Ganbare Goemon (series)

Ganbare Goemon (がんばれゴエモン), known as Goemon and/or Mystical Ninja internationally, is a video game series created and produced by Konami. Etsunobu Ebisu is the joint producer of the franchise.

These games revolve around the main character, Goemon, and his exploits. As the name suggests, his character is loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. While the early games of this title emphasized Goemon as a noble thief, he eventually becomes more of a standard video game hero character. His trademarks are his blue bushy hair and weapon of choice, the kiseru. The games are set in a cartoon-like, mystical Feudal Japan. Within this world, every bit of folklore and legend about Japan is true. Although the series has its roots in action adventure, the Ganbare Goemon series has features from genres including role-playing, puzzle games, and board games. Ganbare Goemon has proven to be widely popular in Japan with its many video games, with its success spawning a wide series of merchandise and an anime and manga series.

Konami has generally regarded the Goemon games as too specific to the Japanese market to be released worldwide. However, five of them have been released overseas: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the Super NES, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure for the Nintendo 64 and two titles for the Game Boy.

In 2002-2003, a mobile phone was released for the titled Ganbare Goemon: Tsūkai Game Apli series.

The last original game of the series was Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki, released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2005. Since then, the series has been used primarily as themes for Konami's pachislot machines.

Main
These are the main characters of almost all the games. Yae and Sasuke joined the gang in later games but they are now full members of the gang.


 * Goemon (ゴエモン): The main protagonist and titular character of the series, he is a hot-blooded man of Edo. With a strong sense of justice and will, he will right whatever wrong there is in front of him, although he has a short temper and tends to get upset rather easily. (Renamed "Kid Ying" in the North American release of Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES. In the North American releases of Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure, his name is correctly translated to Goemon.) He primarily uses a variety of kiseru as his weapon of choice as well as throwing ryō and using a "chain-kiseru" in later games. Also in the future his descendant is referred to by the same name. His original voice actor was Shinichirō Ōta, but this has since switched to Yasunori Matsumoto. He has his own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh!! Trading Card Game and Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, known as Goe-Goe the Gallant Ninja.


 * Ebisumaru (エビス丸): Goemon's longest standing partner and best friend: a surprisingly pudgy ninja, with an equally puzzling eccentric personality. This character is based on Konami developer Etsunobu Ebisu. (Renamed "Dr. Yang" in the North American release of "The Legend of the Mystical Ninja" for the SNES. In the North American releases of Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure, his name is correctly translated to Ebisumaru.) He uses a different weapon in almost every game. His weapons are also quite unorthodox, being items such as flutes, party whistles, fans, frying pans, mallets, boxing gloves, hula hoops and a gymnastic ribbon. His special powers for some of the games are also peculiar, bordering on humorous, including spinning in a tutu to destroy blocks or his green poison gas attack (which might be a euphemistic reference to it actually being flatulence). Ebisumaru also has a daughter named Mao (she also makes a brief appearance at the end of Goemon's Great Adventure). He also has a brother called Obisumaru who loathes him and a descendant from the future called Sister Bismaru (a nun). In the ending of the Famicom Ganbare Goemon 2, it is revealed that Ebisumaru is in fact a girl, but this is not canon in any of the other games and not meant to be taken seriously. To further add to his bizarreness and the overall anachronistic elements of the games, he claims he's the descendant of American actor James Dean, despite that claim being chronologically impossible. His voice actor is Kenichi Ogata in all voiced media and he speaks with an unusual Kansai accent. He also has a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, named Masked Ninja Ebisu.


 * Sasuke (サスケ): A clockwork robot ninja. He was created by Monoshiri and often joins Goemon and Ebisumaru on their quests. A very naive and honest character, he sometimes fails to grasp jokes or irony. However, he also seems to have a switch that can make him from good to evil and vice versa. He is most famously known as the boss of the fifth stage in The Legend of the Mystical Ninja where he fought Goemon and Ebisumaru atop a giant ninja kite. Sasuke fights using all manner of weapons, including twin kunai, miniature explosives, and even his spiked topknot. He shows some signs of gender confusion, at one point in Goemon's Great Adventure asking why he cannot "make a good wife someday", as well in the intro to Ganbare Goemon 4 where is he dressed in female clothing. He is based on the fictional ninja Sarutobi Sasuke. His voice actor is Junko Hori, and he speaks in very polite samurai speech, often punctuating his lines with "de gozaru". He has his very own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh!! TCG and Yu-Gi-Oh!! OCG, known as Sasuke Samurai. He also has three other series of Yu-Gi-Oh!! Monster Cards, Sasuke Samurai #2, Sasuke Samurai #3 and Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.


 * Yae (ヤエ): A kunoichi that works for the Secret Investigational Ninja, a secret organization of peacekeepers. She often joins Goemon and Ebisumaru on their adventures under the same goal. In battle, Yae usually wields a katana, as well as her personal bazooka, and the ability to transform into a mermaid. She is depicted as level-headed and is the voice of reason compared to her comrades, who are either not so serious or too serious. Her voice actor is Rumi Kasahara. She also has her very own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh!! TCG and Yu-Gi-Oh!! OCG, known as Lady Ninja Yae.

Recurring
These characters appear in most games.
 * Omitsu (おみつ): The local belle of Edo who works at the local tea shop. She is basically Goemon's girlfriend, although he is scared of Omitsu due to her rather fiery temper and tendency to attack Goemon. She is also a constant target of foes. Omitsu also tends to get very jealous if Goemon is caught talking to another woman for any reason. According to the anime series, she is the granddaughter of Monoshiri and prepares ohagi that fuels Goemon's power to fight his enemies, though this was never needed for Goemon in the games.


 * Monoshiri Ojisan (物知りお爺さん): A brilliant genius of clockwork machines who lives deep in Iga. Although a good fellow, he is also a big pervert. This trait was bowdlerized for the North American release of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, however: instead of collecting hentai magazines, he collects car magazines (the Mystical Ninja starring Goemon anime series however still depicts Monoshiri as a flirtatious girl-crazy old man). He is depicted as a very short man but wears high heeled wooden geta to make him appear taller.


 * Goemon Impact (ゴエモンインパクト): A giant clockwork robot made by Monoshiri Ojisan. With a frightful motif modeled after Goemon himself, it was built to help Goemon take on giant foes, but more often than not, he acts as a famous movie star in various parts of the world, and even has a planet named after himself. He shares Goemon's strong sense of justice, and enjoys fighting for the team. He also has a love of dancing, particularly disco.


 * The Feudal Lord of Edo and Princess Yuki: The rulers of Edo. Despite this, they do little that inspires leadership. More often than not, they too are preyed on by evildoers and generally end up on the receiving end of very unfortunate accidents, even when they have relatively nothing to do with the current story's events. The lord and princess are described in the manual for Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon 2: "They are born to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time." Yuki has a significant role in Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro, notably singing a song during gameplay.

Others
These characters appear only once or twice in specific games.


 * Miss Impact (ミスインパクト): A female counterpart to Goemon Impact. She was created by the Wise Man as a counterpart to Goemon Impact, and is modeled after Omitsu. Omitsu refuses to notice the similarities. Goemon Impact fell in love with her at first sight and planned to ask her out. However, since Miss Impact has not been seen since Goemon's Great Adventure it is unknown how their relationship worked out.


 * Suzaku (スザク): A female ghost who comes from the Underworld. She made her first appearance in Goemon's Great Adventure and provides the gang with information about their enemy, Bismaru.


 * Ebisu: She's the best friend to the Goemon in the future. She wields the same weapons as Ebisumaru and possibly is his descendant.


 * Koryuuta (コリュウタ)


 * Shogun Magginessu (?): The main antagonist in Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu and Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro 2.


 * Bisumaru (?): A descendant of Ebisumaru from the future who is a nun, hence her being called Sister Bisumaru. She tends to be infatuated with evil men and plots to take over the world so she can create a lovers' paradise for themselves.


 * Space Clown Akogingu (?): The main antagonist in Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu.


 * Kinemon (?)


 * Admiral Peruri (?)


 * Dochuki (?)


 * Yui (ユイ)


 * Jurokubei (?): The main antagonist in Ganbare Goemon 3: Shichijuurokubei no Karakuri Manji Gatame.


 * Baron (?)


 * Seppukumaru (?): The main antagonist in Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Douchuu: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake. Also appears in the anime series.


 * Yoshitsune (義経): One of the main antagonists in Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei! and its remake, Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!


 * Kiyohime (清姫): One of the main antagonists in Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei! and its remake, Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!

Original video animation

 * A single-episode thirty-minute OVA was released in Japan in 1993 titled Ganbare Goemon: Jigen Jō no Akumu (がんばれゴエモン 次元城の悪夢). The OVA starred the voice of Daiki Nakamura as Goemon and Hideyuki Umezu as Ebisumaru and feature segments parodying Gradius, Akumajō Dracula and TwinBee.
 * A second-episode thirty-minute OVA was released in Japan in 1998 titled Ganbare Goemon: Chikyuu Kyuushutsu Sakusen (がんばれゴエモン地球救出作戦).

Manga
Goemon is the protagonist of many manga based on the videogame series. There are several series, each one based on a different game. Most of the manga were illustrated by artist Hiroshi Obi and were published between 1991 and 1998 to accompany the release of each new game.

Obi died from a brain stem hemorrhage on August 3, 2014, at the age of 54.

Other appearances

 * Goemon appears as a playable character in the Konami crossovers Wai Wai World and Wai Wai World 2 for the Famicom, in the original MSX Parodius, in the Super Famicom version of Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ and in Konami Krazy Racers for the Game Boy Advance, the latter being the latest game released in America in which a Ganbare Goemon character makes an appearance. It also makes appearance in Wai Wai Poker, Wai Wai Jockey, Wai Wai Bingo for medal games and Wai Wai Sokoban for mobile phones.
 * Goemon appeared in the 2000 mobile game Konami Character World (コナミキャラコレワールド Konamikyarakorewārudo?).
 * Goemon was a playable character in Ganbare Pennant Race.
 * Ebisumaru is the second player in the Super Famicom version of Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ and is a secret character in Konami Krazy Racers.
 * Impact makes an appearance as one of the bosses of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius.
 * Goemon from Legend of the Mystical Ninja makes a self-referenced appearance in Jikkyō Power Pro Wrestling '96: Max Voltage.
 * Goemon, Yae, Sasuke, and Ebisumaru appear as cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Other robots made by Wise Old Man also appear as cards; all are named Sasuke Samurai and are numbered.
 * Seppukumaru and his Egg-like Henchmen Tsujigiri from Ganbare Goemon 4 for the super Famicom make appearances as the main villains in Anime Ganbare Goemon.
 * Goemon and Ebisumaru made short cameo appearances in the TwinBee OVA Twinbee Paradise, as judges in a female beauty contest when Pastel accidentally eats some shrinking cookies.
 * Goemon can be seen inside the bar before interviewing a dancer in Snatcher.
 * A version of Goemon appears in Otomedius, remade to fit the style of the game. His character (or at least, his ship) is referred to as Emon-5 (a pun, as "5" is pronounced "go" in certain Japanese dialects).