Yang
| Yang | |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| Kana | ヤン |
| Romaji | Yan |
| Nicknames | The Back Guy Yang, Crane Game Yang (mentioned by himself, that he "used to be called") |
| Characteristics | |
| Hair Color | Purple, Pink, and Yellow |
| Eye Color | Yellow |
| Hobbies | Collecting antiques |
| Likes | Milk strawberry candy |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime Episode | RobiHachi Season One Episode One |
| Portrayed By | |
| Japanese | Tomokazu Sugita |
| English | Ian Sinclair |
Yang (ヤン, Yan) is the president of Yang's Finance. He loaned money to Robby Yarge, and chases him across the universe to make sure it is paid back.
Background[edit]
Yang’s story prior to the beginning of the anime is barely disclosed – either through someone else’s flashbacks or one-off comments. He mentions having done rhythmic gymnastics when he was younger which earned him the nickname The Back Guy Yang (and he still does yoga daily), presumably also in his youth he was so known for being skilled with the arcade crane games that he was called Crane Game Yang too.
At some point in life he became the head of Yang’s Finance – it’s either then, or shortly before that he’s allegedly chased many humans and aliens, presumably to collect their debt. As he has to explain this to Allo and Gras, it’s likely this period of his life came before Yang found Allo on the streets and hired him in his company.
During the main course of the story, Yang chases Robby through the universe both to reclaim his debt as well as to get to act on his romantic feelings for the other man. Though initially he expected this to be an easy task, the more time passes and the farther he has to travel, the more irritable he becomes and snaps at Allo and Gras with increasing frequency whenever they are in the relative vicinity of Robby (aka on the same planet). He seemingly tries to make up for these episodes, though, by indulging them a bit when they are not during a direct chase.[1]
In the end, when Yang finds out Robby’s debt has been paid and this reason for pursuit is no more, he reaches his breaking point and assumes a “take no hostages” attitude, engaging in a fight with the Luna Guard, ruthlessly pushing other space ships out of his way – even those not involved in his chase and thus not obstructing him – and ignoring safety concerns just to increase his speed and finally catch Robby. This, however, is ultimately unsuccessful – after crashing his ship into an office building, Yang laments for a bit, but in the follow-up credits is shown as having gotten over his infatuation and found a new potential object of admiration.
Appearance[edit]
Yang has straight hair hanging over his right eye with a pink to yellow gradient, with the rest of his head a shaved purple, and a purple goatee. He has yellow eyes. He has a vertical scar over his right eye, starting where his eyebrow would be and going down his cheek, ending level with the tip of his nose. He has pale green eyeshadow and pink eyelashes, and the helix of his left ear has two thin, gold earring cuffs. Yang wears dark purple nail polish and has a gold ring of a various size on each finger, including his thumbs.
He wears a gray shirt with a high collar and dark blue trim. It has dark blue frog button closures. He wears matching gray slacks, and dark blue loafers. Over his shoulders, Yang wears a long jacket with a dark purple to pink gradient and a gold lining. There is a circular gold symbol over the gradient. The collar is a dark gray feather boa, and the jacket is fastened with red rope that is tied in a flower pattern with two tassels.
Personality[edit]
Yang is a man with a very strong aura of confidence – he is used to people obeying him unconditionally and getting what he wants through whatever means, even if those result to be rather violent, which can be seen from the very beginning when he orders to simply blow up the door to Robby’s apartment instead of trying to open it in another way. He is able to keep his calm, demanding composure for as long as things go according to his preference – when they don’t, he becomes increasingly irritable over time and fixates on the thing he is failing at to the point of it becoming an unhealthy obsession.
Yang firmly believes that money can resolve any problem and spends it easily, paying no attention at all to the costs. This can make him seem arrogant, but in some situations he can be seen similarly spending big amounts of money just to indulge his employees, which means he’s not doing it only for his own selfish needs.
In general, he appears to have a soft spot for both Allo and Gras and treats them as a family of sorts – spends time with them, tells them trivia, cooks for them on one occasion and is clearly happy to entertain some of their requests as long as they don’t collide with his chase. When he admits he wants to start a family of his own one day, he also adds that should this be impossible, he will be glad with what he already has with them.
He considers himself to be a romantic – he will often say that this or that thing is romantic, even when conventionally it would not be considered as such (for example Mt. Fuji). Talking about his feelings makes him bashful – for the longest time Allo and Gras didn’t know Yang had genuine feelings for Robby, and even when they found out it wasn’t articulated clearly. Yang also gets flustered when wondering where he and Robby should stay on Isekandar and feels really nervous about making a bad choice. However, he is completely unbothered to hide his sexual appetite and notoriously makes one-off remarks about what he’s going to do with Robby once he catches him. This, combined with his general demeanour, makes him feel a bit predatory.
Etymology[edit]
Yang’s name is not a clear reference to anything. It is one of the most popular surnames in China and Taiwan. However, it could potentially refer to the yang element from the yin and yang concept: Yang is the masculine element. Yang saying he prefers Mt. Fuji over Mt. Everest because “it has a hole”[2] and his general appearance (though adorned) would fit in with the traditional perception of masculinity.
Trivia[edit]
Yang's love of strawberry milk candy is a reference to the anime Gintama. Gintoki, who is also voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, loves strawberry milk.[3] Shinji Takamatsu is also credited as a director for many iterations of the Gintama anime, among other roles on the staff.[4]
Yang says he doesn’t dislike, but doesn’t love either: strawberries, milk, and hard candy. It’s due to “precious memories” that he likes them combined as strawberry milk candy.
He is skilled with handicraft – his high-speed weaving technique impressed even professionals in the field, and he is able to single-handedly build a fully functioning mecha within a very short time (though his tempo was clearly exaggerated for comedic purposes).
Likely due to his position and/or money, Yang has some connections that allow him to obtain unavailable items – one mentioned item is game software that was at his place before it was released to the public.
His whole family takes great care of their hair to make sure it’s silky and smooth. Because of his hair, in the past he was pursued by people who wanted him to star in commercials.
Yang, Allo and Gras were able to complete a marathon relay on Tottuka – all of them must be in a good physical condition to be able to do this.
Gallery
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Yang with strawberry milk candy.
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Yang, Allo and Gras in their spaceship.
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Yang, Allo and Gras in sportswear.
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Yang, Allo and Gras in their "festival outfits" on Hamama II.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ This is not shown in the anime itself, but presented in the drama CDs.
- ↑ He says this in the first drama track.
- ↑ https://myanimelist.net/character/672/Gintoki_Sakata
- ↑ https://myanimelist.net/people/5152/Shinji_Takamatsu