G-4: Tsubakurou no Jinpei
Name: Jinpei the Swallow
AKA: Jinpei (Gatchaman) Keyop (BotP) Peewee (G-Force) Mickey Dugan (Eagle Riders)
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 10
Cover Occupation: Works for Jun as a waiter, cook, bartender and dishwasher at the Snack Jun.
Info: Jinpei's your typical bright, obnoxious kid who just happens to be a deadly ninja fighting to save the Earth. He considers the rest of the team his family, and Ryu is his "partner in crime" for comedy gags. Jinpei has a penchant for dragging home wild animals (seals, baby whales, stag beetles, puma cubs, big fat Gallactor spies...) and causing his sister no end of grief. He's always ready with a joke or truly bad pun.
Nothing is known of Jinpei's true name or origin. Jun found him as an infant at the base of Mt. Jupiter, gave him a name and a birthday, and adopted him. Jinpei is possibly the last descendant of the Jupiter Ninja clan (which was later taken over by Gallactor), but no one knows for certain.
Voice Actors: Shioya Yoku (Gatchaman); Matsumoto Rika (Gatchaman 94); Alan Young (BotP); Barbara Goodson (G-Force); Mona Marshall (Eagle Riders)
Diinzumo's Review: The Kid Grows on You
When I first started watching Battle of the Planets as a kid, the character of Keyop annoyed me. All those stutters, bleeps and blops--c'mon, nobody has a speech impediment like that! I thought maybe Alan Young was filling in all the mouth movements because the original character had a lot to say and that it wasn't all nice. How right I was! Jinpei's language is almost as foul as Joe's.
Jinpei is caught in a precarious position: trying to retain his childhood while working and fighting in a grown-up's world. He fights hardest for respect: "Don't worry--the Great Swallow Jinpei will make this mission look like a cakewalk!" Yes, he can be obnoxious, but I found the kid was growing on me, especially as his character grew.
One thing I like most about Jinpei was that his voice was done by a child voice actor, Yoku Shioya, and that he seemed to grow as Shioya grew older and his voice changed from child's to adolescent's. Most child animation characters are voiced by women, and those changes aren't evident. To me, Shioya added yet another fun degree of realism to the characters.
Jun << Jinpei >> Ryu