Cyborg 009 (1968 Anime) (2024)

The first animated TV adaptation of Cyborg 009 debuted on Nihon Educational Television (NET, now known as TV Asahi) on April 5, 1968. It was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Yugo Serikawa, who had directed the previous two film adaptations of the series.

It ran for 26 episodes, wrapping up its run on September 27, 1968.

Overview[]

This adaptation carries over some changes from the aforementioned films, such as 007 being depicted as a 9-year old boy instead of being a middle-aged man. However, some of the character designs were also slightly modified to better reflect Ishinomori's artwork (eg: 009 gained back his bangs, 004's hair was depicted white). This in part was due to some objections Ishinomori himself had raised about the extensive redesigns that the characters had underwent.

009, 003, 006, and 007 are treated as the main characters of the series, with occasional appearances by 001 and Dr. Gilmore. Cyborgs 002, 004, 005, and 008 are lesser-utilized through the series, making sporadic appearances throughout. The team only appear fully united in episodes 3, 14, 24, and 26.

While the Black Ghost organization does not exist in the settings depicted in the series, a similar "Ghost Alliance" can be seen in episodes 13 and 17 and the Devil Doll in the final episode is meant to be another incarnation of the Black Ghost Boss. Some stories were loosely imported from the original manga, while others were newly-written content or sourced from other Ishinomori stories ("The Girl with the Golden Eyes"). Due to a hurried schedule and some writers not always consulting with each other, this resulted in re-used and duplicated villain motifs, such as Skull from the manga being adapted into two similar yet entirely separate characters ("Skull Mask" and "Ghost"). Though as the writer Masaru Igami was responsible for both episodes, that case was his own oversight.

In the memoir "TV Anime Youth Symbols", the head writer Masaki Tsuji stated that the main theme of this series is "anti-war", which can be seen most clearly in episodes 15 and 16, "Tragedy of the Beast Man" and "Ghost of the Pacific". The latter episode would wind up banned for decades due to the controversy of it referencing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

During the broadcast of the series, the episodes "Ghost of the Pacific" and "The Challenge of X" would become controversial among Japanese PTA groups for their nuclear war references, and they sent complaints to the TV station over their child-unfriendly content. However, this had nothing to do with the short run of the series itself; Masaki Tsuji stated that as the 009 series was a fill-in for another scrapped show in the time-slot, he and the rest of the staff had all the freedom to do as they wished within those 2 cours since the show was a filler work and would end anyway regardless of how popular or unpopular it'd be.

A third feature film was considered to follow this series, but it ultimately did not happen.

Characters[]

The 00 Cyborgs[]

Cyborg 001
Cyborg 002
Cyborg 003
Cyborg 004
Cyborg 005
Cyborg 006
Cyborg 007
Cyborg 008
Cyborg 009

Allies[]

Dr. Isaac Gilmore

Enemies[]

Skull Mask
Count King
Ghost
Devil Doll

Episode List[]

The Terror of Monster Island - Based from "Monster Island"
The Challenge of X
Battle at the South Pole - Originally planned as the first episode but released third; based from "The Aurora Strategy"
The Space Demons
Ah, Kubikuro - Based from "A Phantom Dog"
King Garaliya, Rescue Mission
The Vanishing School Bus
The Girl with the Golden Eyes - Based from Ishinomori one-shot "The Girl with the Golden Eyes"
The Night the Devil Walks - Based from the Ishinomori work "The Monster Alliance"
The Underground Golden Palace
The Golden Lion - Based from "The Golden Lion"
Giant of the Heavens
Secret of the Devil's Castle - Based from "The Underground Empire of Yomi"
The Cursed Desert - Based from "The Middle East"
Tragedy of the Beast Man - Based from "Immigration"
Ghost of the Pacific
Ghost Alliance - Based from "The Underground Empire of Yomi"
My Father is the Demon's Apostle
Terror of the Nuclear Submarine Sea Snake
The Final Escape
The Phantom Cavalry Corps
The Spirit of Revenge
The Spirit of Revenge (part two) - Based from "Assassins" (particularly 0012's chapter)
Ruthless Challenger
Revive! Phoenix
Warriors of Peace do not Die - Based from "The Underground Empire of Yomi"

Production Staff[]

Director: Yugo Serikawa
Planning: Shinichi Miyazaki, Shoji Eto, Yoshifumi Hatano
Music: Kosugi Taichiro
Scriptwriters: Masaki Tsuji, Masaru Igami, Hiroshi Ozawa, Junnya Sato, Susumu Takaku, Toyohiro Ando, Yugo Serikawa

Voice Cast[]

009: Katsuji Mori (credited as "Setsuya Tanaka")
001: Fuyumi Shiraishi
002: Ryō Ishihara
003: Hiroko Suzuki
004: Hiroshi Ōtake (earlier appearances) /Kenji Utsumi (appearances in episode 18 and on)
005: Hiroshi Masuoka
006: Ichirō Nagai
007: Machiko Soga
008: Keiichi Noda
Professor Gilmore: Jōji Yanami

Supplemental Reading Material[]

Tokuma Shoten Roman Album #2: Cyborg 009 (1977): Covers the previous two animated films and this series, and contains interviews with the cast and Ishinomori, as well as production artwork. Most notably, it contains full-color illustrations of moments from the series, but also contains illustrations of moments from the manga that were not depicted, particularly 009 and 002 falling to Earth in the form of a star (but proceeding to be rescued by 001 and reuniting with their team). At the time of this book's production, an art contest for a "new Cyborg 009 anime" was advertised, but a new adaptation would not come until two years later. However, a cyborg-themed anime by Shotaro Ishinomori named Glacial Warrior Guyslugger would in fact be released in 1977, and may have evolved from a rejected pitch.

Trivia[]

While the actors for Gilmore, 007, 002, 004, and 005 all reprised their roles for the series, the rest of the characters were recast. 004's actor also noticeably changes during the run, possibly due to the character's sporadic appearances (his second actor, Kenji Utsumi, had previously voiced 008).
Episode 10 appears to be a prototype to the story "The City of Wind", though Ishinomori was not inspired by this episode and it seems both must have been based off the same legend or source novel.