Changes: Ebisumaru

Revision as of 11:52, 23 January 2020

“	A self-styled "Ninja of Justice" who does things his own way and in his own good time. Setting down in Edo, he now lives with Goemon.	„
	~ Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon instruction booklet

Ebisumaru (エビス丸, Ebisumaru^?) is a character in the Ganbare Goemon series. He is Goemon's longest standing partner and best friend. A surprisingly pudgy ninja with an equally puzzling eccentric personality. He normally uses either fans or mallets as weapons.

Ebisumaru made his first appearance in the third game of the series, Ganbare Goemon 2 (he was preceded in the previous game by a similar character named Nezumi Kozō), and since then he has become one of its main protagonists, only second to Goemon. He is generally assigned to the second player.

He was renamed "Dr. Yang" in the North American release of The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the Super NES. However, in the North American releases of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure, he retained his original name.

His voice actor in most of his appearances is Kenichi Ogata.

General information

Ebisumaru is a fat and chubby ninja who wears a typical blue ninja gi and wears a bandana tied under his nose. His face always has his eyes closed and usually appears with a smiling expression. Ebisumaru has the role of the comical companion and stands out for his particular and absurd behavior. He appears most of the time sleeping, jumping or dancing, no matter what happens around him, even when he's in terrible battles. His favorite hobbies are, of course, eating and sleeping. His favorite dishes are the dango skewer and the onigiri.

Ebisumaru is based on a historical character that existed in reality called Nezumi Kozō, who was a famous thief who lived in the early nineteenth century in Japan and whose exploits made him a recognized legend of Japanese folklore. Konami then had the logical decision to include him as Goemon's companion, who is also based on a legendary historical thief, Ishikawa Goemon.

A character named Nezumi Kozō appeared in the video game Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū for the MSX2, drawn like a little ninja in a dark suit like the one Ebisumaru would later wear. For the sequel to this video game, Konami completely redesigned Kozō and made him the new character Ebisumaru; his suit remained almost intact but his appearance changed to that of a fat guy with a cheerful face. This redesign was actually an internal joke of Konami, since the appearance and name of Ebisumaru is a cartoon of Etsunobu Ebisu, a Konami employee who was the producer of the Ganbare Goemon series for many years.

Ebisumaru appeared for the first time in Ganbare Goemon 2 for the NES and has since appeared in almost every game, becoming the most important character after the protagonist Goemon. In his first game, it was revealed at the end that Ebisumaru was actually a beautiful woman who had been enchanted by a spell, although no mention was made of this fact in later games and this final revelation was only a joke. Even so, Ebisumaru has always shown female behaviors and manners and it's even common for her to dress as a classical dancer for no apparent reason. Another strange feature of Ebisumaru is that he considers himself a very attractive man, he proclaims himself as a descendant of James Dean and is incredibly popular with women.

Other proficient weapons

Bombs
Extendible boxing glove
Festive sign paddle
Frying pan
Giant spatula
Gymnastic ball
Gymnastic pin
Gymnastic ribbon
Hand Fan
Hula-Hoop
Mallet
Megaphone
Piko Piko Hammer
Plunger
Yo-yo

Specialty ninjutsu

Chibi Ebi
Harisen Air Glider (ninja technique)
Heroine Technique
Hip Jump
Poison Mist
Rifuru

Background

A self-proclaimed "Ninja of Justice", Ebisumaru once roamed the country doing good deeds under the alias "Nezumi-Kozo" (aka The Rat Kid). In a fateful encounter, Ebisumaru would meet Goemon. Learning of Goemon's righteous path, Ebisumaru decided to tag along and aid in Goemon's cause. To this day, Ebisumaru can be found in Edo living at Goemon's house. Whereas some people say they "follow the beat of a different drummer", Ebisumaru takes that saying one step further by "following the beat of his own drum". Ebisumaru is a whimsical and carefree person by nature. His favorite hobby can easily said to be eating, as his pudgy appearance suggests. Ebisumaru currently holds the record for dango consumption at Akindo's Teahouse. In one sitting at this, his favorite Teahouse, Ebisumaru consumed a whopping 200 plates! He also speaks in a peculiar Kansai accent (noted by how he refers to Goemon as "Goemon-han" in both text and voiced dialog) and claims to be the descendant of American actor James Dean (one of the series' many signature anachronistic jabs).

Although irresponsible and obnoxious at times, Ebisumaru has proven to be a formidable partner and a great help to Goemon. In a constant trend later on in the series, Ebisumaru has proven to be very versatile, wielding a variety of different household items as weapons. Everything from a hula hoop to an aerobic dance ribbon, he always seems to carry just the right item with him on whatever journey he goes on. Also among his talents, Ebisumaru is inexplicably popular among women. It is from this that Ebisumaru believes himself to be a man peerless in appearance, much to the dismay of his friends. It has been recently revealed that Ebisumaru is a father of a baby girl named Mao.

Who was Nezumi Kozō?

Nezumi Kozō (鼠小僧, Nezumi Kozō^?) was the nickname of one Jirokichi (次郎吉 1797 - 1832), a Japanese thief who lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the Edo period. In 1822, he was caught and tattooed, and banished from Edo. In 1832, he was captured again, and confessed to the burglary of over 100 samurai estates and the impressive theft of over 30,000 ryō throughout his 15-year career. He was tied to a horse and paraded in public before being beheaded at the Suzu-ga-mori execution grounds. His head was then publicly displayed on a stake. His grave is at Ekō-in in Tokyo.

At the time of the arrest, Jirokichi was found to have very little money. This, combined with the public humiliation he dealt out to the daimyo, resulted in the popular legend that he gave the money to the poor, turning the petty crook into a posthumous folk hero similar to Robin Hood. The fact that he died alone, serving his wives (he appears to have been guilty of bigamy, possibly polygamy, as well) with divorce papers just prior to arrest in order to protect them from sharing in the punishment as the law decreed, further enhanced his stature. His exploits have been commemorated in kabuki theatre, folk songs, jidaigeki, video games, and modern pop culture. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa wrote a short story, Nezumi Kozō Jirokichi (translated into English as "Nezumi-Kozo (The Japanese Robin Hood)"); at least two films have had the same Japanese title.

Modern scholars are of the view that Jirokichi most likely spent his money on women and liquor.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Masked Ninja Ebisu is based on Ebisumaru. He also has an effect that supports Goe Goe, which indicates that Ebisu is based on Ebisumaru.

Notes

Ebisumaru also has a daughter named Mao, according to the Mystical Website of Goemon.

Gallery

See: Ebisumaru/Gallery

External links

Goemon (series) at Wikipedia
Nezumi Kozō at Wikipedia
Masked Ninja Ebisu at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 {{Nihongo|'''Ebisumaru'''|エビス丸}} is a [[:category:Characters|character]] in the ''[[Ganbare Goemon (series)|Ganbare Goemon]]'' series. He is [[Goemon]]'s longest standing partner and best friend. A surprisingly pudgy ninja with an equally puzzling eccentric personality. He normally uses either fans or mallets as weapons.
-Ebisumaru made his first real appearance in the third game of the series, ''[[Ganbare Goemon 2]]'' (he was preceded in the previous game by a similar character named [[Nezumi Kozō]]), and since then he has become one of its main [[:category:Protagonists|protagonists]], only second to Goemon. He is generally assigned to the second player.
+Ebisumaru made his first appearance in the third game of the series, ''[[Ganbare Goemon 2]]'' (he was preceded in the previous game by a similar character named [[Nezumi Kozō]]), and since then he has become one of its main [[:category:Protagonists|protagonists]], only second to Goemon. He is generally assigned to the second player.
 He was renamed "'''Dr. Yang'''" in the North American release of ''[[The Legend of the Mystical Ninja]]'' for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]]. However, in the North American releases of ''[[Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon]]'' and ''[[Goemon's Great Adventure]]'', he retained his original name.