Gachapin
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is a TV character who appeared in the children's program ' and its succeeding series, ' on
Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
. He is a green, bucktoothed
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
and is usually accompanied by his friend , a red
Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
is an ape-like creature purported t ...
.


Summary

Jōji Katakiri (President, Japan Software Video Club) was Gachapin's original designer and modeled the character after the sleepy-looking, somber face of Masahiro Noda, the President of Japan Television Workshop Co. Ltd., who also worked on the program. Rumors held that the character was based on
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
of
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
, but this was publicly denied. The original voice actor for Gachapin was Kunie Yasawa. The current voice actor for the character is Kuniko Amemiya. In the first season of ''Hirake! Ponkikki'', the Captain traveled to a southern island and brought back an egg from which Gachapin hatched. Initially shy and easy-going, Gachapin evolved into an adventurous character and went on to attempt skiing, rock climbing, hang-gliding, scuba diving, karate, gymnastics, bowling, and figure skating, as well as an adventure in a space craft. Each episode was triggered by Gachapin's interest in environmental problems and his enthusiasm for space crafts. Gachapin has seven energy balls on each wrist that are the source of his bravery and power, and his phenomenal reflexes come from the carbohydrates inside these balls. Gachapin's catchphrase that he uses to introduce himself is "Gacha Gacha Pin Pin, I am Gachapin". The program's theme song, "Year 2100 Gachapin Kid", showed his superhero form "Gachapin Kid" whenever Earth was in danger. In 2006, on BS Fuji channel, Gachapin fought against Pierre Kasher in "Ike ike Gachapin (Go go Gachapin)". In ''Gacha Gachapon'', Gachapin appeared as a bar manager named "Shisho", or master.


Appearances

*On September 20, 2007,
Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...
released , a jigsaw puzzle video game starring Gachapin for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the con ...
. *On December 10, 2007, Hudson Soft released'' , a cross-over between the Gachapin series and the Adventure Island series. *On October 8, 2010, a
Vocaloid is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...
was released by Internet Co., Ltd. based on the voice of Gachapin called " Gachapoid"; the mascot of the vocal was called "Ryuto". *He and Mukku appear in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Dondoko Island mode. They also appeared in ''
Granblue Fantasy ''Granblue Fantasy'' is a Japanese role-playing video game developed by Cygames for Android, iOS and web browsers, which first released in Japan in March 2014. The game reunites music composer Nobuo Uematsu and art director Hideo Minaba, who pre ...
'' during its special gacha events, as well as their own event in 2019, entitled "Gachapin, Mukku, and the Azure Adventure", along with '' Kemono Friends 3'' as
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
versions of themselves.


Guest appearances

Gachapin along with Mukku sometimes appears as a guest on TV and radio shows run by Fuji TV. *On May 5, 1992, Gachapin appeared with Mukku as a guest on the NHK program '' Okaasan to Issho'' (おかあさんといっしょ). A character called Nikonikopun also appeared in this show. *When Gachapin appeared in
Tamori , known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takesh ...
's '' Waratte Iitomo!'' (笑っていいとも!), co-host Masahiro Nakai mentioned that the balls on Gachapin's wrist looked like warts. *In episode 35 of '' Digimon Adventure'', Mukku and P-chan fight evil Digimon which appear in Tokyo. Gachapin also appears in this episode. *In 1998, Gachapin and Mukku appeared in the story "Angry rock, scissors, paper squad" (おごってジャンケン隊) in Big Comic Spirits written by Yoko Gendai. It was mentioned that he receives 50 yen each month as pocket money. *On August 30, 2006, Gachapin and Mukku worked for "Shadow Nare" on "Tropia fountain ~ Wonderful wasteful knowledge" (トリビアの泉 ~素晴らしきムダ知識~). Also, on May 12, 2007, they took up the challenge of working in a lunch box factory, a convenience store, as firefighters and fishing for skipjack tuna from a boat as well as performing stunts on a special of the same show. *On October 23, 2006, they participated in roulette bowling using specially made balls on the SMAPxSMAP show. *On November 9, 2006, Gachapin appeared on '' The Best House 123'' (ザ・ベストハウス123) show as a guest and organized the top three Gachapin challenges. *In January 2007, Gachapin appeared as a guest, his drama program debut, in ''Kirakira Medical Intern'' (きらきら研修医) which aired on TBS and whose main character was played by Manami Konishi. *He has also appeared as a guest on various radio shows in Japan such as TBS radio, culture broadcasts, TOKYO-FM and J-WAVE. *In 2007, Gachapin appeared in the music video "Read My Mind" by
the Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
, the American rock band. The scene showed Gachapin inside a capsule hotel in Tokyo with a member from the band. *On August 12, 2007, he appeared in the Air Guitar 2007 Japan final held at Makuhari hall in 2007. B'z "girigiri chop" performed in the background. He received 3rd prize for his performance. His dialogue with Souichi Negishi (Johan Klaus II), one of the judges, evoke a great deal of laughter. At the same show, Shin Nohara from Crayon Shin-chan also appeared as a guest. *He appeared as a guest of the dream team in "Tamori's Super Vocabulary Heaven" (タモリの超ボキャブラ天国). *On September 17, 2010, as part of the 2010
Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...
, he was announced as a
Downloadable Content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
character in the cancelled Mega Man Universe as "Megapin"."Behold "Megapin""
''The Mega Man Network'', Retrieved September 17, 2010. *On July 19, 2014, Gachapin & Mukku showed up in a Japanese Music Video called "Gummibär Gachapin Mukku Japanese Animated Music Video ガチャピン" for Gummibär's YouTube Channel (The Official Gummibär Channel), which is up on YouTube. *On December 21, 2019, Gachapin & Mukku appeared in the 192nd episode of Bononbono (2016).


Exposure outside Japan

Gachapin is best known in America and Europe for his role in the " Read My Mind"
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
by
The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
. Gachapin and Mukku's show My Ponkikki was aired in America without English subtitles. It was aired on LA18 (KSCI) in the Southern California area run by Fujisankei Communications International Inc. (FCI) in an hour block called Tokyo Kids Club featuring Chibi Maruko-chan and My Ponkikki from 2000 to 2009. The Japanese rock band
Mucc is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro (singer), Tatsuro on vocals, Miya (musician), Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 foll ...
takes its name from the character Mukku. Dominic Howard (
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
drummer) wore a Gachapin suit on the Japan Tour 2010. While Toru Yamashita ( One Ok Rock's leader and guitarist) is very well known to be identified with Gachapin. Gachapin and Mukku are also the source of the internet meme DSFARGEG, in which a user on an imageboard would post a video or image with Mukku and be instantly banned.


References


External links


Gachapin & Mukku Character Profiles

Gachapin Blog

Super Gachapin - JapanSugoi
{{Authority control Fuji Television original programming Internet memes Children's television characters Anthropomorphic dinosaurs Japanese mascots Japan-exclusive video games