Kenichi Ooyama (renamed Roger Ranger in the ‘66 English dub) is Kimba (Leo)'s human friend and Mr. Pompous (Dr. Mustache)'s nephew. He is one of the original members of the Osamu Tezuka Star System, and first debuted in 1948 (which was 2 years before the manga was published).
Personality[]
Kenichi is a valiant, kind, jolly, and knowledgeable boy with a fondness for animals and a strong sense of justice. He proves to be Kimba's closest human friend and acts as an adviser to him.
Appearances[]
Jungle Emperor (manga)[]
Kenichi is one of the many children along with Pierre and Mary that first interact with Kimba (Leo) in the port town of Eden in present-day Yemen. When he discovers the little cub indoors, he starts to take a liking to him. Higeoyaji, Kenichi's uncle, tells him that he can keep the cub for some time until he gets too big.
Kenichi returns Leo to the jungle as Hamegg, Mary, Lamp, Dr. Plus and Minus come along for different reasons. With some troubles with the tribes occur in Africa, Kenichi doesn't return to his uncle in Eden, so Higeoyaji decides to go look for him. After living in the jungle for some time, he reunites with his uncle and Mary, who had become queen of the Jungula Tribe. Kenichi convinces Conga (Mary) that it's better if they return to Japan with Higeoyaji.
Kenichi and Mary bond over their shared jungle experience and eventually settle back in Japan where they happily marry and have children. He also receives word about the whereabouts of Leo's two children (now currently adults and with mates): Lune and Lukio.
Leo the Lion Cub (manga)[]
In this slice of life spin-off, Kenichi is a friend/housemate/mentor to Leo, teaching him manners and going on various adventures through the city, such as going to the movies and the zoo. He is a bit younger than his previous manga debut. He only appears in the Kindergarten - First Grader chapters of the Sunday Comics because Leo moves back to the jungle.
Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor)[]
Roger Ranger (as he’s called in the 1966 English Dub and Johnathan in the 1993 Dub) spends the day with Kimba and the jungle animals by helping them learn the human language and fight against hunters and scientists that don't have the animals' safety and well-being in mind. He also serves as a mentor to Kimba (Leo) when he’s feeling down and defeated by his duty of leading the other animals in the jungle. He appears on and off in various episodes throughout the series.
He first met Kimba as he washed ashore. Roger bonds with Kimba as they take a trip to the World's Fair in Paris, France with his girlfriend, Mary, and his uncle, Mr. Pompous (Dr. Mustache). This is explained in flashback form in episode 5 - Fair Game. Kimba learns about how humans can be good like Roger or bad like Mary to animals before he must return to the jungle. In episode 3 - A human friend is where he meets Roger and Mary again. Roger wants to learn more about jungle animals and decides to take a trip to Africa and take Mary along with him. However, their plane crashes and get lost while looking for assistance and shelter. Roger and Mary get isolated by a collapsing canyon bridge. During the collapse, Kimba attempts to speak to Roger and realizes this. Amazed, he follows Kimba back to his jungle where he meets Kimba's friends. Everyone starts to have a mutual understanding of each other - man and animal. The animals learn more about the human world through Roger and he learns about the animals. Kimba and Roger start a school where all of the jungle animals learn to speak the human language. Based on these interactions, Roger decides to stay and live with the animals instead of finding Mary and other humans in the area.
In episodes 11-13, Roger spots humans again, although they are merely hunting parties who wish to eliminate the jungle and its animals, such as Viper Snakely (Hamegg) and Tubby (Kutter). He starts thinking about his girlfriend and uncle and how much he truly misses them. To cheer him up, Kimba starts a jungle chorus for Roger, to which he promptly sings along in. Tonga appears as a leader of the hunting party and their grounds. Roger recognizes this lady as Mary, but with longer hair and a hunting outfit. Tonga acts very cold-blooded to Roger and to all animals around her, including her pets. She doesn't recognize Roger at all, which breaks his heart.
In Episode 45
Throughout the series, Roger continues to live in the jungle while he is helping Kimba defend the animals against threats and even finds his uncle, Mr. Pompous, in episode 25 - Too Many Elephants, who decided to go to the jungle and look for his nephew. Mr. Pompous tries to convince Roger to come back to the human world with him but he ultimately decides to stay with the animals for a while longer.
Roger Ranger decides to return back to the human world in the 45th episode of the series - Such Sweet Sorrow. Mr. Pompous comes back to try and have Roger return to civilization. Tonga reappears as well, in search of the white lion. Near the end of the episode, The Great Mother Mammoth returns and as Tonga (Mary)'s memory of her previous life are restored. Roger is overjoyed and the three set sail on a raft back to civilization, saying farewell to Kimba and friends.
The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor 1989)[]
In episode 2 - Promise
Kenichi is seen as a young boy in this series and only appears in 3 episodes. He finds Leo on the ship and befriends him in episode 2 - Promise. Throughout the time he knows Leo, Kenichi calls him, "Shiro" ("white" in Japanese). Kenichi lives in his uncle, (Dr Ban)'s house and office. He decides to take Leo to a zoo in order for him to meet other animals for the first time. In the next episode, Kenichi protects Leo from Kutter's goons and send him back to Africa where he can be set free.
Later on in the series, Kenichi reunites with Leo back in Africa in episode 22 - Reunion. Leo has already immersed himself as the prince of Panja's Jungle and doesn't recognize Kenichi. However, Leo realizes that Kenichi is a human that doesn't wish to hurt animals. Leo guides him back to safety.
Jungle Emperor: The Brave Can Change the Future (2009)[]
Being the son of Kenzou Ooyama, Kenichi was given the last name, "Ooyama" In all other media, his last name was never mentioned. In the English Dub, his name was changed to Kevin. Kenichi has a much bigger role in the story than his previous incarnations. He stills shows his kind-hearted nature and enthusiasm to help animals despite his child-like nativeté.
Like Kenichi (Kevin)'s previous appearances, Kevin can understand animals. It is unclear how he can do so in this movie. As his father acts as the leader of the Neo Jungle, Kevin is curious about the animals and wants to learn more them while still liking and respecting his father due to his naiveté. Kevin sneaks into jungle by hatching a ride on one of the futuristic subway trains to try and find the white lion that he saw on a demonstration video at the conference center. Kevin finds Leo near a waterfall cliff side. Coco and Leo are both afraid and wary of him at first, but they realize that the boy is just as curious as them. Toto shows up and wants to kill Kevin because he hates humans, but Panja comes to Kevin's rescue. Panja takes Kevin to his den where he meets Leo's mother, Eliza. Kevin learn that the animals had a previous home and that humans like Kenzou had taken them to this artificial jungle. Kevin and Leo start to bond over experiences at each other's homes as they understand each other better. Kevin starts to understand Leo better and Leo gathers enough courage to lead the animals in the jungle. Kevin slowly realizes throughout the movie that humans may not always treat animals the way that they should and that his father may be causing the animals to suffer under his control. As Kenzou gets out of control and power-hungry, Kevin decides to help the animals escape and rebel against their controllers. At the end of the movie, Kevin walks with the animals as they search for a new home, planning to be by their side throughout their journey.