Yukaina-kun (1991 anime)

***Yukaina-kun*** (ユカイナくん, lit. "Jolly Boy") is an anime series based on the manga of the same name by Takuya Makoto of the *Dynamoman* fame. It is about the misadventures of a cheerful boy named Yukaina-kun, who lived in a modern, fantasy world with his brother Gachi. The series broadcast on Tokyo 12 Channel (now TV Tokyo) between May 23, 1991 and October 23, 1995. Each half-hour episode comprised two shorter stories of approximately ten minutes in length.

In the US, *Yukaina-kun* received an English adaption with ***Todd the Cheery*** as its official English title, and aired from October 13, 1994 to July 23, 1997 on JKids and later on the GNC channel in 2014 onward.

## Characters

### Main

* **Yukaina Matsuyama** (ユカイナ松山) / **Todd Samson**

Voiced by: Junko Hori (Japanese); Tress MacNeille (English)

The main protagonist of the story. Yukaina is a boy who is famous for his portrayal as being very cheerful, hence the name, and enjoys looking for insects. On the inside, though, he causes mischief in towns and cities even through he is going to be nice to the folks he came across. He attends a school called "Angel's Wing Elementary School" (天使の翼小学校 *Tenshi no Tsubasa Shōgakkō*). He is an official mascot of the franchise along with Iniyachi.

* **Gachi** **Matsuyama** (ガチ松山) / **Lydia Samson**

Voiced by: Chiemi Chiba (Japanese); Russi Taylor (English)

Yukaina's little brother who is a stubborn character and always follows him whatever he goes. Gachi has a fond of rice balls (changed to "donuts" in the English dub) and likes to pet on any animal he finds. In the English dub, Gachi is female, therefore is Yukaina's sister.

### Supporting

* '*Iniyachi Yumocha'*(イニヤチユモチャ) / **Harry McRumus**

Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese); Harry Shearer (English)

Iniyach is a mischievous man who often causes trouble for himself. His notable features include his skinny body, large nose, long whiskers on his face, and is at the small size despite being a middle-aged man. His trademark cry, which is "Nīcha!" (ニーチャ) in the Japanese version, became a popular trend all over Japan. In the English dub, he instead says "What a riddance!" instead of the "Nīcha!" cry. Much like Iyami from *Osomatsu-kun*, Iniyachi has become the character most associated with the series, more than Yukaina himself, and even became a official mascot of the franchise along with Yukaina. Iniyachi's English name, Harry McRumus, is named after his English voice actor.

* '*Kirosuke Tezuka'*(キロスケ手塚 ) / **Raymond Swift**

Voiced by: Mari Yokoo (Japanese); Harry Shearer (English)

A 28-year old, shape-shifting man who actually came from a Land of Wonders. He was Yukaina's original teacher, but due to an incident that lead him to be fired by Angelwing's Society, he became Iniyachi's sidekick, and Okayama-san replaces him as a new school teacher starting on episode 5. Like most of Shunji Sonoyama's works, Kirosuke's appearance is based on Waylon Smithers from *The Simpsons* (because they both wear glasses, has gray hair, and has even calls their bosses "sir"). Kirosuke often spends most of his time with Iniyachi. Kirosuke also possesses many magical abilities, such as the ability to shapeshift into virtually anything he can imagine, which is only seen by Yukaina and Iniyachi and not noticeable by others. Like Iniyachi, Kirosuke eventually stole the spotlight from Yukaina and has become one of the most widely recognized characters in the series.

* **Ishinosuke** **Matsuyama** (イシノスケ松山) / **Thomas Samson**

Voiced by: Takuzō Kamiyama (Japanese); Maurice LaMarche (English)

Yukaina and Gachi's father.

* **Ayumi** **Matsuyama** (あゆみ松山) / **Erica Samson**

Voiced by: Yumi Touma (Japanese); Pamela Hayden (English)

Yukaina and Gachi's mother.

* '*Hitomi Fukumura'*(ひとみ福村) / **Alice Sparkles**

Voiced by: Rei Sakuma (Japanese); Yeardley Smith (English)

A girl whom Yukaina has a crush on.

* '*Okayama-san'*(岡山さん) / **Mr. Ozwell**

Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (Japanese); Hank Azaria (English)

Yukaina's teacher, who replaces Kirosuke in episode 5 onwards.

### Cameos

The first anime featured cameo appearances by several characters from other Groening and Makoto works.

* **Nakamura-chan**/**Rudy** (*The Bunny From Outer Space*) (JP Voice: Rei Sakuma; US Voice: Nancy Cartwright)
* **Dynamo-kun**/**Dynamo** (*Dynamoman*) (JP Voice: Kazuko Sugiyama; US Voice: Tress MacNeille)
* **Tsukuda Samu**/**Donovan Marika** (*The Marikas*) (JP Voice: Yonehiko Kitagawa; US Voice: Harry Shearer)
* **Bart Simpson** (*The Simpsons*) (JP Voice: Junko Hori; US Voice: Nancy Cartwright)
* **Homer Simpson** (*The Simpsons*) (JP Voice: Tōru Ōhira; US Voice: Dan Castellaneta)