Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series written and illustrated by Yoshio Sawai. The series was directed by Hiroki Shibata and produced by Toei Animation. The series aired in Japan from November 8, 2003 to October 29, 2005 on TV Asahi. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is a comedy influenced by Japanese manzai humor that uses puns, double-talk, breaking of the fourth wall, non-sexualized cross-dressing, visual gags, and satirical and pop-culture references, which makes its non sequitur humor very specific to Japanese audiences.

The English dub was produced by Phuuz Entertainment Inc., in association with Cloverway Inc., and first aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's Fridays block on September 30, 2005, followed by an encore presentation on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block the following day, October 1, 2005. The series then aired on Toonami until October 13, 2007.

Plot
In the year 3001.5, the entire world is under the tyrannical rule of the Margarita Empire, and their ruler, Czar Baldy Bald IV. His Hair Hunt troop captures innocent bystanders' hair, leaving the people bald and their villages in ruins. Standing against this evil regime is the heroic, but bizarre, rebel, Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo, who fights the Hair Hunt Troop with his powerful "Fist of the Nose Hair". His team consists of the normal teen girl Beauty, the smelly teen warrior Gasser and the Hajike leader Don Patch.

Protagonists
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo — Bobobo as he is often called, is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character of the series. Bobobo is an eccentric man with bodybuilder sized muscles and a giant yellow afro. He fights the forces of evil using his nose hair calling it his "Fist of the Nose Hair" and "Snot Fo-You" technique. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is 27 years old. It is unclear what race he is, or if he is even human. It was never fully explained in the show. His father was a hair ball like creature.

Beauty — The female heroine of Bo-bobo's group and usually the only girl when Torpedo Girl or Suzu are not around. A stereotypical teenage manga heroine, she is one of the few sane characters who is the first to join Bo-bobo and was the only citizen to still have hair after the attack of the town she lived in. She initially wanted to join Bo-bobo because she sought a life of adventure. Bo-bobo let her join him, but rejected Pickles at the same time. She has loving feelings for Gasser after he rescued her, but doesn't say anything about them. She is often exasperated by Bo-bobo's odd behavior or the behavior or actions of others, usually with the same face. She's the only person in the group that doesn't fight, but still criticizes the others' fighting styles. There are a few rare occurrences where she was forced to fight to defend herself, but it's only when Bo-bobo isn't around to protect her and at the last minute someone would come and save her.

Don Patch — He was the original leader (or "don") of the "Wiggin Tribe", a group of rebels who oppose Czar Baldy Bald IV. Don Patch has henchmen named Ko Patch. He quits the Wiggin Gang claiming that they never gave him space, but really so he could wig out more with Bo-bobo.

Gasser — The quiet but sensible teenage hero of Bobobo's group. He has short, spiky white hair with short bangs and Yellow/Gold eyes and also has gold earrings. He uses "True Fart Fist" as his martial art style. In the English Dub he uses "The Fist of The Back Wind" and was formerly an outcast who was studying Bo-bobo's power. He briefly broke from his trail to literally save the hair of a kidnapped Beauty. Gasser followed them to C-Block Base where he once again saved Beauty, and after Wall Man's defeat joined the team, but he rarely is seen fighting. He is actually mostly seen punching someone. He is another "sane" person among the group like Beauty, though he sometimes joins Bo-bobo in his antics or acts oddly on his own. Also like Beauty, he admires Bobobo from the sidelines and refers to him as "Mr. Bobobo". Like Beauty, Gasser gets shocked if someone does something stupid.

Jelly Jiggler — Has the ability to shape himself into any form. The captain of the A Block division of Hair Hunters, he also uses the fighting style the "Fist of the Wobble-Wobble". By the time he officially joins Bo-BoBo's team, he possesses a handkerchief called "the Lucky Hanky".He is used as a shield by Bo-Bobo constantly, but always bounces back (due to his ability to regenerate himself).

Softon — Softon's head resembles soft serve ice cream (hence his name). He was the guardian of the "Jet Black Room" of C-Block's "Aitsuhage Tower". Softon fights by channeling the power of "the Goddess Blabs-A-Lot". The shape of his head also resembles the typical manga depiction of feces. It is later revealed that this isn't his real face but a mask used to control his powers (similar to Gasser's collar). Softon allies with Bo-BoBo's team after Beauty is kidnapped, but doesn't officially join until the battle with Halekulani. In many episodes, Softon's "poop" jokes are directly copied from the manga, but put in the context of ice cream.

Dengakuman — His name is connected to "Dengaku", a snack food consisting of grilled tofu dipped in miso on a stick, which is his favorite food. At one time he was the head of the Z-Block, the most powerful of the Hair Hunting blocks. His major concerns in life are making people eat dengaku and making as many friends as possible. Though he gains friends, some of them ignore him. Bo-bobo and friends taught Dengakuman the true meaning of friendship. Soon he became their friend and joined the team. He is a white super deformed creature with a pointy head with a ball attached to his head and bears a strong resemblance to the Pillsbury Doughboy. Dengakuman can be violent but often he is portrayed as being an extremely weak character. Dengakuman actually claims that he is a dog, but he was only raised by dogs. Dengakuman can fuse with Bo-bobo to create a magical blonde popstar named Denbo; they become Super Denbo-chan if Dengakuman fuses with Super Bo-bobo.

Hatenko — A member of Don Patch's Hajikegumi gang. His name means "unprecedented" and he wields the "Fist of the Key". Like Bo-bobo, he is one of the few survivors from the Kingdom of Hair. He attacks enemies with keys and is obsessed with the courage and actions of his "boss", Don Patch, whom he calls "The Don". Hatenko was first found in the desert after being dumped by Torpedo Girl. He was then rescued by the KoPatches and was brought back to Don Patch. From that moment on, he joined the Wiggin Gang. Before then, Hatenko first met with Torpedo Girl right after betraying the J-Block Base that he once worked with. Hatenko briefly joins Bobobo's group, then leaves to migrate with his "family" to find food at baseball stadiums, but he really left so he could find someone to cure the curse mark OVER gave him.

Torpedo Girl — A powerful, unpredictable force not even Bo-bobo and his Wiggins quite understand when she first appears. Compared to her "other half" OVER, she is a living female torpedo with human arms and legs. Furthermore, compared to the patient anger held by the human form, she gets annoyed by even the slightest of comments, immediately responding by making her bomb-like body fly towards her opponent and smashing into them with intense force. Even if she explodes, she will reassemble instantly. Unlike Over, she is actually 28 years old. It is unknown why she is 28 and Over is three years younger.

Antagonists
Although Bo-bobo and his team come across many strange enemies through their journey, certain villains fight against them with great force as the bosses of this world. Within the modern Chrome Dome Empire, these include Czar Baldy-Bald IV, his Big Four (Captain Battleship, Kitty-Poo, OVER, Halekulani) and right hand man Giga. His battles further force him to encounter strong enemies outside his realm, including former Chrome Dome leader Czar Baldy-Bald III and Reverse Chrome Dome mastermind Hydrate.

Czar Baldy Bald IV — The leader of the "Chrome Dome Empire". He seems easily in control of his empire at the start of the series, but he slowly loses his authority as Bo-bobo and his allies take out his forces, from the Hair Hunters to his "Four Heavenly Kings" to even his prison island of Cyber City. Eventually, he further lost his grip as he was forced by Hair Hunters cryogenically frozen one-hundred years ago to release their leaders to take over this new era. Czar Baldy Bald also appears on the dollar bills of Halekulani. He is undoubtedly the weakest of his empire, shown as a cowardly strategist. He is 42 years old.

Captain Battleship — The first of the Chrome Dome Empire Big Four, under Czar Baldy-Bald IV. He is also Bo-bobo's former friend and sworn rival. This regent-haired, white bearded fighter had also been trained in the Fist of the Nose Hair alongside Bo-bobo in the Hair Kingdom, but turned against his afro-haired friend when Bo-bobo was chosen as the Seventh Master of the Fist of the Nose Hair by their teacher (a juice can). Bo-bobo was chosen over Battleship because Captain Battleship was not a citizen of the Hair Kingdom. Captain Battleship controls his vast military forces from the "Pomade Ring", a sky fortress flying over the destroyed Puppu City (Gasser's hometown). He uses his own style of "Fist of the Nosehair" as well as fights with weird antics, similarly to Bo-bobo. While most of the attacks are his own, his ultimate attack, "Armaggedon", has him calling up the Earth Defense Forces to attack for him. Like Bobobo, he is 27 years old.

Kittypoo — A horned cat-faced creature who is also the second of the Chrome Dome Empire Big 4. He fights like the Dragon Ball Z villain Freeza, to the point of flying around in a craft and mercilessly eliminating his enemies just like the famed manga tyrant. According to him, he's so powerful that even his servants Chocolate Munchie and Lemon Fizz are stronger than Captain Battleship. However, he is easily defeated by Don Patch shortly after he is introduced in both the anime and the manga. Kittypoo is best described as a reserved tyrant who is very polite despite his lust to kill. He is very strategic, as he learned all of Bobobo's weaknesses and strengths. His bodyguards include Chocolate Bar, Lemonade Fizz and Curry.

OVER — The ruthless third member of the Chrome Dome Empire Big 4, the four elite members of Czar Baldy Bald IV's Hair Hunting corp. Unlike many Hair Hunters outside those seen much earlier in the series, OVER takes his job of ripping the hair out of the subjects of the Empire extremely seriously and will treat all in his gaze as prey. This harshness for his job includes the treatment of his own teammates, as seen by his scalping of both Gunkan and Kitty Poo after their failures against Bo-bobo and the Hajike rebels. Although OVER can and will attack with little or no notice, he mostly controls his hair hunting activities from an ancient Japanese castle, where he controls a platoon of various ninja-like warriors including The Ultimate Five Assassins, who themselves are known for their stealth and abilities.

Halekulani — The last and the strongest of Czar Baldy Bald's Chrome Dome Empire Big 4. He is the owner of the Holy Guacamole Land amusement park. His main attack style is the Fist of Gorgeousness. This involves the control and manipulation of all monetary items, from coins to paper money to precious jewels. One of the most devastating of these attacks include wrapping his opponent with paper bills to transform them into what they are worth. He can also send opponents into a world based on the board game sugoroku and power up his "Super Fist of Gorgeousness" abilities by fusing with the many precious gems he can collect all over his armor. His personality is more realistic then the rest of the Big 4, not making a big deal of the intruders and giving the impression of a bored trillionaire. He even begins to doze off as Bobobo and his allies struggle to reach him to fight.

Giga — The leader of the prison island of Cyber City, the most powerful district of the Bald Empire, and Czar Baldy Bald IV's right hand man (though this could be seen as blackmailing). His main ability is the power of "Fist of Object D'Art", which allows for the creation of pieces of art that he uses to attack. This ability also allows him to transform enemies into art, both for his collection and to assist him in powering up upon breaking them. After absorbing many of his creations, he is able to transform into "Super Giga", which has more powerful armor and much longer pigtailed hair. He is 34 years old. He is known for his supreme over-confidence to the point that he feels that when he fights, he doesn't even need a super fist.

Czar Baldy Bald III — The old emperor of the Margarita Empire, locked away within the center of "Neo Hair-Hunt Land MAX", an amusement park thrown right on top of the old A-Block Amusement Park. Although he appears to be human, he is actually a demon cyborg. He uses "Fist of Red Magic" which creates attacks based on magic tricks, to avoid the attacks of his enemies and attack them back physically, and "Fist of Blue Magic", released only within a special universe he creates through a magic handkerchief, to destroy souls and minds. Unlike the current emperor, who wants everyone to be bald, Czar Baldy Bald III wants to destroy all humans and then get the "Hair Ball", the source of power of the Hair Kingdom which gives them their hair abilities, for himself.

Hydrate — Known as the "Dark Emperor", he is the mad leader of the Reverse Chrome Dome Empire that exists underground beneath the castle of the real Margarita Empire. In actuality, Hydrate is also the little brother of Czar Baldy Bald IV, forced into the shadows due to his brother becoming the emperor of the country. Through training alongside "Landmine Dandy" (the father of Torpedo Girl), he eventually became a master of "Fist of Foot Sole", allowing him to attack his opponents with the empowered soles of his feet! But it was not enough to defeat the 4th, who eventually threw him away into the "Dark World", where he eventually established his own empire and army to take down his brother and the people of the surface! He is 38 yrs old.

Protagonists=

Episodes
The English dub of the series was produced by Phuuz Entertainment Inc., in association with Cloverway Inc. The English dub was censored at some points in order to receive a lower TV-rating, allowing it to be broadcast to a younger audience demographic. Despite its limitations, the American dub of the anime manages to preserve the spirit of the show; the translators and adaptation writers were forced to rewrite several of the jokes due to the differences between the Japanese and English languages. At several points in the dub, the American version makes fun of the fact that it is a translation of a Japanese product (for example, when Bo-bobo is filling out an application card in episode two, he botches it because the application is in Japanese and he cannot read it, instead drawing "little doodles" for answers; in the original Japanese version he messes up the application for a completely different reason, and the "little doodles" are his honest answers written in hiragana). Additionally, with the exception of the opening credits, all other on-screen Japanese text is intentionally kept in the English dub (most likely as a part of the retaining the show's surreal humor).

The series was originally licensed for home video release in North America by Illumitoon Entertainment who released only 2 volumes on bilingual DVD in 2007 before their distribution deal with Westlake Entertainment fell through, and all further volumes were canceled. S'more Entertainment later announced on January 16, 2012 that they would be releasing the complete series to bilingual DVD in North America. On April 10, 2012 Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo: The Complete Series, Part 1 was released and on November 19, 2012 Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo: The Complete Series, Part 2 was released.

In August of 2018, it was announced that Discotek Media had acquired the North American distribution rights to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo and will be releasing the series on standard definition Blu-Ray, with both English and Japanese versions. Unlike the S'more Entertainment's collection released in 2012, Discotek's Japanese version will include English subtitles.

Broadcast History
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo premiered in Japan from November 8, 2003 to October 29, 2005 on TV Asahi. The series first aired in the United States as a sneak peek on Cartoon Network's Fridays block on September 30, 2005 and then aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block from October 1, 2005 to October 13, 2007.


 * Japan (TV Asahi) — November 8, 2003 - October 29, 2005
 * United States (Cartoon Network) — September 30, 2005 - November 25, 2006 ; February 17, 2007 - October 13, 2007
 * United Kingdom (Jetix) — April 16, 2007 - 2008

Toonami Broadcast History
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on October 1, 2005 at 10:30 PM, replacing Justice League Unlimited. Bobobo was pre-empted, for one night only, on November 5, 2005 due to the hour-long premiere of IGPX. On December 10, 2005 the series moved to the 10:00 PM time slot. During the first two weeks of A Month of Miyazaki, the series aired at 10:30 PM. However, the series was pre-empted by A Month of Miyazaki during the final two weeks of the event. After the event (April 15, 2006) the series returned to the 10:00 PM time slot. On July 8, 2006 Bobobo was moved back to the 10:30 PM time slot. However, on August 12, 2006 it returned to the 10:00 PM time slot. From October 14-28, 2006 and November 11-18, 2006, Bobobo was replaced in the lineup by movie presentations and after the November 25, 2006 broadcast (episode 50) the series was removed from the lineup entirely.

The series returned to the Toonami lineup on February 17, 2007 at 8:30 PM, picking up where it left off with episode 51. on June 9, 2007 Bobobo was moved to the 10:00 PM time slot. On August 25, 2007 it was moved to the 9:30 PM time slot, where it stayed until it completed its run on October 13, 2007. Subsequently, the series was made available on Toonami Jetstream from November 5, 2007 to June 30, 2008.


 * Toonami (United States) — October 1, 2005 - November 25, 2006 ; February 17, 2007 - October 13, 2007