Nine people from around the world are kidnapped by the evil Black Ghost organization, led by the tyrant Skull, to undergo experiments that would allow him to use them as human weapons to promote the production of cyborg warfare. While he succeeds in converting the group of nine into cyborgs with superhuman powers, his most reputable scientist, Dr. Isaac Gilmore, helps the cyborgs escape to rebel against Skull and Black Ghost. The nine cyborgs – from which the name of the series is derived – band together in order to stop Black Ghost from achieving its goal of starting the next world war by supplying rich buyers with countless weapons of mass destruction. After the destruction of Black Ghost, the nine cyborgs go on to fight a variety of threats, such as mad scientists, supernatural beings, and ancient civilizations.
The first arc was serialized in Weekly Shōnen King (Shōnen Gahosha). It depicts Cyborg 009's origin story, the escape from Black Ghost, and the group running from the cyborg assassins. It ended with the battle against the Mythos Cyborgs.
The second arc, called The Underground Empire Yomi Arc, appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha) alongside the release of the film version. The story is highly influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' Earth's Core series, including an expedition to the center of the Earth with a drill tank and a reptile race who can use telepathy and grow wings. The story ends with the final battle against Black Ghost. In the final scene, 009 and 002 fall into Earth's atmosphere and are seen as a shooting star by two small children, one of whom wishes for a toy gun and the other for world peace (a scene reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's Kaleidoscope). As such, 001 was able to use his telekinetic powers at the last minute to retrieve 002 and 009 from their plummet before death.
The third arc, serialized in Bōken Ō (Akita Shoten), contained 6 story arcs, including the Monster Island Arc, the Middle East Arc, and the Angels Arc. The series abruptly ended during the Angels Arc.
The fourth arc, called The Battle of the Gods Arc, was serialized in COM (Mushi Production). Ishinomori resumed and retold the interrupted Angels Arc with a new plot, but the series once again ended abruptly. Ishinomori would not resume the series for a few years after this.
The fifth arc was serialized in Shōjo Comic (Shogakukan), and included the Wind City Arc, the Snow Carnival Arc, and the Edda Arc. The story deals with legendary and mythical like characters challenging the 00 Number Cyborgs.
The sixth arc followed closely after the fifth arc. Arcs such as the Deinonychus Arc (appeared in Monthly Shōnen Jump (Shueisha)) and Green Hole Arc (appeared in Play Comic (Akita Shoten)) were depicted, then long after, the Underwater Pyramid Arc was serialized in Monthly Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama).
The seventh arc was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday (Shogakukan) alongside the revival anime. A long arc consisting of many short arcs, this series dealt with the battle against Neo Black Ghost as well as the emotional trauma of the 00 Number Cyborgs. The story is set approximately 20 years after the Yomi Arc, and the personalities and conduct of the cyborgs are depicted as more adult.
The eighth arc was serialized in Monthly Comic Nora (Gakken). This longer arc was called People Drifting Through Time and Space Arc, and is a sequel to the Immigration Arc. The Count of St. Germain from the Underwater Pyramid Arc appears, but the design of his drawing is different.
Manga publication history
The series was written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori, serialized in Monthly Shōnen King, published in Japan by Akita Shoten and other companies through its history, and published in North America by Tokyopop.
Digital comics distributor comiXology licensed the entire catalogue from Ishimori Productions in 2012,[2] and has made the first 10 volumes of Cyborg 009 available to the public.
In April 2012, Shogakukan announced that the Cyborg 009 manga would conclude in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.[4] Entitled Cyborg 009 Conclusion: God's War, the manga is to be illustrated by Masato Hayase and to be based on Ishinomori's original concept notes, sketches, and novel drafts, all of which had been gathered by his son, Jo Onodera. Conclusion debuted on April 13, 2012,[5] and ran until February 2014. It was collected in 5 volumes.[6]
Cyborg 009 Bgooparts Delete
A manga series written and illustrated by Tsuguo Okazaki, titled Cyborg 009 Bgooparts Delete, began serialization in Champion Red on July 19, 2019.[7]
8 Man vs. Cyborg 009
A crossover manga between 8 Man and Cyborg 009 by Kyoichi Nanatsuki (script) and Masato Hayate (art), was serialized in Champion Red from July 18, 2020,[8] to May 19, 2023.[9] In this work, Black Ghost, revived after the Cold War, kidnaps 8 Man's inventor, Tani, to blackmail 8 Man to destroy the 00 cyborgs, so that Black Ghost can dominate the world using a laser satellite created by Professor Demon (one of 8 Man's original antagonists). 8 Man, Professor Demon, and the cyborgs team up to destroy Black Ghost.
Graphic novel
A full-color graphic novel based on the franchise was released at San Diego Comic-Con International on July 21, 2013, to align with the anniversary of Ishinomori's original manga. The book is a condensed retelling of the 00 Cyborgs' battle against Black Ghost, led by Sekar (Skull).[10] The full release was on September 11, 2013.[11] The graphic novel is written by F. J. DeSanto and Bradley Cramp, penciled and inked by Marcus To, and published by Archaia Comics.[12]
Films
1966 film
The first Cyborg 009 film was released on July 21, 1966. It was produced by Hiroshi Ōkawa (uncredited) and directed by Yugo Serikawa.
Cyborg 009: Monster Wars (サイボーグ009 怪獣戦争, Saiboogu Zero-Zero-Nain Kaijuu Sensou) was the second film for Cyborg 009 and released on March 19, 1967. It was produced by Hiroshi Ōkawa and directed by Yugo Serikawa.
The theme song for both films was "Song of Cyborg 009" (サイボーグ009の歌, Saibōgu Zero Zero Nain no Uta) (Lyrics: Masahisa Urushibara, Composer, Arrangement: Taichirō Kosugi, Singer: Tokyo Meister Singer)
An anime film based on the second anime television series was released on December 20, 1980, named Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy (サイボーグ009 超銀河伝説, Saibōgu Zero Zero Nain: Chou Ginga Densetsu).
The theme song was "Love of 1 Billion Lightyears" (10億光年の愛, Jū-oku Kōnen no Ai) (Lyrics: Michio Yamagami, Composer: Kōichi Morita, Arrangement: Reijirō Koroku, Singer: Yoshito Machida).
A 3D film, produced by Production I.G., Sanzigen and Ishimori Productions, was released on October 27, 2012. Kenji Kamiyama was the director and writer. Kenji Kawai, who worked before with Kamiyama on Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Eden of the East, composed the music. The film was released in Japan on October 27, 2012. It also opened simultaneously in more than five Asian regions, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea.[13] A manga adaptation by Gatou Asou, character designer for Moribito and Occult Academy, was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan.[14] The UK anime distributor Anime Limited announced that they acquired the movie and produced an English dub at NYAV Post.[15]Madman Entertainment also has rights to release the film in Australia and New Zealand.[16] At Anime Expo 2013, Funimation had announced that they acquired the film for North America.[17] The English voice cast was announced on April 16, 2015.[18]
2016 film trilogy (Cyborg 009: Call of Justice)
Another 3D film, produced by Production I.G. and animated by OLM Digital and Signal.MD and distributed by Toho, was released on November 25, 2016. The movie itself was divided into three parts, with Part 2 being released December 2, 2016 and Part 3 on December 9, 2016. Kenji Kamiyama was chief director of the project, and Kokai Kakimoto directed the film.[1] Netflix acquired digital distribution rights to the movie, where the movie was shown first on Netflix Japan in Spring 2016, with other territories following later.[19] The films, edited down into 12 episodes, were released worldwide on Netflix on February 10, 2017.[20]
An anime adaptation was released on April 5, 1968, on NET and ended on September 27, 1968, with a total of 26 episodes. This series was directed by Yugo Serikawa, Takeshi Tamiya, Tomoharu Katsumata, Toshio Katsuda, Taiji Yabushita, Ryōzō Tanaka, Yoshikata Nitta, Kazuya Miyazaki, Fusahiro Nagaki, Minoru Okazaki, Yoshio Takami.
The opening theme song for the anime series was "Cyborg 009" (サイボーグ009) (Lyrics: Masahisa Urushibara, Composer, Arrangement: Taichirō Kosugi, Vocals: Tokyo Meister Singer. The outro theme was "End the Battle" (戦いおわって, Tatakai Owatte) (Lyrics: Shotaro Ishinomori, Composer, Arrangement: Taichirō Kosugi, Singer: Vocal Shop)
The "サイボーグ009 モノクロ DVD BOX" was released in January 2006 from Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The low-priced edition "サイボーグ009 1968 DVD-COLLECTION" was released in July 2009 from TOEI COMPANY, LTD.
1979–1980 series
Another anime for Cyborg 009 was released on March 6, 1979, on TV Asahi and ended on March 25, 1980, with a total of 50 episodes.
The opening theme song for the anime was "For Whose Sake" (誰がために, Taga tame ni). The lyrics were by Shotaro Ishinomori, the composer was Masaaki Harao, the arrangement was done by Koichi Sugiyama and vocals were provided by Ken Narita and Koorogi '73); the ending theme was "Someday" (いつの日か, Itsu no Hi ka). The lyrics were by Saburō Yatsude while the composer was Masaaki Harao, the arrangement was done by Koichi Sugiyama and vocals were provided by Koorogi '73. The show was a huge hit in Sweden where it was one of the earliest anime series to be dubbed into Swedish and released in its entirety on VHS. The success with the audience came despite the fact that the entire voice cast was provided by one actor, Danish national Timm Mehrens.[21]
A third television series, entitled Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 14, 2001 to October 13, 2002 on Sundays at 18:30. It spanned a total of fifty-one episodes.
The opening theme song for the third anime television series was "What's the Justice?" by Globe. The first ending theme was "Genesis of Next" by Globe followed by "Starting from Here" by Globe and later was replaced with "I Do" by Fayray.
The 2001–2002 series of Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier was dubbed by Animaze, Inc. and ZRO Limit Productions, and was shortened to its manga name. The English-dubbed version of Cyborg 009 aired on Cartoon Network as part of its weekday after-school action anime/animation programming block, Toonami in 2003 with the first 26 episodes, and was on its unnamed late Friday night/Early Saturday morning “Graveyard Shift” line-up in 2004 to air episodes 27 to 42, before it was dropped from their lineup. The edited version of the series was also distributed by Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group, while the uncut version is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
Three video games based on the series were released only in Japan. One of them was an actionplatformer released for the Super Famicom by BEC in 1994; for each level the player selects one of the eight adult cyborgs (001 is not playable) as the leader of a strike force for a particular mission accompanied by two others. The second game (released by Telenet Japan's subsidiary Riot) in 1993 was for the Mega CD and is also a side scroller.
In 2002, Simple Characters 2000 Series Vol. 15: Cyborg 009: The Block Kuzushi was released for the PlayStation by Bandai.
English releases
The 1979 series was broadcast with English subtitles on Japanese-language television in Hawaii, California, and in the New York metropolitan area. The English subtitles were produced by San Francisco-based Fuji Television, which did not broadcast the series as part of its Japanese programming on KEMO-TV.
The 1980 film was released in the United States in 1988 by Celebrity Home Entertainment as Defenders of the Vortex, with an edited version of an English dub that was commissioned through the Tokyo, Japan-based Frontier Enterprises. It later received an unedited direct-to-video English release in 1995 by Best Film and Video Corporation with the full version of the same dub.
The 2001 TV series was licensed by Avex Inc. (the North American branch of Avex Mode, the 2001 series' original distributor in Japan) and dubbed into English by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions. The entire series was dubbed, with the first 26 episodes shown on the Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network, while episodes 27 to 47 were shown on Cartoon Network's late Friday night "Graveyard Shift" block, right before the show was dropped from their line-up. The first 8 episodes were distributed on DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment in a two-disc uncut bilingual set, as well as two dub-only edited broadcast volumes of four episodes each along with Portuguese and Spanish dubs. As of 2017, none of the other episodes have become available on home video outside Japan and Hong Kong, but Madman Entertainment released the first 26 dubbed episodes to DVD in Australia; they are since out of print. Discotek Media announced during their Otakon 2017 panel that they have licensed the 2001 series, and they will release the entire series, in the uncut bilingual version, on a SDBD set.[26] The purpose for this set is to restore the uncut version of the dub for the whole series to its best state possible, as well as the video quality. The uncut dub master tapes were damaged upon arrival,[27] due to the age of the DA-88 tapes.[28] The set has an 11-page essay about the restoration process by the company's producer and Anime News Network founder Justin Sevakis, along with an 83-page art gallery.[29] The set was also the North American and dub premiere of the three-episode God's War finale. The set was officially released on June 25, 2019.[30]
The 2012 movie is licensed by Funimation in North America, Anime Limited in the UK, and Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand. An English dub was produced by NYAV Post, and a theatrical release was released in all three territories.[18]
