Recommending Yankee Reppu-tai

Part of the reason I enjoy watching anime I’m unfamiliar with is the rare occasional discovery of forgotten gems. The Yankee Reppu-tai OVA series is one such forgotten gem. Toei produced the six 50-minute OVAs based on Masahide Motohashi’s 28-volume manga series. The series was directed by veteran animator Tetsuro Imazawa, who also directed the Sangokushi TV movies, Montana Jones, and Rokushin Gattai GodMars. The first two episodes premiered in 1989, culminating the golden age. While the series’ animation quality isn’t exceptional, it’s stylish and filled with characteristics flourishes of the era including dynamic light effects including the trailing headlights most associated with Akira, as well as other creative & stylish shot compositions.

The series revolves around 18-year-old Monda Monnojo who seems on first impression to be a carefree, playful and silly adolescent with an affection for his souped-up Subaru 360 convertible.

However, circumstances reveal that he’s actually a near superhumanly tough street fighter with a strong sense of honor. Monda’s personality is an extreme version of characters like Ryo Saeba and Vash the Stampede. When he’s among his friends and especially with his girlfriend, Mari, he’s lighthearted and goofy. But he turns authoritative and pugilistic at a moment’s notice, barking out his name and affiliation before engaging in brutal fights involving bare knuckles, boken, knives, razor blades, and broken glass bottles.

Now, if I may be forgiven for making some “l33t” comparisons, the first episode feels like a more substantial and better produced sibling to Gainax’s Circuit no Okami II OVA. Members of the Black Zeppelin gang wreck Monda’s car, so Monda beats up the gangsters responsible. The Black Zeppelin’s leader, Ryuji Hanaoka, who happens to be the hot-headed heir to the Kanto Hanaoka Rengo yakuza clan, sets out to avenge the honor of his gang by defeating Monnojo, so he works his way through every Monnojo in the phone book (literally), and doesn’t even spare his wrath when facing girls. But when he faces off against Monda, he learns how a real man comports himself.

The second episode feels a bit more like a combination of Bari Bari Densetsu with Batsu & Terry. The series’ concentration begins to shift away from cars & street racing toward yakuza-style conflicts between gangs. Monda is formally designated the second generation leader of the Reppu-tai gang, and Ryuji becomes his kouhai. Monda gets stabbed in the gut. Meanwhile, in a moment of opportunity, Tetsu steals Monda’s Reppu-tai uniform. In an attempt to impress his girlfriend, Tetsu impersonates Monda until he runs into a rival gang that isn’t impressed by Monda’s reputation. The real Monda Monnojo then has to come out of hospitalization to rescue Tetsu, defend his gang’s honor, and finally personally beat some more sense into Tetsu.

Beginning in the third episode released in 1990, the tone of the series changes slightly to feel more like a hybrid of Shounen Bakusozoku with Batsu & Terry. Monda insists that his underling Ryuji take responsibility for having beat up Michi in the first episode. Meanwhile the Spider gang moves into town and tries to make a name for itself by attempting to kill Ryuji. Ryuji survives, so he and his senpai inflict their revenge on the Spiders gang members.

In the 1991 fourth episode Ryuji & Tetsu officially become members of the Reppu-tai. Meanwhile the hulking leader of the Spiders gang vows to get even with the leader of the Reppu-tai. The climactic throwdown results in the Spiders’ boss pledging his respect and loyalty to Monnojo.

The fifth & sixth episodes, released in 1994 & 1996, are a two-part story about an elder gang with an old grudge returning to extract its vengeance upon the current generation of the Reppu-tai. Unfortunately, the climactic ten minutes of episode 5 were missing in the episode I watched. Thankfully I was largely able to piece together what happened from flashbacks in episode 6. The primary character designs in these two episodes look very slightly more lanky, and Mari distinctly looks a little bit older in episode 6.

No one dies in the series (with one exception in the final episode), but occasionally the violence is surprisingly and shockingly intense. Apart from the 80’s art design, I can imagine two details about the series potentially bothering contemporary viewers. After the first episode Ryuji Hanaoka’s personality changes so drastically that he’s barely recognizable as the same character, even though subsequent episodes continue to deal with the consequences of his actions in the first episode. More importantly, I can easily imagine that overly sensitive contemporary viewers will take offense because Tetsu’s hair is trimmed in the shape of a swastika. The fashion is strictly based on visual appeal and reflects the “manji” character used to spell his name. In the anime, it doesn’t have any Nazi association.

A bit different from many other bosozoku & zokusha culture anime, including Badboys, Kyo Kara Ore Wa, Korogashi Ryota, Yokohama Meibutsu Otoko Katayama Gumi, Yankee Gurentai, and Taiman Blues,Yankee Reppu-tai sustains a much more effective balance of humor and action without being puerile. Monda sometimes acts silly, but the anime series itself never seems silly. It feels comparable to Hana no Asuka-gumi but with a sense of fun. Moreover, as a product of its era, the anime series is filled with lovely and creative shots, imagery, and editing, and occasional typical 80’s emphasis on realistic mechanical details.

In 2020, the OVA series is a refreshing, fun throwback to an era of wild boys and tough girls, violence that felt like it carried a message, and fan service that felt like it made the anime more realistic rather than more gratuitous.