ein accepts Mighty's younger brother, White Bomber(man) (Shirobon in Japanese), into the Jetters because they need a Bomberman for the team. White Bomberman is clumsy and childish, but idolizes his older brother. After assuming his place as the Bomberman of the Jetters, White Bomberman and the rest of the Jetters have many adventures, foiling the plans of Doctor Mechadoc and Mujoe to steal one-of-a-kind objects, facing off against the Hige-Hige Bandits, and returning antiques to the rightful owner.

Early episodes of Bomberman Jetters started out with the infamous "monster of the week" formula, where Dr. Mechadoc and Mujoe would send in one of their "Super Combined" Bombermen one at a time to attack the Jetters.

Eventually the format shifted from light-hearted comedy "monster of the week" to a more dramatic, darker action story with drama dealing with the trials of death, betrayal and revenge. This includes characters going through their own trials with huge character development such as Shout learning the truth about her mother, how Bagura first met Mujoe, and Shirobon dealing with the trials learning the truth of what happened to his older brother Mighty. But still retained the lighter aspect. This is the second time that any Bomberman media took on a darker approach, the first being for the Nintendo 64.

Characters

Jetters

*Shirobon (White Bomber) - A native Bomberman from planet Bomber, Shirobon is very clumsy and quite dense. He wrecks things by accident, in sharp contrast to his older brother Mighty. His little accidents tend to make a critical situation worse, much to Shout's frustration. He also will brag endlessly about any achievement, no matter how little. Shirobon may mess up sometimes but he always means well and always tries to help. It is said that he is ten years old. Shirobon doesn't seem to get angry at Shout no matter how many times she yells, curses and hits him (Although this is purely out of fear of inciting Shout's wrath even further, rather than out of affection). He joined Jetters in episode 2, thanks to Momo's relationship with Dr. Ein.

*Shout - Shout is the bad mouthed leader of the Jetters, who filled in for Mighty after his disappearance. She is also the only female member of the Jetters. Shout picks on Shirobon, but she actually cares for him like a brother. Her mother died in a space flight accident when she was an infant. Her age is unknown but she appears to be about the same age as Shirobon. In her civilian mode, she runs a ramen restaurant.

*Gangu - A robot created by Dr. Ein. He is a unique robot that wields gizmos in his body to assist the Jetters. He hates it when Bongo modifies him, especially for cooking. He did not remember when he was created or who created him, and has a recurring dream about fighting and defeating a giant robot. One day when he asked out loud, Dr. Ein admitted to it, and told him an elaborate story about the reason for his creation, after which Dr. Ein said it was all a lie. (But Ein did create Gangu, however)

*Bongo - A hairy, large-bodied inventor from planet Dodonpa who helps Dr. Ein and enjoys modifying Gangu, mostly without Gangu's permission. Also, like most of his species, he enjoys curry and ends his sentences with "bongo." Though he doesn't look like it, he is actually a royal prince.

*Birdy - An anthropomorphic bird and a member of the Jetters and a personal friend of Mighty. Birdy is a competent fighter and rarely reveals his emotions, but he loses his temper easily. As a side job he works as a taxi driver. He is mysterious and goes out by himself a lot, but none of the other Jetters knows what he does or where he goes when he "goes out". Birdy can fight well and can make wings come out of his back to fly, and he can throw sharp feathers.

*Mighty - Shirobon's brother and bears a striking resemblance to original Bomberman. Mighty has a silver visor covering his right eye, wears a red cape and has slightly thicker eyebrows and has fingers, but those are the only major differences between him and Bomberman. It is later revealed that his grandfather wore similar clothing. Mighty and Shirobon also share a very close brother bond. Mighty has some of the personality traits of Shirobon. Mighty can create the thunder bomb. After his brief return to Planet Bomber in episode 1 to guard Cosmo Diamond, he went on to another mission to planet Nonbiri. After landed on planet Nonbiri, Mighty took on missions against Higehige forces on his own, but after the last base had been destroyed, Mighty had never been found since.

*Dr. Ein - A scientist who founded the Jetters. He has an annoying tendency to blow his nose on any piece of paper nearby, including letters of resignation, leading, understandably, to much confusion. He also has a crush on Momo, Shirobon and Mighty's grandmother. Often regarded as a joke character, he actually has a serious side. Ein tells the Jetters when there are missions. Dr. Ein also chatters on his relationship with Momo in various occasions.

Hige-Hige

*President Bagura - Bagura (a.k.a. Bagular) is the mastermind behind the Hige-Hige Gang, with the goal of collecting universally unique items. He is not actually evil, and was great friends with the Jetters' founder, Dr. Ein, but they were split by an intense rivalry for the affections of Momo, Shirobon and Mighty's grandmother. Later episodes, it's revealed that Bagular is nothing more than a pawn in Dr Mechadoc's sinister scheme of over throwing him to take over the Hige Hige Bandits. He resembles a large blue beardly old man with a letter B on his forehead and wears one gold monocle over one of his eyes and his a belt, gloves and a red cape.

*Mujoe - A pawn of Bagular, Mujoe is usually in charge of commanding the Hige-Hige Gang's troops. He resembles a pro wrestler, in that he has blonde hair, a blonde mustache/beard and a strange-looking spandex suit. He also wears shades and a large green cape. Mujoe used the Super Combined Bomberman Making Machine and shot at Charaboms to make Mermaid Bomber, Thunder Bomber, Fire Bomber, and Grand Bomber.

*Dr. Mechadoc - Mechadoc is the Hige Hige Bandits' mad scientist and Bagular's more trusted right hand henchman who does all the building and machinery for Bagular and the Hige Hige Bandits. In Episode 40: Coup d'état Outbreak!, it was revealved that Mechadoc and Bagura went to the same science academy back in their younger days, and Mechadoc blames Bagura for stealing his ideas about the bomb crystals. As a result, Mechadoc goes into a corrupted berserk rage, locking Bagura up in prison and taking over the Hige Hige Bandits. Since the bomb crystals are inside Planet Bomber, his ultimate plan is to collide both planet Bomber and planet Jetters together until both planets are destroyed. His main creation is the Super Combined Bomberman Making Machine to turn any inanimate objects or helpless Charaboms into his own Bombermen.

*Max (MA-10 [X] ) - At first solely referred to as the infamous "Space Bounty Hunter," it is later discovered that he is a creation of Mechadoc. He has no feelings or compassion, and will do whatever it takes to reach his goal. He uses the lightning bomb and balloon bomb similar to the missing Mighty. He dies in episode 51 but manages to write his data into Zero in the same episode hence taking control of his body.

*Hige-Hige bandits - The basic members of the Hige-Hige gang equal of strength to the bombermen. Created by Bagura, they are very powerful when separated and even more powerful in numbers. The Hige-Hige seem to be always happy in every piece of work they are doing but still expect to be paid for it. To those outside the Hige-Hige Bandits, excluding Mujoe, it appears all they can say is "Hige", but it is apparently a language in and of itself.There are Three types of Hige-Hige bandits. Their uniform consists of an orange scarf, white boots and gloves, and a black full body armor.

*Mama - An alien-like bartender working in the Hige-Hige headquarter. Mujoe showed great affection over Mama.

Combination bombers

Combination bombers are created using MechaDoc's combining machine, debuted in episode 2.

*Bat Bomber - A bomber created in episode 3 when the combined bomber machine was tested on a bat. Has bat wings and a pig nose. His special bomb is the bat bomb which flies around before releasing a swarm of bats. It reappeared to compete in B-1 grand prix, but was defeated by Pretty Bomber in 1st round.

*Dolphin Bomber - A bomber created in episode 4, capable of making ultrasound bombs and toss back bombs thrown by opponents. However, it has uncontrollable urge of jumping hoops. It was destroyed by Shirobom's bomb when Dolphin Bomber tries to jump through a hoop created by modifying Gangu. It reappeared to compete in B-1 grand prix, but lost in 1st round when the pool where Dolphin Bomber is in dried up.

*Coma Bomber - A spinning top bomber created in episode 5 to help Mujoe to dig tunnels, but it is incapable of digging tunnels. It can create spinning top bombs, but it prefers to play tricks with the bombs then to use them as weapons. It was destroyed by Shirobom's bomb after Shout had trapped it in elevator. It reappeared to compete in B-1 grand prix, but when fought against Hige hige unit #156 in 1st round, #156 crouched, caused Coma Bomber to fly off the field and lost.

*Housing Bomber - A bomber created in episode 6, during the duel between Shirobom and Mujoe, when Mujoe tried to attack Shirobom with combining machine, Shout knock down the machine with boomerang, the machine's beam hit sheriff's office instead. Housing Bomber was destroyed by Max's lightning bomb.

*Bear Bomber - A bomber created in episode 8 in the ice comet. It does not throw bomb, but attacks with his claws. After it was tossed in the air by Bongo with bear trap made from Gangu, it was destroyed by Shirobom's bomb. It reappeared to compete in B-1 grand prix, but was defeated by Bomber Kid.

*Kamome Bomber - A seagull bomber appeared in episode 9 in search of unique item. Under the order of Mujoe, it attacks by firing missile, but was destroyed by Max's lightning bomb. It reappeared to compete in B-1 grand prix and was able to win first round, but lost in 2nd round when referee declared it was absent even though it was on the battlefield. It was even around in the final episode. He exists purely as a joke character.

*Dark Force Bomber - The anime Dark Force Bomber was created by combining Mechadoc with the four Proto-Max units. His only attack is the Dark Force Bomb, and although his name is "Dark Force Bomber" he looks angelic in appearance.

Bomber Shitennou

These bombers were created in episode 13 by Mujoe using Mechado's new combination machines on groups of Rapid Panther, Triple Shell, Pteragodon, Elex. The quartet have the ability to create unique arena that maximizes indivual bomber's power.

*Flame Bomber - A flame wielding Bomber who was the first Bomber Shitennou seen in action and defeated White Bomber with his own two hands but was overpowered then destroyed by White Bomber's new flame based bomb star. After it was destroyed in episode 16, it returned into 3 Pteragodon. He can make flame fire bomb.

*Mermaid Bomber - A female water wielding Bomber who took over the job of the destroyed Flame Bomber in episode 17. During her encounter with Jetters, she fell in love with Birdy but was brought down by Shirobon. She is proud and arrogant. She likes to use her looks on Mujoe to get what she wants. After Mermaid Bomber had been destroyed by Shirobom's Sunrise Thunder Bomb in episode 18, she returned into 3 Triple Shell. She can make splash water bombs.

*Grand Bomber - A strong and kind Bomber Shitennou. He befriends Shirobon not knowing he was a part of the Jetters. When faced with destroying Shirobon, he cannot bring himself to and convinces White Bomber to destroy him. He can make clay bombs.

*Thunder Bomber - The Electric wielding final Bomber Shitennou. Incredibly loyal to Mujoe and emotional, he wants to expose those who are framing Mujoe at all costs. He is later destroyed by Max's signature attack, Hyper Plasma Bomb.

Proto-Max

The Proto-Max units are the other MA-X series prototypes besides Max.

*Zero (MA-0) - A mysterious android who wields extreme speed and power. He usually wears a cloak in public and bears an extreme resemblance to Max. He is, in fact, the MA-X prototype MA-0 (hence the unfinished eye plate). He was sent out to absorb Mighty's bomb abilities and unexpectedly absorbed/copied Mighty's soul in the process. Zero attacked Mechadoc upon awakening, but Mechadoc disabled him and left him in the ruins of the previous Hige-Hige base that had been destroyed by Mighty. Zero works with a thief named Misty, a previous acquaintance to Mighty that found the android while looting the ruins, and tries to keep his true identity hidden. Zero dies in the final episode.

*Drill-Max (MA-3) - A Proto-Max unit with a drill on his right arm and a fin coming out from each eye-plate. It was defeated by Shirobon and Birdy.

*Proto-Max Jr. (MA-5) - A very short MA unit who wore shorts, and attacked with a slingshot. It was defeated by Ninja Bomber and Bomber the Kid.

*Heavy-Max (MA-7) - A Proto-Max unit with head attached directly to his torso, and was much bulkier than the others. It was defeated by Oyabon and Daibon.

*Boomerang-Max (MA-9) - A Proto-Max with two purple spikes coming out from under his helmet, had no razor crest, and used a boomerang. It was defeated by Zero.

Other Bombermen

*Virtual Bomber - The trainer bomberman that Shirobom fought in the training tower.

*Oyabon - First runner-up in the B-1 grand prix at least twice, losing to Mighty and then Zero. Momo's former student. Uses the "Banchou bomb", "banchou" referring to the leader of a student gangster group. The name "Oyabon" is a pun on the word "oyabun", meaning "boss".

*Kobon - Shirobon's friend and Oyabon's follower, but he cannot use bombs because he does not train. Constantly praises Oyabon after he speaks, stating that he "will take this lesson to heart". The name "Kobon" is a pun on the word "kobun", meaning "underling".

*Daibon - A cowardly Bomberman. Followed by a being much like Rui named Pui.

*Bombaasan/Momo - A very swift and powerful female Bomber who lived with her grandsons, Shirobon and Mighty. She taught them most of what they knew as bombers and constantly tries to help Shirobon improve his skills. "Bombaasan" is a pun on the Japanese phrase "(o)baasan", or "grandmother".

*Silver Bomber - A senior B-1 grand prix competitor against Shirobon in 2nd round, and was defeated by Shirobon using Silver Bomber's own technique.

Bombermen from older video games

*Pretty Bomber - A pink female bomber who has a large fan base (including Bongo and Gangu). Uses the "Pretty Bomb." Pretty Bomber won 1st round in the B-1 grand prix, but was absent in 2nd round.

*Bomber (the) Kid - A cowboy bomber who can fire bombs at the speed of a bullet.

*Bomber Ninja - A ninja bomber who specializes in confusing the enemy within clouds of smoke. Uses the "Shuriken bomb". During B-1 grand prix against Shirobon in 1st round, it was defeated by Shirobon's fire bomb.

Charabom

Charaboms are unique and sometimes quite powerful creatures from the planet Charabom. Most Charaboms have an element that corresponds to their attack. The Charaboms serve as a type of the "animals".

*Pommy Dragon (Dragon Pommy) - A red, fire breathing Charabom living in the ice comet, appeared in episode 8.

*Hiroshi - A pink, Eleph Charabom debuted in episode 11. The charabom first appeared from an escape pod crash landed into Jetters base on Planet Jetters. The Hiroshi name was given by Bomberman. After it had been returned to its mother in episode 12, the Jetters learnt Hiroshi was a female charabom named Catherine.

*Mama Elephan - Mother of Hiroshi, it is a Big Elephan captured by Mujoe for unique item in episode 11. At episode 12, it was shown it lived inside a cave located in earth attribute continent.

*Ptera - The Pteragodon police officer debuted in episode 11.

*Triple Shell - The Triple Shell police officer debuted in episode 11.

*Elex - The Elex police officer debuted in episode 11.

*Panther Fang - The Panther Fang police officer debuted in episode 13.

*Rapid Panther - The Rapid Panther police officer debuted in episode 13.

Other characters

*Louie (Rui) - Louie is a green, kangaroo-like animal with rabbit ears who helps Bomberman by letting him ride on his back. His species is one generally chosen by Bombermen as a sidekick. Louie often washes dishes at the Jetters ramen shop. Louie is also a good ramen cook and is very devoted to whatever he does. In one episode, Louie and Birdy had to protect a rare trumpet because Shout and Shirobon were sick. Louie tried to protect it with a broom (and later, a vacuum cleaner) and fireworks. All he can say is "Rui", his name. Gangu and Shirobon are the only ones who can fully understand him, but Birdy did buy a book on Rooey language in the aforementioned episode.

*Misty - Misty is a cat-like girl with a short temper like Shout, debuted in episode 10. Before her encounter with Shirobon, she had met Mighty and Birdy in a ruby heist. After being saved by Shirobom, she gave red bombstar to Shirobon. Despite that she is a space thief, she fell in love with Mighty, and later took in Zero after finding him while at the site of Mighty's death. She realized Zero's true identity soon after meeting him, and constantly gets him to reveal knowledge only Mighty should have known without him knowing it.

*Twist - Shout's father and a noodle store owner. He usually appears with newspaper covering his face.

*Natsumi - Shout's mother, who died during the explosion of 1988A supernova.

*Dr. Gasket - A scientist who studied and worked for Dr. Ein, and inventor of transporter. Has a habit of shouting his name before and after sentences.

*Acho - Commander of Chige-Chige army in planet Charabom, debuted in episode 12. Bears a striking resembalance to Mujoe, causing Charabom police to pursue Mujoe.

*Nightly - A large duck-like character who is an expert at gathering information, debuted in episode 9. Usually seen wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, his main client is Birdy.

Jetters Vehicles

When sent to other planets on missions, the Jetters take the Cosmo Jetter. A variety of sub-vehicles in different pods can be attached to the Cosmo Jetter and are equipped from the Jetters HQ.

*Cosmo Jetter
*Marine Jetter - Debuted in Episode 4.
*Drill Jetter - Debuted in Episode 5.
*Sky Jetter

Running Gags

*Shirobon usually tries to distract his opponents by saying, "Look, a komodo dragon." He learned this from Shout, who used it first in Episode 3.
*Whenever Mujoe tries to thank MechaDoc with a slap on the back, he would send MechaDoc flying face first into something like a wall or heavy piece of machinery.
*In some episodes, the Higehige grunts help Shirobon when he's hungry, sick, or can't find the bathroom, usually enabling him to focus on defeating them.
*Whenever Shirobon wins a new Bomb star, he'll always reply with a catchphrase like "I'm a Jetter, that's why I have two Bomb Stars," followed by the repeating of the number of Bomb Stars, which results in Shout strangling him or holding him over a cliff by his antenna.
*Gangu being remodeled by Bongo into any useful object.
*Shout being called fat, mostly by Mujoe or Shirobon. She is also found trying to change scales in various episodes for unknown reasons.

Differences and similarities from the games

Differences
*Shirobon has an oval shaped head.
*MAX is a villain and creation of Mechadoc. He also has red eyes rater than blue ones.
*The Jetters may be the planetary police force that White Bomber is part of in the games, but in the games, it is never named, has more members, etc.
*Most of the Characters are exculsive in the anime.
*The bombs are not used the same way in the anime. Most of the bombermen use special bombs, like Fire Bomb which turns the bomb into a fireball or Plasma and turns it into an energy ball, and black time bombs are rarely used. Bombermen will always say "Bomber Shoot" when throwing or launching a bomb, instead of it being laid.
*Louie is much smaller in the anime as compared to his game counter-part. But this could be because he's younger than the game counterparts.

Similarities
*The Jetters may be the intergalactic police force that White Bomber is part of in the games.
*Shout's design borrows a few striking resemblance to Lilith, a female character from Bomberman 64: Second Attack.

Episodes

Japanese Voice Cast

*Tomoko Kaneda as White Bomber/Shirobon
*Risa Mizuno as Shout
*Kouji Ishii as Mujoe
*Masami Iwasaki as Birdy
*Hiroki Takahashi as Mighty, Max, and Zero
*Haruhi Terada as Rui/Louie and Younger Momo-chan (Episode 27)
*Kenichi Ogata as Dr Ein
*Mugihito as Souto Bagura
*Naoki Tatsuta as Dr. MechaDoc
*Rica Matsumoto as Misty
*Hiroshi Shimozaki as Virtual Bomber (Episode 16)
*Mariko Nagahama as Pommy Dragon, Bachan and Danny
*Kaori Asou as Momo and Mermaid Bomber
*Kei Wanatabe as Flame Bomber
*Holly Kaneko as Grand Bomber
*Eiji Takemoto as Thunder Bomber

Adaptations

There are Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy Advance adaptations of the anime, also called Bomberman Jetters. Only the GameCube version is available in the US.

The Gamecube Jetters Game features Shirobon as the main character and uses the same-style cel-shaded animation as Bomberman Generations, while the Game Boy Advance version features Mighty Bomber as the main character using the same Zelda-style gameplay as Bomberman Tournament.

There are also 2 Jetters game for GBA. The first one is similar to Bomberman Story, but player controls Mighty. Bomberman Jetters Game Collection is a collection of Mini-games in addition to the Bomberman multiplayer battle mode where you can choose to play as the characters from the TV series such as White Bomber, Shout, Birdy, Mujo, Mighty and others. Unlike most Bomberman games, each character has their own special attack to use as well. For example, Birdy can make whirlwinds from his wings while Shout can use her Boomerang weapon.

External links

* [http://www.hudson.co.jp/gamenavi/gamedb/softinfo/bomb_jetters/anime/ Hudson.Co.Jp Bomberman Jetters] Official Japanese Bomberman Jetters Anime site
*
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20031001222135/www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/bomberman/ TV Tokyo page]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20041208230927/http://www.deen.co.jp/bom/bom_index.htm Studio Deen page]
* [http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~konoe/bmjep.htm Jetters episode guide]