Line #20 Advertising/UFOKamenYakisoban


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ufoyakisoban.PNG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Sauce Beam!]]
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4	''UFO Kamen Yakisoban'' is a series of Japanese UFO Ramen commercials by Nissin Foods that gained popularity in the 90s. An AffectionateParody of {{toku}} series such as ''Franchise/KamenRider'', the ads starred Yakisoban, a superhero with the power of noodles and sauce who hailed from the Yakisoba Planet. In his ads, he stood for truth, justice, and proper ramen-eating habits, foiling his EvilCounterpart Fake Yakisoban and his arch-enemy, the kettle-headed Kettler, who planned to steal all the kettles of the world to prevent anyone from making instant noodles.
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6	The ads were so popular they got a tie-in Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem video game, ''UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Kettler no Kuroi Inbou'', a direct-to-VHS movie, ''UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Ikari no Agedama Bonbâ'', a comic series in ''Magazine/CoroCoroComic'' from March to June 1994, spin-off ads featuring Yakisobany, Yakisoban's cousin, many pieces of merchandise, and even a themed attraction at Japan's Yomiuriland. The movie's theme song was sung by Hironobu Kageyama and became a hit CD single.
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8	Eventually, Kettler became more popular than Yakisoban and appeared in the ads instead, and they ceased altogether... until 2017, where the ads made a comeback with a darker turn. Now barely making a living and disrespected by a public that once hungered for him, Yakisoban makes a FaceHeelTurn and sets out to destroy what he once fought for as the Demon King. He is opposed by new ''Kamen Rider''-themed heroes--Sauce, his son with a passion for extreme ramen who transforms into Yakisoboy, Sauce's girlfriend Claudia who fights with a ramen-themed gun, and the Legend, a legendary hero played by Creator/HiroshiFujioka himself who can turn into a motorcycle and a tank.
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10	As the description implies, these ads are very much a QuirkyWork. A collection of vintage Yakisoban commercials as well as some of the revival ads can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Colb6mJl144 here]], a translation of all three Yakisoboy commercials can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVXGrLOm2RY&t=7m20s here]], and an overview of the tie-in game can be found [[http://retrovania-vgjunk.blogspot.com/2012/01/ufo-kamen-yakisoban-snes.html here]]. The movie can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlJUKMaL1IU here]].
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13	!!These ads and related media provide examples of:
14	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In official art, Yakisoban has a younger, more handsome face.
15	* AdaptationalUgliness: Kettler's official art gives him a very stylized appearance, with buck teeth and a SinisterSchnoz.
16	* AffectionateParody: The commercials, already parodic in nature, got a parody in "Kakesoban," a superhero who suffered amusing injuries and failed to beat Kettler, who was a heavy smoker.
17	* AllJustADream: If you get a Game Over in the video game and continue, Kettler marrying Princess Mayumi turns out to be a dream.
18	* AllThereInTheManual: Claudia's name was only revealed in a behind-the-scenes ad, as the final product changed the dialogue.
19	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Getting a Game Over in the video game has Kettler about to marry the princess.
20	* ArrangedMarriage: In the movie, if Yakisoban can't find an earthly bride he'd be forced to marry Sera Moline, a clingy, jealous princess from the Morisoba planet.
21	* BattleCouple: Sauce and Claudia fight the Demon King together in a few ads.
22	* BrandX: Fake Yakisoban wears a generic off-brand box of instant noodles on his head.
23	* BrownNote: The Aonori Flash makes Yakisoban's foes dizzy and confused. Its upgraded form, Aonori Typhoon, is so strong it can turn people into ramen.
24	* CallingYourAttacks: Yakisoban tends to shout the names of his attacks when using them, as does his cousin Yakisobany.
25	* CameBackStrong: After getting his powers drained, Yakisoban revives himself with boiling water and becomes Great Yakisoban, who has even stronger moves.
26	* TheCameo: Yakisoban, Kettler, and Yakisobany made occasional appearances on TV broadcasts from 2007 to 2010, usually having to do with Nissin foods.
27	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Claudia, Sauce's space princess girlfriend, isn't present in later ads.
28	* DistaffCounterpart: UFO Girl Yakisobany is Yakisoban's cousin who shares his power set.
29	* DistressedDude: Yakisoban starts out captured in one ad, and in the 2017 revival the Demon King captures Sauce and the Legend at one point.
30	* DownerBeginning: The first Yakisoban ad in the 2017 revival is about his fall from grace and turning evil, ending as he vows to destroy all yakisoba and the world.
31	* DualWielding: Yakisoban dual-wields soy sauce guns.
32	* {{Eagleland}}: Downplayed but still present, as Kettler is from Chicago and eats ramen with a Western fork instead of Eastern chopsticks.
33	* EvilCounterpart: Fake Yakisoban is an evil version of Yakisoban who wears a BrandX box on his head and dresses in villainous colors that say "USO," or "lies."
34	* EvilIsPetty: Kettler's main scheme is to steal all the kettles of the world to stop people from making instant noodles.
35	* FallenHero: By 2017 Yakisoban has turned on mankind and yakisoba itself, becoming the Demon King who vows to destroy all instant noodles.
36	* FelonyMisdemeanor: One of Kettler's heinous crimes is... eating ramen with a fork instead of chopsticks.
37	* FinishingMove: In the movie Yakisoban finishes off Kettler with the Sauce Bazooka, and in the games he reserves his Noodle Attack for cutscenes.
38	* FoodBasedSuperpowers: All of Yakisoban's attacks involve food in some way, from weaponry like sauce guns to his Agedama Bomber and Noodle Attack finishing moves, where he throws fried batter at the enemy or wraps them in noodles.
39	* GigglingVillain: Kettler is never without a villainous giggle, especially in the movie.
40	* GratuitousEnglish:
41	** All of the special attacks are said in English.
42	** Kettler's mother speaks in English half the time and in Japanese the other half, and is subtitled where appropriate.
43	* GreenEyedMonster:
44	** Sera Moline is jealous of Yakisoban's noodles, which are better than her planet's morisoba, as well as his relationship with Kumiko. [[spoiler:She ends up selling him out to Kettler once she learns his weakness]].
45	** Unlike her cousin, Yakisobany is jealous of Earthlings and disguises herself as a human girl to experience what they do.
46	* GroinAttack: In the 2017 revival a young Sauce does this to Yakisoban when he tries to show off his sauce beam guns.
47	* HerdHittingAttack: The Agedama Bomber is an area attack that hits a large area in front of Yakisoban.
48	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: One ad had Kettler menace a captive Yakisoban with a giant kettle that shot boiling water... which ended up charging Yakisoban's powers, letting him break free and defeat him.
49	* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The first 2017 ad is about former 90's hero Yakisoban falling from grace, unable to hold a job, and his once-adoring public finding him washed-up, weird, and annoying. He turns evil as a result.
50	* HumanAliens: Yakisoban is an alien prince from the Yakisoba Planet but looks like an ordinary human, and Yakisobany has a human disguise despite looking equally human.
51	* HyperCompetentSidekick: Sauce tries, but all he does is get beat up and captured while the Legend can turn into a motorcycle, a tank, and take on the Demon King via the power of judo throws.
52	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Yakisoban and the other heroes use noodle and sauce-themed powers to attack, while Kettler uses kettle-themed attacks and a giant fork.
53	* InconsistentColoring: In early ads and the Yakisoban's Tragedy commercial Sauce has grey hair, but in the ads where he fights alongside the Legend he has brown hair.
54	* KryptoniteFactor: Yakisoban's one weakness is cold water, which drains his powers and makes instant noodles taste bad. Hot water can restore his powers.
55	* LatexPerfection: One commercial had Fake Yakisoban wear a mask to pretend to be Yakisoban, which worked perfectly until he took it off to gloat.
56	* LeftHanging: The final 2017 commercial ends on a cliffhanger of The Legend judo-throwing the Demon King.
57	* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: The plot of the movie has Yakisoban looking for a wife within a set time limit while attempting to hide his secret identity from her.
58	* LooseCanon: The ads, game, and movie don't outright contradict each other for the most part, but since the ads are short and the game and movie are standalone stories it's hard to tell what's canon and what isn't.
59	* LoveAtFirstSight: In the movie, Yakisoban falls in love with the photographer Kaya Kumiko immediately.
60	* LukeIAmYourFather: One of Sauce's ads has him defeat the Demon King only to realize it's his father, Yakisoban.
61	* ManChild: Kettler is extremely childish, especially in the movie, where the first thing he does after draining Yakisoban's powers is go on all the theme park rides.
62	* MommasBoy: In the movie Kettler writes to his mother for advice on dealing with Yakisoban, and he's very proud of her evilness.
63	* MundaneMadeAwesome: The entire franchise is built around instant noodles being awesome.
64	* NoNameGiven: Yakisoban's girlfriend in the commercials isn't named.
65	* PaperThinDisguise: Despite Fake Yakisoban's different outfit and being African while the real Yakisoban is Japanese, nobody can tell the difference between the two until they appear in the same area.
66	* ProductAsSuperhero: Yakisoban was the mascot for Nissin's "UFO" brand instant yakisoba.
67	* RescueRomance: In the movie Yakisoban attempts to invoke this in selecting a wife, to the point of not helping men in trouble.
68	* SaveThePrincess: The original commercial had Yakisoban help an unnamed woman, he saves a couple girls in the movie, the tie-in game revolved around saving Princess Mayumi, and Sauce has to save Claudia in some ads. Yakisobany also helps save her captive friends.
69	* SeriousBusiness: You can't get much more serious than the power of noodles, sauce, and eating them properly ''saving the world''.
70	* SharpDressedMan: Kettler's men all wear sharp black suits and white ties, while Kettler himself wears a golden bow tie.
71	* ShoutOut: The Legend, played by Hiroshi Fujioka, wears powered armor and can turn into a motorcycle as a shout-out to ''Series/KamenRider''. Underneath the armor is Advertising/SegataSanshiro's judo outfit, and he performs his signature throw on the Demon King.
72	* SuddenDownerEnding: Played for laughs in one of Sauce's Extreme ads, where he and Claudia fight off the Demon King, escape safely, and get vaporized by a fireball in the last second of the commercial.
73	* SupermanSubstitute: Yakisoban is a human alien who comes from a faraway planet and possesses supernatural abilities, and has a younger cousin who shares his powers.
74	* TalkingApplianceSidekick: The Mach UFO is a talking car.
75	* TimedMission: Each stage in the tie-in game is timed at three minutes, which is also the time it takes to cook instant noodles.
76	* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Subverted with Yakisoboy's lengthy transformation, which makes the Legend wonder what's taking so long as he and the Demon King grapple.
77	* VillainBall: Kettler and Fake Yakisoban's plans to infiltrate the media and turn the public against instant noodles could work if they didn't keep dropping their disguises to gloat.
78	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In the tie-in game Kettler poses as a reporter on an anti-instant noodle campaign, trying to get instant noodles outlawed.
79	* WeaksauceWeakness: Yakisoban's one weakness is cold water as opposed to hot water.
80	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Yakisoban liked ramen so much he named his son Sauce.
81	* WireFu: The movie is full of these kinds of fights.
82	* WrittenInAbsence: In the Yakisobany ads Yakisoban is away, so it's up to his cousin to save the day.

Context Advertising / UFOKamenYakisoban